USAID.gov -- Tony Mayer -- SCAM - Virtual Assistant Forums

#1 (**permalink**) 07-26-2010

Just wanted to alert my fellow VA's to a new scammer out there.

I was contacted the other day by a man named Tony Mayer who stated he was a Consultant for USAID.gov and was in need of my services. his email address was @roysupport.com

I had a weird feeling from the get-go but decided to pursue it a bit further to either find it legit or to get more info to alert USAID.gov to a scam.

I did a ton of research and found Anthony Mayer was indeed a Consultant for USAID.gov but could find nothing on the roysupport.com domain.

Well after several days back and forth the kicker email showed up this morning.
He had asked how invoices would be paid and I provided Paypal as an option.

Today's email? he stated I would have to transfer the money to MY bank account to pay contractors by check.

Just the red flag I was waiting for.

So he has been notified to not contact me again for illegal activities and I then emailed the REAL Tony Mayer to alert him to the problem as well as USAID.gov's.

~C

#2 (**permalink**) 07-26-2010

Thanks for the follow-up and posting, Christina! I was also contacted by this person but am not in a position to take on new clients. It is AMAZING how many scammers there are out there!

#3 (**permalink**) 07-26-2010

Glad you posted. The scam is still going. I just got an email from "Tony" with the same information you listed. I'm glad I did my due diligence. And I'm glad you did yours.

#4 (**permalink**) 07-26-2010

Thank you for the information.

I have no patience for scammers and I'm glad you're getting the word out.

#5 (**permalink**) 07-26-2010

I received a similar email from the same scammer. I too had a weird feeling from the get-go, did some research and I followed up on the initial email with my rates, but have not heard back. ...why don't we listen to those instincts? Glad I am not alone in this one. Do people really have this much time on their hands to waste our time?

#6 (**permalink**) 07-27-2010

Originally Posted by bluewaterbusiness

Do people really have this much time on their hands to waste our time?

Unfortunately, it is NOT a waste of time for the scam artists! Lots of folks fall for this type of scam and end up not only losing a considerable amount of their own money but can also be held legally responsible for 'money laundering.' It is reinforcement to me that 'if it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. - follow your gut instinct'

#7 (**permalink**) 08-02-2010

Many thanks for this posting. I, too, was approached by this "Tony Mayer" and got as far as his asking which I preferred between wire transfers or PayPal to pay their suppliers. Still having that nagging feeling that something's not quite right, I once again Googled "roysupport.com", which resulted in this VAF string of alerts. Yeah, it did seem way too vague on details, but I spent some time on responding since I was hoping it would mean some income. Thank you for the support, confirming my instincts, initial and secondary.