How scammers are trying to rip photographers off
In a previous article on how e-mail scammers are targeting photographers, the question came up exactly how the photographer is going to lose money. What exactly is the system the scammers have in place where the photographer is going to be out of pocket?
The over-payment scam works on the principle that the scammer books you but overpays you, and then asks you to pay the difference to another vendor. So you send money to the “other vendor” (who is actually the scammer). The transaction where you got paid the money turns out to be fraudulent, and the bank removes that money from your bank account … but the money that you paid to the “other vendor” (ie, the scammer) is a real transaction and you lose that money.
You’ll encounter different versions of this, but there are numerous tell-tale signs. These have even cropped up now as scammers texting you! But it follows the same pattern, with the same tell-tale signs that it is a scam.
As an example, here is an email by a scammer
1. The initial email
Note how the wording is vague, and the grammar is nearly always awkward. I am actually surprised they got the ‘new Jersey’ part right. Usually it is a very generic ‘your city’.
My name is Walter Bender i will like to book you for my Engagement Party Dated 30th July 2013 here New jersey. Get back to me if you are available and if you accept credit card payment
My Spidey senses are already tingling at this. This person is just too eager to throw money in my direction, without asking about costs and other details.
2. My reply, trying to elicit more detail
I am available. How many hours would you like me to be there?
And which venue are you using?
3. The scammer’s reply
Thanks a lot Neil for the quick reply,Happy 4th. i need you to shoot for 3 hours ,and i need all edited copies on CD.Engagement Venue: [ name and address of the venue redacted ]
Start Time:6pm- 9pm
Number of Guest:85Let me know your Quote Okay,i want to have the date book right away,i will forward you my credit card details to confirm Booking
So far … not too bad. Still just a suspicion that this isn’t a real enquiry.
4. My reply, with a dollar amount just thrown in there.
I thought I might push this a little bit and ask for an address to mail the disc to.
Hi there Walter
For 3 hours, and the disc of images, my fee is $1,500 + 7% NJ sales tax.
The total fee would be $1605.00
And I would need your address so I can mail you the disc afterwards.
5. His reply … and tadaaaaa!! There it is. It’s a scam.
Thanks for getting back with the Total Quote, Mailing Address: [ address redacted]. Please Neil I also want you to help me charge another $1,800 for the florist Booked for the Engagement, I’m compensating you with the sum of $250 for the transfer fee and for your efforts.
Please note that I would have given the Florist my credit card for him to deduct the funds but was told that he doesn’t have the facility to charge or debit credit cards, which is why I bring my vote of confidence in you and i wouldn’t want you to betray my trust. So I want you to transfer the funds to him ONLY after you have made the charges and the money charged has reflected in your account. Only then can you proceed to make the transfer to the Florist via Western Union Money Transfer.Find below the charges you’ll make on my credit card:You Charge fee ………( $1605.00)
Florist Fee ……($1,800)
Your Commission…….($250 )
Note that my credit card will be charged for the amounts above. Please do get back to me if you are in the office right now so that I can forward my credit card details to you,i would like you to help me process the Charges through the link at your end, I can then send you the information by which to transfer the money to the Florist by Western Union Money transfer .Anticipating your Favorable reply
Kind Regards
How these scams work
There it is! They are going to overpay, and you are asked to send the “Florist” that sum of money. That “Florist” is actually the scammer. You would be out of pocket by $1,800 in a week from now when it all plays out. Guaranteed. Any money you pay the “Florist” or whoever, is what you will lose. Any money they pay you, will be paid from a fraudulent credit card, and once the banks catch up, they will remove that money from your account again.
I removed the mailing address since it is a useless address. It’s in the middle of a NJ State Park. Yup, another clue. Because, really, they don’t want the disc. They want your $1,800 …. because this is a scam.
Another clue is that you have to pay the scammer / “florist” via Western Union Money Transfer. That’s the single most consistent part to this type of scam, because it is the hinge around which all of this works for the scammer – overpaying you.
You’ll encounter variations of this, but there are always specific patterns that will reveal you’re dealing with a con artist / criminal / scammer.
So, when this happens, do you report it to the authorities?
I called the FBI and homeland security and they didn’t seem to care. I ended up with $2500 — $500 for me and $2000 was deposited into the event planners account in a different bank. I am out nothing except my guy want to sign me for another event. This time $8000 but the credit card company wouldn’t process it because of they said I had exceeded my $12000 limit. They wanted copies of the invoices and three months of my bank statements. I cut the relationship. I still get the texts but now I’m just playing with them.
Hi there Robert
Either I am misunderstanding something here, or I am skipping a beat.
You say that they have paid you $2,500 of which you refunded the event planner $2,000 from your account?
Here is what I think is happening — this hasn’t played out yet!
You may think you have “earned” $500 …. and it hasn’t cost you anything so far. At the moment it looks like you just moved $2,000 to the other account. However, I predict that in a week or so from now, when the banks reverse the fraudulent charges, you will be out of pocket by $2,000
That this has been a successful swindle by the scammers can be seen in that they immediately want to throw another $8,000 at you. They have you marked, and they want to pounce as fast as they can for the follow-up scam, before the charges on the first “payment” are reversed, and their ploy is revealed.
I am really interested in how this played out in the end. I don’t think we’ve quite heard all of this story yet.
Here’s what I recently encountered from email [email protected]
Hello,
I’m Robert Lawrence hearing impaired . How are you doing today and business ? I’ll like to know your free available date in January 2017 for my family reunion (5 hours photo coverage). Also i want family portraits done for all the families coming together for the reunion. Do you accept credit card payment ? I got you contact information from the internet. in view of this i want you to get back to me with following information.
OFFICE ADDRESS;
CELL NUMBER ;
Thanks hope to hear from you soonest.
Then after I responded he says,” Thank you for the swift response. I want you to check if you have available weekends between 14th or 15th January 2017. If you have a date open i want you to work on the estimate cost for the 5 hours photo coverage from 11am-4pm, and 8-16×20 prints family photo portraits and video because we have 8 families coming together for the reunion event. The event will be held locally here in the state about an hour or two drive from your location, i will cover the travel expenses. and i hope you can handle this event. I’ll be making 60% down payment in advance with my credit card to book the date also i will forward you the event venue once the event planner book the hall. I will be looking forward to read from you with the estimate ASAP,hope to hear from you soonest.
He gave me NO telephone #, I asked if he has Skype because my sign language is ok,…But,….
This just happened to me. Thank you for sharing the information. I haven’t committed to doing this event because things just didn’t seem right and my intuition was right. I started researching before I replied to this fool and you just helped me make my decision. The “Client” texted me and refused to book through our website, and also refused to pay me through Paypal. Thank you !!!
The scammers are based elsewhere – most likely Nigeria. They just keep moving on to the next victims with new fraudulently acquired credit card numbers.
The problem in reporting this, is that where I am concerned, there has been no crime committed. I’m not a victim. So if I went to the cops … they’ll just shrug their shoulders.
And I just do not have the energy to deal with a credit card company’s automated phone system to try and report this. They can deal with it when they realize that that credit card has been compromised.
Exactly… and that’s why this stuff continues year after year and is so prevalent. There’s practically no comebacks to the scammers, and the potential payoffs are lucrative enough to make it worth it.
This is a very old scam though it’s interesting to see it being applied to photographers as a new target demographic. Neil, you’re spot on about learning to look for key signs instead of specific scams: vague emails, deals too good to be true, too eager to initiate a transaction, and ANYTHING that involves your banking details or you paying out money in ANY form. BS “escrow” accounts, overpaying credit cards, checks, customs / transfer “fees”, and so on. Warning bells should be going off right away with any of the above!
Same here Cierra [Australia], I had 2 similar in past 3 months, just wanted to throw money at me without seeing my work nor inquiring about rates first up, just book me.
The absolutely dead giveaway is *always* going to be the Nigerian scammers methodology wording of “which is why I bring my vote of confidence in you and i wouldn’t want you to betray my trust.” or similar, along with the mention of Western Union.
Anything with ‘trust/confidence’ and Western Union is 100% guaranteed to be scamming.
I’d like to check email id & ip address to find out where they are sending it from?
again it is a good idea to add filter IP address on your website to block out any specific country – this will prevent scammers to look up your website & email, however scammers could be anywhere in the world that’s the problems.
The IP address is 209.85.223.196
This resolves as Mountain View, California.
Wouldn’t this just be because the culprit is using gmail?
Or would that be the actual IP address?
Nice example Neil. It’s important that this kind of stuff gets posted. It’s hard to believe that people fall for these scams, but they do – that’s why the scammers keep doing it. This one was a bit more sophisticated than the “Dear Beloved” types, but has a lot of the same hallmarks.
It’s too bad that you need to have a well developed Spidey sense, but that is the universe we live in.
I’ve seen the same exact scam done to Bed & Breakfasts. It’s really sad.
This scam does get around. I just dealt with a very similar case in my furniture design business. A ‘marketing executive’ from California wanted me to build him a dresser. All was well and good for a couple of emails and then came the scam – would I be willing to take an overpayment so that I can front some money to his ‘shipper.’ Not so much!
Ah well. Since I’m writing a comment let me say something positive – I’m an avid photographer and I’ve learned a great deal from your blog. I photograph all my furniture and the black foamie thing, among other tricks, has been a great help in making well lit, glare free images. This is one of the best blogs on the web. Thanks!
I’ve had the same.scam attempt pulled. This one with a roommate they sent a cashers check and tried to overpay for storage costs, mail from Texas to California … After I received the check I told them they would have to wait 2 full weeks for check to clear …. I never heard back from them again … The bank said ‘check was as good as gold” but a few day later all the red flags went up. So I prevented the scam from taking place by making them wait longer than they expected.
It’s hard to say from here to be honest because culprit will always look for “Anonymous Proxy” or “computer hijack” in order to use their ip address to show they are from united state, who known if they are actually from different country?
