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I just wanted a second opinion about this. This seems very fishy, and I want to know what you all think. This is from a dad "looking for lessons for his son".


"Thanks for your detail response and i would like to set up lesson with you for my son. He'll be starting lessons next week Thursdays at 4:30pm. My caregiver will be bringing my son to your studio and sit in during lesson . Am presently away to New York on a business trip and i wont be able to meet you before the lesson but i believe you are a credible and experience teacher. My business associate will be handling the payment for Richie's lessons,and the caregiver's charges. You will be receiving the lesson fee before the start of the tutoring. My business associate will send you a check of {$2500} being the payment for the fuel equipment i supplied to him and i've informed him that i will be using the funds to pay my son's lesson fee. He assured me he can only make the payment by (Check) available. I'll instruct him to get the check across to you (ASAP) and as soon as you get the check you would need to deduct your total lesson fee for one month $120 from ($2500)and send the remaining balance to my caregiver via western union being the funds to purchase books and renting of instrument for Richie to practice after lessons. You are to get back to me with your information below so as to get the lesson fee across to you:
FULL NAME:
ADDRESS: {NOT P.O BOX ADDRESS}
CITY:
STATE:
ZIPCODE:
CELL PHONE NUMBER:
HOME PHONE

I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thanks and have a wonderful day."

Totally a scam. Delete the email and ignore.

At most send back a note telling him your terms, perhaps simple payment for the first month of lessons in cash when "Richie" turns up for the first lesson. He's on his own for instrument rental, fuel, whatever. You won't hear from him again.

But that would just be for entertainment value. There isn't the slightest question it's a scam.

I would caution you to make no response whatever. Simply delete the message from your e-mail and empty the trash on your computer. Any response will inform the sender that your address is active. Here are some links describing this scam:
http://suzukiassociation.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1838" target="_blank" target="_blank
http://www.thomasjwestmusic.com/apps/bl ... c-teachers" target="_blank" target="_blank

Here's a quote from The Collaborative Piano Blog:
"If you get an email such as this, do not respond to it. You will get a cheque in the mail for a large sum, followed by a series of aggressive calls and emails asking for the difference between what they sent and what your rate would be. If you send the perpetrator a cheque for the difference, the original cheque will bounce."