Toastmaster Scam: This evening I had a young man come to my office. He looked around 21 years of age. He was well spoken and polished. He said he was raising funds so he could attend college in Italy for some specialized studies. He said it was sponsored by Toastmasters International, but he needed to raise some money because he had to become a Toastmaster to receive this opportunity and it was very expensive. I started to grill him, told him I was a Toastmaster and never heard of anything like this. He continued to be very polished and charming. I said I would help out Toastmasters but they dont give college scholarships nor do they have expensive fees to join. I told him I had been in state contests and conventions and never heard of this. He said well you were competing in your age group, it is different for my age group. I said there are no age divisions in our contests. He said, well that may have been the way it used to be but there is a new program now. Then he asked me, How many years has it been since you have been to a Toastmaster meeting? I said, It hasnt been years, it has only been 3 weeks since I last attended. I then told him I was going to call one of the governors of Toastmasters and find out about this. The boy started to finally get nervous and asked, Toastmasters has governors? Anyway I called Matt and told the scam artist he knew nothing about this either. I then asked the kid his name. He told me Toastmasters did not allow them to share their names because this was all confidential. I said, You expect me to give you money but you wont tell me your name? I then said I have to check this out further. He said, Tonight is the deadline we have for raising funds. I said nothing you are saying is ringing true. He got up and left...now I am kicking myself for not following him out and getting his license number.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 04:28:45 +0000
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