Some of the scams are easy to spot; others, not so much. I received an email a couple of years ago from a man who said that he wanted to schedule several Reiki sessions w/me but that he needed my address. I replied that my office address is on my website but that I had to check my schedule. He replied again that he wanted to pay me for 6 sessions in advance. Again, I replied that I wasn't comfortable w/that unless I was running a special and then only if a contract was involved. So I told him to set the appointment first, then make his purchase through the website. He again replied that he wasn't able to do that but that he wanted to deposit a check directly into my account. By this time I had already figured out that he wasn't genuine but he said that he'd pay me even though it would be several months before he'd be able to come in for the sessions because "my wife she is a teacher in the schools in the UK" (obviously not a grammar teacher. LOL) and he had to wait for her arrival so that they both could attend. So I asked "Where are you located?" and that was the end of the correspondence.
Easy to figure out. However, there are some who furnish photos of people and they claim to be the person in the photo and they prey on people on internet dating sites. Some people, mostly women, fall hard for these con artists and by the time they've realized that they've been scammed, it's already too late. Out of kindness they've sent money and they never hear from their "suitor" again. If you're lonely and vulnerable, you're a target for these scammers and some are caught, such as in the above case, but many are not.
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