Hello Teacher,
I’m Mr Lewis Wigens during my search for a music teacher in the area that would always take my Daughter (Gwyn) and I found your advert.Your advert looks great and it is very okay to me since you specialize in the area I am seeking for her. My daughter will be coming to your Country by September 1, 2010 for 2 Months. She is just 15yrs Old, she is a beginner, she can speak English, she love dancing, I want you to help me teach her music for increasing musical proficiency during her stay in the Country because i will not want her to less busy, i want her to engage in something to keep her busy during her stay.
… I’ll spare you the remainder of the email. But what I wonder is this: Who is “Mr Lewis Wigins” when he’s NOT searching for a music teacher?
A comedy writer? His fractured English is a stitch!
Omg I have recently received a similar email! creepy! I wonder how to get them to stop?
Just got this email, did google search and found this email from a month ago! This guy did not sign email. Did not give telephone number. Did not give address. BEWARE
Has anyone actually responded to see how far he will go with this? I may be extremely foolish, but my curiosity got the best of me and I went ahead and responded from my work email, gave him the address of the university, and interestingly enough he has initiated a conversation as if his daughter will truly arrive in my city… hah! I wonder, though, at what point I’ll discover his motive for this scam? What is he after…??? (Of course he keeps asking for my home info… but I have kept things polite thus far simply stating that I never give that out. But this seems not to deter him… he keeps up the charade. Why waste the time if it’s clear he won’t be getting what he wants?)
I don’t respond to them because sometimes the scam emails are just phishing for email addresses.
If you give him your address he’ll send you a cashier’s check for far too much money. He’d expect you to cash it, but he’ll tell you he made a mistake and could you please send HIM a check for the overage. Then of course you’ll find out his check is a fake. And yes, people have actually fallen for it. Sad, but true.
Aha, you were right! I just received the “cashier’s check” in my office mail. So that’s his motive… it’s written out for $2,000 more than what I told him my fee would have been.
Scary.
Now that I know, I’ll cease all communication with him.
Thanks for the head’s up.
Thanks for confirming this, Evan! I had read about this a number of times, and heard from a musician who had a friend who fell for it. But now I’m getting something first hand.
I’ll continue to remind readers of this scam on occasion. SO sad that some fall for it and lose money.
I had just started an email exchange with Mr Wigins. I am so grateful to you all for posting your information here, thank you. We were at the point of him sending the cheque over to me. His scam even mentioned a broken phone as the reason for not being able to talk to me before his daughter arrives! Some people are so dishonest.
I’m so glad you saw the post, Lara. I do put those up every so often, hoping the warning will reach more people!
Thank you so much – I’m a yoga teacher and Mr Wigens has just tried the same scam – seems his daughter has given up on the oboe and is trying ashtanga!
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Frequently the scammer doesn’t even name “oboe” … merely says “your instrument” or “your class” … go figure! Glad you saw this entry, Lois! 🙂
Now Mr. Wigens is looking for French classes. He seems so culturally aware ha ha. Definitely phishy!!!!!!
THANK YOU for blogging about exposing this Wigens guy. He has been hitting me up for French lessons for his “15-year-old daughter,” and I couldn’t quite put my finger on what the problem was with his approach. Won’t waste anymore energy on it, thanks to you, Evan, and the rest of you!
Hi – Thanks for posting this and Evan for confirming the scam. I just got an email from this guy looking for his two kids to join my private classes. Didn’t mention instrument and wanted 16 hours of lessons over 8 weeks. That plus the fractured English made me take pause and search his name on the internet before answering.
Glad to be of help, Hope! It’s amazing to me that these things continue on and on. Sigh. I hate knowing some people lose money due to them. 🙁