WARNING: job offer scam

[df3photo]

Not sure if this is a good place for this or not....

I just recived a photographer request for Fashion Week in NYC... from a fashion designer from africa going threw a head hunter in England... I almost got cought up in it... but a friend of mine looked it up and saved me...
Mine came as a booking request threw imodel.com. shown below...

09/15/2006

NAME: micheal Zin
COMPANY:
EMAIL: mikezin2k6@yahoo.co.uk
WEB:
PHONE:



BOOKING INFO:

DATE / TIME:
LOCATION:
RATE:


TYPE OF ASSIGNMENT:
HELLO,
Am In need of professional Photographer with great creativity and attitude in the
USA to work for a period of 6 days modeling Wedding gowns /suits at an International
Fashion Week in New York City slated for the month of October. Pay between $2000-
$2500 for the period. Please email me and i'd give you more details.
Micheal Zin
mikezin2k6@yahoo.co.uk


sounded like a sweet deal... too sweet... heres some other links
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en& … amp;tab=gw

I followed up saying i was booked for the most of october (this is befor i realized the scam...) and they replied with complete detales...

> Gooday to you,
>
> Deola Sagoe Couture (African based designer) is in need of photograher
> with great attitude/ creativity in the USA to work for a period of 6 days
> with models who would be modeling Wedding gowns /suits at an
> International Bridal Fashion Show in New York City slated for the month of
> October.
>
> I work as a Human Relations and Recruitment Official attatched to the
> Fashion Industry and my job is to decide who gets the job done.
> You can click the links below to read and understand some more about the
> Fashion Week and news on past achievements of Deola Sagoe Couture.
>
> http://express-press-release.com/22...New York City During Bridal Fashion Week.php
>
> http://www.fashionshowroom.com/spring2001/deolasagoe/sagoe.htm
>
> http://generationnubian.blogspot.com/2006/05/deola-sagoe-catwalk-world-fashion-show.html
> http://fashion.psfk.com/2006/06/deola_sagoe_afr.html
>
> Deola Sagoe Couture fashions is officially based in Africa and has decided
> to employ your services as it would be rather expensive to fly our models
> all the way to the USA just for a week duration.
>
> Here is a detailed arrangement of your job requirements and payment plan…
>
> 1.) You must be willing to travel to NYC for a week. You shall arrive 2
> days prior to the start of the Fashion Week. I shall provide you with
> specific dates and Hotel Address in the near future. All transportation
> costs (to and fro your location) shall be handled by us. Accommodation at
> a decent hotel shall be provided as well. I do not know your feeding
> arrangements but light breakfast and dinner shall be served on our bill at
> the hotel as well.
> 2.) Arrangements for room shall be made on arrival. You shall rise from
> bed at 7.00 am latest and join your colleagues at the hotel lounge before
> 9.00 am daily. Hours for daily shows have not been officially fixed and as
> such we cannot disclosed that at the moment.
> 3.) Please email me your samples of photo shots taken by you if you are
> interested and a resume.
> 4.) We have a budget of about $2,000 - $2,500 for each chosen
> photographer. Agencies can be quite expensive and this is why I am
> contacting you directly. I would like you to know that advance payment of
> $500 and Money Orders would be purchased and mailed to your address soon
> as you are chosen for the job to book and confirm your services.
> 5.) I am contacting you soon enough to guarantee we have an agreement
> with you in good time so you can schedule your time in advance to avoid
> any disappointments.
> 6.) If for any reason the Fashion show is postponed, then I am sure we
> can discuss on a better plan to suit the situation.
> 7.) TAKE NOTE THAT FUNDS MIGHT BE SENT TO YOU IN EXCESS AS WE MIGHT BE
> PROVIDING YOU WITH FUNDS FOR YOUR TRANSPORTATION TO NEWYORK AND YOUR HOTEL
> BILL AS WELL.
> 8.) IF PLANS CHANGE AND WE RETAIN THE DECISION TO MAKE ARRANGEMENTS FOR
> YOUR ACCOMODATION AND TRANSPORTATION,….YOU WOULD BE REQUIRED TO WIRE THE
> EXCESS FUNDS VIA WESTERN UNION TO ONE OF OUR AGENTS WHOSE INFORMATIONS I
> WOULD PROVIDE YOU WITH IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
> 9.) Lastly, if your are interested, Please forward me with the
> following informations ASAP,so I can contact the Public Relations Officer
> in the USA to issue and mail out deposit payment which starts our contract
> together.
>
> FULL NAME :
> YOUR PHYSICAL ADDRESS (NOT P.O.BOX) WITH YOUR STATE, CITY AND ZIP CODE :
> PHONE NUMBER :
> AGE :
> NATIONALITY :
> EMAIL ADDRESS :
>
> Do you have an exclusive relationship of this sort with any other company?
> YES/NO
>
> Hope to hear from you soon,
>
> Thank you and my best regards,
> Mike Zin
> Visual Koncepts Ltd (London)


