Just curious if anyone has been getting these texts that all seem to be the same subject and writing style that go: "Hi, this is (insert name) Do you do Architecture drawing and design planning for residential house?"
They seem to be targeting small architecture firms. They never answer the phone, and the texts following usually ask if you accept CC payment?
I get them about once a week now and there is always a different number with each one.
I've been getting those for several years. 95% of the time they use names that are either both first names or both last names - like "this is Kermit Bill", "this is Jefferson Johnson", etc. There was another variation that I got a zillion times that always asked for a house with a "grand foyel".
Yeah, usually email...Typically starts like they have a budget of 2 million and want a 6 bedroom house. They are unfortunately out of the country but want to make a huge down payment. One time I played along for few weeks....
Sep 13, 19 8:24 am ·
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parkerbrock
Haha me too, although I need to work on how I bait them as I'm coming across too desperate.
I've known some architects who have believed the scam. One of my friends had already contacted his bank to set up credit card processing when I found out about it and stopped him from going through with the transaction. Another local architect did fall for it - the scammer says they're in the military or on an oil rig or some other reason that they're not able to meet in person or use normal means of payment. They send a large deposit with a stolen or otherwise bogus credit card number, but direct the architect that they'll be sending substantially more than the architect's deposit, and that the extra is the fee for the interior designer or lighting designer or somebody like that who they've also hired, and they get the architect to agree to send the extra to that 3rd party (who is really the scammer or one of his sometimes-unsuspecting accomplices). The payment initially goes through, but eventually it gets reversed and the architect is out the money that he sent to the 3rd party, plus any transaction fees and associated overdrafts and so on.
This is so scary! I have been witnessing a lot of these phishing spam emails. They can be so specific and sometimes take on the email identities of contacts.
So glad I looked this up. It's been driving me nuts trying to figure out what the scam is...the one I got today even gave a vacant lot as the address of the project. It's on my way to work...hilariously the neighborhood has 250K ish type houses this guy wanted to build a 1.5 million dollar house! Thanks for clarifying this scam!
Has anyone reported this to consumer affairs, AIA, etc.?
Jun 18, 20 11:15 am ·
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kjdt
Yes. These scams use a similar template to those in various other professions, and are reported literally thousands of times per day. They're very widespread, and AIA national and various chapters have published articles, run education seminars, etc. about phishing and other online scams regularly since virtually the dawn of the internet.
Jun 18, 20 3:37 pm ·
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Text scams for small business owners
Just curious if anyone has been getting these texts that all seem to be the same subject and writing style that go: "Hi, this is (insert name) Do you do Architecture drawing and design planning for residential house?"
They seem to be targeting small architecture firms. They never answer the phone, and the texts following usually ask if you accept CC payment?
I get them about once a week now and there is always a different number with each one.
I got one through email this week. The Entre-Architect FB group seems to have daily discussions on these.
I've been getting those for several years. 95% of the time they use names that are either both first names or both last names - like "this is Kermit Bill", "this is Jefferson Johnson", etc. There was another variation that I got a zillion times that always asked for a house with a "grand foyel".
Yeah, usually email...Typically starts like they have a budget of 2 million and want a 6 bedroom house. They are unfortunately out of the country but want to make a huge down payment. One time I played along for few weeks....
Haha me too, although I need to work on how I bait them as I'm coming across too desperate.
Then again, I have better things to do!
by text & email...amazing that somebody is spending time this way
I've known some architects who have believed the scam. One of my friends had already contacted his bank to set up credit card processing when I found out about it and stopped him from going through with the transaction. Another local architect did fall for it - the scammer says they're in the military or on an oil rig or some other reason that they're not able to meet in person or use normal means of payment. They send a large deposit with a stolen or otherwise bogus credit card number, but direct the architect that they'll be sending substantially more than the architect's deposit, and that the extra is the fee for the interior designer or lighting designer or somebody like that who they've also hired, and they get the architect to agree to send the extra to that 3rd party (who is really the scammer or one of his sometimes-unsuspecting accomplices). The payment initially goes through, but eventually it gets reversed and the architect is out the money that he sent to the 3rd party, plus any transaction fees and associated overdrafts and so on.
This is so scary! I have been witnessing a lot of these phishing spam emails. They can be so specific and sometimes take on the email identities of contacts.
So glad I looked this up. It's been driving me nuts trying to figure out what the scam is...the one I got today even gave a vacant lot as the address of the project. It's on my way to work...hilariously the neighborhood has 250K ish type houses this guy wanted to build a 1.5 million dollar house! Thanks for clarifying this scam!
Has anyone reported this to consumer affairs, AIA, etc.?
Yes. These scams use a similar template to those in various other professions, and are reported literally thousands of times per day. They're very widespread, and AIA national and various chapters have published articles, run education seminars, etc. about phishing and other online scams regularly since virtually the dawn of the internet.
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