Hello everyone,
I want to report a scam that targets Avon representatives. This is one of those disgusting fraud cases that EVERY representative should be aware of but that Avon might not have warned its employees about!
I know this is a long post, but bear with me it may save you A LOT of money and aggravation. (I will save you some reading here is the scammer's email address as we received it: [email protected]. If this looks familiar read on... )
A friend of mine has been an Avon representative for about a year (after retiring from the police department) and one day she received the following email:
Hello sis
Thanks for your response and i really appreciate it, My name is
Wendy ponto. I am a retail buyer and i am deaf and also a single
mother of 2 kids . I was introduced to Avon Some Month ago and I
got your sales and contact from Avon and i will be more happy to
have you as my Avon Rep ..And I would like to purchase this
Items with you on a dealership and not with the company cos i am
new on computer and i don't operate credit card that is why am
dealing direct with you and i will appreciate if i can order this
Product through you once you have the funds from me for the
product . All the product i want to order from you is my first order
this year . I will want you to get back to me with the total cost of
the listed item i want to order from you.

Well, she ordered about $300 worth of stuff. My friend told her the price again just to make sure she understood how much it was. She replied:
Please kindly let me know if there is any discount you want to give
me on my first order, and also you don't need to worry about the
shipping and the pick up of the order from your location that will be
handle through my Shipper after you have receive the funds for
the order . And as for the payment, i will be paying you through a
bank cashier check or Money Order. I will want you to get back
to me with your full name and address including your phone
number so that i can arrange on how the payment will be mail out
to your address for the order through my financial bank . I await
your response asap .
thanks a lot
Wendy Ponto

The she wrote:
Hello sis
The payment will be delivered to you today
via usps am sorry for the delay, please
confirm receipt so we can conclude on this
transaction, please as soon as you cash the
payment you will help me send the excess on
it to the shipper after which he would
schedule the pick up of products, you can
track it online this is the tracking number
EO 982 105 322 US
Here is my shippers information where the
excess should be send to via western
union money transfer

NAME: GROVER REESE
2234 HERON DRIVE
ATLANTA, GA, 30331

After this, you will send me the ten digit
western union control number and the total
amount sent after western union charges for
the shipper to pick funds after which he
would schedule the pick up.
thank a lot
Wendy Smith

The Shipper also changed to:
EO 982 718 775 USNAME:SHALONDA EDWARDS
2251 Sylvan Road, Suite C.
East Point, Georgia, 30344Wendy Ponto

Of course all of this looked suspicious. Now her name is Wendy Smith? Why would she tell the story about being deaf with 2 kids to a total stranger? She doesn't have a credit card but she can send checks and have a shipper pick up the product? She (or he?) cannot spell of course and referred the representative by "sis" rather than the actual name. It was clearly an email sent to many people. Too many for this lazy douche bag to fill in the names!!!
When my friend received the check (which was not a certified/cashier's check ), she noticed that it was for over $2, 000!!! She sent an email to this scamming idiot asking why so much money and calling her out on all the inconsistencies of her story. And the idiot replied:

Hello Sis,
Nice reading back from you...Just have the check deposited and let me know when you are ask to come back for the cash...

Wendy

Of course my friend did not take the check to her bank. The check was written by some kind of real estate company, we don't know if those people are accomplices or just another victim of this piece of garbage. The trash had the nerve to send another email asking: when did your bank ask you to come back for the check?

About never you stupid cow!!! Sorry I am getting carried away. All this was just to tell you all that if you are an Avon representative and you get an email from
[email protected] you should mark it as Spam and never reply. Or just let her know that you know what she really is (a lying, scamming, douchebag!). DO NOT CASH THE CHECK!!! TRUST ME IT WILL BOUNCE AND YOU WILL HAVE LOST OVER $2000 OF YOUR OWN MONEY PLUS THE $300 PRODUCT!!!
AVON, if you guys really give a crap about your employees you will warn them all about this scam. We sent emails to the main representatives in MD but received no reply. We also sent emails on the company's website and were again ignored. Try protecting your employees better.
Good luck ladies, hope this helps!