Please Don't Ask Me For Charity!

I probably know who you're talking about, I got hit too. I was very surprised, to say the least. The total I was asked for was $540.

I wonder how many others were asked? Five? Ten? Fifty? How many thousands of dollars would it add up to?

It sounded very fishy to me. Send money to two different Paypal accounts via email? I wondered if the Warrior's account was hacked?

I get PMs all the time from people with hard luck stories that really make me feel bad but then I see them posting contradictory information on forum posts and that just makes me feel worse; I cant believe people actually do that. It's gotten to the point where I do not even want to look at my PMs anymore because I do not want to ride that emotional roller coaster.

Wow Sheryl, that's really cheeky!! I'd find that rude and intrusive too!

How Rude!

I wouldn't care if it was the freaking President, I would report the PM and then I would block them from sending me another one.

Yes, advice or reviews are okay within reason I guess, although it can become a full-time, unpaid job and so I would hope you get something in return like the product free or something.

"you can't give away more than you have".

Time is money dontcha know...

Funny you should mention this today when I am boiling over -

I never answer my phone anymore even though it sits right next to my work area. I just let the recording play and if it is someone I know I can see their number or hear their voice and I will pick it up.

I get calls from all over the country pretty much daily and in that I am on the do not call list I don't get too many telemarketers - but charities are exempt.

About 7-8 years ago I volunteered for the American Diabetes Walk for a team to represent my employer at the time. Now EVERY year they call me asking for money. They have called me every freaking day this week. I wonder when they will get a clue or get tired of my voice mail message.

When I have money to give I will give it - but almost never if they ask on the phone. I wouldn't even respond to a PM asking for money unless it was someone I really know pretty well.

It's just soooo rude.

Well, gee. I guess this means I can quit writing that great email letter to everyone now eh? tsk. I really wanted those boobs, too. well. I guess I have to go back to selling products.

Actually - I have been getting a LOT of charity email lately. Most people here know I am in high favor of population control - but I got an email to send money to someone to help them get artificial insemination the other day. Having children you can't afford to have on your own is now a charity drive cause? LMAO - I don't think they'll make that mistake again.

I have to say I haven't seen anything like that in here. Really makes ya wonder what people are thinking sometimes. Or if they ever do.

I agree Dennis - charity isn't really the right word to have used in this case. It was basically a PM telling us that we need to buy these products for him and to send the money to those Paypal email addresses and then to PM him with the transaction ID of each payment.

I think the biggest disappointment for me was the person it was from, I really didn't expect something like that from him!

Probably his forum account got hacked? Thats why he is asking money to different PP accounts?

If you know him, send him a email just to be sure it was him.

And you should check with Mods too: they can check latest IP entries on his username.

I don't know him personally to email him, I have just communicated with him through different threads here. I really do hope that his account was hacked and it wasn't him asking for money because it is really disappointing to think that he would do that.

I have reported it to the mods so they can look into now and see if his account was hacked or not. I just hope no-one sent money through, especially if it was to a hacker.

Just for the record, this was not me!

Anybody that solicits $ via PM should be banned on the spot, IMO.

Damn this is so wrong on so many levels.

Could we see a copy of the PM if you still have it. I don't need to know names, I'm just very curious as to the way it was written.

I'm wondering about the possibility of the account being hacked. If it was, how did the hacker know who to contact? They wouldn't have contacted everyone as not all of us are making money, so the hacker must have known who is making a decent income in IM. This makes me think that there was no hacker at all.

You know, it's one thing to get advice on how to make money if you already have money of your own. But it is a damn shame to ask for money to get money. You have to EARN your way to success here in IM.

I received the apology PM too so I'm guessing he wasn't banned. I guess like you said Dennis, the mods know the story and it's their decision.

I'm over it - I'm moving on but I guess my opinion of this person has changed!

Had I realized that was sent to more than one person, that's exactly what would have happened. The person in question was, however, put on notice that anything even remotely sneaky coming from him in the future would result in more than simple banning.


Paul

Sheryl,first off,congrats for the post.

