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.
I’ve heard two new twists on this old scam this week.
1) The person who wants to hire the service has laryngitis, so they can’t be reached by phone because they can’t talk.
2) The person arranging the service is on their way to the ICU and won’t be able to talk by phone. This one strikes me as the most silly. If they’re really on their way to the hospital with a serious illness, then the last thing they’re going to be doing is arranging personal training or yoga or other services for their family!