It’s really good things you post here and helping people to prevent this kind of scam.
manvin I wouldn’t block any IP addresses as quite often scammers are using dynamic IP addresses, so you might block potential customers.
Why doesn’t Western Union do something about these scams? (Maybe they are? If so, it doesn’t seem to be very effective at stopping them.) Anytime I see “Western Union” I think scam– this can’t be good for their business…. or maybe it is because they get fees from the scammers?
Seb yes you are right buddy. I’m not blocking any IP addresses however but to analysis IP address to find out which country are they in, only specific users cannot access the website.
This method seem to work quite well with either dynamic IP or static IP.
stakx The reason why they use WU is very simple – you can’t track your money. Also literally anyone can get your money, they just need some details regarding transaction. Another channel is Money Gram or relationship with some king or queen in Nigeria.
I would understand if this was happening in the English-speaking parts of the world only, but it doesn’t! Every now and then I sell some photo gear on a Slovakian website – and these scammers have found me several times! My ad is in Slovak language, everything on the website is in Slovak language – yet they somehow manage to click through several options and find the ads that might be of interest to them. How they do it, I have no idea – do they actually make the effort and have the website translated via Google translate, so that they can navigate through the site? But how did they find the website in the first place? Its name means something like “flee market dot SK”, but not exactly – it’s actually a made-up word, not generally known in Slovak, so how did they find out that this website is where they can find ads, is beyond my understanding.
Currently at the moment, I have a scammer on the line (fishing line that is) and am currently conversing with him.
Once I am done, and I can detect the full scam, I shall – with Neil’s permission he already has given me – post emails to and from me.
Hopefully in the next few days.
So far it ‘appeared’ slightly genuine, but when he gave me the venue name here in Australia, over 2400kms away, and upon ringing to confirm their booking of his “memorable festivities”, they have no bookings on the 2 days he wants me for nor anything under the name given to me.
coming soon . . . to be continued . . .
UPDATE: Definitely a scammer, I called the venue again, the receptionist said I was 1 of about a dozen photographers inquiring, and besides that they are already booked for other functions on the days he has supposed to have booked. When queried on that, his “wife forgot, she is busy in Italy buying a wedding outfit and shopping”. :)
I just got a similar email. And it sounded a bit like a scam so i googled it and came upon this article. Thanks for posting it. I really wanted to reply “piss off and get a real job” or something like that. But I didn’t..you never know..if they are crazy and will try to seek me out. Photographers are generally easy to trace.
I got this inquiry this morning. It resembles the scam emails I’ve read here before,
“Hello
How are you today,I stumbled on your website via a Google search,Browsed through all your works and fell in love with your level of creativity.I want to book you to shoot at my Engagement party coming up 24th October 2013 here in Australia .Would be so glad if you are available. Also, do you accept payments via credit cards?
Looking forward to your reply
Walter Bender”
Thanks Neil. Walter Bender just emailed me too and also got my spidey senses going. A quick google led me to your post. Thanks for saving me the time responding to this guy!
Do you have any local info on Walter Bender. I need to contact him to review info he gave to my son and need to contact him in person or phone my son is out $3000.00 that he does not have and also lost all access to paypal and has sold Multics items and also lost all that $ he is out of work and has now lost all his $ that has nothing to do with this Walter scam he is 21 and never even. Gave a thought that he would be scammed out of $he does not have.he has loser everything he owns and is now in the need to sell all his camera equipment and is now without evertthing he has ever. Worked for along with his dreams of having a future.
Pat … there is about zero chance you’d ever meet this “Walter Bender”, since the scammers are most likely sitting in a foreign country – probably Nigeria.
Hi Neil! Thanks for sharing! Yesterday I received the email from Walter Bender.
Here in Brazil. =]
Em 2013-10-10 08:53, walter bender escreveu:
Thanks so much for the quick reply i need you to shoot for 4 hours ,and i need all edited copies on USB.
Engagement Party Venue:
Plaza Itapema Resort & SPA
Address: BR-101, Km 144 – Ilhota, Itapema – SC, 88220-000, Brazil
Start Time:5pm- 9pm
Number of Guest:85
Let me know if there would be any travel and accommodation cost, i
will take care of all additional cost
Await to get the total quote thank you
From: walter bender [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2013 7:53 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Booking
Hello
How are you today,I stumbled on your website via a Google search,Browsed through all your works and fell in love with your level of creativity.I want to book you to shoot at my Engagement party coming up 24th November 2013 here in NY .Would be so glad if you are available. Also, do you accept payments via credit cards?
Looking forward to your reply
Got the Walter Bender email today! Your blog post came up immediately during a Google search for “Walter bender scam”.
Thanks for posting about this!
thanks for posting this. i just got the same communication from ” Walter Bender” this week in Jan. 2014. looks like this guy is going to need to change his name up. haha.
Oyi i just got an email from “Walter Bender” and thought I should google him. My thoughts were right spot on. After I noticed last named spelled Bendor and his email spelled Bender. Thanks
This just happened to me, so it’s still going strong over a year later:
“Hello, How are you today,I stumbled on your website via a Google search,Browsed through all your works and fell in love with your level of creativity.I want to book you to shoot at my Engagement party coming up 24th November 2014 here in Portland Oregon .Would be so glad if you are available. Also, do you accept payments via credit cards? Looking forward to your reply Lane”
This just happened to me today, good thing I saw this blog and realized it was a scam!!!!
This is how this person contacted me:
On Jan 26, 2015, at 1:58 PM, lewis jordan wrote:
Hi, This is Lewis Do you offer Family Reunion Photography and accept credit card? Kindly reply back if you do. Thank you
On Jan 28, 2015, at 7:33 PM, lewis jordan wrote:
My family reunion will be taking place at my home in Vallejo on the 20th and 21st of next month 3pm-8pm daily.Expected guest is between 40-50 people. Do you have availability on the dates and be able to take Posed and Candids shots? Let me have the estimate cost and your direct # so i can contact you to better discuss the schedule and arrangement. Thank you
My reply:
On Fri, Jan 30, 2015 at 10:56 PM,
Hello Lewis,
I need your
1. complete name
2. address
3.your cell number
4. address of your event
For the 2 days event it’s $1600.
This is where I got suspicious,
On Jan 31, 2015, at 8:49 AM, lewis jordan wrote:
The price is okay with me and i am ready to make full payment of the service now with my credit card so i can be rest assured the date is secured for the event, I need you to render me a favor regarding the event planner that is handling the event for me. The favor is that the event planner is currently not authorized to accept credit card so i want you to help coordinate his fee on my card along with your payment. I will give you my card to charge for your service and the event planner fee (You will charge your fee then charge an additional $1250 for the event planner) As soon as you charge it through and it approves you will forward it to him so everything can be set for the event, Reason i am asking you for the favor is cus i just got out of Intensive care and My Psychiatrist strongly advice me to minimize the stress i go through else i might develop severe weakness and tiredness. I am willing to offer you an extra $50 as tip for your assistance, Bear with me I will be authorizing and responsible for all the charges on my credit card.
Below is the breakdown of the charges you will be running on my credit card:
Photo-shoot : $1600
Event Planner : $1250
Tip: $50
CC Charges: 2%
Kindly get back to me with the grand total you will be running on my credit card along with the details needed to process my card.
Thank you.
*I am so thankful I used my common sense! This guy is a scammer!!
Just got the same email. Thank you so much for reporting this. Sooner or later, “Lewis” will have to come up with a different name. Btw, email came from [email protected]. Recent visitors to my website came from isp addresses in New York
I’ve gotten similar inquiries in the past but this time, although I was suspicious from the beginning, the scam was not so obvious. Except for the question about the credit card. Who asks that in their initial inquiry?
I actually replied to Maxwell Bolt and asked him a couple of questions about his event. When he replied that his reunion was on a Tues and a Wed, that was enough for me to confirm it was a scam.
More suspicions / confirmations:
-He contacted me about Reunion photography through my Boudoir photography site.
-He sent me the exact same email today!
I did a search today on the ISP (didn’t know before reading it here that I could do that..) and guess where it is??
Yup – Nigeria!
I’m including the text from his email here so that others may find it via Google like I did today.
—-
First Contact:
Name: max
Email: [email protected]
Phone:
I’m interested in: Hi, This is Maxwell Do you offer Family Reunion Photography and accept credit card? Kindly reply back if you do. Thank you
IP: 41.58.124.6
——
Reply to my questions:
My family reunion will be taking place at my home in Los Angeles on the 25th and 26th of next month. 3pm-8pm daily. Expected guest is around 40-50 guest and i want you to take care of the photography job at my family reunion and i will need portrait work done after the photography..i want my guest photos in a book/album and separate portraits for my family(4 members) … Do you have availability on the dates ?if yes send me a quote for both dates and i can make full payment with my credit card ..Thank you
——
Photographer Beware!
Maxwell Bolt emailed me too, however signed it Jeremy. same email except reunion is in manhattan beach. crazy!
I just got the same e-mail from Maxwell bolt!! Except for that he claimed his name was Jeremy.
Here is what he sent me:
[email protected]
Feb 22 (3 days ago)
Hi,
This is Jeremy, Do you offer Family Reunion Photography and accept credit card? Kindly reply back if you do. Thank you
Jeremy
I replied and asked him more details about his event, and here is what he sent me:
maxwell bolt
2:48 PM (18 hours ago)
to me
Thank you for your timely response My wife came across your timeline on FACEBOOK …My family reunion will be taking place at my home in Mountain View Ca on the 8th and 9th of April. 3pm-8pm daily. Expected guest is around 40-50 guest and i want you to take care of the photography job at my family reunion and i will need portrait work done after the photography
1) i want my guest photos in a book/album or C D
2) separate portraits for my family members : (Sabrina,Kathy,Dennis and Joey)
3) Just walk around and get pictures of the party
get back to me if you have availability on the above dates and if yes send me a quote for both dates and i can make full payment with my credit card ..Thank you
Jeremy
RED FLAGS–the first thing he asked was about accepting credit card, the dates were in the middle of the week (who has a reunion for 5 hrs on wednesday and 5 hrs on Thursday?), and he kept pushing that he would pay in full. Those were enough for me to google him, and I found all your comments!
