Find Your I received this email from the Michigan Florist Association about a scam targeting florists. Flower Shop Network believes consumers and hard-working florists should be aware of this scam and protect themselves.
Just because this scam is occurring in Michigan doesn’t mean they won’t target other florists across the country. Many scams start in one state only to migrate into other states. Rodney and his staff did a fantastic job outlining what to be aware of when you receive a hearing impaired call. Notice this is just a new twist on an old scam “Give $$$ to shipper”
We can shut down these scammers if we get the word out. So pass this information on.
A new “Hearing Impaired” scam is hitting florists in Michigan. Operators call from a deaf phone service (ttd relay) wanting 20 dozen roses. Four shops have been contacted via e-mail, telephone, or both with this scam: Swonk’s in Battle Creek, Vanessa’s in Plymouth, Ribar’s in Plymouth and Bea’s Flowers & Gifts in Plymouth. Thank you to these shops for keeping us updated.
*Victor from Vanessa’s said “We just got the call from (917) 477-3043, called the number, got the ttd relay, but the phone number is for a person, they were in- between. They wanted 20 dozen roses and their shipper would pick them up. It sounded familiar, so I just had employee hang up.”
*Lori from Ribar’s was also contacted by the ttd relay. They asked for 20 dozen roses, and wanted to put $900 on a credit card. Then they wanted the shop to give $900 in cash, along with the 20 dozen roses, to a driver they would send. When Lori told them ‘no’ they hung up on her.
*Lynn from Bea’s said: “Here is a summary of the phone call I received on Nov. 23 regarding an order for 20 dozen roses. I received a call from the operator stating I had a call from someone who was deaf and she would need to interpret the call. The customer wanted to order 20 dozen mixed roses and was willing to pay $800 for the flowers and then added $950 to that for a delivery charge. They said they would have a truck pick up the flowers and we would then pay them the $950 for the shipping cost. They wanted us to put a total of $1,798.00 on a credit card and out of that we would pay the driver of the truck the $950 and keep the $848 for the roses. I asked for a name and phone number and this is what they gave me: Bella Mark at (917) 477-3043. I declined the order stating I was worried this was a stolen credit card and the customer hung up. I also reported this to the Plymouth Township Police.
*Below is the e-mail sent to Swonk’s. Swonk’s also has received two scam phone calls in the last three weeks and refused to talk to them.
Dear Sir/Madam, I am Dr. Mrs. Sherry Smith. I will like to order 6 big bouquets for my brother’s 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 in orange color it will be in round table so that people will see it. It will be picked up by a private shipper on the 7th of next month so I can have the total cost that now so that I can pay with my Discover credit card. So kindly get back to me with your name and store address so I can give the shipper agent who will be coming for the flowers pick up and I also need your direct phone or you can special order it for me while I prepay with my Discover card. Hope to hear from you soon. Best Regards, Sherry
Florists should be aware that this scam is hitting all areas of the state via telephone and e-mail. Do not fall for this scam! If they contact your shop, let us know by e-mailing rod@michiganfloral.org.
hello,this scam has tried to come through our small town and few surrounding towns.wanted the 8 arrangs @ 200.00 each,plus 900.00 wired to their acct.they gave me a date for the wedding to be on a monday. that was my first red flag.when i questioned them of the date, they changed it to the following wkend.although our shop or the other shops i spoke with didn’t fall for this,we spent over 45 minutes on the phone speaking with operator before we were fed up with them. the 3rd time they called, i immediately told operator to relay”if this is a scam they are being recorded now and operator came back with reply of mam, the party has hung up.this is very annoying.
I am in Arizona, in a large metropolitan area, but have a reasonably small shop. We have received this attempted scam call many times. We have to be careful because we get legitimate relay calls all the time from hearing impaired customers, but in general I can figure out the scam call within 2 minutes. I always tell the operator I am not interested and I hang up.
It may seem rude, but it is ruder still for the caller to attempt to bamboozle me. Thanks for sharing with the rest of the floral world.
We are located in Cleves, OH and we were called 3 times this week by a relay service. Two of the calls were within 15 minutes of each other.
I think each time the scammer used a different relay service since the caller ID numbers were different. The supposed “customer” wanted to order 4 large arrangements for $400 each for his Uncle’s wedding. They said they would send a truck to pick up the flowers. I declined the order before they got any further than that. I told the operator we had heard this was a scam but the operator was not willing to listen. I guess they have to just do what their customer is asking them to do and not ask any questions. The “customer” hung up as soon as I mentioned it was a scam so I assume they could hear just fine.
We also received emails recently from someone saying they were out of the country but needed wedding flowers for their daughter here in the states.
Thanks for your posting on the internet about this.
I received my SECOND scam call of the summer today-a man wanting 6 bouquets @ 200.00 each to be picked up by PRIVATE courier on August 24. I had gotten one earlier in June from a woman wanting wedding flowers totaling $2000.00 to be picked up also.
This is a small flower shop in a rural community in Illinois so I knew this had to be a scam. Especially when neither party would give out any additional information other than a name (which I’m sure is bogus) and a credit card number. And they refused to talk to an employee, insisting on talking to the “manager or owner”.
This has also happened to us twice over the phone and a few times through email. I also hung up on them because they gave me the name van halen….come on people can’t you use a better name than this? Warning florist! Just hang up on these frauds!
We have had a half dozen or more of these calls in the past few months. I’ve gotten to the point now that as soon as the operator says it’s a Relay Call (usually from some web-site) I just tell them I’m not interested and call someone else and hang up.
I am a flower shop in Cheswick Pennsylvania. I have gotten the relay calls. A HUGE waist of time!! Why cant the relay company stop these fraudulant calls before they go any further, and better yet why cant the relay company give the information about the caller to the proper authorities and have them looked into. It is a huge waist of their time also. Just keeping us busy….
They have tried this scam on me twice, beginning last year. It’s the same story- 6 bouquets for $200. each for a wedding. We do alot of weddings, so I knew it must be a scam to begin with. NOW REALLY!! Who outside the bride’s and groom’s family would order flowers for a wedding???? DUH!!! They must think we are pretty dumb!