Description

I originally got a message on my businesses TikTok account followed one minute later with a text, probably copied and pasted with how fast. (My business is auto-detailing) They were asking if I did that and if they could drop it off. "Hello," "Sorry for the random messages I got your number through your TikTok account?" "do you do auto detailing service and do you do drop off" I replied 30 minutes later 17:15, they messaged between 16:44-16:45. "Hey no worries we appreciate you reaching out to us! Yes we do detailing and drop off! We do detailing and offer basic exterior services such as washes (free with ever detail) and waxes and will have paint correction and ceramic coating by next year!" They replied 6 minutes later "Good please where are you located I need to know if your located I need to know if you're local or not.! Thank you" I replied We're in post falls Idaho!" I'll start summarizing the rest due to the extent of it. They asked if I could do mobile detailing (coming to them) and do it at their cousin where their truck was a "Dodge ram 2500" and sent a picture of a horrendously dirty Ram truck with a Cummins diesel logo on the side, looks like it may have been a construction vehicle with how dirty it was I downloaded it to view more info and it's probably a screenshot, the date was September 24th, 2025, 17:41. Had no lens information, or camera info, no location, etc. They changed their mind and now only wanted an exterior wash. I said i can see why you would want one, prices vary a bit with gas, mileage, etc. for mobile detailing, but the base price of the wash would be $40, and reasons why it's worth more than basic wash. They said perfect but they couldn't be there at the moment i come over to clean it and they want it clean before their back. and their grandma was very sick and a cancer patient, and he's the only one to help her at the moment and I could meet his cousin, but he'd make the upfront payment if i didn't have a problem with it. I said " I do ask if your not there the payment is either there or a Venmo before I arrive." Also mentioning I was sorry about his grandma. He replied "Venmo is actually perfect" asked for my Venmo info so he could send some money over now, so I got my Venmo link to send to him. I said I'm not sure how much the total would be since I don't have his exact location and cant calculate the cost to get to his cousins house. He said he'd just have a $50 deposit and that should be enough. Then sent a screenshot of an error code where it says "transaction declined, please add recipient email to continue this transaction. Apologies for the inconvenience" Something I've never seen before, but I also don't use it super frequently. He said his account was a business account and it was asking for my email, so I should give it to him so he could pay. Even more reluctant but I gave him the Venmo linked to my account. He said great i'll get back to you when I'm done with sending it through. He then said I should receive an email, and that he got one too. Apparently the same and he suggested he send another $400 dollars so I get verified or something like that and it'd work as long as i sent the $400 back. He then asked for a screenshot of the email so he could understand and then that it's my first time receiving money from a business account so the payment is on hold, did i see a number to call like a contact support number which was there. Here's where the super weird stuff comes. I call and its a super weird voice, not even like an accent, like a fake voice from a guy trying to sound like a girl is best i can describe. Apparently they needed both of us on call, I never heard from the supposed client, just the operator. After a few minutes on call she hangs up and calls me using facetime audio on iphone. Then bombarding me saying to share my screen. Pull up the email so they can show the steps, which pretty much say the transaction is just on hold and i need to send $400 for it to go through to my buyer because he sent $450 and $400 was the verification amount left i needed. Weird to have in a prewritten email. They made me have my venmo opened while screenshare, text the client while screenshare. I did turn it off a few times so they cant see anything super private info like when i checked my bank to see how much i had in their (i lied when they asked how much) saying I only had $100 and not the full $400 they wanted in my bank. I'm fed up with it at this point they keep trying to get me to send the $400 in anyway possible, apple pay, paypal, anything... and screen record it all. I said I didnt have any of those and they said set it up. They hahd me ask for his venmo at first which was @THE1BEB last 4 digitcode was 4264, when his last 4 on the number he texted me on was 7691. I said this feels sketchy lets do something else whether it be cash, check, or your personal venmo. This is a scam. He sent 4 text saying he dealt with this before and its trustworthy. I'm also on the phone with them like you are. and i have his word. Then client tried getting me to set up apple pay, and after a little while i was like this is taking way too long, we gotta do it another time, cash or check will work. then he said I'm already out $450 lets just get this done with, i said you can cancel the payments, he replied i cant since he has a business account and they use peer2peer network, so it gets deducted from his account as purchase protection, even though he's the buyer. I said it's not in my account sending him a screenshot of none in my Venmo. He said he knows and yatta yatta yatta that he's out $450 and only way to get it back is me following through, and he's doing the work so "kindly do the same also so we get it all done." I then received an email (3rd i believe) threating legal action and including pictures of the FBI, saying their gonna contact local authorities to arrest me to get it sorted out. I knew indefinitely it was fake and texted him alright boss I know this is a scam from the last email they sent me, not even a legit Venmo address, and they wouldn't do this. I was just letting my patience run dry before this pretty much, and it was bone dry. hung up the phone with them without saying another word, and giving a supposed client benefit of the doubt i said call actual venmo support if your not lying about the actual $450. they'll sort it out its not my responsibility. he then mentioned if i checked my email id have an email threating me with the fbi. He wouldn't know that if he wasn't part of it. Email address pretending to be venmo: [email protected] Client phone: +1 (337) 962-7691 fake venmo support number +1 (786) 752 8782 AND +1 (719) 320-0728