Some tips on professional hoodwinking
Since it is January and not much is happening, I thought I would give readers some tips on how to make some quick bucks over this quiet period.
Now, note well, none of what I am about to reveal is necessarily illegal, but that is my opinion only – you try the scam that follows at your own risk.
This scam works best if you do it by means of the Internet, but a simple mail shot is also good.
It works like this: dream up some tantalising project, such as ‘Drakensberg Amphitheatre Cableway Project’. Next, write out a description of the project in glowing terms such as: “Following the recent legislative changes in the Conservation Act (Act 123 of 1998), it is proposed to submit to the Minister a plan for the build, operation and transfer of a cableway system in the Amphitheatre of the Kwazulu-Natal Drakensberg.
“The cableway will be similar to the Table Mountain cableway, but will have a rise of 1 333 m, and will accommodate 60 passengers a trip.” And so on, and so on. Next, you get the names of a whole slew of consulting civil engineers, quantity surveyors, consulting electrical engineers, architects, and environmentalists, etc (just look them up in the phone book or the Yellow Pages), and post them the above project description, and invite them to request preliminary documents relating to the appointment of the professional design team.
Your letter should request that, for the preliminary documents, a deposit of R1 000 be paid, which will be refunded if the firm that sent it is not appointed to do any work, but which is forfeit if the firm is appointed.
Next, just sit back as the cheques pour in. To each firm that has sent a cheque, you send a letter asking them to submit a statement of work done, a curriculum vitae and a schedule of fees proposed, as well as any so-called preliminary documents you can dream up.
Next, you wait for all the statements of work and fee schedules to come back. And here is the trick: to each and every person who sent a cheque and a curriculum vitae and a schedule of fees, you send a letter appointing them to be on the professional team, with the advice that, when the project gets government approval and moves ahead, you will be in touch.
Now, since you have appointed each firm, you do not have to send the R1 000 back. And it does not matter if you have appointed 50 or 100 firms to do the same thing, since the project will not go ahead because the chances of getting government approval are minimal, to say the least.
If any firm realises that it has been hoodwinked, it is unlikely to sue – the legal fees would be too great. But, in the meantime, if you manage to sucker just 50 professional firms, you have got fifty grand for doing very little.
Have I been caught this way? Well, no – my cash flow is such that I cannot afford R1 000 deposits. But I do know some firms who have.
How do you avoid being ripped off? Simple – it is common practice to ask for a deposit for documents (it ensures that only serious people ask for them), but it is never (normally) the case that the deposit is not returned.
So, if the initial letter mentions that the deposit can be forfeited even if a submission is made then beware.
Now, note well, none of what I am about to reveal is necessarily illegal, but that is my opinion only – you try the scam that follows at your own risk.
This scam works best if you do it by means of the Internet, but a simple mail shot is also good.
It works like this: dream up some tantalising project, such as ‘Drakensberg Amphitheatre Cableway Project’. Next, write out a description of the project in glowing terms such as: “Following the recent legislative changes in the Conservation Act (Act 123 of 1998), it is proposed to submit to the Minister a plan for the build, operation and transfer of a cableway system in the Amphitheatre of the Kwazulu-Natal Drakensberg.
“The cableway will be similar to the Table Mountain cableway, but will have a rise of 1 333 m, and will accommodate 60 passengers a trip.” And so on, and so on. Next, you get the names of a whole slew of consulting civil engineers, quantity surveyors, consulting electrical engineers, architects, and environmentalists, etc (just look them up in the phone book or the Yellow Pages), and post them the above project description, and invite them to request preliminary documents relating to the appointment of the professional design team.
Your letter should request that, for the preliminary documents, a deposit of R1 000 be paid, which will be refunded if the firm that sent it is not appointed to do any work, but which is forfeit if the firm is appointed.
Next, just sit back as the cheques pour in. To each firm that has sent a cheque, you send a letter asking them to submit a statement of work done, a curriculum vitae and a schedule of fees proposed, as well as any so-called preliminary documents you can dream up.
Next, you wait for all the statements of work and fee schedules to come back. And here is the trick: to each and every person who sent a cheque and a curriculum vitae and a schedule of fees, you send a letter appointing them to be on the professional team, with the advice that, when the project gets government approval and moves ahead, you will be in touch.
Now, since you have appointed each firm, you do not have to send the R1 000 back. And it does not matter if you have appointed 50 or 100 firms to do the same thing, since the project will not go ahead because the chances of getting government approval are minimal, to say the least.
If any firm realises that it has been hoodwinked, it is unlikely to sue – the legal fees would be too great. But, in the meantime, if you manage to sucker just 50 professional firms, you have got fifty grand for doing very little.
Have I been caught this way? Well, no – my cash flow is such that I cannot afford R1 000 deposits. But I do know some firms who have.
How do you avoid being ripped off? Simple – it is common practice to ask for a deposit for documents (it ensures that only serious people ask for them), but it is never (normally) the case that the deposit is not returned.
So, if the initial letter mentions that the deposit can be forfeited even if a submission is made then beware.
Edited by: Archivist
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/some-tips-on-professional-hoodwinking-1999-01-29
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