Urgent ... Scammers are Targeting Videographers - AVOID THIS!

There is a scam going around targeting videographers, filmmakers, and video production companies. Because it's so targeted and so specific, I think some people are going to fall for it and I wanted to make a quick video to share the details, so that hopefully, you can avoid this and future scams.

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[sureshotproductions]

As an Australian, it's so staggering to me that Americans still deal in checks. ... in 2022! The last time I got paid with a check was 2003... and even then I thought it was old school.

[dronesforhigher]

happened to me, just told them I only do cash in hand

[raidkeys]

I got the same scam a few months ago. I quoted him $2, 000 and he said he was going to send me $5, 000 since he's paying via his company and can only write off a singular check, and he wanted me to pay the "baker" and "photographer" for him. Watch out guys there are a ton of similar variations to this scam. Thank you Saj for sharing!

[LonzosStudios]

I got that like a year ago in my weddingwire inbox. Only difference was he said his boss was paying for his wedding as a gift and because I was charging less than what his boss was giving him he would like for me to send him the difference after I cash the company check that he was going to have boss make out directly to my company. I guess he was hoping that I would give him the difference before I attempted to cash the check, which is the only way that scam would work but of course as you said, the bank didn't cash the check, I then cut all communications...

[ABokeh]

the one with the freaking "edit a video slideshow for my family for 300 dollars" ..So many people on social media have gotten that.

[ActionJackson]

This has happened to me hundreds of times in the full stack web dev world for years. I never fell for it, but did play along to see how it worked. Only major difference is they'd offer an insane price like 20k+ for something super easy, up front, and then ask me to send their "cOnSuLtAnT" $X, XXX, who conveniently doesn't speak English, and whom the entire project rests upon them making some images, or something useless that I'd easily be able to do myself.

For this reason I have a system to filter out people who are fake or not serious as soon as possible.

These people will never talk on the phone, or do a video chat. And they're often on "medical tourism" or some other "cRy fOr mE!!!!" guilt trip too. So you have to feel bad for them!!! And you're not a bad person are you??

[EverClearStudios]

Never received an email scam yet. But just recently I got a text from someone about covering a wedding and reception. Which was happening really soon (1st red flag) then I quoted him and asked for his email to send my PayPal invoice, he claimed he can’t use his card on PayPal (2nd red flag) then asked if a check would do (3rd red flag) I said I would only if I get the check right away to deposit prior to the event. Never heard back since.

[MaxKissler]

I received such scam mails a few days ago and their sad attempts at punctuation immediately gave away that they're not from the US. I mailed back and forth a bit bc I wanted to find out how they got my mail address. Unfortunately they never got back at me after they found out that I'm not falling for their crap.

[Carsonous]

I’ve gotten this exact email… I’ve signed a contract with them. If I just don’t use the check I should be good right?? I feel so dumb…

[ramonbmovies]

Dude, I totally got a very similar email! But my scammer was much smarter. Anyway, I asked for project details but I was already hesitant because he said he got my name from someone else, and gave me the name. Thing is, I didn't recognize either him or the female name he gave me. They were also both from Australia, and he claimed I did work for them in the past. Thing is, I've never done work outside of the U.S. Anyway, he sent me a Word attachment in the 2nd email when I asked for project details when I was really only expecting a plain text. I DIDN'T OPEN IT. After a couple days of thinking hard, I decided to reply saying that it sounded like they got me confused w/ someone else, and that I never did business w/ the company. I deleted the email AND NEVER OPENED THE ATTACHMENT! The man never replied again.

So I figured it was either a huge misunderstanding or an immaculately planned scam, because it was targeted specifically to my business. Either way, something sounded "off" so I deleted the email.

Everyone else should do the same! If it's not someone you know or something just seems weird, don't do it!

[chiefmojo]

I share my video studio with a partner who is a still photographer. He received this same scam email but it’s been at least a year ago that it happened to him. My suspicion is that this scam has been making the rounds to creative producers for a while now.

[johnnyinterval]

it happened to me, whats always drove me crazy is, what if you cash the check? and just keep it and scam the scammer, your account isn’t responsible for there check clearing. If the bank cashes it. It’d done deal no? even more so if you take it to a check cashing place? Right? Seems like we are leaving $6500 on the table.

[Kidnappedbyart]

This type of a scam has been going on for years! Nothing new here. The only thing that keeps changing is the amount of money.
Remember guys, if you received an email from someone who is asking you to send them your full name, full address and phone number, it's a 100% scam.
No legit company, producer or anyone else for that matter, who is interested in you (work wise) starts their email with Hello...Or no one in the right mind would ever offer you money in advance before the actual work is complete. This is common sense.

[ashtonhealan]

Been happening for years. Happened when I worked in IT too

[virtualartteacher]

Got this scam and a similar one in the last month

[hunerdpercent]

Got an email like this a few months ago, but never heard back after I responded to them with a couple of simple questions about their company and budget.

"Hello! I have a video project I'm working on for a client that would include 4 produced videos of people in talking about how they find zen in their lives after the craziness of the last few years.

The style would be telling their stories with music and b roll and would be 30 seconds to 1 minute ideally.

I'm wondering if you have any interest in the project? We are looking at completing in the next month. Let me know if you have any questions!"

[mediamaker]

Good ole Nigerian scam. They do it with Cars too. You list a car and they offer to overpay for transport based on estimate. Whatever is left you send back to them. Sound familiar…?

[GratuityMedia]

Please be careful with job listings doing this they say it's for home office supplies. I luckily didn't get burnt but it was extremely convincing at first.

[shalzone_]

This has been going around for a while. Everybody bindge watching Flash Flim Academy can confirm.

[lokumbe]

Hey Saj how much would you charge me for a one hour call?