Sheryl and Dennis i think to know who you are talking about.

I received the SAME request of money two days ago,precisely $540 and a request to send money to two different Paypal accounts.

I can tell you sincerely that i never expected this warrior to ask this request of money.

Like Sheryl says i chose not to report that PM only because it was from a well known member that is very active in this forum.

Asking for money is not a good strategy,it must come from the heart,i think.

seems things are getting tough for the gurus these days.... :-)

I really would like to know how many other members in total were approached. So far it looks like we have 3.

I got hit up 2 days ago for money but the person used the email in Paypal , asked for $200 wrote "I could afford as I just done a WSO so I should have heaps in the account" !

Now this was for some flood victims mind you , wrote back and mentioned that the money was gone sorry , some people amaze me in what they will do to get some money from you

Jason

For real? People actuallt panhandle online? Where is their sense of pride?

I personally feel that it should be a 3 month ban at minimum. I can't say whether this was something the member thought up before he joined or if it was something that was done during mixed emotions, but 3 months would certainly teach the person a lesson.

MAN, some people just REALLY have audacity! You can bet that most of the money effectively goes down the toilet and probably won't be paid back. I'd rather pay a bum on the corner.

Steve

Maybe such pm's could be answered that we are short of "donatable" funds but for a fee of only XXXX we could do _______ for their businesses. LOL.

The thing that confuses me is people mention that it's a long time WF member, not your typical offshore money plea.

I'd like to think that doing something that lame is an act of tremendous desperation and just poorly thought out.

And knowing some of the folks that got the PM's, my guess is nobody wants to drop the hammer on somebody seriously down on their luck.

But there's that old action/consequence thing to contend with...

Anyway, just didn't want to leave my self-righteous post without a little bit of a caveat given the particulars.

AND... drive-by cash pleas from people you don't know deserve scorched earth.

B

Good observation Sheryl.

Always remember the CON in CON ARTIST stands for CONFIDENCE.

That is they will build your confidence BEFORE they rip you off.

A good case that comes to mind where I lost over $1000 was someone that was here posing as a lawyer. Very personable, everybody's best friend, extremely intelligent and charismatic. Recommended by someone I trusted here.

After a few communications about a problem I had in which I was desperate and scared, I felt so much better knowing I had this individual in my corner. I thought nothing of recommending her/him/it to others.

Several people lost money here on various schemes from this person - before the truth came out - and don't tell me to ask for her BAR information - she was using a name and ID of a real lawyer - problem is it wasn't her/him/it.

The other ploy that CONs use is the 'give me a minute' routine - when they don't deliver it is almost classic - first they are sick, often terminally - (what kind of witch am I to pick on a sick person?) Then someone in their family dies and they have to go to another state for the funeral. (again what kind of witch am I?) So you wait patiently...

Just about the time that it is too late to file a grievance with Paypal* or get your credit card to dispute the charge, then they just drop the ball completely and don't respond at all.

*In this case there were so many refunds requested from the WF that there was no money in the account...

'Buyer Beware'

p.s. the 'funny' part is I bet I am the only person who was threatened with a civil lawsuit by a rip off for 'outing' them in a public forum* - and then I got ripped off by the 'lawyer' who was going to defend me.

... don't tell me lightening doesn't strike twice in the same spot.

* Libel - doesn't matter how much documentation you have - or how many people are your fellow victims with documentation -- if you accuse someone of something they have not been convicted in a court of law for, you are committing Libel and/or Slander.

In my case it was just a bluff, no lawsuit was filed - I also found out it costs a ton of money to file a civil lawsuit - so that's the good part. (plus we victims put these miscreants out of business) -- and the 'lawyer' was banned from the WF - at least under 1 or 2 usernames.



Poorer but Smarter now.

I remember those times Patrician.
One never knows.
Thats one of the downfalls of the internet age,it has opened wide a whole new class of crooks.

I also received a request for help, from a different person it seems, and now I am thinking I should report it. How do I do that?

Edit: never mind, found the report button up top on the right, as mentioned in this thread.