David Mark scam...what should I do?

I was recently contacted by a David Mark to receive payments for him, cash them, take out my ten percent and then send the remainder by moneygram immediately. Well, I was unsure, but willing to see if this was legit or not. I was contacted by a scam warner, but not sure I should rely on that info either. I received the first check today, it was sent from CA, and I was to send it via moneygram back to CA. Made no sense to me, and the check definitely looks fake. Now, I am not sure what to do with this fake check and should I report this scam to someone? Obviously, I would never deposit this check in my account. I never gave any info other than my name and address. Should I do something?

[AlanJones]

Hi kke6331 welcome to Scamwarners,

The scamwarner has done you a big favour. The cheque is a fake and if you had of deposited it, you would have ended up losing the money that you sent by MoneyGram and possibly been subject to questioning by Law Enforcement.

The scam works like this. You were probably told that the cheques you were to receive were payments for orders for sales for a company. Ask yourself this, why would a legitimate company not have its own bank account to have the cheques paid into?

You would have paid the cheque into your bank account, waited a few days for it to clear and then sent the balance by MoneyGram. The problem is that weeks after you have sent the payment (and probably a lot more), the cheque would have been found to be fake (probably when the company who's account it was drawn on noticed an unauthorised payment) and the money would have been debited back from your account. You migh also have Law Enforcement officers questioning you on cheque fraud.

The scam preys on people's belief that once the money appears in their account then that is it, the money is theirs.

The best thing to do is to rip the cheque up and throw it away. You can report it to your local Law Enforcement, but they probably won't do much about it - but it does cover your back. Also, cut of all communication with the scammers - don't answer their emails or phone calls. They will pester you at first, but soon move on to another victim.

Hi KKE

As B8er has suggested, it is definately a scam, could you please let us know who the Scamwarner is, dont post the email address, just the name, it could have been any one of a number of us who sent that warning to you.

Our group is not the only group in the world who send scam warnings but if it had a link to Scamwarners then it will be one of us.

I presume the warning included some links and advice, if you like you can forward it to me to verify but it sounds quite elgitimate to me and the advice will be sound.

There are 2 major differences between a scamwarner and a scammer, Scamwarners will never ask you for money or advice you to send money to anybody else, nor will we ask for personal details, we may need an email address from time to time but other than that your details are irrelevant to us.

A scammer on the other hand is likely to tell you to send money to someone for a fee and they cant help but ask you for your own details.

As to your safety, you could expect an increased amount of scam emails and possibly even postal scams, some of which may include the information you have already given them to make it look more authentic, if you are unsure, please feel free to ask.

Other than the increased amount of scam traffic you have nothing to be concerned about so long as you ingnore them completely

The scamwarner was Roger D.
Thank you again for letting me know there really are people like this out there. I am a believer in the good in all. Guess I better check that.
The following are copy and pasted emails with the scammer. I inadvertently deleted the original.:

Thanks for the email. The job does not entail much,all you would be doing is receving these payments in form of Money Orders, which would be coming from some clients of mine in the United States via the mail.So when you get these Checks all you have to do is have them cashed and deduct your share (10%) and wire the rest down to me here via (MONEYGRAM). I have received your information and have forwarded all the information you gave me to my clients in the United States, and you would start to recieve these payment via mail in the new week.I will like you to reconfirm once again if this is your information as stated as follows,because I wont like the situation whereby the money order will be issued to you in error. So if there is any mistake in this information bellow,kindly correct it in your reply:

Hi ,

How are you doing today, i appreciate your quick response. Have contacted my client associate concerning the payment to be issued out in your name and he explained to me that DHL Delivery is a little bit Slow but adviced me that you should be expecting the payment in the DHL Delivery to your address this weekend or latest first thing next week.I will be contacting my client associate again today to see if i can get a Tracking number so we can track the package payment online to know the exact delivery day and time.

NB: I want you to be aware that the payment is in MONEY ORDER and it is been enveloped in the package shipment to you.