PHOTOGRAPHERS, BE CAREFUL!!
My scam came from a Lewis Jordan. I’m still playing with him making him think I’ll go for it. Same story as above and I am located in So Cal. Hopefully no one falls for this crap!
I’m really glad I googled this guy’s email address; I got the same email:
Name: jeremy
Email: [email protected]
Question: Hi,
This is Jeremy, Do you offer Family Reunion Photography and accept credit card? Kindly reply back if you do. Thank you
Jeremy
Time: February 26, 2015 at 3:53 am
IP Address: 41.138.182.100
maxwell bolt
1:42 PM (16 minutes ago)
to me
Thank you for your timely response My wife came across your timeline on FACEBOOK …My family reunion will be taking place at my home in Santa Monica on the 8th and 9th of April. 3pm-8pm daily. Expected guest is around 40-50 guest and i want you to take care of the photography job at my family reunion and i will need portrait work done after the photography
1) i want my guest photos in a book/album or C D
2) separate portraits for my family members : (Sabrina,Kathy,Dennis and Joey)
3) Just walk around and get pictures of the party
get back to me if you have availability on the above dates and if yes send me a quote for both dates and i can make full payment with my credit card ..Thank you
Jeremy
Yup, received an emailed from Jeremy, as well, today. Googled before responding and found this post! Thank you!
——–
From: maxwell bolt
Time: 5:38 AM
This is Jeremy, Do you offer Family Reunion Photography and accept credit card? Kindly reply back if you do. Thank you
——–
Jeremy
OMG same thing here in the south bay
Ha- just got a very similar email from one Peter Wilson, with a six hour family reunion, plus head shots! In the middle of the week, here in Canada. I had already heard about a similar email in a photog group I’m in on Facebook, plus it just reads like a scam. I still had to play along, to see how well he could answer my questions, and if my quote would scare him or not. We went back and forth briefly. I ended my most recent email with “Also, can you please reassure me that the following link has noting to do with you, as I am an incredibly trusting person, and would really hate for this to be a scam.
https://neilvn.com/tangents/photographers-how-scammers-rip-you-off-scams-fraud/
Thank you so much for your inquiry” We shall see if I hear from Pete again.
I just had a long back and forth via txt with “Abraham Smith.” who was in the hospital for the next few weeks and hard of hearing, thus communicate via SMS. This was for a family reunion in Manhattan at a venue I couldn’t find listed anywhere, for a 6 hour period on a Thursday afternoon. a month hence. My spidey sense tingled when he asked about taking a credit card in the first message. From there on, for about an hour, we went back and forth. When he asked for my direct number, which he’d been txt-ing for an hour, and I accidentally called him Peter Wilson, (which he didn’t correct) I finally just said I just realized I can’t do this job, how did you get my number? Who referred me to you? (I don’t promote that kind of photography anyway…and a quick review of my website would reveal this.)
GREAT info throughout this thread.
Thanks, Steve
I got this from a Leland Whitehurst.
Hello my name is Leland. I will like to know your availability day in March, 2015 just for 6 hours service, also i will need portrait work done after the photography work is done after the event. I will like you to get back to me with your availability day in March, its a family reunion party. And also do you accept credit card payment?
Regards,
Leland.
I also got another one a few days later from a Janice Adara. Thanks for this post, it saved me a lot of time and money!
That phrase – “I will like to” – immediately indicates that it is a scam. A 100% certainty.
We might just be in trouble one day if these scammers get their grammar together.
There is a Tim Webber out there too!
“Hello my name is Tim Webber. I will like to know your availability day in April, 2015 just for 4 hours service, also i will need portrait work done after the photography work is done after the event. I will like you to get back to me with your availability day in April, its a family reunion party. And also do you accept credit card payment?
Regards,
Tim.”
I replied (knowing it was a scam obviously) to let him know I do not do events or parties :P
Wow I just got hit up by Tim Webber as well! Thanks for the posts here!
I just got the same email from Tim Webber this morning. Blocked.
Hi, This is David Brandon Do you offer Family Reunion Photography and accept credit card? Kindly reply back if you do.
Thank you
Making the rounds in Chicago for Family Reunions.
Hi David,
Yes, I can offer family reunion photography packages and I do accept credit cards. Many of my weekends are booked for the summer. When and where is your reunion and what would you like included – how many hours, how many people, candid/posed, prints, albums? I can then get a better idea of what you’re looking for and provide you with several package options and pricing.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth
My family reunion will be taking place at my home in Palatine on the 27th and 28th of next month 3pm-8pm daily.Expected guest is between 40-50 people. Do you have availability on the dates and be able to take Posed and Candids shots? Let me have the estimate cost and your direct # so i can contact you to better discuss the schedule and arrangement.
Thank you
Hi David,
Sorry for the delay, I was running out the door this morning when I got your second email. Unfortunately, I am beginning a new full-time job on 4/6 and could only commit to time after work as that’s a Monday and Tuesday. That said, you really will get the best natural light around sunset. Perhaps two hours of outdoor photography (6-8pm)? That should give me enough time to get through posed photos of the various parts of the family, the whole family together, and a number of candids. The cost would be $875 – that includes an online password-protected gallery with digital downloads of all fully-edited images with a print/post release or the option to buy professional prints, as well. I’d recommend scheduling for 4/27 and then if we have rain, we could try for the 48th as a back-up. Feel free to call any time for more information.
Elizabeth
The price is okay with me and i am ready to make full payment of the service now with my credit card so i can be rest assured the date is secured for the event, I need you to render me a favor regarding the event planner that is handling the event for me. The favor is that the event planner is currently not authorized to accept credit card so i want you to help coordinate his fee on my card along with your payment. I will give you my card to charge for your service and the event planner fee (You will charge your fee then charge an additional $2000 for the event planner) As soon as you charge it through and it approves you will forward it to him so everything can be set for the event, Reason i am asking you for the favor is cus i just got out of Intensive care and My Psychiatrist strongly advice me to minimize the stress i go through else i might develop severe weakness and tiredness. I am willing to offer you an extra $50 as tip for your assistance, Bear with me I will be authorizing and responsible for all the charges on my credit card.
Below is the breakdown of the charges you will be running on my credit card:
Photo-shoot : $875
Event Planner : $2000
Tip: $50
CC Charges: 2%
Kindly get back to me with the grand total you will be running on my credit card along with the details needed to process my card.
Thank you.
***And that’s when I forwarded the email chain to the local police, not that they can do anything, but they do send out alerts to our community when scams like this are going around.***
Thanks for the info. I got one and just replied back with this :D :D :D
Hi Susan,
Yes, that works great. Lets go ahead and book it!
One small issue. I will need to get a new lens for this event to make sure you have the best photos possible. My credit card was stolen so I can’t use it right now. So I need you to purchase the lens and ship it to me. it will be around $2,000. I will subtract my fee from the $2,000 (or however much the lens costs after taxes and shipping) and I will pay you whatever else is left over at the event.
Thanks so much!
Ha! I’m playing with “Lewis Jordan” right now. I love your reply. Might have to borrow it. : )
So happy I saw this post. Here is my convo with David Brandon:
—
Hi, This is David Brandon Do you offer Family Reunion Photography and accept credit card? Kindly reply back if you do.
Thank you
Hi David,
I would love to take photos for you. I do accept credit. Were you referred by someone? When is the event?
Best,
Hannah
David Brandon
8:23 AM (8 hours ago)
My family reunion will be taking place at my home in Muskego on the 15th and 16th of next month 3pm-8pm daily.
Expected guest is between 40-50 people. Do you have availability on the dates and be able to take Posed and Candids shots?
Let me have the estimate cost and your direct # so i can contact you to better discuss the schedule and arrangement.
Thank you
to David
David,
Great news! I am available on both of those dates. I can take candid shots and do posed group shots as well. Here is a breakdown of the cost, but please feel free to contact me by calling ******** for more details.
For your family reunion, it would be billed as Event/Party Photography. My rates allow you customize your photography coverage in two steps to work best with your budget *******
I hope this helps!
Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you!
—
We then started texting. I wanted to call him, but he said he was hearing impaired. I was falling for it for a while, even though I still wasn’t feeling 100% on it. Eventually he agreed on a price and then asked me to do him a “Favor” That’s when I knew something was up and I found this post! He gave me the same event planner story and I just said that I cannot accept payment on the behalf of another business. Silence.
I will be reporting him. His phone number he was texting from is 601-274-3456.
Klynn,
I just had the Tim Webber contact me from my web page this weekend. It seemed like a normal quote until he asked me to pay for the venue and him pay me back with an extra $200 for me because they “didn’t take credit cards”. I happen to know that venue does take credit cards and knew right then it was a scam. Don’t fall into this guys trap!
He wrote me from [email protected]
Thanks for posting about this!
Hello, I’m Susan Hays. How are you ? I’ll like to know your free available date in May for my family reunion (5 hours photo coverage). Also i want family portraits done for the all the families coming together for the reunion. Do you accept credit card payment ?
–
Same thing. Thanks for your post.
I just got this exact same thing
Hello, I’m Susan Hays. How are you ? I’ll like to know your free available date in May for my family reunion (5 hours photo coverage). Also i want family portraits done for the all the families coming together for the reunion. Do you accept credit card payment ?
Here was “her” reply
Hi Mark,
I want you to check if you have available weekends between June 20th-28th. If you have a date open i want you to work on the estimate cost for the 5 hours photo coverage from 11am-4pm, and 6-16×20 prints family photo portraits because we have 6 families coming together for the reunion event. The event will be held locally here in the state about an hour or two drive from your location, i will cover the travel expenses. I got your information on the internet and i hope you can handle this event. I’ll be making 60% down payment in advance with my credit card to book the date also i will forward you the event venue once the event planner book the hall.
