Make-up artist Barbra Jo Batterman has fashioned a career out of making women look beautiful. So when a bride overseas sought her skills for a Las Vegas wedding, the email exchange seemed business as usual. "'You'll be making up about eight ladies, including my mother -- my mum,' which should've been a sign to me. But I figure she doesn't live in this country," she said.
Pictures followed of the bride and her attendants, along with scheduling details, locations and times. Yet when Batterman pushed to chat off-line, TiffanyJJ2000 claimed she couldn't -- she was mute. "I thought the girl was really deaf and we were having a communication problem and I was doing her a favor because she had some bad luck," said Batterman.
Batterman's good humor fades when she details the $1,800 she lost to Tiffany, signed with hugs and kisses. Shortly before the nuptials a check arrived with instructions for Batterman to deduct her fee and then wire the rest to a woman in Pennsylvania for the cake and the chocolate fountain.
Before sending any money, Batterman waited for the check to clear -- or so she thought. "It's one thing if I wasn't smart enough to realize that this was a scam, I wouldn't have sent money if I didn't know that it cleared and I think that's really the bottom line," she said.
A bank representative mistakenly assured her that the check was good, but it was counterfeit, just like the email account linked to TiffanyJJ2000 by way of Nigeria.
"I'm sure that they not only sent her that email wanting her business, but she also sent, or whoever did it, sent the same email to a thousand businesses and it's just like fishing -- however many answer, that's who you're going to deal with," said Metro Police Lt. Robert Sebby.
Already this year, scams like this have cost Las Vegas victims some $12 million. Sebby advocates prevention because much to Batterman's frustration, few resources exist to track fraud out of state or overseas. "I went through all the steps that they told me, but it still hasn't gotten me anywhere," she said.
She's not any closer to her cash or to the crook in cyberspace who have colored any of her future online dealings. Absent any alternative, Batterman marks the loss as a cost of doing business. "I don't want it to happen to anyone else and I would like to get my money back. There's no question," she said.
Through the amateur detective work of a friend, Batterman identified the woman in Pennsylvania she believes picked up her wire transfer. She say she's spoken to her and that the woman claims to have forwarded the cash to a man in London after taking a little off the top for herself.
Batterman hopes to interest police with this new lead.
Lt. Sebby says people should not do business entirely by email. Get a phone number and talk to a real person. Second, if you do receive a check, verify it either from the bank or the company of origin. Finally, don't ever wire money to someone you don't know. Those transactions are untraceable.
