By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

The following email was forwarded to me by the Planet Chiropractic office, originating from a chiropractor via email.

URGENT: Multiple scammers!
I’ve had two scam attempts on my Chiropractic Equipment For Sale ads. Richard Walls ([email protected] and also [email protected]) and now Cynthia Fenwick are their email aliases. This is the email they end up sending. Richard sent me a check from a law firm for $4000 more than my asking price. He wanted me to deposit it and then send the extra to the ‘mover’ through Zelle/Paypal.

This scam works by getting the seller (in this case the doctor) to cash the check and then wire the money back to the mover before the check is found to be fraudulent. Wire transfers like Zelle cannot be revoked whereas the cashing of the check can.

Now Cynthia sent me the exact same email. Please alert others who’ve posted.

This is what the scammers send via email. The poor spelling has been left unchanged, this is already a good sign of a scam attempt.

Thanks for the information, i will need your honest and trust to end up this transaction. I will like to know if i can trust you with my money, … please i want you to remove the item from sales list i will get back to you with the tracking # from UPS so that you will know when to expect it.I include the mover funds along with your payment cos they need to pick some valuable item for me in your area. We are New on this site and you are the first person to know from this Site, We are a very good Christian family and GOD Fearing , all we believe in is TRUST and Loyalty .. So when you receive the check get your item fee and the rest goes to the mover guy so that it will be delivered directly to my house and LET ME KNOW IF I CAN trust you with this transaction.
Kindly get the post removed and get back to me asap.

This is by far the most popular classified ads scam I’ve seen on the internet over the past 20 years. They go after every site they can, including this site and craigslist.

When selling, basic common sense rules apply. If it seems to good to be true, it likely is. Chiropractors buying equipment would most likely purchase items using an office check from a business that can be verified. Google maps is helpful here.

When students are purchasing items, hopefully they identify themselves as such. I like to reply to students and get info on where they are attending school, when they expect to graduate, where they plan to practice, etc.

Chiropractors that don’t have an office address, such as someone starting a practice or opening a new location, offer an opportunity for getting more information before payment is received. Ask questions that are chiropractic specific and do not proceed if you feel uncomfortable about the transaction.

Emails from rich uncles and cousins that want to purchase equipment for their family chiropractors are scams, no matter how much we’d like to believe they are real.

I’m sharing this for people that may have been searching to confirm these email addresses. Scammer emails I’d watch out for include: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Thank you to everyone that participates in keeping the classifieds community in order (not just on this site, but worldwide).

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

Appreciate all the efforts from our host Liquid Web in helping get our classifieds optimized. We are internally continuing our work on bug issues and classifieds through the month of 2018 October. If you are a registered chiropractic classifieds user and notice odd activity (emails you didn’t request, your ad not posting, etc.) please contact us so we can investigate.

In the meantime, here’s a photo of one of my Labrador retrievers in the creek (near my house), she turns 13 years old this week.

I love being a chiropractor. I thought I loved it when I started on this path over 20 years ago. I love it even more today. I am grateful for the friends I’ve made. I am grateful for the people I’ve meet. I am grateful for those that have helped me along the way. I am grateful for those that continue to help me.

I do a daily affirmation giving love and gratitude to all the angels in my life. If you are one of those angels, thank you!

Have an awesome October!

By Michael Harvey, D.C.

So you just graduated Chiropractic College or you have been practicing for the first half of your career somewhere else and now you are considering practicing in the Third World. Maybe you have had enough of the snow and ice or you have had all you can take of insurance and the Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

The intrigue of third world practice is that you will never have to process another insurance claim for the rest of your career, and no more malpractice premiums and annual license fees. And relatively no government. A freedom lover’s dream.

So you start reading the ads on Planet Chiropractic looking for an opportunity that pulls on you and you make the call or send your CV to the chain of clinics looking for good, competent spinal adjusters with their heads screwed on straight.

You already know what you want but will that match up with what the clinic is offering? Your challenge is to find out what the practice requires of you and do just that and no more. What you think you want must also be what that practice needs or you will be otherwise disappointed.

International clinic owners have developed a model for practice success or they wouldn’t have an opening for you. Never try to change your new employer’s practice model to what you used to do. Find out what they need you to do. Practice your new procedures, drill them with your new employer and perform them to the best of your ability and you will make a living.

So it might be helpful to find out what clinic owners are looking for as well as what they abhor and will not hire.

