October 21, 2006 at 10:30 pm · Filed under The scam
Big things happening on the scam front today. Our scammer started calling Rob around noon. Unfortunately for the scammer, Rob was unreachable until about 6 pm, so the scammer wasted the afternoon calling again and again … eight times in total! No caller ID was available, and we think he may have been using a VoIP (Internet) phone.
Our scammer is a man with a strong foreign accent. He is quite perturbed that he hasn’t received the money yet. Acting as Ayres, Rob told him he was unwilling to send the money via Western Union because he had a police record. Then he said he had lost the transmittal information, and asked him to re-send it.
Then he said the car had been wrecked and asked if the scammer still wanted it. The scammer did assure “Ayres” that he wanted the car. (Let’s keep in mind that we are talking about a 15-year old Honda Prelude with 145,000 miles, which failed inspection due to rust perforation, and now has been reportedly “wrecked.”)
He also didn’t explain how he got “Ayres” phone number. We sent it via email to the “shipping clerk” and somehow “Richard Williams” got the number. Gee, you’d think they were one person!
All told, the conversation took about 10 minutes, and I don’t think our scammer was very happy about it! But the hook is still set deep, and I think we have a shot at occupying his attention for another week or more. So far we’ve wasted nearly four weeks of his time. This started back on September 25.
“Ayres” also mentioned that he was still sick. We think the next step is for him to enter the hospital, before he gets a chance to visit Western Union. Ayres mother, or perhaps his Aunt Abe, will pick up the conversation on Ayres’ behalf.
October 21, 2006 at 9:56 am · Filed under The scam
Our scammer is apparently going to emerge in yet a new persona, “Richard Williams”, the husband of “Dr. Lilian Williams”. At 5:31 pm he/she wrote:
HELLO,
I AM GIVEN YOU JUST TODAY TO SEND THE OVERPAYMENT,AM NOT GOING TO CALL THE POLICE IF YOU DO THAT BEFORE 7.00PM TODAY SO I URGE THAT YOU DO TO WESTERN UNION OR MONEY GRAM OR BETTER STILL YOU CAN SEND IT ONLINE.GET BACK TO ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
MY HUSBAND WILL GIVE YOU A CALL SOON TO GET THE MTCN NUMBER.
Nine minutes later, we heard from the shipping clerk:
.HELLO,
YOU BETTER GET TO OUR CLIENT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE WE ARE JUST TO ARRANGE FOR THE PICK UP AS SOON AS WE GET MONEY.
VELECIA FARMER.
And at 10:31 pm last, well past deadline, Ayres got this from Richard Williams:
i am still waiting for the information used to send the money.
Oops, missed the deadline. I guess Ayres can be expecting a call soon. I’d be really impressed if the scammer called up and tried to bluff Ayres further by pretending to be the police, but more likely he’ll call as Richard Williams. Rob will let us know as soon as he gets the call. He’s all ready with excuses for why he hasn’t sent it (he’s worried that the FBI will think he’s a terrorist because he knows they watch money orders, etc.).
Today we are heading into Washington DC with Bobby, Danine, and the girls, to see either the National Zoo or a museum.
October 20, 2006 at 3:13 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Once in a while we meet up with people through the blog or in person, and they give us neat things to take along on our trip. I have been remiss in acknowledging them lately, so I’ll catch up today.
Back in August, I met fellow Airstreamer Robert Stephan (of California) and commented on his cool Airstream belt. I’d never seen one before. Turns out he makes them himself — they aren’t available in stores. A few weeks later, I found in my mail a custom-made Airstream Life belt! Thanks, Robert! What a cool thing to do.
A few weeks ago I heard from blog reader Justin Belmont. He works for a company called Gnu Foods that has come out with a line of fiber bars. Justin sent us a package of these bars, and we all sampled them while driving down from New Jersey to Maryland last week. (It was the most interesting part of the entire trip!)
I’m sure Justin would like me to mention that Gnu Foods’ Flavor and Fiber Bars have about half your daily requirement of fiber, etc. But what the heck — they just taste good. I liked the cinnamon raisin, and Eleanor and Emma liked the chocolate. We’ll probably pick up some more next time we drive by Whole Foods, because they are a very good car snack.
Yesterday, when we met Bobby & Danine, the deal was that we were going to have lunch and they would pick our brains about traveling full-time, Airstreams, etc. We didn’t expect them to repay us in any way for this, because we just like helping other people get started on their travel dreams. But they brought a few small gifts that were very well suited to Airstream life: homemade sugar popcorn, kid’s stories on CD, and homemade sugared pecans. More great car munchies!
What impressed me was that even though they weren’t yet Airstream owners, they immediately appreciated what we can and can’t use. See, being in a small space we can’t store much. So portable, lightweight consumables (especially homemade treats!) are really nice gifts for that Airstreamer in your life. I haven’t met the Airstream owner yet who didn’t like to eat.
Today we are all working or schooling, but in a couple of hours we’ll all regroup for some evening fun. Last night we had dinner at Bobby & Danine’s house and it was great. The girls gave us a fashion show right before dinner, which was an amusing bonus. Tonight I have no idea what’s on the agenda but there’s no doubt we’ll have a wonderful time. Perhaps we’ll do some planning for this weekend’s activities.
