Scam targeting home inspectors

I was talking with some colleagues in the area, and we all got contacted by a scammer targeting home inspectors or we all turned our backs on helping an honest person who was in a very unfortunate and unusual situation.

It can quickly be seen as a scam right away, but just in case someone inadvertently gets wrapped up in it, the scammer does this:

Contacts you asking if you take credit cards, then goes on to ask you to give money to the seller of the house by giving you a credit card number over email, pays you for your time, and pays upfront for the inspection. The scammer says he is out of state in the hospital, deaf, and can only communicate through written modes of communication.

…You will then be on the hook for however much money you delivered to the “seller” when the bank demands it’s money back in a few days.

Yea been going around for years. Thanks for alerting any new guys.

There’s a new one going around.
I’ve received this daily for the past 4 days.
Suspect it’s a malware/virus type.
It offers “Free Lifetime Membership”
I would NOT click on the link.

I just received this 12/10/18 I there anyway to report these people. I get 1 or 2 a year
Thanks
Dominic
Hello ,

I am sorry for the late response I had to make sure everything is in place about a better date for the inspection so we decided on Thursday 10th 9am,please check your schedule and let me know if the date is convenient with you. I am OK with the quote and i would have everything put in place for the inspection,first of all i will like you to know that the house is an off market sales and it is been sold by the owner and not by Realtor,I would like you to know the house will be vacant this weekend,I want you to know that the caretaker will send me the code in the contractor lock box and you can go there for the inspection and I might be present during the inspection but am not sure yet if I cant make it I will make sure I have someone there with you,I will like to know what kind of credit cards you accept for payment so i can make the payment asap,I would have to seek a little favor from you and i would be happy if you can be able to grant me the favor i seek from you.Due to my present health condition,i would provide you my credit card details for you to charge for the total cost of the service and also i would like you to charge an extra sum of money which would be sent to the caretaker who would take care of getting utilities transferred over, termite contract for the house,I am sorry if i am asking for too much but i would have forwarded the balance to him myself but i am held down with health issues right now and am still at the hospital and the caretaker stated he wants the balance by bank transfer that's why i am seeking your favor on this,i would be willing to compensate you handsomely if you can assist me on this.

Your urgent response would be appreciated.

Warm Regards

For many years I have just deleted these and ignored them works best for me .
Roy C

I had an email exchange with a “Marcia S. Pierce”. on Dec 3, 2018. It was the same exact email as yours Dominic. Some people… Grrrr

I also received a text last night asking about home inspection. When they asked what form of payment I took, it raised a red flag so I googled it and found this: Beware The Scam – Today’s Home Inspector - The text was basically the same so I ignored it.