Have you ever got this email, or something similar? Well, I got another one today. This time it went to my spam folder. It is a massage therapy email scam that has been going around for years. Much like the Nigerian Bank Scam that you hear about on 20/20. I admit I read through the email more than once the first time I got one. Then I thought, “What Italian model wants to travel to work in Iowa?” That was my first hint something was up.
The emails, often full of typos, typically look like this or very similar; names and locations vary:
Subject: Inquiry for Massage Therapist
Greetings from Milan,
My name is Mr Roberto, I live and work as a massage therapist here in Italy . I am 46 yrs old. I have been doing massage since 1991. I do a deep relaxation massage in which the muscles relax without pain. I also do energy massage that helps people feel great when I am done. I am also certified to do pregnancy massage. I have lots of happy clients here in italy .
I have been looking for a massage therapist for over a week now till i met an old friend yesterday that referred you to me, her name is Serah. She used to live in America before she relocated here with her family, so i decided to contact you to know if you will be able to give my client some massage sessions when she arrives the US.
My clients name is Ms Picchi, Shes is a model here in Italy . She will be coming to the U.S in 2 weeks time for a modeling job and will be residing in Iowa temporarily until the neccesary arrangement for her job has been made before she leaves. She will be needing 1hr massage session per day, 2 Sessions per week for 6 weeks when she arrives.
Ms Picchi asked me to come with her to the US but i told her i would not be able to go with her to the US as i have a course i will be going for in a week time, so i promised to help her find a good massage therapist in your Area.
Pls tell me a little more about your self, how long have you been a massage therapist? Would you be able to provide her with the massage sessions from the 25th of this month to the 6th of December, 2 Sessions per week for 6 weeks?
Pls i need you to get back to me with the amount you charge per session and also let me know if she can pay you with a Certified check drawn from a US bank?
Do send your reply to my personal email address { @yahoo.it } for a quick response as i do not check this email always.
Till I read from you remain blessed.
Roberto B
712 Via Mercato,
1,26129
Milano Italy
From what I understand about scam, this is how it may work: The Italian (or whatever) “massage professional” will send a fake or counterfeit check/money order/stolen credit card number for the payment, and then for whatever reason ask you to send back some of the money or send the money to another account. You may get this:
“My trip to the US was canceled. Please refund my money, keep 10% for your trouble”.
The check will bounce after the money has been credited to the account, or they may steal money from your bank account (if you give them your account number for the deposit). Unfortunately there is little one can do to recoup the costs of being scammed in one of these situations. Be smart and never send money to people you do not know.
Others have told me they have received emails about people looking for practitioners to host CE or trainings at their office. These “trainings” could include lypossage, reiki, or other modalities. Have you ever received one of these?
Be Aware!
Ivy
Advanced Massage Techniques – Massage Therapy Continuing Education Courses
This scam is alive and well. I got the email and a follow up in the last week.
Wow. Good to know! I have not got the weird spam text in a while.
“We are bodybuilders in your town that need our hamstrings worked on?”
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I am in the middle of this set-up, which sounded very odd. It was for Reiki sessions for an Italian model who would be doing work in town for ten weeks. Since I am close to Los Angeles, it sounded almost plausible. However, they wanted me to send money to her photographer, on her behalf.
I Googled “Italian Model Scam” and your post came up.
Relieved.
Thank you!
Lori
No problem! I am happy to help people avoid this scam. They seem to target ours and similar industries.
I was contacted via text message.
Someone asking for massages for a group of people.
“She” told me the date and times to reserve, and then said she just needed a favor regarding the driver, who was bringing the “guests”
This is the email I got next:
the favor is that I have not pay the driver that will bring everyone of them to your shop and I can’t do that my self bcos I am presently receiving my hearing treatment at the hospital and am going to have surgery soon, and the driver dont have access to credit card facilities so I will like you to include extra $850 plus the total cost of the service so that you can have all the charges on my credit card and you will have $850 send to the driver via money gram to the driver and $100 tip for your shop and $100 for the money gram fee also add the credit card processing 4% charges fee on the driver fee,so go ahead and everything up and let me have the total cost
Thanks for posting this and that they are now texting people. The money gram part at the end is always a dead giveaway.
It came from a California area code.
I am located in GA.
I called the number, and it went to a google voicemail, but the persons name on that voicemail did not match the name given to me by the person that sent the text.
I left a message, in case that phone was stolen or otherwise compromised, and the rightful owner might still check their messages.
What will they think of next GRRRRRR
Hi, Thank you for writing this post! I have gotten several of these emails over the years and always wondered who in a foreign country would be referring a model to me in california, USA and how they got my email address ect. I don’t even know how they know that i’m a massage therapist. I have always wondered what this was about but am automatically weary of all internet things since I know of all the scams so I have never responded. Glad to see the exact email I got with names changed ect and to know for sure it’s a scam!
You are welcome!
Thanks for the post, I got one of theses today, looking for a physical therapist for the model coming to Ohio. Sending it to the APTA and attorney general for warnings.
You’re welcome! The first one I got threw me for a loop. Now it seems I get one at least once a month. Expect more of these in your inbox 😉
Thanks for the post, it was helpful. I got one of these a few days ago and a follow-up one asking if they could send me a check and then I would need to send a portion of the check via Western Union to an equipment rental manager. Great idea to send it on to the APTA.
Glad you realized it early. I am sure they keep doing this because some people bite do on the offer. I even thought it sounded cool the first time I got one.