Restaurant Email SCAM ALERT!
Authored by David Scott Peters
Why is it SCAMMERS consistently attack restaurants? Are we easy targets?
The reality is YES, we are.
Just think about how many times you have gotten that fake yellow page ad bill, or the cleaning supplies or light bulb shipment that just arrives with an invoice… and it just gets paid even though you never placed the order.
Restaurant owners wear so many hats, that sometimes in the chaos, these things slip through the cracks robbing you of your hard earned dollars.
Well with the advent of the Internet… there’s a new way scammers are attacking our restaurants… and it’s with the promise of big dollars!
Below is an email you have probably already gotten and you’ve probably asked yourself if it’s too good to be true. Well, you know what they say, if it sounds too good to be true, it must be. But your need for increased sales sometimes turns off your gut feeling, and you justify why you should at least contact them back.
The scam is to get the restaurant owner excited about increased sales and to get you to contact them back. Once you do, the charade begins. Emails will be exchanged and the storyline will then develop.
I had one member follow up with an email request like this one and then realize quickly it was a scam. It began when the pretend customer said the limo service they wanted to use for their party was not set up to use a credit card, so they wanted to run all the charges through the restaurant and ask that the restaurant pay the limo service.
First of all, you’ve got to be kidding me, right? What limo service doesn’t take a credit card? Secondly, you can only imagine that you would be charging a stolen credit card. You would be giving the crooks the cash. And then when the charges are reversed, you’re out money instead of gaining a sale.
The email above is real. The request is fake!
Print it off, share it with your partners, managers and catering sales people. Make sure they know this is a SCAM.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true… it probably is.
Remember to keep smiling,
David Scott Peters
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David Scott Peters is the founder of Smile Button Enterprises, LLC, an independent restaurant coaching and training company, and is known as the SMART Systems guy who can walk into any restaurant in the United Stated and find you $10,000 in undiscovered cash before he hits the back door… Guaranteed! Visit www.smilebutton.com to learn more.