Here is what they want from you:

• Excellent Manual Spinal Adjusting Skills
• Professional Salesmanship Skills
• Compliance with all Clinic Policies
• Well Grounded in Chiropractic Philosophy
• Excellent Patient Retention Skills
• An Intense Desire to Excel and Perform at a High Level
• An Outgoing and Caring Personality
• Willingness to Participate in your Own PR
• Practice Management
• Must Work Closely with the Clinic Owner
• Communications fully ‘IN’ with CA’s and Other Docs
• Responds to all practice related emails from the Clinic Owner and other staff
• Knows how to Communicate

What Clinic Owners Don’t Want; What will make them put you on a raft and push you off to Cuba:

Wanna’ know what we don’t want the most? Idiots who never took a seminar! If you think the term “Practice Management” is profanity, there is a job opening for you in fast food. If you haven’t done a year long practice management program like David Singer, you are doomed to fail in chiropractic. That is the education you never got in Chiropractic College. That is the most important part of your chiropractic education.

We don’t want belligerent doctors who can’t be coached; re-read “put you on a raft” above.

And do you want to know what ideal the clinic owner values the most? Your Loyalty.

We want confident, loyal doctors who push power to each other and CAs to get our product: a room full of patients. Nothing else matters. When stats drop, and they sometimes will, you know what you have to do to build them back up again. You go out on your lunch break and put up another 40 posters in businesses across town. Below, you can see the poster we use which has drawn hundreds of new patients into our offices the easy way. The more posters you put up, the busier you get! Go, Go, Go, you little rabbit!

In the Law of Cause and Effect, you choose which one you are.

Give your employer what he wants and he will give you what you want, a successful career as a doctor of chiropractic.

In our offices in Jamaica, our doctors earn 40% of their collections and get paid every day. With incentives, our doctors can earn 50% on days of high production. Last year our doctors got 80% of the profit of the practice! This is the best opportunity you will find so send us your CV!

This video demonstrates a comfortable osseous adjustment.

Michael Harvey, D.C.,
Founder, Dr. Harvey’s Chiropractic Centers, Jamaica

We are always expanding and looking for experienced doctors with great adjusting skills who have done high volume and taken practice management. Discover freedom, live in a tropical paradise and leave insurance behind forever!

Reply to [email protected]

The scammers are getting smart, some are beginning to create fake Yahoo accounts and calling themselves doctors (like Dr. Moses Coleman) to target chiropractic classified ads posted, in hopes of separating you from your money.

This morning I received two separate e-mails from chiropractors receiving replies to equipment for sale advertisements they had placed, both were from the same individual, and they were both scams.

The initial contact began like this…

How are you doing? Am writing you in regards to your posting on here and i’m interested in buying the item for one of my cousins.I want to know if the item is still available,if yes,Pls do get back to me with the detail and the last price of the item.Hope to read from you and have a wonderful and productive day.

Thanks

Dr Moses
[email protected]

IP address information tells us where this e-mail comes from

Fortunately, we trace IP addresses in an effort to determine where e-mails are being sent from. Nothing personally against Nigeria but in 12+ years I’ve yet to see anything legitimate come from the area in the way of e-mail related to classified ads. It’s safe to assume they are always a scam and they appreciate that chiropractors report these e-mails.

If you weren’t tipped off yet that this was a scam, take a look at the response e-mail that is sent…

Thanks for the response to my introductory email..I am pretty cool with the price and condition and i am buying this for my cousin but my mode of payment will be the Most acceptable,safer and reliable means of payment which is United state certified money order/cashier check…Also,i am going to add $40 to the price for you to withdraw the advert from site.Please do get back to me with your name and address along with your phone number so that payment can be sent to you as early as possible and i will have my shipper come to pick up the item once you receive and clear the payment….And if you have a picture of the item,kindly attached with your response so that i can send it to my cousin.

Kindest Regards,

Dr Moses Coleman <[email protected]>

Classic attributes of a classified ad scam include purchasing for third-party (like an uncle or cousin), use of money order or cashiers check, and financial incentive to withdraw the advertisement from the site (in this case $40). The scammers almost always ask for a photo of the item to be attached. Some people like to screw around with the scammers and send all sorts of photos of odd items, I’d recommend reporting their e-mail and moving forward. Dealing locally is and always possible but it is preferred.

For chiropractors, I always recommend starting a conversation in e-mail that typically only chiropractors would be able to have the answers to. Nowadays it’s pretty easy to determine whether a chiropractors business address exists or not, simply by searching for that information. No need to be scammed, but this is the Internet, you always have to be on the lookout.

