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I didn’t have to go far to hear this scam was back; they actually sent it to MY email thinking I was a florist! I wanted to warn all florists to stay alert this spring and be aware of scammers who want to take advantage of your business.
You often hear this scam being done through hearing impaired phone service (ttd relay), but also can come via e-mail or any other messaging method. Here is the e-mail scam I received this morning:
Hello This Ben Bruce i will like to order for 8 big bouquets flowers for my UNCLE wedding and i want the price range of $200 per one Approximately 26″ W x 41″ H and the color should be in bright summer color, it will be pick up by a private courier on the 4th of April and want them arranged in vases so can i have the total cost that now so that i can pay with my card now and so can i have yr store address so i can forward it to the shipper agent and i will like you to do me a favor due to my physical disability…
Thanks
Ben
How do I know this is a scam?
1. The broken English. Many of these scams originate outside of the US and the message will be very choppy. The way they’ve typed UNCLE is like they are filling in the blank of some scamming copy template. While not all choppy messages are scams, they should be more carefully examined.
2. The shipper agent. This is the tell tale sign that it is a scam. Why are they paying an outside shipper instead of having you deliver them yourself? This is just too fishy.
If you are unsure if an email or other request is a scam, ask lots of questions! You might even reply back to this guy and explain your own delivery rates. More than likely, you’ll never hear from him again.
More scam alerts from the Flower Shop Network blog.
Please, if anyone else comes across this, or any other floral industry scams, let us know so we can warn others by emailing social@flowershopnetwork.com.
Scammers are back at it again. We are a local florist in Cincinnati, OH and received the following email from janetkush@yahoo.com:
Hello
How are you doing today?I was hoping you got my previous email and i wil like to know if you can handle my order for me,Please let me know what date do you have available for the Month of November and beside what type of Credit card do you accept .Please do endeavor to get back to me soon .
We never received a “previous email” and informed her of this. We then received this email:
How are you today?I will like to place an order and the order will be 8 big bouquets flowers for my wedding and i want the price range of $200 per one Approximately 12″ W x 14″ H and the color should be in bright summer color, it will be pick up by a shipper on the 14th of November .So can i have the total cost for that and i will be paying you with my credit card .I will have love to speak to you on phone but am hearing impaired (Deaf)what type of credit card do you accept .So i will be expecting your email soon
Best Regard
Keep in mind this correspondence took place from the end of October to beginning of November (~2 weeks before her “wedding date”). We emailed her back requesting details of her wedding (where, when, wedding colors, number of bridesmaids, etc.) as we do with all of our brides. A few days later, we received this email:
So here is my house address 59** E Woodmont Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45213 but the moment am out of the state for my medical check up and the wedding date is 14th of November,Am not sure of the event location yet but i will like you know soon.The time of the event will have to be 10 AM.The reception is not yet concluded.I will inform you soon.I do have bridesmaids and they are 4 ,Am just an average height .Am wearing a white wedding gown.The bridesmaids dress is pink.The 8 big bouquets are for decorations for the ceremony/reception.The wedding color are bright yellow sand orange.I just want something simple and elegant.So i think am able to answer all your question so please do get back to me with the grand total cost for my order.
To which we replied with a “quote” and expressed concerns about her not having location details 2 weeks before her “wedding date.” We then received the infamous email requesting a “favor:”
Thank you for your reply,so i will like to have your shop address so i can forward it to the carrier that will be coming for the pickup once it is ready by 1:00 pm,Also I will need a little favor from you cuz i haven’t pay the carrier that will be coming for the pick up of the flowers and he doesn’t have access to credit cards facilities and am asking for this favor due to my disability and i am at the hospital will undergo surgery in 6 days time..that why am asking for the favor. So i will be expecting your email soon
Best Regard
We replied with informing her of our policy regarding credit card payments and thanked her for confirming our suspicions that this was one of the all too familiar scams and that her information has been reported to the federal trade commission.
These scammers are persistent! Be aware! And if it smells funky… it probably is.
Got an email today from janetkush@yahoo.com asking for food catering, but other than that it’s all the same verbiage as above.
Got this email today:
So i will be happy if you can handle my order for me,I do want 8 big bouquets flowers for my wedding.So here is a description and image of what i want in size ,Approximately 12″ W x 14″ H and the color should be in bright summer color and a little touch of Red.The Price range per one should be $200.So i will like you to know am hearing impaired (Deaf) Lady and the only mean of Communication is via email or text .Do note that the flowers will be will be pick up by a Carrier on the 24th of March .So what will be the total cost plus tax inclusive for that beside what type of Credit card do you accept.So i will be awaiting your email soon .