Thanks,
Susan
Hello Andrew,
Thank you for the estimate. I want you to know that i am in the ICU just recuperating from an ear surgery i undergo. The event planner handling the event does not have the facility to receives credit card payment, i want you to do me a little favor. I want you to add their charges to yours so you can have everything run on my credit card. The favor is that after you ran everything on my credit card and the total amount has cleared to your account, you will send their fees to them. Here is the final breakdown below :
Your service: $X,XXX
Event planner: $1,500
Tips & Gratuity : $100
3% CC Surcharge: $$$
In view of this i want you to get back to me with the grand total and i will provide you with my credit card details to run through ASAP.
Thanks,
Susan.
Yup, there it is – the pattern.
It’s amusing how they have moved the bad grammar of “I will like to”, up towards ” I’ll like to”.
Ohhhhh, I got the hearing impaired Tim Webber and another dude TODAY – Larry Stevens.
I didn’t feel good from the first Tim Webber interaction, but when Larry Stevens made the same inquiry email – report phishing and report spam and create filter for emails like this and ThankYouVeryMuchGmailforBusiness.
As we say it down here on the Gulf Coast (me being European and all…) – “them f***ers need a slap in the face… with a brick!”
On a brighter note, hey, I found your blog :))))
And it’s five o’clock somewhere… Cheers!!!
As an owner/head instructor of a martial arts school, we get the same scams. Over the past 10 years, I have had so many scam attemps just like this (received one today by the name Janice Adara), where the wording is almost identical. Just put martial arts and full body exercise as the topic. And there have been some pretty elaborate scam stories too. I go to Google and do a search on the name used, and most of the time, it shows up as a fake name. Scamming this way is in just about every type of service oriented business. If it sound a bit fishy or too good to be true, it’s most likely a scam. Be on your toes and don’t be fooled.
I just got my email from “Tim Webber” yesterday, I now know it is fraud.
This is the email he sent,
Answering his question about credit cards, I did accept them, but no longer.
He’s a scammer for sure .And I do believe him to be sending his emails from somewhere in California – the email headers show (PDT) pacific daylight time.
Thank you for writing this article! I too received the email from Tim Webber. I knew something didn’t feel right when I checked with the venue and they were already booked and they DO accept ALL credit cards. I can’t believe people would do this shit… don’t they know this is how we (photog.) pay our bills. It aint a hobby to us! GRRRR
Another text scammer trying his luck,
from phone number: (914) 461-8840
[email protected] just texted me too with the same inquiry. What a doop.
Aaaw, this is adorable. A scammer with a budget.
From phone number: (407) 655-4696
Here is a series of texts, with her replies to me, as I play along:
I played along for a while, returning her texts. My initial quote was for $950 and then I just ramped it up to $2495 so that we could finish this dilly-dallying.
Ms. Tammy Dickson is a busy lady…..just had a little chat with her from the same phone number!
That’s odd – she texted me that she is hearing impaired. Miraculous recovery.
I just got the same text from “James Walker” from 914-461-8840. I had a funny feeling about it as soon as I received it, but wasn’t quite sure. Very glad I googled the number. Thanks!
I just got this scam today. I thought something seemed odd. Email is from Lewis. Wanted to tip me an extra $50 to render him a favor and he wanted to know what credit card company I use to process transactions. He’s using spicyleenda901@gmail. Also, he could only text and not talk because of a bad tooth
Tammy certainly is busy! She sent me the same text as above on May 16!! I knew something was up because the English was screwed up! Thank so much for sharing this info.. I found it just by googling the phone number. What can we do, if anything, about this?
Nothing much you can do because most likely they aren’t in the USA.
And if they are – they haven’t committed that crime yet, and it would be difficult to legally prove their intent.
I am SO thankful you posted about scammers because I had a request from a certain Tim Webber. Not knowing who he might be and feeling very uncomfortable about his request, I plugged in his name and email and found him on your site!
I am not a photographer, but a The Pampered Chef independent consultant and this is what the scammer sent to me:
TIm webber
6:18 PM (1 hour ago)
Hello, My name is Tim, I would like to know if you are available for Cooking Lessons, and what are the requirements? Please get back to me ASAP.Also do you accept credit cards as a mode of payment?
Regards,
Tim.”
Thank you again to everyone who posted different names and such. I have been hit with the emotional tugs, the wanting to over pay and refund the difference and such too. Pisses me off. But I digress! Thank you again!
Just had a long chat with “Tammy Dickson”. I was actually excited to book a family reunion, as I love capturing families together with those sentimental moments. They insisted on paying. I’ve never had a client try to pay so fast before meeting or talking on the phone AT LEAST. I just wish they would get an actual job and stop trying to scam us, the one’s that are actually working our a** off for a living.
Next up:
I’m tempted to reply that I can’t offer marriage since polygamy is illegal in this country.
Having an awesome convo with Lewis Jordan. Such a scam. Yikes.
You can do nothing against this guys, because in africa they earn a lot of money with scamming people so they can corrupt policemen in their country. In my country (France) you have to be carefull to with call phone, someone call you and tell you earn something but you have to call a number, this number is surtaxed and you will loss rapidely huge amount of money !!! (sorry for my bad english)
Love the site, love Neil work !
These are sooo easy to spot. Anything involving outbound Western Union payments is a huge red flag. Pointless trying to check locations with IP addresses. They will be using a VPN service so the IP address can appear to come from anywhere they like
Thank you EVERYONE for all the info you have posted.
June 4th, 2015 received a text from (702) 536-4859 from Mrs. Norman, a “hearing Imparied Deaf Woman” who wanted portrait work done and what cards I accepted. I found the number online for scams and responded with “Thank you for reaching SNAPS. You have successfully subscribed to our daily fun facts about photography! If you have questions regarding service please email us at [email protected] and we’ll be happy to help you there.” I spelled the email incorrectly on purpose. Then I followed with “Here is your daily fun fact. The Eastman Kodak company was founded in 1888 by George Eastman.” Then I closed with “To unsubscribe from daily fun facts about photography please send UNSUBSCRIBE DFFAP”.
June 10th, 2015 again from the same number Mrs. Kate needed a photographer for an event in June 2015 and if I accepted credit card payments. I just copied and pasted the “automated” responses again.
June 11th, 2015, [email protected] writes “Hello, I’m James walker . How are you ? I’ll like to know your free available date in August for my family reunion (5 hours photo coverage). Also i want family portraits done for all the families coming together for the reunion. Do you accept credit card payment ? I got you contact information from the internet.
Thanks
James”
And thanks James “I got you” too.
I got one from Tim Weber today in Clinton, Iowa. Glad I found your information on the scam!
My reply were two simple words, that I will not post.
Hello my name is Tim, I would like to know your availability day in July, 2015 just for 4 hours of service, also i’ll need portrait work done after the photography work immediately after the event. I would like you to get back to me with your availability day in July, its a family reunion party. And also do you accept credit card as a mode of payment?
Regards,
Tim.
I received one as well. It came in via text message fro (914)627-5252
Hello good day? my name is william,I am hearing impaired,i want to know if you do photo or video coverage? And can speak with owner or manager and also what types credit card do you accept for payment?
I work on the IT industry while I’m a part time photographer and would like to add something the post missed and I did not see in the comments either. Make sure you DO NOT CLICK ON ANY LINK they send you. This scam has many variations. If you need to log in to your PayPal account or bank account open a new tab and log into your bank the same way you always do.
I read this post no more than 2 days ago, and this morning I got an email from a scammer: [email protected] “How are you doing today.I will like to know if you offer photography service and do you accept credit card?.
Thanks You”
My reply was: “Hi Mike,
Yes we do offer photography services here at Alanis Photography and we do accept all major credit cards.
What event do you have, when, on what venue, and for how many hours do you need our services?”
I will play along as much as I can and provide an update if I see any variation of the scam different from what Neil described above.
Same thing happened to me just last night.
James Walker texted me and mentioned wanting me to shoot his family reunion and do a bunch of family portraits two hours away from where I am located. He said he would pay the travel expenses. I gave him a quote and then he mentioned his event planner and how they apparently only take cash and he wants to pay credit. What Event Planner only takes cash :P
He was VERY vague and apparently had ear surgery and was recovering currently.
Sorry James, not fooling us :P
I seem to be a magnet for these scams. Had at least 5 of these. Here’s the latest:
>>> Initial email:
Ellison Wallace Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 5:15 AM
ReplyTo: [email protected]
Bcc: [email protected]
Looking for a Videographer/Photographer that is under $1,500 or lesser per ceremony. All of the ones I have
been looking into have been $3,500+. Date: July 2015 family reunion & wedding Location for both ceremony:
Kindly get back to when you got chance Stay blessed..!!! Kevlar Wallace
ofMemories Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 6:41 AM
>>> My Reply:
To: [email protected]
Kevlar,
Thanks for reaching out to ofMemories.
Unfortunately I do not offer videography services at this time. If you are in need of photography services, I may
have availability in July at very reasonable prices.
Where is your event located, and which day in July?
Also, can you share with me how/where you heard about ofMemories?
Thanks.
Sherwin
ofMemories Photography for your life.
[email protected] | http://www.ofmemories.com
>>> His reply:
Ellison Wallace Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 7:09 AM
ReplyTo: [email protected]
To: ofMemories
Good to hear from you. I am looking for 14th reunion and 26th wedding July 2015. spend a lot but want the
important stuff captured on Master DVD with Print Photo size i want, 4×6/5×7/8×10/11×14 and 7 portrait of my
family full edited color corrected, a bit before the ceremony, the ceremony, first dance and more. 6hours required
(2pm8pm) for both ceremony. Here is the venue 399 Monmouth St
East Windsor, NJ Get back to me with the total estimate including tax fee. plus do you accept credit card
payment?. Hope to hear from you ASAP thanks. Stay Bless
>>> My reply:
ofMemories Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 7:32 AM
To: [email protected]
Kevlar,
Can you provide a phone number where I can reach you to discuss some more details?