Once again, i congratulate you for this business and if you seems to be our good deligate we can increase you salary and also we can also offer you a FULL TIME JOB OFFER from our company.I will get back to you asap but i will appreciate it if you reply to let me know you have received and read this email so you can take further Instructions from us.
Thank You & Best Personal Regards.

David Mark

Hello Candidate,

Am glad to inform you that the Payment will be Delivered to you Today. I am able to get the Tracking Number of the package, so now you can track the package online at www.UPS.com to know the exact time UPS will be delivering the Package to you.

Here is the UPS Tracking Number : 1Z105T420190608027

I advice you stay at home and be around to receive the package, once the payments (CASHIER ) has been delivered to you at your front door and you have received it, You will have to proceed to the bank to cash the payments immediately.

Like i have stated ealier, you are you deduct 10% out of the payment for your own compesation, then wire transfer the balance via MONEYGRAM to my Personal Accountant Information Below who has just arrived in the states .

ACCOUNT INFORMATION BELOW:

RECEIVER NAME: DIXIE SAVATOVIC
CITY: LOS ANGELES
STATE: CALIFORNIA
ZIP CODE: 90006

When you get to the MONEYGRAM office, they will ask for the secret Text Question and Answer you will be using for the Transfer.

Use this informations below :
Text Question: IN GOD
Answer: WE TRUST

Note: You are to deduct the MONEYGRAM transfer charges from the 90% balance you will be sending Today

Do email me with the MONEYGRAM information as requested below immediately the transfer is completed Today:

Senders Name & Senders Address Information Needed From You Today
Amount Sent After the MONEYGRAM Charges: .......
REF NBR: ......( #8 Digits number)
Text Question & Answer... (Let the Text Question be : IN GOD? &
Answer...(Let the Answer be : WE TRUST ?)


NB: The receiver is my Personal Assistant he will be helping us to make preparation for an upcoming exhibition.

I will look forward to read from you Today so i can be sure you received this important email and let me know if you understood all the INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE currently.

Thank You.

DAVID MARK .

Also, shouldn't this be reported to someone? And how do you know that scammers aren't people registered here as well? So that maybe they may find out how much people know about their scams, or which tactics to avoid?

Sorry I dont have time for a full reply, I will go over it a little later but did want to answer this now

And how do you know that scammers aren't people registered here as well?

We do have scammers drop in from time to time, there was one just last week, there are many indicators and they are weeded out pretty quickly, anybody who sports a Support team badge or our admins and mods, all have proven themselves over time before being given those titles.

Hi KK, Welcome to the site! Please PM a member of the support team the name and address of the person who sent the check to you. That person may not realize that what they are doing is illegal or it could be a victim of identity theft.

Thanks HArvest, Trust me, whoever sent the check knew they were sending a fake check. Its so obvious. But I will take your advice just in case as you said, it is an identity theft thing.
KKe

And how do you know that scammers aren't people registered here as well? So that maybe they may find out how much people know about their scams, or which tactics to avoid?

As Ralph said, the occasional scammer drops in here and tries to pull a fast one. They are quickly dealt with around here, and IP's can be blocked.

But the truth is, the scammers pay for time spent in the internet cafe, and most aren't going to spend their cafe money on research that won't directly lead to a payout. Many of them also have a pretty poor grasp of English, so they can't quickly or easily alter their scripts. So as long as some victims are responding, they will continue with the same scripts (though they may change their names).

I was just searching Yahoo Hotjobs when I came across an ad in customer service for Dacid Mar, the very same one. Any recommendations as to what I should do? I have not been contacted again by him since I refused his check. But he is still out there preying upon others, which is scary.

After re-investigation and research please note this on David Mark click here

As an update, I want to share that I got an email from David Mark [email protected] attempting to purchase something from Craigs List. I am in the process with him to complete the transaction and get him to send me a check/cashier's check. I have had scammers contact me on there several times before, so it is nothing new. In fact, this is how I handle them....

It is obvious they are scammers so when they ask for the address to send the check/cashier's check I give them the Los Angeles office of the FBI, the agent in charge of internet fraud. That way they send the check directly to them. They then email me a confirmation number for the check delivery. I check it to see if it is delivered, and I have 3 so far that have been successfully delivered there. I do not know if the FBI appreciates this, but I still do it.