Best Regard
Janet Kush
Thanks for sharing and letting us know!
Original Message—–
From: Janet
Sent: Sat, 25 Mar 2017 6:45
Subject: Cupcake Needed Soon
This is Janet,I will like to know if you are still able to handle my order for me ,Have waited patiently for your response and am yet to get any feedback back from you .Please let me know if you can handle my Cupcake pick up Order.Please do get back to me soon.I will like you to know am hearing impaired Lady and i will appreciate if both of us can also communicate via text.So please do endeavor to get back to me soon .
Janet Kush
—
I almost replied to say I hadn’t received a previous email from her but curiosity struck me and my mum so I googled her email and it brought me here!!
Thank you for letting us know!
i just received a similar email today!!
Thanks for confirming that the email I recently received is a scam. Here’s the message I got:
Mark Thompson
Sep 18 (2 days ago)
to bloomfieldflor.
Hello, I’m Mark, How is business going today ? I want to place order for pick up for wedding flowers and do you accept credit card as method of payment?
Mark Thompson
Sep 18 (2 days ago)
“Thank you for the swift response.I will like to order for 5 bridals bouquets flowers for my daughter’s Wedding party and i want the price range of $550 per one,i will like them be in rose white and red color.it will be pick up by a Carrier Agent before on the 29th of October.”
“How are you doing today and i will like to know if you can still handle the job i offered you and i will be willing to hear from you soon”
“Thank you for the swift response.i want you to know that your total cost meet up with my initial budget and i will like to know if you are the owner, your name and your shop address so i can forward it to Carrier Agent and i am going to make a call asap i can. willing to hear from you soon”
This is too similar to the other comments not to be a scam. I’m going to end communication with “Mark”.
Got this today, through our office email to our website:
Chris Thomas
5:21 PM (2 hours ago)
Thank for the response i will like to order for 5 big bouquets flowers for my Son wedding and i want the price range of $200 per one Approximately 26″ W x 41″ H and the color should be in bright summer color, it will be pick up by a private courier on the 6th of Jan 3pm and i want them arranged in vases. I will have my private courier that will come down to your shop for the pick up of the Flower arrangement so kindly get back to me with the total cost with your cell number
Chris Thomas
christhomas0502@aol.com
Then proceeded to communicate with the person through text, glad I googled to here and saw almost the exact same scam! Second time in a year we’ve been approached by these low life scammers, and
we are a non-profit agency for adults with developmental disabilities!
Just recieved same scam verbatim. Thank you for this post…definitely saved us!
Great to hear!
We just went through an attempted email order from Janet Kush wanting us to charge an additional $980 to a floral order for $1700 that would be picked up by her ‘carrier’ that we should give the $980 cash to. Unfortunately poor Janet needed us to do her this ‘favor’ because she was hearing impaired, in the hospital having surgery, and had just been diagnosed with lung cancer, etc etc. We filed a complaint with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Good luck to all & thanks for posting this info.
I just got this email from someone named Carrick Bells with scam written all over it:
Thanks for your reply. I would have love to call your company directly to make bookings/consultations regarding my request,but i am currently out of the town for business purposes and other arrangements which i would be back on Thursday,14th of March.I have compiled the list of wedding flowers which will be needed for the event kindly find them below;
Bride’s bouquet (Rose or tulips)
8 Bridesmaids’ bouquets (tulips or roses)
Tossing bouquet (for the bouquet toss at the reception) Roses
2 Flower girl’s bouquet (floral crown Roses)
Groom’s boutonniere(Orchids, roses or carnations)
6 Groomsmen boutonnieres ( orchids or roses)
1 Ring bearer’s boutonniere
Mother of the bride’s corsage or nosegay
Mother of the groom corsage or nosegay
Father of the groom boutonniere
Father of the bride boutonniere
Note the color theme is Black + Pale Green + White
I’ll be glad by your experience you should be able to handle that for me on that date and make it ready for pick up.Also, let me have the total price altogether.I will need a contact name, phone number and the full address of your shop so i can forward them to my carrier so they can locate your store when they are coming for the pick up.I need those information in other to send you my credit card details and make the payment now.
Await your respond soon
Regards
I responded advising we do not offer pick up for weddings, only delivery with complete installation. I never heard back :)
Hey everyone!
