Hello fellow planners. For the past week and a half I have been trying to help a nice couple from England, now living in Haiti, who are moving to Seattle, plan their wedding. As the emails progressed, red flags were going off in my head, but I just kept them thoughfully in mind as I continued our corespondence. But my red flags became flashing red billboards when the couple asked me to transfer over $2,000 to their band in South Africa, with the check in my name. Hello! So I googled the band contact's name and got nothing. Then I googled the way the bride kept describing the band, "french coupe de calien band", and I found a blog post from another wedding planner in Oregon who received emails with the exact same wording and everything.
I spoke with the FBI, and this is apparently a scam that's been going on for a couple years. The couple's names and small details change, but the gist of it is that they want you to help "secure their band" by sending you a very large check in your name. Scam is that the band get the money, and you get stuck with the bill once the check bounces.
Please take a look at the Oregon planner's post as she includes the emails she received. Just remember, planners, to protect yourself do these two things: 1. make clear the bride is repsonsible for all her bills and you are not to disperse money for her, and 2. if someone wants you to transfer money for them, don't!
If you receive such emails, or start getting into the planning and discover you're part of this same fraud scam, print your emails out and send them to your local FBI office. If you're unsure if this is a separate scam, just give them a call, they're very nice.
Good luck, and happy planning.
Rebekah
some camera love
8 years ago