Honest deals stand scrutiny

I’m slipping. A proposal came in and I couldn’t figure out the scam. I knew it was something, but couldn’t see it. Looked like a perfectly legit offer to buy as part of a government initiative. So I blew up the attached government document. And the official seal was cut pasted to the document. Had to do a 5x blow up - but it’s out of focus to the rest of the document at that level. So it was scanned or photographed and imported. Not printed and not from an original image file.

But as I say I am slipping, the telephone exchange is form Togo… should have seen that right away. Well anyway, it’s not a sale but at least I seem to have another conman to play with for awhile. It’s like finding a toy in the cereal box.

Except that I’m too busy to play with the conmen today. I have real dealers and customers to contact. So it’s like finding a toy and having your mother put it on the counter until you’re done with your homework.

None the less, I responded and asked for some proof of validity. A contact at the government agency... something. And I got a fairly rude response: “If you are interested to secure and execute the contract, you then comply. How ever, if you are not interested, you then decline.”

Rude conmen? Really that’s just lazy. I mean come on. Woo me a little. Sigh… no one wants to put the effort in anymore. At least the folks working the “lost dog” scam a few months ago had some pride in their work.

For those of you who are not familiar with the lost dog scam, it goes like this. Man and his dog (actually usually a stray) go into a bar or coffee shop or something and he asks… the man not the dog… if he can leave the dog for a while as he has a job interview and he has no where to leave the dog. He’s homeless, unemployed (again the man not the dog) or something like that and desperate. He can’t blow the interview.

So he leaves the dog. Then some one else comes in and sees the dog and asks if it’s for sale. It’s rare for breeding, the perfect look for a commercial… something.

The barman or barista will say they are just watching it so the stranger leaves their number and says “Have the owner call me I’ll pay x (where x is sufficiently large) dollars for this dog.”

Now at this point the honest person tells the down and outer… who by the way hasn’t gotten the job… that someone offered to buy his dog. The unscrupulous mark offers to but the dog himself. Of course for considerably less than x.

The man takes the money and when the mark calls the number he finds it isn’t real. It’s a nice scam … only works if the mark is scum willing to kick some one already down. You know the old saying may be wrong. You can cheat an honest man. But it’s much harder than cheating a crook.

Ok, that’s the classic. The modern variant is really not much different. A company calls looking for a chemical they need for say oil pipe line cleaning. They say that their vendor is overcharging them at $2.25 per pound for the several million pounds they need, because they know profits of the oil companies are high. So the want an agent who will keep a low profile and strike the deal at a fair price which they feel us $1.89 a pound.

Well, you look up the chemical and you find three companies (all set up in the last thirty days… if you bother to check) all selling this chemical for $0.93 per pound. So the honest agent arranges the deal and takes his commission. … actually he waits for a commission that never comes but at least he’s out nothing.

But the shiftier “business man” buys the stuff himself at $0.93 and sells it to his “client” for $1.89.

Except that the “client” pays on 90 days, while the domestic dealer requires payment at 40 days. So the mark has to pony up large sums of cash based on an invoice that will never be paid.

But they really put some effort into it. The chemical is a trade name… that they took the time to register… it really sells for $0.11 per pound. So no matter how much is bought, they can really sell the actual material which keeps the police out of it until the money paid to the domestic dealer is long gone. Real low value material changes hands – and usually lands at the marks warehouse. So they can sell it and recoup some of their investment. But the international contract falls through. Their payment doesn’t clear escrow.

The domestic dealers all disappear before the 90 days. And yes there are false identities and lots of fraud. But nothing actionable until it’s too late.

The honest company does due diligence and fairly represents their client, and doesn’t get stung because they don’t buy anything. Even the dishonest company with good business practices gets away unscathed because they research their vendors and the chemical.

This, like the original lost dog scam only targets the dishonest. And more importantly they put a lot of thought into the set up. They wooed their targets. Not like the rude man from Togo who wanted no doubt a quick and dirty over invoice scam. Sigh… just no pride in craftsmanship.

Still the lesson here is to always check out all aspects of customers and vendors. Know what you’re buying and selling. Honest deals are virtually never “decide right now” situations. Honest deals stand scrutiny. Honest business partners don’t mind providing proof.

And of course remember to forward the scam to the proper authorities. Their job is easier if they can get in front of the scam rather than follow after.

Until later

Charles