This morning we received an email from a Janet Kush as well
saying…
“Hello Am really worry not to have heard from you, I do want to know if you are able to handle my order for me. Please time is of essence to me please do get back to me soon. So I will like to know if you have got flowers.”
I always save every order in my calendar which threw the first red flag. I also noticed when searching for the email that this post came up as well. Her email this time is Janetkusssh@gmail.com Im not 100% sure if it is a scam or a real person…hoping some of you can help me out since you have dealt with a “Janet Kush” before, if not i hope this will help some of you if you receive a similar email. Have a great year everyone!!
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO POSTED. This is the crap I received.
Janet Kush
6:22 AM (1 hour ago)
to bcc: me
Hello
Am really worry not to have heard from you,I do want to know if you are still able to handle my order for me.Please time is of essence to me please do get back to me soon .So i will like to know if you have got flowers.
I received a similar email from Janet Kush today, and immediately searched my email looking for a previous email that I hadn’t responded to. When I couldn’t find one, I googled her email and found this. Thank you for the warning!
Kim,
I’m not a florist. I run a martial arts studio, and I received a similar email from Janet Kush. I came across this thread googling the name. I live in Vermont, so this has to be a scam.
I received the exact same email from JanetKusssh@gmail.com this morning! Thank you to everyone for sharing your experiences. Best of luck in your businesses!
THANK GOD…I looked this name up, Janet Kush. Between the broken grammar and bad English, I new something was wrong. His/her message:
Hello
Am really worry not to have heard from you,I do want to know if you are still able to handle my order for me.Please time is of essence to me please do get back to me soon .So i will like to know if you have got flowers.
This is not the first time for me though. I had another one last year from a guy that was “planning” his anniversary party and wanted my help, since I do event planning as well. His English was horrible and the run on sentences, for me, were a dead give away. Plus the whole promising he was good for the payment, was another flag!
I have read several comments above, but am dying to email back and call this person out! About 9 years ago I got scammed out of some money and I swore I would always be super aware of each situation and inquiry. These people or this person, needs to just walk off a cliff. As a small business owner, the last thing I need it be taken advantage of.
Good luck all!
This is the newest one I have gotten.
Sounds great! I will like to order for 8 big bouquets and 15 centerpieces for my wedding and I want the price range to be between $100-$200 for each flower Approximately 26″ W x 41″ H and the colors and type will be found below. It will be picking up from you by my wedding planner on the 25th of March so can i have the total cost of tax now so that i can pay with my credit card now…
*Type of Bouquets: Roses, lilies. gardenias, freesias, and lilacs, with a hint of seeded eucalyptus.
*Type of Centerpiece: White chrysanthemums and branches of white pine (Pinus strobus) make a striking winter centerpiece. A birch-look pillar candle anchors the arrangement in the center of a wooden bowl.
Thanks,
Victor
What authority is the best to report this to?
We just received a similar text message today, and several weeks ago we had an inquiry from the very suspicious”Janet Kush.” What game are these people running? We cannot figure it out!
Im a Cake Decorator! I design cupcake bouquets & received a very similar email…this one is from scammer John Francis .
‘Hello, I have certain order for my mum,s birthday and i will like to know if you can supply 13 big bouquets flowers in Clear glass Vases. Let me know if you are able to fill this request and get back to me with your price and options also with your method of payment
Thanks’
And then this ….
Hello thanks for the reply , I wished so much to call you directly or come to your store but unfortunately I’m currently on a business trip outside the country and this is the best way I could communicate with you for now. Hope that’s fine by you? My mum,s birthday holds on 27th of october and I will back on 25th need to make a good arrangement for the birthday for her. I want to purchase the flowers with vases in bright summer color i want the price range of $120 per one Approximately 26 cm W x 41 cm H and the colors should be in ( white,Red,Orange,Yellow,blue in Roses Flower) and you will have it delivered to my house a day before the event.and the arrangements will be placed at the center table I know you are a professional florist and you will know the best design for birthday’s. kindly .get back to me with the total cost of all and the type of credit card u accept for payment.