If you’ve ever posted a classified advertisement online for an item for sale, chances are you’ve received e-mails from faraway places, from individuals that are planning to defraud you of your items and/or money. That’s not to say that fraud doesn’t also occur locally, it does, but there are typical patterns that take place in common overseas scams. US sellers are typically the targets of such scams, and unfortunately they are often times quite effective, since enough people fail the “if it sounds too good to be true” test, to make the scam worth the effort.

The most common target for chiropractic classifieds in these sorts of scams are chiropractor selling items like equipment, chiropractic tables, x-ray machines, and things of that nature. The scammers don’t care what the items are, they just want your money and/or your equipment. Unknowing sellers on other classified ad websites have been conned into shipping numerous items overseas. Items as large as motorcycles. The community effort on Planet Chiropractic has been terrific in helping to quickly identify scammers which helps us to block their activities. Scammers are a reality of buying and selling online, and I find the best thing people can do to combat being taken by a fraudster, is to stay educated on recognizing potential scams.

Here’s a sequence of e-mails from just yesterday involving someone in Africa sending e-mails to a seller of chiropractic items in the United States. Take a look…

Hi, (from the scammer)

How are you doing? Am writing you in regards to your posting on here and i’m interested in buying the item for one of my cousins.I want to know if the item is still available,if yes,Pls do get back to me with the detail and the last price of the item.Hope to read from you and have a wonderful and productive day.

Thanks
rickson.

rickson
[email protected]

Hi, (The unknowing seller replies)

I still have the item. It is $550 + any packaging/shipping/transaction fees to get it to you. If you give me an address I can find out the final cost. I ship via UPS.

Seller

Hi, (The scammer follow up)

Thanks for the response to my introductory email..I am pretty cool with the price and condition and i am buying this for my cousin but my mode of payment will be the Most acceptable,safer and reliable means of payment which is United state certified money order/cashier check…Also,i am going to add $40 to the price for you to withdraw the advert from site.Please do get back to me with your name and address along with your phone number so that payment can be sent to you as early as possible and i will have my shipper come to pick up the item once you receive and clear the payment….And if you have a picture of the item,kindly attached with your response so that i can send it to my cousin.

Kindest Regards,

rickson
[email protected]

After reading the above paragraph most sellers come to the conclusion that someone is attempting to scam and defraud them. If sellers would pay closer attention, they would potentially notice the signs of a scam in the first e-mail. It has the following makings of an e-mail from a scammer…

• poor grammar (many e-mails include poor grammar, so not the perfect individual identifier)
• item requested for third-party (in this case a cousin)
• nonspecific (meaning there’s no actual specific mention of the item)

When selling items online, you pretty much have to expect that a certain amount of e-mails you receive are going to be from people attempting to defraud you of your money and/or your items, take the necessary steps to know who you’re dealing with before you ship items or money anywhere.

Thank you to everyone that has been making use of the chiropractic classifieds on Planet Chiropractic. I got some really good feedback from chiropractors that have been using the system nearly 10 years while I was attending the CCA Parker Seminar event in San Diego. Work is regularly done on the classified ad system but it’s not something users usually notice, that’s about to change.

Modifications that are expected to be live by June of this year include improved browser compatibilities, improvements over the scaling and display of uploaded image files, and several modifications in database functions. Most users rarely notice changes like these but they are essential in improving functionality for the classified ad system. Depending on how nice summer is in Los Angeles this year, we will be introducing an entirely new layout for categories. That is something nearly every regular classified ad user will notice.

As of today, there are 14 main classified ad categories, with 78 subcategories. When the classified ad system was first created we didn’t have any ads posted. Thanks to our users, we can easily see which categories are the most popular, which categories are the least popular, and which categories are often misused or contain misplaced advertisements.

We’re currently working behind the scenes on a category system that will feature 6 to 8 main categories, which means at least six primary categories will be phased out. That doesn’t mean users will have less options overall as the subcategories will be expanded from 78 to at least 100. The goal is to provide a long overdue improved hierarchy of places to post ads.

The 14 current categories are…

1. Chiropractic Practices for Sale
2. Associates
3. Commercial Chiropractic Products for Sale
4. Private Party Chiropractic Products for Sale
5. Computer Hardware and Software
6. Employment Opportunities
7. Commercial Equipment for Sale
8. Equipment for Sale by a Private Party
9. Financial Services
10. Income Opportunities
11. Internet and Web Related Services
12. Office Space for Rent
13. Substitutions and Locum Positions
14. XYZ And Everything Else

I won’t get into the list of 78 subcategories here, as we are currently still finalizing decisions on which categories are going to make it to the final 6 (or possibly 8).