good luck.

 

[df3photo]

heres a ModelMayhem.com post about a similar event...
http://www.modelmayhem.com/posts.php?thread_id=75043

you may need to be a member to view... not sure...

 

[df3photo]

this is the warning from imodel.com about this guy... and others...

http://www.imodel.com/imodel.cfm?action=scams&hn=0

 

[oldnavy170]

There a millions of scams going on out there in cyber space..... I got caught up a few years ago on an email from Ebay (well I thought it was from them) telling me to update my credit card information. I clicked on the link and it all looked so real. To find out that it was a scam to get my credit card information. I had to cancel out my credit card that was linked to my checking and then change all my passwords, etc.....was not fun!!!!

Good thing you didn't get caught up in it.

 

[Soocom1]

OK... Being the fact that I have kept my finger on the pulse of this type of thing (yes I am a geek that way);

First: Anytime ANYONE offers to send you money either as a wire transfer, MO, cashers check etc, to hold onto, then you send it back, WATCH OUT!!! http://www.fbi.gov/cyberinvest/escams.htm

It is usually a variation of this old classic:
http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/nigeria.asp

A list of email scams:
http://www.millersmiles.co.uk/identitytheft/spoof-email-and-spoof-web-page-library.htm

Second: Caveat Emptor! let the buyer beware, or in this case reader.
Phone calls, e-mails, letters in snail mail, propositions on line, text messages, etc. ANYTHING that indicates that money is to be transfered, DO NOT ENGAGE!!

Third: folks, its called the internet.
You have access to Google, Yahoo search, etc. USE THEM! Type in the name of whatever, and look it up. Never engage unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure what you are getting into. Additionally, type into the search engines such phrases as: "The truth about_____", "Complaints of____", "History of___".
I have done this with legit businesses, and discovered those I don't want to do business with.

Forth: The reality of it is that the world is a nasty place, with no free rides. Always check references, history and backgrounds.

As the old saying goes: If it is too good to be true, it probably is.

 

[vim]

if u are unsure of anyting like this go to www.419eater.com that will open up ur eyes to all the scams going about plus they have the ability to close down fake bank sites and websites u can also ask them if they know a particular scammer by giving them their email or name.
if u take time to read the baiting the chaps do there u will not stop laughing as they proper scam the scammers big time and teach them a lesson
peace
vim

 

[D-50]

Anything that is too good to be true usually is, 99.9999% on the internet especially. This scam makes no sense to me though. what does the scammer get out of it? they dont seem to be asking you for money, the only thing they get from you is a mailing addres, maybe they are compiling lists to sell to photography companies for marketing purposes. Or maybe they are just messing with people for the fun of it.

