Spam & Phishing Email Warning (All Teachers)

[Alan Tang]

I had a similar email a few years ago about a tip and excessive pay.
I initially was quite surprised by the email and before I considered replying, the email was flagged up and identified as spam.

More recently similar emails have been sent asking for lessons to start as early as possible.

For me what is most noticeable about these is the terrible use of grammar and spelling mistakes that you see in the email. Mine is not brilliant but there is clear difference my errors and the emails written!

[Matthew Rusk]

Student Scam Email Warning! We have been getting enquiries like the one above. I wanted to highlight this to the community as this is a spam email. We are aware of “student scam” emails and I fear this is one of them. If you see an email enquiry like this one please do not reply. PM me if you want me to look over an email that you have been send directly if it is similar to this one.

[Matthew Rusk]

Eliza Jane Fyfe thanks for highlighting a similar spam email like the one above to me, I know you received a similar enquiry last week (attached below for the community).

[Andrew Ford]

Matthew Rusk at least they managed to match the names in their latest effort. I got this same one too.

[Joe Bradley]

I had this

[Matthew Rusk]

I would really agree with this observation. Also when the name of the email – which is quite often [email protected] isn’t the same as the name that the email is signed off with can be used as a small red flag. Put them together (1) generic and vague email (2) with poor grammar and spelling (3) where the email address and correspondents names are different should raise a large enough red flag to pause to assess whether it is a genuine enquiry.

[Joseph Young]

This is the first one I got, seemed normal at first.

[Joseph Young]

Then he followed up with this and I started to wonder. I realised after getting a second email from someone else with an identical story and googling ‘hearing impairment scam email’ what was going on.

[Eliza Fyfe]

creepy!

[Joseph Young]

Eliza Jane Fyfe Indeed! I found this blog about it: https://www.mickmel.com/the-hearing-impaired-scam/

[Matthew Rusk]

Eliza Jane Fyfe that is a really odd email

[Eliza Fyfe]

Wow that post! I want to play them

[Matthew Rusk]

I have been notified about another spam email – this one from an emailer called “Sheila Wilshire” please see attached. We have two emails from “her” that are copied word for word. Thanks to the teacher who PM me about this; we try and spot spam as it comes through but it is challenging to filter it all out. Do PM me if you are unsure:)

[Joseph Young]

A reddit thread here with web designers who have been targeted by the same scam: https://www.reddit.com/r/web_design/comments/2zlip1/psa_if_you_get_an_email_from_someone_who_is/

[Guest Teacher]

I am getting a lot of spam coming in this weekend from the following “individual” – please watch out; it is a set email and certainly spam.

The email says:

———- Forwarded message ———
From: Williams B
Date: Sat, 6 Apr 2019 at 20:51
Subject: Private Guitar lessons
To:

Hi Andrew,

This is Williams B and i would like to know if you do Guitar lessons?
I intend booking a Private session for my teenagers and also if you do accept all major credit card?

Looking forward to your respond..
Williams

—

Also had it from another email address using the same template email. If you have received this too please comment here – I want music teachers to stay safe out there!

[Guest Teacher]

Update on the enquiry above; I have had several more enquiries from this individual and have been able to capture the IP address. This has enabled me to trace the enquiry – it is from an individual based in Lagos, Nigeria. I will look into how we can report this to the authorities.