Chiropractic practices for sale, listings for associates, and equipment for sale have been the three most popular categories. The commercial equipment for sale and equipment for sale by private party will become a single category. Those posting will be identified as a vendor, dealer, distributor, or private party (such as a chiropractor selling an adjusting table).

Chiropractic products being sold will follow a similar format, and will be merged into a single category, with options for users to sort by private party versus vendor and/or distributor.

The categories for associates, employment opportunities, as well as substitutions and locum positions, will likely be merged into a single job listings category, that will include several subcategories. Since the classified ad system launched in the 1990s, chiropractors have been hiring more acupuncturists, massage therapists, x-ray technicians, and other employees besides chiropractic associates, office managers, and chiropractic assistants. Subcategory expansion will include listings for all of these job opportunities and more. We’re also working on various ways users can post attachments like a curriculum vitae in PDF or other formats, as well as multiple photos per ad posted.

With more than 3000 advertisements currently posted related to employment, I feel the jobs related categories are the ones that will receive the most attention over the summer, hopefully helping many more find employment in the chiropractic industry.

Maria Wendy (unlikely this scammers real name) has been added to the list of individuals attempting to con sellers of chiropractic equipment (and very likely sellers on other classified ad websites too) selling ads via the chiropractic classifieds section of Planet Chiropractic.

Using the Rediffmail account [email protected], this user contacted chiropractors posting items like chiropractic adjusting tables, with a template email. I’m sharing it here so anyone searching to see if they are potentially being scammed can know this is fraud. Here’s the first email…

– – – – –

Hello,

I came across your ad and I’ll like to know the following questions regarding the ad.

Q#1. How long have you owned it?
Q#2. a) Have you owned it from new? b) If not how many previous owner?
Q#3.Why are you selling it?
Q#4. In your opinion, what sort of conditions it?
Q#5. Anymore available photo?
Q#6. How much are you asking for it?
Q#7. Do you accept a (PayPal)as a mode of payment.

I’ll like to have the response to these question in your earliest convenience..Hope to hear from you soon.

Have a nice day.
Maria Wendy

– – – – –

The 7 questions asked are similar to those seen in numerous examples of fraudulent replies I’ve seen to classified ad postings over the years. Here are a few…

Response To Your ITEM Posted For Sale
Daniel William Uncles Birthday Gift Classified Ad Scam
Helene Dido Internet Classified Ad Scams

The gift for a family member is a popular scam approach, and it’s likely very popular around the holiday season, don’t make your loss someone else’s Christmas gift. Here’s how Maria Wendy replied when contacted by a chiropractor replying to the template email (something I recommend against).

Hi,

I really appreciate your respond,I am an mining operator and am currently on mining ship at the moment, I located in pacific WA, and i want you to know that am okay with the flex/distraction status and also the conditions of the flex/distraction and the asking price as well, I am buying the flex/distraction as a gift for my Dad as a surprise for him,he wont know anything about the flex/distraction until they get delivered to him, i can only pay through PayPal as i don’t have access to my bank account on-line as i don’t have internet banking,but i have my bank account attached to my PayPal account and this is why i insisted on paying you through PayPal, kindly get back to me with your PayPal details if you don’t have PayPal account yet,it is very easy to set up at your bank and get it set up,after you have set it up i will only need the e-mail address you use for registration with PayPal so as to put the money through so i can proceed with the payment and after the payment has been done, i have a pick up agent that will come around for verifications and to pick the flex/distraction after i have made the payments for the flex/distraction.So I will need you to provide me with the following information to facilitate the making of the payment.

1.Your PayPal full name.

2.Your PayPal Email Address.

3..Your phone number.

Once again ,I will like you to know that you will not be responsible for shipping. I will have my pick-up agent come over as soon as you have receive the payment confirmation.

Regards.

Maria

—–

Notice how poor the grammar is? That’s very common for these types of scams. Also, the buyer appears to have no idea what a “flex/distraction” is as evidenced by the cut and paste approach in the reply. It’s nothing more than an attempt to separate sellers from their money, their items, or both.

Regardless of whether you are buying or selling online, be alert and perform at least a few searches on the email or user accounts of people contacting you.