Email scam targets auto shops

Shops beware. If you receive an email from “Richard Summer” (printed in all of its ungrammatical glory below), simply hit the delete button – Summer’s proposal is nothing but a scam.

Here’s how the scheme works (please take a minute to read Summer’s letter below first): the credit card number provided by Summer is either invalid or gets authorized against a stolen (but unreported) card. The shop runs the card through the POS terminal for $3,000 and sends $2,500 out in cash – but the deposit never gets credited to the shop because the card owner or the credit card company won’t allow it.

While it’s unknown how many shop owners have been victimized by this particular con job, please make certain you don’t join their ranks. As always, it’s buyer beware.

Dear Sir:

I wish i could communicate this service request by direct phone, but am hearing impaired and so will be using the e-mail as communication medium if this is okay with you. attached is the truck photo.

Also i will like you to know that the car will delivered to your shop by my shipper next week Friday so i would need your shop address where you want the tow guy to deliver the car. I decided to have the car taken care of by a professional shop than have someone else cost me more damage, i don’t really mind the total cost than have more complications. I will authorize an initial deposit payment before the arrival early next week and as soon as the repair has been taking care of, i will schedule an appointment to come in and make the Balance payment and pick up the truck.

Please as soon as you receive my vehicle i need a perfect work on my vehicle because according to the woman that recommended your shop to me said your shop is one of the best auto repair shop in town so do hope to get a very good job done on my vehicle? Also i will need a little favor from you because i haven’t pay the tow guy that will be delivering the truck from Florida and he doesn’t accept credit cards do you accept credit cards. The favor is that i will give you my credit card to charge for the sum of $3000 and you will deduct the sum of $500 as deposit for the total repair and send the remaining $2500 to the tow guy who will deliver the truck and once they deliver the truck you, you can write an estimate for me then i can make a payment for the remaining balance of the repair minus $500 deposit.

Please get back to me if you are ready handle this for me, so i can forward my credit card information to you for the Tow driver payment and your advance payment.

Regards
Richard Summer