Thanks.
>>> His reply:
Ellison Wallace Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 7:50 AM
ReplyTo: [email protected]
To: ofMemories
Good i will like like to talk you the phone as well.. But i don’t know if my assent not gonna bother you. I’m Italian
man i work at FedEx as delivery truck driver and do get back to me with the quote
>>> My first clue this was a scam was the BCC to my email address. I think I’ll end it there.
Scammer rolling in via text message from: (207) 200-3145
On Jun 19, 2015, at 11:16 AM, mike cowley ([email protected]) wrote:
Hello,
I’m mike cowley. How are you ? I’ll like to know your free available date in August for my family reunion (5 hours photo coverage). Also i want family portraits done for all the families coming together for the reunion. Do you accept credit card payment ? I got you contact information from the internet.
Thanks
mike
Just got the same exact email!
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: “Ellison Wallace”
Date: Jun 17, 2015 5:15 AM
Subject: Videographer/Photographer in need
To:
Cc:
Looking for a Videographer/Photographer that is under $1,500 or lesser per ceremony. All of the ones I have been looking into have been $3,500+. Date: July 2015 family reunion & wedding Location for both ceremony: Kindly get back to when you got chance- Stay blessed..!!! Kevlar Wallace
Just got another one via email this time.
“Hi.. how are you doing today my name is James..do you offer photography service also do you accept credit cards?”
From James Floyd
They are too lazy now to even come up with a background story!?
First thing mentioned is that he is hard of hearing. Then the vague photography job. No date. No location … but do you take credit card?
Yep! I got one too!
Hello this is James, how are you doing ?I want you to check if you have available weekends between August 1st-30th. If you have a date open i want you to work on the estimate cost for the 5 hours photo coverage from 11am-4pm, and 6-16×20 prints family photo portraits because we have 6 families coming together for the reunion event. The event will be held locally here in the state about an hour or two drive from your location, i will cover the travel expenses. I got your information on the internet and i hope you can handle this event. I’ll be making 60% down payment in advance with my credit card to book the date also i will forward you the event venue once the event planner book the hall. I will be looking forward to read from you with the estimate ASAP.
Regards,
James.
Text message from: (682) 231-6191
Carol Brown aka timothy webber
Tim Webber is a busy guy. Just received the following email and there were so many red flags that I just had to look him up. Who orders all 660 shirts in size XL? Asks if we take credit cards before getting the price? What city is the even in, we are in a small town? And a professional wouldn’t blurt everything out in one giant paragraph…hmmm
Here’s the email, scams for all businesses. Lol
Hello, my name is Tim, I would like to know if you do Screen printing on T-Shirts? and do you accept major types of credit cards? I have a seminar coming up in the city here on the 8th of August by 1pm. I have some T-shirt I need you to do Screen printing on all together are 55 dozen of T-shirts white in color and I’ll like to put at the front of the T-shirts(GLORY OF GOD) you move down lower and put (GENESIS 13:1-6) in black color and the shirt are white color. I need a perfect job on the T-shirts the total of the T-shirts are 660Pcs, Sizes are XL=78cm. I’ve made arrangement with a private carrier that will be having the T-shirts deliver to your shop so you can work on them. So kindly get back to me with the request information below. And also check the attachment you will see the artwork and I want it to be a bold letter in any height or width but make the GLORY OF GOD bold letter and make the GENESIS 13:1-6 small under it as in the artwork. Check the attachment for artwork.
Full Name:
Shop Address:
Cell phone number:
Total cost of your service:
I just recieved a scam email from the Tim Webber character asking me to make 660 screen printed T’s for him. Same email as the girl above. Somehow I knew it was a scam right off the bat.
FYI Internet scams can be reported to https://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx
Mike Heanel – tried this scam this week. Very grateful for this thread! Almost fell for it.
I got James Walker… an area code in Salt Lake City. Email address is: [email protected]
Yep, just got James Walker today. Dude gets around and has TONS of family reunions. LOL!
On Aug 17, 2015, at 11:48 AM, James Walker wrote:
Hello,
I’m James walker . How are you ? I’ll like to know your free available date in September for my family reunion (5 hours photo coverage). Also i want family portraits done for all the families coming together for the reunion. Do you accept credit card payment ? I got you contact information from the internet.
Thanks
James
Then I received this from James Walker:
Thank you for the swift response. I want you to check if you have available weekends between September 1st-30th. If you have a date open i want you to work on the estimate cost for the 5 hours photo coverage from 11am-4pm, and 6-16×20 prints family photo portraits because we have 6 families coming together for the reunion event. The event will be held locally here in the state about an hour or two drive from your location, i will cover the travel expenses. I got your information on the internet and i hope you can handle this event. I’ll be making 60% down payment in advance with my credit card to book the date also i will forward you the event venue once the event planner book the hall. I will be looking forward to read from you with the estimate ASAP.
Regards,
James.
and then finally this:
Good the event would be held at ….The Grove of Springfield Townsh…158 Winton Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45231,
I am playing along. I emailed him these emails, LOL!!!!!!!!!
Hi James,
Thank you so much for your interest.
What is the date of your reunion, and what is the location? I can check my calendar and availability based on that information.
Hi James
What is the date of your event that your event coordinator has booked at “The Grove”?
Is this your phone #?
(914) 461-8840
Perhaps your event coordinator would like to give me a call to discuss.
Thanks,
Christine
Literally, just had the exact convo with “Sandra” from Bismarck, ND. Same exact wording! I am so glad I found this site!
I just had one of these scammers try to give me the run down. I knew something was up when they kept skirting my question about having some kind of meeting in person or via skype before we mad the transaction. We have lots of families from India in our area so it gave it a bit more plausibility, but this was definitely this scam in action. The e-mail they were using in my case was [email protected]
These folks are relentless. After a few texts “she” wanted to go to email. No details on deliverables or discussion about the schedule for the day of the event, just tell me how much to pay. I googled “photography scam” and as i typed it in google suggested “family reunion” this was one of the first couple of hits, LOL.
love your work and site Neil, i stop by often to check out what you’ve been up to.
Los Angeles area code but says they are local here in Greensboro, NC. Phone # 805-500-8581
Garcia Janet
Thanks for the conversation via text. I just had an ear surgery and I have been advised to stay off the phone till i’m fully recovered . That is why I am contacting you via email for now. My family reunion will be taking place at my home in Greensboro on the 25th and 26th of next month 3pm-8pm daily.Expected guest is between 40-50 people. Do you have availability on the dates and be able to take Posed and Candids shots? Regarding this I will be expecting your reply with the total estimate…. Also get back to me with the below details….
Contact Name :
Type of credit Card Accepted :
Best Regards,
Janet.
This happened to me today and he said the event planner couldn’t accept credit cards….
These scams started to make the rounds of my FB groups and local photog groups within the last year or so. Someone just today in one of my groups posted a link to this article and I’m stunned to see that this has been going for over two years! As though we can’t figure out that a legitimate florist or wedding planner who doesn’t take credit cards is a setup for a scam. Thank goodness lots more photogs (and other business people) are onto this now. Thank you for writing an excellent post, Neil.
I’m going to keep the cheque I just received. Looks very convincing at first blush but upon closer scrutiny it is revealed to be an obvious fake. Even the watermark – mentioned as a security measure on the reverse – is absent!
Just got the same thing as #37 from a Tommy Wilson. I’m busy, but I think I have time to waste his a bit.
Scammer via text 612-851-8244 “Sandra” <— I love how they use a wholesome old lady name.
Asked about 5+ hours of reunion coverage, plus prints. Asked if I took credit card payments.
Thank goodness she could not construct a sentence if her life depended on it; dead giveaway of a scammer!
And here is my new standard reply which shuts them up pronto:
I only take cash.
And yes, you have access to cash – withdraw it from your credit card.
This time, a bank certified check instead of the usual payment by credit card. Still a scam.
New scam. James Harvey contacted me about 2 1/2 weeks ago for wedding photography that his uncle so graciously is paying for. I almost fell for this scam until he said that his uncle sent out my check in overpayment and if I would be so kind as to send the overpayment to his cousin so that she can pay the other vendors.
I have been wondering if there is a way to report this for awhile and have not been sure. Instead, I been having some fun and I have been messing around with the little ______ (please fill in the blank as I will keep my profanities to myself). I have him believing that I fell for his scam and he has sent me a check in overpayment of $2K. It has been so fun the past week. Each day he asks me about what is going on with the check, if i have deposited it yet and to contact him once it has cleared. I finally told him today that I did deposit the check (I received the check last Thursday) and he just gave me instructions to send it to his so called cousin in Virginia. Check was issued from an address in PA and envelope was stamped from NC. Oh and he is laying in a bed in a hospital in Quebec after having surgery and is of course hearing impaired. He plans to meet with me and sign a contract once he gets back into the country (god knows when that will be as his wedding date is 2/20/16) But I just told him that the impending blizzard is going to prevent me from leaving my house to go to Western Union until Monday.
Not sure exactly how much longer I am going to play the game and when and if I plan to tell him off yet. But since it appears that there is nothing that one can do and nobody to report this to, then I probably will try to have him sweat it out for another week or so before I do give him a piece of my mind.
James Harvey, hearing impaired, is now getting married Sept.3, 2016 in Traverse City, MI and is planning everything from Quebec… ;) Glad I saw your post.
melissa mill
Today at 5:21 PM
Yep, I’m a photographer as well, only received this message It went into my spam folder (the first sign) and the IP address was Washington, USA (I’m not in the US)
from [email protected]
Good Day
I’ll like to know your free available date in MAY for my family reunion
melissa mill
My Scammers name is …. BRIGHT (yep, just that, no last name included)
Same story: Requesting Family Reunion 5 hour session, booked in April based on my availability (1st contact with me on March 23). Who would schedule a Family Reunion like that? Duh, Clue—not real.
