SCAM ALERT SCAM ALERT SCAM ALERT SCAM
SCAM ALERT SCAM ALERT SCAM ALERT SCAM
SCAM ALERT SCAM ALERT SCAM ALERT SCAM
It’s a strange topic for a blog at Reiki Surry Hills, but maybe by making it public, I hope I can help out some other reiki practitioners, or other small businesses.
In March, I received a very strange email. It was strange but not so much that I thought it was a scam.
adambryce178@hotmail.com asked to book in multiple treatments for groups of people. In the first case, it was for five people to be booked in five weeks in a row. ‘Adam’ explained that they would need my address for the ‘driver’ to drop them off, and that he was hearing impaired which is why he had to communicate by email.
This did make sense to me as I’ve friends who work with those who are deaf or hearing impaired, and did some work myself for the National Relay Service. So, I know that some people who are hearing impaired have a different way of expressing themselves in written English, and also can interact with the world in a different way. So, I could understand a bit of awkwardness in communication.
But when I explained that I only do three treatments a day, and that it really makes sense for a person to try a treatment before committing to multiple treatments, ‘he’ disappeared. In my hundreds of treatments, it stands out that a few people who ‘didn’t feel anything’ were people who didn’t come on their own will; they were convinced to come by someone else but did not necessarily want to come (contrasting with some people who receive gift certificates for reiki, but are happy with the present).
Then in May, I received another set of emails, from ‘Rebecca Woodruff’. The variation was that she had ten family members who ‘complained of body pain’. I engaged in the same process, explaining what I do, and how you can arrange appointments. I also said that while reiki can help physical issues, most people should get checked out by a doctor first or someone who works on physical injuries like a physiotherapist. But the last email came through saying for me to go ahead and book her ten family members. She didn’t specify dates and didn’t respond to my concern about people getting treatments who were not coming because they want to.
(As an aside, I haven’t told you that I had a request from the trashy reality show ‘Married at First Sight’ to give reiki, and be filmed, to one of the ‘married’ couples, one who was interested in reiki and the other who wasn’t! I actually laughed out loud before I said no, and the person said, in good humour, at least you could think about it…)
Anyways, the last email was too suspicious, sent at 4am, and listing her ten family members, with ages, but NONE who had the same family name. She said they were all coming ‘to the country’ for her ‘Dads 70th birthday’. So, I googled her email address and found a website in Queensland warning about scammers who ask website businesses for quotations.
God, I love the internet. While none of the scams proposed there had to do with reiki or with treatment services, someone did list the email of the scammer, rebeccawoods4u@gmail.com
I’ve shared my story there, but I might as well share it here too, to allow people to google the names of the scammers or any such other information that would lead them here. In summary, be alert:
- If someone emails your business and makes a request that doesn’t quite seem right (in my case, asking to fit in 5 to 10 clients on the same day)
- They are unable to clarify their request
- They ask if you take credit cards, and for your physical address
- They say they are hearing impaired and can’t speak to you by phone
- Their story doesn’t add up (emailing in the middle of the night, 10 family members without a shared name)