Regards
This style of scam was very similar to one I had in Gumtree… Beware when they try to use western union, ask a favour, use paypal then get a refund via paypal. They can transfer the money then cancel the transfer or something like that. Just beware fellow hard working business peeps!! Why anyone would want to deposit a cent into anyones account beats me! Somehow its to do with a refund transaction they request I think? Is anyone savvy about their tactics?? Please share it so we are more aware, thanks
So glad I found this! They also use the address janetkussh@hotmail.com
This is what I received:
So i will be happy if you can handle my order for me,I do want 8 big bouquets flowers for my wedding.So here is a description and image of what i want in size ,Approximately 12″ W x 8″ H and the color should be in soft pastels.color and a little touch of blue.The Price range per one should be $200.So i will like you to know am hearing impaired (Deaf) Lady and the only mean of Communication is via email or text .Do note that the flowers will be will be pick up by a Carrier on the 10th of August.So what will be the total cost plus tax inclusive for that beside what type of Credit card do you accept.So i will be awaiting your email soon .
Thanks for the posts, I’m glad I came across this thread. My mail app was clever enough to classed it as SPAM, but I thought I’d double check in case I was missing out on business.
They’ve used this email to contact me: janetkushs@yahoo.com
Hello My name is Janet,Am hearing impaired that why i email you i would love to know if you can handle website design for a new company and also do you accept credit card for payment? kindly get back to me as soon as possible.So what is price does your Typical budget start from?So i can send you the job details. Regards
Janet Kush
Thanks so much guys, received the same spam from Janet Kush. Same order – 8 big bouquets, etc. I was about to reply but my instinct told me to check her on google. Take care you all!
Good luck!
Received this email from janetkussh@hotmail.com
So i will be happy if you can handle my order for me,I do want 8 big bouquets flowers for my wedding.So here is a description and image of what i want in size ,Approximately 12″ W x 8″ H and the color should be in soft pastels.color and a little touch of blue.The Price range per one should be $200.So i will like you to know am hearing impaired (Deaf) Lady and the only mean of Communication is via email or text .Do note that the flowers will be will be pick up by a Carrier on the 31st of August.So what will be the total cost plus tax inclusive for that beside what type of Credit card do you accept.So i will be awaiting your email soon .
Janet Kush
5:46 PM (16 hours ago)
to me
So i will like one hand held bouquets and the rest will be seven vase centerpieces arrangement i will appreciate if we can continue our conversation via email and i will like you to know i will like a Glass Vase for the flowers arrangement .So i hope you will be able to handle my Order for me .So please endeavor to get back to me soon .So i will be looking forward in reading back from you soon.
Thank you for getting back to me ,So the venue is the Ordsall Hall Weddings and there address is 322 Ordsall Lane, Salford, Lancashire, M5 3AN,So the Carrier will be at your place to pick up the flowers and the good thing ,Is the Carrier have good experience on flowers So i will be grateful if i can get the grand total cost for my order ,So that i can make my Credit card payment today cause time is of essence to me.So i will be expecting your email soon.
Hi happened to me too. Email this time sallytouches@hotmail.com I nearly fell for it! 🤬
Slightly confused, how does this scam work. I will be contacting my bank first thing as gave this person my bank details to transfer the money, I feel like a complete fool. 😡😡😡😡😡
Got a similar email today, glad I found this thread!
Website Needed
Janet Kush
Hello My name is Janet,Am hearing impaired that why i email you i would love to know if you can handle website design for a new company and also do you accept credit card for payment? kindly get back to me as soon as possible.So what is price does your Typical budget start from?So i can send you the job details. Regards
I received this email, too. From this email address: janetskussh@gmail.com
—
Hello My name is Janet,Am hearing impaired that why i email you i would love to know if you can handle website design for a new company and also do you accept credit card for payment? kindly get back to me as soon as possible.So what is price does your Typical budget start from?So i can send you the job details. Regards
—
However, she clearly sent it to a lot of other people as I wasn’t even the main recipient – just bcc’d.
I responded with:
Hi Janet,
Looks like you’re a pretyy well known scammer, so I won’t be working with you.
Have a GREAT day.
-Ross
Ahh i’m trying to keep it going for a laugh, my last response was
“So will you still need a website if your going to be dead soon” as I received the subsequent “i’ve got cancer” email
Haven’t heard back yet
Hi,my wife is a florist and got a email very similar but now they are using the name Cynthia Little.she used a card and paid 3000 to my wife on her floral website and it says transaction is approved.what are they getting out of this if they just paid 3000 dollars?
I’m a nutritionist in Columbus, Ohio and received a message from the same email address. The woman says she works for an offshore company and wants to secure diabetic education for her two parents while she’s gone. It felt like a scam and I’m glad I found this site!