I googled photography scammers, to figure out why he would want to pay me–scammers usually want my money, not the other way around. While playing the game with him (right b4 I found this site) I figured it out. He finally asked me to send $4500 to his Event Planner who could not run credit card payment.
When I pressed — (NOT SO) BRIGHT for the venue location i was told it would be 1-2 hours away, and that all travel expenses would be covered. And yes, a $100 Gratuity would be given to me if I ran the payment and sent the money to the Event Planner.
No further contact since requesting to speak with the event planner (go figure)
Was wondering why people would not just keep the money—why would anyone send it to someone else (especially Western Union–not traceable).
Losing rights to paypal, and being charged with credit card fraud does not appeal to me, nor being responsible for running payment on a stole credit card… ya, um—not happening. Wish there was a way to Stop these guys from harassing and scamming people. (Until that happens, cant say it enough—COMMON SENSE PEOPLE — COMMON SENSE)!!!
I told him I needed to contact the event planner to arrange payment options, and I havent heard anything back from him. (of course, I wasn’t really expecting a response).
Oh, by the way… he told me he was in the ICU (recuperating) from ear surgery i under go…. LOL, uh, ya–RIGHT!!!!
Cracks me up, their English is so bad. You would think by now (considering how long they have been doing these kinds of scams) that they would get better at grammar and punctuation. Seriously clueless — it is amazing that people fall for this crap. But I know it happens. Sad as it is.
For me, my curiosity was peaked about how paying me made it worth it for them, and how it would come back and bite me in the *ss. Actually contemplated getting the card info, and turning it over to the cc company, but as someone said,—that can be time consuming, and no crime is committed until the card is charged… so really does me no good to continue the facade….
besides he has now stopped talking to me, since I requested the event planners contact information.
Hope people use COMMON SENSE (not spidey sense) Since that is what is required so that you don’t become a Victim of such scams.
On Mar 26, 2016, at 2:12 PM, Customer Service wrote:
Hello,
I want you to check if you have available weekends in APRIL/MAY for a 5 hours photo coverage.
Regards,
(no name given)
—-
me: Can you give me more details?
—-
On Mar 28, 2016, at 4:49 AM, David Yates wrote:
I want you to check if you have available weekends between APRIL/MAY If you have a date open i want you to work on the estimate cost for the 5 hours photo coverage from 11am-4pm, and 6-16×20 prints family photo portraits because we have 6 families coming together for the reunion event. The event will be held locally here in the state about an hour or two drive from your location, i will cover the travel expenses. I got your information on the internet and i hope you can handle this event. I’ll be making 60% down payment in advance with my credit card to book the date also i will forward you the event venue once the event planner book the hall.
I will be looking forward to read from you with the estimate with your cell number ASAP.
Best Regards
—-
me: Please tell me the name of the city or town the event will be held and what your budget for the photography is?
—-
I’ve been thru this before and I just dragged them along, all the way until they mailed me bogus postal money orders. It was fun to make them squirm, and I got a learning experience in the process!
I’ve been contacted a few times for this. Each time I play along just to waste their time then politely decline. However, I did start wondering…. Should I let them give me their credit card information? Then I can use that to report it as a stolen credit card? If someone’s identity has been stolen I’d like to do my part to help.
This scam is still a live and well!
Just this morning this person revealed to me there attempts….. I sure do hope photographers are not falling for this, however since the scam is still alive and well tells me folks are falling for this. I did not know about this scam until now….. until it was tried on me. My question is, how can we get the word out so more photographers can protect themselves against such things?
Only thing I can think of is to openly talk about such things as this article is doing! We should not be quiet about such scams as this……
Coralie
I got a good one! See below. Total Scam! First Vague on information. next long story. Couple things. 1. I Googled the name and nothing comes up. 2. Michael is typical spelling but he put Micheal? 3. Googles address and its a small house not enough for 90+ pp and it’s for sale! 4. Here comes the overpayment! 5. No contact number to talk by phone. 6. Last My response (kiss my butt) but still professional.
Good Morning,
Thanks for responding to my posting and apology for my late response.You
can e-mail me on my personal email [email protected], Let’s get
down to business, I would love you to take care of Photography aspect for
my daughter wedding and am okay with a very good PACKAGE with about 70 – 95
guests. I know you would really want to make the day a memorable one for my
family.
The venue for the wedding is taking place in my new private residence
compound and am relocating to (112 Quaker Ave,
Randolph, NJ 07869). Both the ceremony and reception will be taking place
at my residence compound. The date is 11th of february 2017. The time is 11
am -3 pm.
I am currently living in BARNEGAT NJ. I will resume back to work today. I
am sure we can conclude on everything before my return home in three
weeks.I work on the offshore in Canada.
Let me know your total cost for this service?
Hi Michael,
Thank you for contacting Pulecio Photography. I have 02/11/2017 available. Can you please provide me more information so I can provide you the best price? Do you know what location and for how long and how many people? When I have this information I can send you a formal quote on pricing.
Thank you
Pulecio Photography
Thanks for getting back to me. As for the payment, I can make a deposit available as well as full payment if you want it.
To avoid any further delay, send me your information i.e. the name as it will appear on the payment and also the address it will be received. I want my company to issue my pay check for this month in your name in which I have already discussed with them and agreed on.
Please, Kindly email me back with the your full name and mailing address where your payment could be issued to in a timely manner You can send your residential or office address.
Hi Micheal,
Thank you for returning my email. Attached please find our contract that will need to be signed and with information on payment. Once received and signed and payment received then your event will be booked.Yes, you can send me full payment. I also had a few questions:
1: What is daughters name and fiance’s name?
2: The address provided seems like a small house. How will the setup be during the event?
3: What is your contact phone number so we may be in contact to make sure all goes smooth?
Hello, I hope you’re having a great time with your family? Just quick
note to notify you about the payment, However,there is a little bit of
problem . I instructed my company to facilitate the payment to your
address. The Problem is that I just read a mail from my company’s new
secretary that she sent out the whole amount she was suppose to pay me
to you instead of her to send you the exact amount. I was so mad at
her when I heard this because I don’t know if my money is safe with
you. But I do have a strong conviction that my money is safe in your
hands, because I’m a Christian and I hope you’re also a honest man,
God fearing and have a reputation to protect.
I actually wanted her to send the remaining of the balance to my
daughter event planner to take care of the wedding logistics and
preparation. I just don’t know what to do because I am totally
confused. Please consider this a favor that I want you to do for me
right now because I sensed you have integrity to maintain. Please once
you receive the check, deduct your full payment and help me send the
balance to my daughter event planner.
She would need it for her wedding logistics and preparations.
Remember we only have less-than weeks for the event.
Mr Micheal Walton
Hi Micheal,
Sorry to hear you are having problems with payment from your job. Unfortunately, due to legal reasons we are unable to forward payment to an additional recipient like the event planer. That payment must be made by you. I will be glad to return the amount back to your place of business so that you can make your payments accordingly. If you like you can make a payment via paypal if you want payment to process in a timely manor. That form of payment is secure on both ends. Also you still have not answered any of my questions from the previous email and I also need a hand written signature on the contact.
Awaiting reply.
We are having the same scam with our Restaurant. Engagement party, wanting floral arrangements but the florist does not accept credit. Was questioning it some, then the language in the next email was just the same. They were going to forward their bank payment details. I said I can meet you at your shop, and asked where it was. I have not heard back.
I got one as well:
Hello, i need a photographer to cover an event for me, also do you accept credit card as payment? Elda
I relied in the affirmative. Then I got:
Dear Robert,
Thank you for the swift response. I want you to check if you have available weekends between 1st-September 30th. If you have a date open i want you to work on the estimate cost for the 5 hours photo coverage from 11am-4pm, and 6-16×20 prints family photo portraits because we have 6 families coming together for the reunion event. The event will be held locally here in the state about an hour or two drive from your location, i will cover the travel expenses. I got your information on the internet and i hope you can handle this event. I’ll be making 60%down payment in advance with my credit card to book the date also i will forward you the event venue once the event planner book the hall. I will be looking forward to read from you with the estimate with your cell number. ASAP
Regards,
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace . . .
Isaiah 55:12
Masun
Notice this time, it is signed Masun, not Elda. He/she needs to get their name straight. Also, Elda/Masun started texting me from 773-242-9968, very eager for that estimate so he/she can oy me that 60%… So 6 families are having reunion, and they want me to pick the date for them- at this point I am sure this is a scan. Elda is still texting me asking for that estimate, and I said I was on a job and would send it tonight or tomorrow.
Good morning Robert,
Thanks for getting back to me well, i will prefer 24th of September, more so the venue will be at 267 5th Ave Lowr 100 New York, NY 10016, Kindly get back to me with the total cost plus tax and if transportation is included, also the merchant you use in processing your card through. I will be awaiting your response. I also text you and couldn’t get a response from you. Hope to hear from you soon. Elda
So why does Elda need to know which merchant I use…?
I could ignore Elda & block number, but I wonder if somehow I can turn the tables and find a way to report them to the authorities…
I Received this email this morning and my Spidey Sense went off the charts!
My name is walter smith, I’d like to know if you still render photo coverage for my family reunion (5 hours photo coverage). Also i want family portraits done for all the families coming together for the reunion. I got your information online when surfing for a local photographer. Let me know if you can do this? and do you accept credit card as method of payment?Hope to hear from you soon
Notice the lack of capitalization of the name and the awkward grammar. There will be no reply from my company.
