The plot thickens.

A quick follow-up to my Something Strange This Way Comes post:

I think I know who my scammer is.

A while back I got an odd response to my Craigslist ad for wedding photography from a "John Christian" looking to book me. Immediately, I flagged the guy as a fraud, but I played along just in case my Spidey-senses were on the fritz.

Today I got this email from John:

Hello,
My firm accountant company contacted me that the check as been
sent to you via UPS courier service and you will get the check package
today here is the package tracking number
(1Z01E9W00149757646 ).
There was a little mistake which I guess we can
handle with understanding. My firm accountant handling the monetary
aspect make some misinterpretation while sending the check. According
to the instruction i gave him, he was suppose to have send you a
check for your deposit but in the process he made a mistake by adding
the wedding D.J money to the check they sent to you and am sure we
could both handle this issue amicably.You should get the check cashed
immediately and deduct the amount for your deposit and please kindly
help in sending the remaining fund to the D.J Via Western Union
Money Transfer so that the D.J will be able to get my wedding date booked down.
Below is the D.J information that you will send the fund to.

Receivers Name..............Alton A Aguon
ADDRESS........2616 byrd rd
CITY................Las Vegas
STATE.............NV
ZIP CODE.........89120
Also I want you to ignore any note attached to the package cos it was
mistakenly attached to it.
As soon as you send the western union you should kindly get back to me
with the below information so that the D.J will be able to get his
money and as soon as possible.
kindly get back to me with the below information as soon as you send
the money so that I will be able to forward it to the D.J
Sender's Name.........
Sender's Address......
Amount sent............
MTCN (10 Digit Money Transfer Pin Number)

I will be waiting for the above Western Union details
looking forward to hear from you soonest.

I'll be forwarding this to the AGs office, along with the other stuff. I'm sure nothing will come of it, but it's nice to know the guy is out the cost of the UPS overnight letter.

Something strange this way comes

Early Tuesday afternoon the UPS guy rolled into the driveway and delivered a most unusual parcel.

It was an overnight Express Envelope - which I'm guessing costs about 10 bucks - with a return address of:

Terry Lee

(709) 266 (XXXX) - (the actual phone number was there, but I won't share it).

Dept. of Transportation

2701 Prospect Ave

Helena, MT 590601

Needless to say, I was confused.

I've never been to Montana. Didn't even know that MT was the postal code and was pretty sure something was not quite right.

I opened the parcel and inside was a plain white envelope.

Inside that envelope was a check for $1,300 in my name.

It appeared very authentic. Except that it was draw on an account from the University of New Mexico.

Hmmmm.

There was an address on the check of 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131.

The bank was Bank of America Nt&Sa, 1 World Trade Ctr. 23rd Fl, New York City, NY 10048.

(If I'm not mistaken, that address was eliminated on Sept. 11, 2001)

The check had my name (spelled correctly) and my street address.

The 'memo' was 'payment for cash'

The signature is a pixelated scrawl that probably has the first name John, but the surname is illegible.

In all other regards, the check seemed authentic, almost like a standard payroll check.

The only other thing inside the envelope was this note, typed out on a scrap of paper. I'll write it out EXACTLY as it reads.

To Whom It May Concern, Dear Sir/Madam, This is an important notice and instructions about this check you have received. You are advised to send an email notification to the secure payment department via EMAIL provided below to verify this check# and further instructions about the check before you proceed to process the check at your bank. Please contact the secure payment department via EMAIL : (payverifier73@aol.com ) for check verification and further instruction on the check you have recieved. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause but we wanted to confirm with us that the right owner of the check got it to avoid any problem processing the payment at your bank. Once again, you must send a notification EMAIL to:"payverifier73@aol.com" when received this check.

"PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE THIS LETTER & ABOVE Instructions AND SEND THE EMAIL NOTIFICATION TO AVOID ANY PROBLEM" Thanks for your cooperation. Secure Payment Department.

Weird, huh?

Of course, it's a scam.

We called the number on the envelope and an elderly man answered. He indicated that he was tired of all the wrong numbers he was getting. We told him about the scam.

We also called UPS and were told the letter originated out of Anaheim, CA.

I also called the Attorney General's office. It was the first they had heard of this particular scheme and they seems intrigued by the fact the scammer was willing to fork out money for overnight express delivery.

I just admit, it was official-looking stuff and for about 10 seconds I was thinking I had a windfall, but having never been to Montana, New Mexico or California, I quickly realized I was the intended victim of one elaborate, but unsuccessful attempt at stealing my identity or my money.

The AG's office said they expected to contact me for more information in three days.

My theory on the whole thing is that about two weeks ago I posted an ad offering wedding photography services on Craigslist. Since then, I've been spammed non-stop, but nothing like this. (I also have gotten two legitimate leads on weddings, so it's not a complete loss.) Still, I'm sure because my website has my mailing address on it, I was targeted.

For what reason, and by whom? Who knows?

But I thought it was a pretty unique story to tell.