I tell them it is my office address and that my bank is across the street and a Western Union kiosk in the lobby. They eat it up thinking they will get their money right away, sucker's game. I figure this is a good way for us to let the FBI know how much this is going on, and actually put the evidence in their hands.

If you want to be a good Samaritan, you could just have them send you the check and call the issuer of the check to let them know it was a scam. You can also look up the routing number online to see which bank to contact to let them know what account is being defrauded. CAVEAT HERE: If you do that, they will have your address. You may or may not wish to give them this information so if you choose this path, be aware of what you are doing. If you have one of those mail box services, they will not know where you live but a PO Box won't work.

Last note, I usually give them my phone number so they can call me when they don't get their money. I let them get all worked up and act stupid for a bit, then when they threaten to report me to the FBI (yes, they actually do that!) I tell them to check the address they sent it to. I tell them they don't have to notify the FBI because they are probably already on the case looking for them because they sent it to the FBI office. One cursed me before he hung up, the other two just hung up. What a feeling of satisfaction that was

Again, I do not recommend giving them personal information like your phone number. I do it because there is not much they can get me for, as I am careful with everything and check everything like bills closely anyway. I do not set anything for auto payment from my bank so I have to look at it personally before it is paid. That way they cannot get anything from me.

I continue to play games with them, but do it knowing there could be consequences if they ever get a plane ticket to my home town LOL

I was just hit with a new twist on the David Mark scam. They contacted me pretending to be David Mark from Washington DC, the author, and editor of Politico. He said he found my art online and was interested in purchasing a piece for his wife's anniversary. Then came the story about how they were moving and his shipping agent would send me the check (written out for more than the price of the painting to cover packing and shipping and tax) and then contact me about shipping details. Once all this was done I was to send the shipping agent back the overage. (shipping agent:Rita Carter, Rusk TX 75785) They had me going and I actually thought this was legit until my bank informed me that the check was fake and that they had contacted the bank on the check. My bank said they were going to go ahead and run the check thru to track it or something. I'm sure I'll hear back from them next week. I'm a little concerned because during these communications "David Mark" managed to get my phone #, address, and of course email. I contacted the real David Mark and let him know this was going on, which I should've done on day one.

Could you post the email or other messages sent by the fake David Mark, including the email address or other sort of address that can identify him?

The first 2 emails I received.........

david mark <[email protected]>


My name is David Mark from Washington DC. I was looking for some artwork online and i found your contact while searching.
I will like to purchase some of your work for my wife as a surprise gift for our 20th anniversary.
Please kindly send pics and prices of some of your art which are ready for immediate sale within price range $500- $5000,
i could be flexible with price. So i will hope to hear a lot more about any available piece in your inventory ready for immediate sale.

Thanks and best regards,
David.

david mark <[email protected]>


Dear xxxxxxx,
Thanks for the message, I must tell you I intend to give my wife a surprise with the immediate purchase of the piece (Gas Mask #1 36"x36" of $1500).
If you'd like to know, I'm relocating to the Philippines soon and our wedding anniversary is fast approaching. So I'm trying to gather some good stuff to make this event a surprise.
As regarding payment, I would like to inform you, that my wife handles the family credit card/bank and Paypal transaction.
So i would authorize a check to you for the payment as soon as i have your full name and contact address (preferably for FedEx delivery no P.O box).
Also, as soon as you receive the check and it clears your bank, my shipping agent who is also moving my personal effect will contact you to arrange
shipping/pick up of the piece from you (this is to avoid my wife receiving it, if been shipped directly to my address which would ruin the surprise for
this event). You both have to sign a proof of pick up at the most.
I would have handled this much differently if I'd been at home but i am actually going offshore and won't be back for another couple of weeks,
and do not have access to a lot of cash over here to expedite this transaction... trying to kill two birds with a stone.

Have a Positive Day!
David.
PS: In the meantime, kindly get back to me with your cell phone no. so i can try and call you later as the phones may be working better when this storm passes through.