 

[vim]

no d50 they scam u like this
they send u a fake money order that u put in ur bank which takes so many days to clear.
if u read they say they might overpay u and if they do u must send the offset back to someone via western union
they hassle u for the excess ammount to be paid via w/u which u do because u think uve just recieved the money order and its almost cleared
then a few days after u have paid them the overpayment ammount the bank send u a letter saying the money order has not cleared but they have scammed u out of money and ur left with a fake cheque or m/o
they are called mugus and mostly originate from nigeria altho there are ppl all over the world doing this now
peace
vim

 

[D-50]

oh i see now, that makes sense

 

[Inverness Photographic]

Just starting out with a website after being seriously into photgraphy for a few decades.

Received this e-mail...

HELLO
MY NEME IS 2FACE IDEBIA, I AM A STAR MUSICIAN FROM NIGERIA. MY MAIN PUPOSE OF MAILING YOU IS THAT I WILL BE HAVING MY WEDDING SOON AND I WILL LIKE YOU TO COME AND BE MY PHOTOGRAPHER AND THIS EVENT WILL BE TAKEN PLACE IN THE UNITED STATE,SO I WILL AWAITE YOUR RESPONCE TO THIA AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
THANKS


--

Thought I would "play along" so send back an e-mail pointing out that I was in Scotland and there would be huge travel costs to start with. Nothing was ever a problem so after about 8 e-mails I quoted £X,XXX and asked for 10% down payment (non-refundable).

Again no problem ~ just let me have your bank details and I will wire you the monies in full.

Last reply was no pay the 10% into PayPal ~ Never heard from them since.

With the internet always check your customers out after all they are going to check you out.

Now someone is going to tell me that "2FACE IDEBIA" is a big star in the US...

 

[usayit]

I've received multiple scam emails every day..... My rule of thumb.. Money and Internet coorespondence do not mix! The only payment's I've made online are via paypal to pay for ebay purchases (managed to stay out of trouble there..) Even then, I rarely make purchases out of country.

Stay safe. Is it me.. or most of these scams are based out of Nigeria?

 

[df3photo]

Wow, lots of usefull replys...
A day or 2 after I recieved the original one I got an email from a guy that wants me to shoot his wedding in june, hes from Ireland moving to the USA and a bunch of other krap... I replied saying that im pretty booked and it was short notice, but was somewhat interested. and I wanted to know where he heard of me from and where the wedding was at... and afew more questions... I havent heard back... Its nice how the scammers are directing scams towards certian groups (photogs and models) now so they can sound more legit...

 

[mysteryscribe]

Someone actually wants me to shoot a wedding in a town a hundred miles away after having seen my website..... It's all retro crap lol.... talk about not checking the site very carefully before scam/spaming lol...

 

[rmh159]

Hahaha yes scammers are kind of in a constant arms race. They try to find new ways to scam people... people try to find new ways to avoid. The bottom line is ANY remotely reputable company would not ask for any financial information over an email. Think of when you call a bank or even a cell phone company... you have to answer a handful of security questions just to get to customer service regarding your account. Would a bank or any company for that fact seriously then turn around and send you an email asking for info??? I'm sure some do look VERY tempting but... c'mon people need to use a little common sense and protect themselves and their info.

It's sad but after so many years of viruses, scams, etc I'm sure there are people out there who still open EVERY email attachment and click on EVERY ad that's emailed to them and then complain when bad things happen.

This is kind of on a tangent but there was a story on Cnet.com (I think) a bit ago about a reporter that got a brand spanking new PC, set up an email account and then opened and pursued EVERY spam/scan email that was sent to him. After 2 weeks his PC has so much spyware and mal-ware on it that it crashed.

 

[mysteryscribe]

my newest scam recieved was from someone pretending they wanted to buy something from me on ebay. I was supposed to respond in the email. I would have gone to their site asking me to sign into my ebay account so that ebay could sent them the reply.

Problem was ebay never forwarded the question, and at the moment I have nothing for sale on ebay. I went to check just to make absolutely sure and ebay had not sent me a message. I get pay pal ones every now and then.

The that I mentioned in the last post is supposed to work like this. The man hires you, sends you a certified check for too much money. Asks you to send him a personal check for the deference. Later you find that the certified check is a forgery and your bank won't honor it. My son it law saw the scam on another forum.