Let me just say that when you are trying to “play” with these scammers and your bank closes your account you will stop. Being a banker for 14 years, I have seen many people think they were being smart with these scammers but when it was all over, the bank closed their account for dealing in a venture they knew was fraudulent. Don’t think you can play innocent with your financial institution, they have seen it before! DON’T DO IT!
“Compliment of the Season
How are you doing? this Wendy Edwardo,am hearing impaired ,I will like to know your availability day in Feb,2018 just 6 hours service,also i will need portrait work done after the photography work is done after the event….I will like you to get back to me with your availability day in Feb,2018 it a family reunion party…I will like you to get back to me Asap and Do you accept credit card payment ?.
Regard
Wendy Edwardo”
The ‘hearing impaired’ bit part of this morning’s email scam on my end too. It’s a variation on the G-d-fearing daughter of the assassinated Nigerian’s nephew the ambassedor money laundering scam appealing to your decency, and good heart. Ugh.
SCAMMER:
“PHOTO COVERAGE NEEDED ASAP!!!
Hello, my name is David. I want to know if you still render photo coverage cause i will be needing your help this month for my wife maternity like (5 hours photo coverage).”
ME:
“Good morning, David. Could you tell me what specifically you’re looking for in photo coverage, and where?
Thanks!”
SCAMMER:
“Hello Jason,
Thank you for the swift response. I want you to check if you have available weekends between this month and next month. If you have a date open i want you to work on the estimate cost for the 5 hours photo coverage from 11am-4pm, and 6-16×20 prints family photo portraits. I want you to know that my friends and her friends will be coming over so it will be more like a party. I want you to get back to me soon so we can move on.”
ME:
“Good afternoon. I suspect you may be looking for someone with more experience in this field than I.. My focus is on 360 virtual tour imaging and creating. I’m not nearly proficient enough with regular still photography to feel comfortable offering that service at this time. However, if were comfortable accepting my inexperience, I’d charge $250 for a 5 hour session, contingent on the distance I’d be traveling to this event. I have flexibility insofar as availability on weekends.”
SCAMMER:
“Hello Jason,
I know you will be able to do a great job for me and I am okay with the total cost and I am ready to make full payment with my credit card. I would prefer Feb 17th and I hope you can handle this event cause it is more like a party, a lot of people will be there also i will forward you the event venue once the event planner book the hall.”
ME:
“I still need to know at least what town this will be in. I’m located between Rochester & Syracuse in NY”
SCAMMER:
“Hello Jaso,
Here is my home address:[SPECIFIC ADDRESS LOCATED IN MY TOWN] but I will forward you the event venue once the event planner book the hall. How can I make payment across to you?”
ME:
“Oh! I live in Newark, too! May I ask how you found me?
The price I quoted is for me to take the pictures and provide you with the digital files. Would you like me to look into the cost of printing 16×20 images?
As for payment, while I prefer check or cash, I can send an invoice that will let you make a CC payment online.
So I can better prepare, do you have thoughts on specific shots you might like to have captured?”
SCAMMER:
“I want you to get back to me with the total cost including the cost of printing 6-16×20 family photo portraits. I will like you to send me an invoice so I can make payment with my credit card but I want you to understand that I am skeptical about using my card on paypal or square merchant. I will be needing a little favor from you regarding the event planner. I await response from you soon so we can move on. I found you while surfing the internet for a reputable recording photographer.”
ME:
“Good afternoon, and thank you for your patience. I wanted to check with a local printer in Newark, but they were closed on Friday, and today they are impossible to get a hold of. So, I researched elsewhere, and I can get you 6 16×20 glossy prints for $100, so plus the $250 would make a grand total of $350. If you find this reasonable, I will send you the invoice.”
SCAMMER:
“Hello Jason,
Thank you for the estimate. The event planner handling the event does not have the facility to receives credit card payment, i want you to do me a little favor. I want you to add their charges to yours so you can have everything run on my credit card. The favor is that after you ran everything on my credit card and the total amount has cleared to your account, you will send their fees to them cos they accept cash only. Here is the final breakdown below :
Your Service $350 .00
Event planner: $2500
Tips & Gratuity : $100
In view of this i want you to get back to me with the grand total and i will provide you with my credit card details to run through ASAP, Or you can send me invoice now”
Wow, Today’s email matched up nicely – right down to the 6 x 16×20 prints. I suppose some folks salivate at the possibility of a nice print sale, but this sort of detail just makes the whole scame seem more obvious.
Delighted to find your post on this subject Neil.
We crossed paths years ago at the Museum of Dance in Saratoga (I was behind the video camera). I first encountered this scam via text, being targeted twice by the same scammer in 2017 – the second time, the conversation just picked up months after I’d attempted to blow them off. This week, the email incarnation. Wife asked me – ‘how do you know?’ and I explained the entrepreneur’s radar I’d developed, then rattled off five red flags from the email.
I have a saying where phishing and other email scams are concerned – ‘duct tape and a nail gun would fix ’em.’
Keep up the good work. You are an inspiration.
Best,
Elda/Masun at (773) 242-9968 just phoned our fine jewelry store in Honolulu, Hawaii. First of all, his voice did not sound normal; it sounded like either a very ill person or someone making a crank call. I suspected that I had a crank caller on the line. He said he wanted to purchase a 24-inch-long 18-karat gold chain for his niece. I asked where he was calling from. He said, “Illinois.” He said he was in the hospital. He sounded ill. I asked him for his room number in the hospital. He hesitated and then said, “Eleven.”
He told me that I could text him from my cell phone or email him. I told him that we employees have to use our store’s business phone. He wanted me to go check on our chains while I kept him on the line. I said I would have to check with our corporate office and phone him back.
Next, I “Googled” his telephone number and found it associated with a scammer and scams.
I phoned him back. A voice mail message with another voice said the Google subscriber requested to know who was calling. On my voice mail message I stated the name of our jewelry store and told him that we don’t carry 24-inch 18-karart gold chains.
Just got the same scam email from Kat Wes about doing Family Reunion photography. [email protected]. The grammar in the emails definitely threw up a flag and after emailing back and forth a few times sure enough “she” wanted me to include “her” event planners fee’s because “he doesn’t have the facilities to accept credit cards”. Really, I can’t believe in this day and age anyone would fall for that. You can sign up for a paypal account for free and accept credit cards.
So watch out for Kat Wes…another stupid scammer.
Here’s another one. Was contacted through my photo & art site zelightstudios.com, by [email protected]. Michael Turney is an agency in the Southeast, so it had me going but only for a short while. Signs it was a scam early on was the urgency (even though he didn’t know who I was) and asking right away about money.
His last email reveals the scamminess:
Hi Eric,
I want you to help me with a little favor.
As you know that i am in the hospital just recuperating from a lung cancer surgery i undergo. The event planner handling the event does not have the facility to receives credit card payment, i want you to do me a little favor. I want you to add their charges to yours so you can have everything run on my credit card. The favor is that after you run everything on my credit card and when the total amount has cleared to your account, you will send their fees to them via cash deposit…Here is the final breakdown below:
Part payment of your service: $4000
Event planner: $4200
Tips & Gratuity plus tax charge : $200
—–0—–
Hahaha. Yeah sure, I’ll do that for yo “Michael”, even though I’ve never met you, you claim you can’t talk on the phone, I quoted a exorbitant price, etc…
Thanks for all the heads up! I, too, have gotten these strange emails. Mine was from “[email protected]” just as Eric’s was. My last email responded to my question “how did you find me?” He said online from a friend (in quotes) “David.” I’d like to report this guy to somebody. Does anyone have an idea who?
Thanks for this thread Neil and everyone for sharing. I just heard from “[email protected]” and suspected it was scam, searched on the email address and found this thread. I’m glad the scammers don’t have a better method, this kind of bs is easy to spot.
I knew there was something fishy about Michael Turney. He messaged me on my freelance photography website asking if I offered photography services. No shit, Sherlock. He did not ask about my rates nor mention a date or anything regarding the occasion at first. Just immediately asked about what form of payment I accepted which is a bit odd in the usual order of business. I looked his email up and here we are.
Name:
Michael
Email Address:
[email protected]
Message:
Hi, I would like to know if you do photography service and what form of payment do you accept? I’m hoping on your quick response.
2nd email: Thanks for your response, i will need your service for my family reunion (5 hours photo coverage). Also i want family portraits done for all the families coming together for the reunion.
3rd email: I want you to check if you have available weekend between June 30th to July 28th. If you have a date open i want you to work on the estimate cost for the 5 hours photo coverage from 11am-4pm, and 6-16×20 prints family photo portraits because we have 6 families coming together for the reunion event. The event will be held locally here in the state and it’s about 2 or 3 hours drive from your location, i will cover the travel expenses. I hope you can handle this for me?
4th email: Atlantic City is the location and June 30th is a date.
I should be able to give you a call next week, i’m presently in the hospital recuperating from from a lung cancer surgery i undergo, can only chat through text for now.
The event is going to be both indoor and outdoor in a house, and i will need an unlimited candid shot that will be in a DVD or USB with the right to prints anytime. The 16×20 will be a group photo for individual family.
Get back to me with the total estimate for the service?
5th email: Okay,
Thank you for the estimate. I would like the photos on a USB.
The price seem cheap. I hope is going to be a quality service and will there be a second photographer?
6th email: I’m sorry if i sound rude. I want you to help me with a little favor?
I stopped responding after that as I knew exactly what would ensue. What a waste of time.
He followed up with this:
Here is the favor i need from you…
As you know that i am in the hospital just recuperating from a lung cancer surgery i undergo. The event planner handling the event does not have the facility to receive credit card payment, i want you to do me a little favor by adding their charges to yours so you can have everything run on my credit card. The favor is that after you run everything on my credit card and when the total amount has cleared to your account, you will send their fees to them via cash deposit…Here is the final breakdown below:
Part payment of your service: $100
Event planner: $3200
Tips & Gratuity plus tax charge : $100
I just received an email from Michael Turney at [email protected] – similar. Askedwhere he had my name referred from, it’s an enigmatic figure named “David.”
