Listening to her gut saves woman from online scam; Fraud artists wanted
aspiring model to cash fake money orders

Tereca Ford saved herself a lot of heartache, hassle and thousands of
dollars by not falling for an Internet scam.

"I listened to my gut," the aspiring 35-year-old model said in an interview.
"The whole thing just didn't feel right and I called police.

"They told me to cut off all contact with those people and I did."

Now, a little wiser, the Brantford woman wants to share her close encounter
with online scams so that others don't become victims.

"Everything seemed to be on the up and up," Ford said Tuesday. "But when I
got the (modelling) contract, I and a couple of other people read it over
and it got us to thinking.

"It said that once I was on the shoot, the photographer was in control and
that I would have to do what the photographer said."

That set off alarm bells because it raised the possibility of her being
forced to pose nude. In all previous online correspondence, Ford was told
she would be modelling clothing, such as jeans and jackets.

There were other issues that caused her concern. In one e-mail
correspondence, Ford wanted to know the identity of the client, the name of
the catalogue the shoot was for, as well as the shoot's time and place.

"But when I asked about when and where the shoot would take place, I never
got answers."

alarm bells

The alarm bells became even louder when she received $3,200 worth of money
orders from those associated with the modelling job. "It was supposed to be
a $9,000 shoot and I was supposed to get paid $2,000 for it," she said. "I'd
get $1,000 up front and the other $1,000 after it was over.

When they sent me $3,200 - a lot more than I had expected - I began to
wonder why."

When she enquired about it with her online contact, she was told to cash the
money orders, take her cut and send the balance to the studio manager.

The envelope the money orders arrived in also bothered her because the
lettering appeared to be Russian or Eastern European.

Suspicious, Ford didn't cash the money orders. Instead, she called police.

The money orders were fake.

If she had been able to cash them, she may have been responsible for the
entire $3,200. Once the fraud was uncovered, she would have had to pay back
all the money, including the cash she had forwarded to the studio, which
probably couldn't be traced. She could also face criminal charges.

Ford's close encounter with the modelling scam began when she wanted to
upgrade her MySpace account, which features her picture. She received a
message asking her if she was interested in modelling. When she said she
was, Ford was asked to provide her name, address, phone number and another
photo.

She was also told someone would contact her if she was accepted. Details
about payment and what the modelling shoot entailed were also discussed over
a series of e-mails.

scams becoming more common

Online scams such as the one Ford became embroiled in are becoming quite
common, police say.

The scams usually involve a pretense of a legitimate business transaction
involve the purchase and sale of merchandise or a service. Police often see
this type of scam used to obtain money from people who are selling cars in
want ads or for paying for dance lessons.

One of the hallmarks of the scam that almost ensnared Ford is the targeted
victim is always given access to more money than they expected and more than
what the service or product is worth. They are then asked to take the money
they are owed and send the balance elsewhere, usually through a money
forwarding service.

The victim, almost inevitably, has a choice between grabbing some easy cash
in what appears to be a good deal or listening to their instincts and
backing away.

Police always say that if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably
is - and likely a scam.

Ford, meanwhile, still wants to pursue a modelling career but she's become
even more careful about who she deals with and what she does online.

"This has made me a lot more wary that's for sure."

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