This picture accompanies the initial email from the scam artist. My apologies go to the original owner of the photo. If you are the owner of this photo and would like it removed, please comment below or contact us via email. I’d post my email right here, but that’s probably how this whole thing got started in the first place.



*updated 9/23/11

The latest version

Start with “The original article” down below to understand what’s going on, but the latest version is from “Jack nash” at jacknash61@gmail.com.

I am Mr. Jack Nash, I am an hearing impaired, I will like you to help me make something with Ice Sculptures for my upcoming wedding event anniversary and I want to know if you can make both (Wedding Sculpture) and (Anniversary Sculpture) for me and I will be needing Two together, can you have this order done for me please kindly advice me and ,do you accept credit card for payment.
Thanks.

Even more follow up info

I’d imagine this is getting a little confusing, so you might want to read this post backwards, or at least start down below with “The original article” and then move up through the follow ups. Chris Wyer of USA Ice jumped through some hoops and got the following new email related to the pharaoh scam. This makes clear what the scammers are trying to get you to do: wire money to their fake shipping company via Western Union. After the money is out of your hands and in theirs, the credit card payment will presumably be invalidated somehow. In other words, you don’t get that money and you can’t get the wired money back. Chris also added a reply that would really screw up the whole scam. He said that they would deliver the sculptures for FREE. Great reply! Here’s the text from the latest email:

“Thank you so much for your response,and also would like you to know that i have emailed you address to the shipping company that will be at your location for the pick-up.and also note that as soon as they pick up the (Ice sculpture) it will be delivered to my clients in there different locations.and they have given an estimate for me.

The shipping company's Manager said the pick up will be made once they receive there
payment and according to the shipping company's Manager he said for them to
pick up will cost me $850 for the pick up fee cause they will have to deliver them as well to there different destinations
so i will be needing a favor from you and the favor is
that,I will be giving you my credit card now to put through for an amount of
$2350 while you keep $1500 as the payment for the ()
and have the remaining $850 send to the shipping company via
western union money transfer they receive payment upfront, so they can have
the (Ice sculpture)picked up and delivery am sure i can confide in your services , so can i go ahead email you with my credit cards

Expecting to read from you so i can email you with my credit card details
as well as the shippers info where the fund will be sent to

Thank you
Best Regards
Robert Bell”



Then after that, Chris got the following, the important parts of which he sent to the FBI and Mastercard:

Thank you for your response i would like you to have my credit card
details below as well as the info where the funds will be sent via
western union money transfer and also please do advise when the
the shipping company will contact you as soon as they have the fund for the pick up.

Here is my credit card details

Name on card:Robert Bell
Credit card Type:Master Card
Credit Card Number:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx .
Exp Date:12/12
cvv:213

Split charges on the both credit card equally

Name on card:Robert Bell
Credit card Type:Master Card
Credit Card Number:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx .
Exp Date:12/12
cvv:357

Billing Address
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
State: South Dakota
Zip Code: 57702

Here is the info where the funds will be sent to

Erica Langford
XXXXXXXX
City:Chicago
State: IL
Zip Code: 60644

More follow up info

See all the details below, but here’s the latest. From a email address attributed to “nicole martinez,” we get the most recent, obviously connected email:
“Good day,

I am Mr. David Raymond, I am an hearing impaired, I will like you to help me make something with Ice Sculptures for my upcoming wedding event anniversary and I want to know if you can make both (Wedding Sculpture) and (Anniversary Sculpture) for me and I will be needing Two together, can you have this order done for me please kindly advice me..”

There’s a clear connection when Raymond claims to be hearing impaired because some of the very first contacts (Fishian Greg, below) were attempted over the phone through a relay operator where the “client” was supposedly hearing impaired.

Follow up info

This seems to have started with the Fishian Greg scam (see below), but from our point of view, it quickly turned into a slightly different version of the scam, the King Tut or Pharaoh version. Other carvers have received both versions as well. The image above is included in the initial email for the newer scam, which continues today. If you ask only for the event time and location (no price was quoted), this is what you get:

“Thank you so very much for your response i would like you to know that i am highly satisfied with the price and also would like you to know that i would be needing 4 of the Egyptian Pharoah Ice sculpture.i have some Clients coming in from Egypt for a seminar,on the 30th of September from 10 am to 2 pm .so by the end of this seminar i would be presenting this Ice sculpture to them.

Regarding the shipping i will ask a shipping company to come by your location to with a cooling van to have them picked up as soon as you have them carve and drip tray ready for pick up they will be there.so i need your address so i can forward it to the shipping company so they can give a quote.

Regarding the Payment.please recalculate the 4 that i will be needing so i can remit my credit card details for the payment as soon as possible


Thank you
Regards
Robert Bell
N:B.as requested i need your address and contact person so i can forward it to the shipping company that will make the pick up”

The original article

Ice sculpting companies are apparently the target of a scam artist or artists. Today, ice sculptors across the United States reported on Facebook that they’d been contacted by an individual that wanted to order four ice sculptures. In some cases, the contact was by email only, and started with the following:

Hello Am Fishian Greg and how you doing today, I will like to make an Inquries for Ice Sculptures i will like to ask if you can make both (Wedding Sculpture) and (Anniversary Sculpture) for me and i will be needing Two from each i will like you to advice me on necessary details needed for this arrangement alright Thanks.

In other cases, the contact was by phone, where the scammer used a relay operator (usually used by hearing impaired individuals or by those otherwise unable to speak on the phone) to convey the details about the sculptures, sculpture delivery, and payment. The individual asked to overpay the ice sculpture company by credit card, requesting that the overpayment be paid to a delivery driver that would come to pick up the sculptures.

It’s uncertain exactly how the scam would conclude, because none of the companies contacted were willing in the end to take the order. The overpayment and the unusual delivery were the red flags. For most companies, it would be highly unusual for several sculptures to be picked up by a delivery driver, as the sculptures understandably require some experience to move without damaging them. (In fact, an ice sculpture recently presented a major challenge for a reality tv series that followed a moving company that was “hired” to move unusual items to and from difficult locations.) Presumably, the overpayment was the key; perhaps the next step was for the ice sculpting company to wire the overpayment to a fake delivery company. If a stolen credit card was used, this might be a way to turn the card number into cash.

Although in some instances, the contacts were associated with an Oregon phone number, the ice sculpting company location didn’t seem to matter. Contacted companies were as far east as New Hampshire, as far west as California, and as far south as Florida. At least three companies in the Wisconsin-Illinois area were contacted. Earlier this summer, campgrounds were apparently the target of a very similar scam, even down to the fishy individual’s name: Fishian Greg.

In the past, it would be tough to discover how widespread a targeted scam like this was, especially with any speed. In this case, however, the networking offered by Facebook helped ice carvers quickly understand what was going on and how they should deal with it. In my case, for example, I’d yet to reply to the email in question as it was still a few emails down the list. So while the internet is often seen as tipping the scales in favor of scammers, it also offers resources to potential scam victims that can render a scam ineffective.

**If you get a probable scam email, post the text in the comments below OR post it on the ice carving secrets scam Discussion page on Facebook, which is a short list of the email scams seen lately. We all would appreciate hopefully advance notice of the latest angle. Thanks!**

Tags: scam