“I’m David . How are you ? I’ll like to know your free available date in JULY for my family reunion (5 hours photo coverage). Also i want family portraits done for all the families coming together for the reunion.Do you accept credit card payment.”
We responded asking for a date and got this response:
“Thank you for the swift response. I want you to check if you have available weekends between JULY 15TH 0t JULY 22nd. If you have a date open i want you to work on the estimate cost for the 5 hours photo coverage from 11am-4pm, and 6-16×20 prints family photo portraits because we have 6 families coming together for the reunion event. The event will be held locally here in the state about an hour or two drive from your location, i will cover the travel expenses. I got your information on the internet and i hope you can handle this event. I’ll be making 60% down payment in advance with my credit card to book the date also i will forward you the event venue once the event planner book the hall.”
Told him we were unavailable lol we can see these scams from a mile away.
Glad to find this page. I just got a mail from michaellturney480 as well.
Same here from [email protected]
Ugh.
Hello,
I,m Sandra Donnel, i saw your profile on the internet, are you available in September for my family reunion party,(5 hours coverage). do you accept credit card payment?
Sincerely,
Sandra Donnel
[email protected]
I just received a Sandra Donnel email yesterday. I figured it was a scam when “she” said her event coordinator doesn’t take credit cards, but I’m very glad you made this thread so I could confirm.
—
“Hi I’m Sandra Donnel,I got your details from the internet and am wondering if I can get more information on your availability between January 18th or 25th and pricing for Family Reunion coverage for 5 hours photo coverage from 1PM-6PM, and 6-16×20 prints family photo portraits.
We have 6 families coming together for the reunion event and total of 70 Guest. each family with a group photo each and every random individual photo of all guest. what your total price.
Where are you located.
Regards!
Sandra
Sandra Donnel [email protected] reached out to me in Ottawa, Canada 02/12/2020 similar request 5 hours coverage 6 16×20 prints.
I just got her too. But now she’s newly engaged and going in for knee surgery.
Desperate for a contract and invoice, agreeing to everything, and just now asked me for a favour.
I’m trying to move photography into a full time gig, so I was REALLY hoping someone wanted to give me money for my work, and that scammy feeling was paranoia, but here we are.
I also received the ‘Sandra Donnel’ email just a different number at the end of the address. The grammar and punctuation was a bit of a giveaway. Google also picks it up as Spam now.
Our scammer’s name is Greg Lewis. With a Gmail account. Didn’t get to the point of an “overpayment”; our spidey senses went off based on the poor English and strange voice mail.
Just ‘dealing’ with Sandra Donnel ([email protected]); won’t provide details of the event, just wants to pay ASAP by credit card. And as in the other scams, very poor grammar and punctuation. Thanks for keeping this thread going!
I also got a scam photographer request as below, my mac didn’t pick it up as spam.
Hello,
I’m Sandra Donnel. Are you available in December between 7th OR 14th, If you have a date open i want you to work on the estimate cost for the 5 hours photo coverage from 1PM-6PM, and 6-16×20 prints family photo portraits because we have 6 families coming together for the reunion event and total of 70 Guest. I got your information on the internet and i hope you can handle this event. I will be looking forward to read from you with the estimate cost.
Where are you located?
Thank you!
Sandra Donnel
It was sent at 2:30am which was also iffy, the email address was [email protected].
Stupidly, I did reply asking for more info, before i checked the internet for scams, but only for more info.
Same one contacted us.
Hello, i’m Sandra, I got your details from the internet and am wondering if I can get more information on your availability between January 18th / 25th and pricing for Family Reunion coverage for 5 hours photo coverage from 1PM-6PM, and 6-16×20 prints family photo portraits.
We have 6 families coming together for the reunion event and total of 70 Guest. each family with a group photo each and every random individual photo of all guest. what your total price.
Where are you located.
Regards!
Sandra
I additionally received same email stated as mentioned from [email protected] word for word. As I check the source of the email, the email address is actually from [email protected]
Creating an email including a celebrity name is a good trick in not being found in a search because the popular results will depict the celebrity first.
Interesting enough. I found this post here using the initial email in a search.
Notice the poor grammar and use of inconsistent capitalizing pronoun “I”.
I looked up the IP address and it is authentically Google, which makes it difficult to find the source location but you can report email abuse here:
https://www.google.com/contact/
—
From the poorly written email, to the lack of a solidified date for an event with 70 people a month a way… and then we asked about the venue: “we are looking up to this event venue in Address: 1446 W Kinzie St, Chicago, IL 60642, United States, kindly get back to me with the total cost” More typical for someone to share the venue name instead and not specify United States… easy to see this was not a valid inquiry.
From: Carrie Sandra Donnel
Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2020 8:57 PM
To: CK Hello
Subject: Family Reunion Photo
—
Hello, i’m Sandra, I got your details from the internet and am wondering if I can get more information on your availability between February 21st / 29th and pricing for Family Reunion coverage for 5 hours photo coverage from 1PM-6PM, and 6-16×20 prints family photo portraits.
We have 6 families coming together for the reunion event and total of 70 Guest. each family with a group photo each and every random individual photo of all guest. what your total price.
Where are you located.
Received this email the other day from [email protected]:
“Greetings!
I’m Sandra Donnel! got your contact from the internet and am wondering if I can get more information on your availability between June 20th or 28th and pricing for reunion coverage. We’re planning on having family reunion party, 5 hours photo coverage from 1PM-6PM, and 6-16×20 prints family photo portraits.
We have 6 families coming together for the reunion event and total of 70 Guest. each family with a group photo each and every random individual photo of all guest, what’s your rate and where are you located.
Best regards!
Sandra”
When I asked for more info, this was the reply:
“The event will be held in (Greenhouse Loft) Address: 2545 W Diversey Ave, Chicago, IL 60647, i have my event coordinator making plan with the manager, let me know your estimate cost and let me know if you have questions”
I just got an email from Ol’ Sandy myself. You’d think they’d change the name up every once in a while! I’m going to tell them I only accept bitcoin lol
Greetings!
I’m Sandra Donnel! got your contact from the internet and am wondering if I can get more information on your availability between August 22nd or 28th and pricing for reunion coverage. We’re planning on having family reunion party, 5 hours photo coverage from 1PM-6PM, and 6-16×20 prints family photo portraits.
We have 6 families coming together for the reunion event and total of 70 Guest. each family with a group photo each and every random individual photo of all guest, what’s your rate and where are you located.
Best regards!
Sandra
——————–
Hey Sandra!
What city is the event happening in? And will you be looking to have your prints on canvas or acrylic options? I’m assuming the event is happening over the weekend? We service the Ann Arbor/Metro Detroit area and I can give a better quote based on those answers. Hope you are safe and well.
————————
The event will be held in (Riverhouse Banquet Center) Address: 5 Amvet Dr, Mt Clemens, MI 48043, i have my event coordinator making plan with the manager, let me know your estimate cost and let me know if you have questions.
————————
Hey Sandra!
Our cost for everything would be $1000.
This would include two professional photographers (myself and my wife at ( ).com for 5 hours of shooting and 6 16×20 prints (options to add frames or upgrade to canvas or acrylic are available as well).
Our turnover rate is typically a week and we can give you an express set via our cloud system the night of the event (so you can post a handful of pictures right after the event for social media, etc.). We’re also registered and licensed drone pilots, so we can also do a quick group video of the family and panning out and away or maybe even getting more creative with it depending on weather as well.
Feel free to message me if you have further questions.
———————————-
Thank you for the quotation, i am okay with the price and willing to make my payment ahead of time using my credit card, let me know the credit card processor you using to charge card manually or sending invoices, i need to make my payment so i can relax for my knee surgery.
I will also need a favor from you, concerning the event coordinator and the venue.
——————————–
Thank you, I’m currently in Dubai for my treatment for the next 2 month,i couldn’t pay the event planner before i traveled, please i want you to add his fee of $3500 to the invoice because he accept cash only and he needed payment to proceed on booking the event for the date and all the decorations and more, you are to wait for the funds to cleared approved into your account before you pay him and i will be responsible for the 3.5% cc charges and a tip of $200 for your stress.i hope you can help me with that….
——————————–
OK, however I still need the date of the event and an email address to send over the PayPal invoice.
———————————
August 22nd is fixed, [email protected]
—
Hello Chris, how are you today, i didn’t received the invoice and have send you the email, kindly get back to me asap.
—————————–
That’s what I have so far
HA HA HA…. I just got the Sandra Donnel email…
I wish I had read the first post and offered to do this for free… ha ha would have taken the wind right out of their sails – but instead I quoted $5,000… which was eagerly accepted… proof enough this is a scam for 6 16×20’s…
More alarmingly I got what appeared to be a legit inquiry for our primary business which is Aerial Imaging.
After some going back and forth… re details etc… I sent him an invoice for $16,825 with a demand for $11,000 deposit by PayPal… his return email said he has had trouble with PayPal in the past and suggest I use SQUARE… we have a SQUARE account so sent him an invoice from there… the hackles were already up on my neck, but I sent it anyway…and thought that would be the end of it… no, he deposited the money in our account and I thought… wow… he must have been legit. Today, there next day SQUARE has put a hold on my account for suspicious activity…
Then I read all these scams on photographers… he wanted me to pay $6,000 to his surveyor out of the $11,000…
Now, after reading this, I am going to have some fun with him AND Sandra… HA HA
Part 1
Hello,I’m Dave Stephen,do you offer portraits and candid photography services?if yes ,kindly get back to me,it’s my 50th Birthday.Thanks
Part 2
Your services would be needed between 11am to 5pm we have the 14th,16th,18th and 20th April open and the venue is , 11515 Bonita Beach Rd SE, Bonita Springs, FL 34135 as it’s my 50th Birthday,how can we pull this off?
As of March 25, 2021