Scam information – teaching / training unknown groups
We had a thread about this topic a couple of months ago, but I couldn’t find it. It was a warning to fellow instructors / trainers to avoid the scam where the trainer gets an email request to train a group of foreign travelers. At the time, there was a bit of confusion regarding how the scam worked. This post was copied and pasted from another fitness form, that explains a little more about what the scam looks like and how it works.
Never make arrangements that involve giving your bank information or paying an overage or issue a refund before an original payment clears.
We had discussed a new Nigerian scam where you might get an email from a man who wants “private classes” for his whole family. They can contact you either via text or email. A lot of us ZINs are getting these emails. Do not fall for this and please reference this link for a little more info. Basically the scam is that they “overpay you” and say that you will send the overpayment back to their account. Their transaction never clears their bank and you will be on the hook for the money you tried to pay back in overpayment. I did not fall for this scam, but am still getting emails and texts. I am sending this out to all of you so that you will be aware of the scam before they try to contact you too.
Hi Nancy,
thanks for the post. I had been getting that email, too, but just ignored even though I was wondering how it worked. I got something similar from an Italian model who targeted MELT instructors (and probably many others).
Karin Singleton
www.meltnc.com
I’ve gotten the fake texts many times and have ignored and deleted them.
Karin, how funny, I also got the one about the Italian model last year!! I was almost excited about that one because it seemed real. Until the cashier’s check part where they wanted me to take part of the money to pay the model’s photographers. Really?! That one ended quickly.
Such a shame….
Thanks for posting this Nancy. This is part of the same network that tries to solicit a number of trainers about training groups. I paly along all the way to the end except giving out any personal or financial information and I use the closest FBI office as a location to meet for our first meeting. Of course I never hear back from them again. Here is the link to the previous question posted last month:
https://www.ideafit.com/answers/what-do-you-do-with-the-phony-requests-fr…
I hope this helps.
Not just trainers, I had one looking for yoga instruction for their daughter.
And of course, there was the gentleman who called to tell me my pc was getting error messages….. He was taken aback when I calmly told him “No it isn’t’, and just waited for his response.
The online world offers so much that is good, and helpful, but also offers a lot of opportunity for those who want an easy ride. It always reminds me of the line in Harry Potter about how those who practice the dark arts are like a Hydra, you cut off one head and others grow. So where our nature might be to be open and helpful, and our professional instincts might be to jump for what appears to be low hanging fruit, it pays to be careful always, rather than to trust without building that trust, and to make sure you see if someone is holding the other end of that low hanging branch.
Thanks for posting. I think it is really good to keep awareness strong for this problem.