October 20, 2006 at 11:04 am · Filed under The scam
This morning I got an early email from Rob Baker (co-host of the Vintage Airstream Podcast) offering to take the call from our scammer Valecia, AKA Dr. Lilian Williams AKA Alvaro Mendoza.
So Ayres wrote back to the “shipping clerk”:
OK I have a lot of questions so call me at 703 ***-*****. I don’t like Western Union, maybe we can work something out. I still have the check too because I didn’t get to the bank yet, and I still have a bad case of aluminitus and the doctor says it could get worse and become bauxitis.
And Ayres wrote back to “Dr Lilian” too:
I didnt deposit the check yet so dont worry. Dont call the cops because my unckle is a cop and he will kill me. Im already in trouble with him because of the car accident. He had to hide the police report again for me. Still sick but I will get to the bank soon. I email your shipper today too.
Meanwhile, Rob and I have been collaborating on things to say during the phone call. I am hoping he’ll be able to record it. If so, I’ll either type up a transcript or provide an MP3 file for downloading.
October 19, 2006 at 9:05 pm · Filed under The scam
We left Jane’s house this morning with the intention of meeting some Airstreamers-in-the-making along the way, and then proceeding to Cape Charles, VA. But fortune intervened. We met Bobby, Danine, and their 6-year-old daughter Elise in the parking lot of the Annapolis Mall and found we had a tremendous amount in common.
They are planning to sell their house next year and go out on a 10-month voyage around America. They are considering buying a Airstream Safari 30, just like ours. Being readers of this blog, they are considering the Nissan Armada or Titan as a tow vehicle. They are planning to homeschool Elise. So we had a lot to talk about …
By the end of lunch, they had convinced us to stay in the area a few days longer and courtesy park at their in-laws’ house. We’ll take the girls to the DC-area sights over the weekend. I know Emma will like the Museum of Natural History, since she’s into rocks and creatures. So we are now in Falls Church VA parked in a tree-lined suburban cul-de-sac. We’ll resume our originally scheduled route on Sunday or Monday.
We are getting no solar power lately. Everywhere we park we are under trees, and today has been very cloudy. Fortunately, our courtesy parking hosts have been allowing us to plug in, so it has not been a problem at all.
By the way, our water heater, which absolutely refused to do anything yesterday, is now working perfectly. I have no idea why.
Our scammer is getting bold. Today he started to threaten Ayres!
hello,
i got a message from my mover that you cant use western union,what do you mean by that,i am beginning to think this is a whole else of ****,if they dont get the money today via western union,i will invite the appropriate authorities.
thanks
Talk about cajones. A person who writes phony checks drawn on non-existent banks, uses four different aliases, and commits fraud is threatening to call in the authorities?
The “shipping company” wrote in too:
HELLO,
JUST TO REMIND YOU THAT WE ARE NOT THE BUYER BUT JUST THE SHIPPER,WE DONT TAKE
ANYTHING OTHER THAN WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER,I AM LOCATED IN VA AND I DONT
KNOW HOW YOU WANT TO FIND YOUR WAY.I AM JUST THE MOVER SO I URGE THAT YOPU FIND
A WESTERN UNION OUTLET OR MONEY GRAM OUTLET AND SEND THE MONEY AND IF YOU ARE
CONFUSED ON WHAT TO DO LET ME HAVE YOUR NUMBER SO THAT I CAN GIVE YOU A CALL.
GET BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
VELECIA FARMER
Does anyone want to take “Velecia’s” phone call? Talk about an opportunity for fun! I’ll start the bidding at $1. 😉
October 18, 2006 at 9:59 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Jane says for me to tell all of you that this was the best stop ever. It certainly has been good to see our old friends/co-workers. I was very closely aligned with our friends here, through business, for about nine years. We traveled everywhere together: Orlando, Las Vegas, Tel Aviv, Italy, London, etc… and so even though they aren’t Airstreamers (yet!) we have a common bond in many other ways.
We all went out for dinner this evening at a local Italian place. Seafood pizza? Mmmmm… only in Maryland.
Herschel gave Emma a short ride on his shoulders after dinner. He took me for a 2.5 mile walk, roundtrip, today. Can you believe this is a guy who is currently undergoing chemotherapy for cancer? His powerfully optimistic outlook is absolutely amazing.
We have had a system failure today: our water heater won’t go on. It worked the day before yesterday. So we’ll need to make a stop at an RV dealer, or an Airstream dealer if we want it covered under warranty.
October 18, 2006 at 5:21 pm · Filed under The scam
She’s back to upper case. I think desperation is setting in:
HELLO,
YOU MUST SEND THE MONEY VIA WESTERN UNION OR MONEY GRAM TO THE INFORMATION
GIVENT TO YOU,YOU CANNOT COME WITH CASH.
KINDLY GET BACKK TO ME AS SOON AS YOU SEND
Ayres wrote back tonight in his own fractured English:
Sorry had a wreck with the car. It has bent fender and in police inpound. Do you want to buy anyway? I can knock off $50 and come by with cash tomorrow. Why don’t you take cash? This is America after all.
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