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Help MM, Scam or not?
Here is a email that i have recieved, as you may already be aware i was almost scammed 3 weeks ago through E-mail until i asked you MM for your thoughts on it, becuase of you i didnt go through with it and saved my money Thank you. Now i'm asking again becuase this offer seems a little too good to be true. What do you think ? E-Mail: Hello , Thank you very much for your swift response regarding my proposal and i want to let you know that you are very suitable for this advert and i would like you to get your self ready for the advert(PROMO) while i sort out other modalities involved to enable us take off with the whole process. Meanwhile,The name of the company in which you will be doing this advertisement(promo)for is Virgin and Virgo Cosmetics Industries ltd.Its a new cosmetics industry.A factory where they produce cosmetics,soap Perfumes, body lotion etc.I have been awarded this contract to recruitinternational models that would help sample these range of beauty products due to be introduced into the world market very soon and to this effect,i found you attractive well enough to advertize these range of products and I am really interested in your pictures and i know you will be very good in helping me advertize these products in United kingdom and the world over and i will pay you $100,000.00.as your take off fee and this will be paid to you immediately after the advertizement is done but before all that i will send you a check of $5,000 in which you will deduct $1,000 from it so that you can use it to buy all items needed for the advertizement as like cloths,shoes and other materials you will need for this advert and the rest money will serve your traveling arrangements which also includes your flight ticket . I will go ahead to discuss with my immigration officer who will be handling your traveling documents because you will need to come over to the Location here in UK for the advert.All you need to do now is send me your full names,address and cell phone numbers so that i can go ahead and ask my financier to make out the check in your names and send it to immediately.Please email to me recent pictures.I will be waiting to read from you soonest.Regards. Jimmy. Oct 22 06 04:20 pm Link Obviously a scam. Horrible English = scam. Too good to be true = scam. Hiring you without seeing you in person = scam. Oct 22 06 04:22 pm Link scam. only the likes of Tyra, Giselle, and so on make $100,000 for a shoot. and this person cannot spell. they have no grammar skills either. those alone are enough to know it's a scam. Oct 22 06 04:23 pm Link Just a Question though, He will be Sending money first, so if it is a scam What would he be scamming for ? Oct 22 06 04:24 pm Link So, what happened...? You just randomly received this e-mail out of the blue? Sounds ridiculous to me. Oct 22 06 04:24 pm Link Yes. He will send you a check for $5000. You will deposit into your bank. It will bounce. He will get the cancelled check back and then use the information on it to clear out your bank account. Something like that. Tell him you will only accept a money order. Watch how fast he disapears. Oct 22 06 04:25 pm Link Dani16 wrote: the check will bounce. was this from a yahoo email address? is their office located in Nigeria? did you google the name of the company he mentioned? if they are real you can contact them to double check whether or not it's true Oct 22 06 04:26 pm Link he's not going to send you anything - it's a scam, don't try to figure it out or rationalize it - walk or better yet run away Oct 22 06 04:26 pm Link Rossi Photography wrote: This would be the second E-mail that he sent me, the first one was general information and asking for recent pictures to see me. Oct 22 06 04:27 pm Link Dani16 wrote: That's definitely not true. Oct 22 06 04:28 pm Link he'll probably tell you to go ahead and book a flight, and that "the check is in the mail" then you book your flight and the check bounces. then it's too late. if you have to pay anything up front it's a scam. he's not going to send you out to buy clothes for the job. he'll ask for your measurements and buy the clothes HE wants, not what you want. Oct 22 06 04:28 pm Link John Jebbia wrote: Sounds like a resonable request, thank you for this very useful information, i didnt know they could do that from one bounced check. Oct 22 06 04:28 pm Link Dani16 wrote: paying jobs rarely ever allow escorts. Oct 22 06 04:29 pm Link e-string wrote: OK. it may not be a scam for that reason, but if he wont let me Bring an escorte over seas, in a new country, with a new person, they i wouldn't want to do it anyways. Oct 22 06 04:30 pm Link And stop and think about why would anyone in their right mind offer up $100,000 just based on your 20 or so photos they see on the net. Oct 22 06 04:30 pm Link If he sends a check won't be worth the paper it's printed on. Maybe just trolling for phone numbers. However, the usual deal is they send you a (worthless) check, but you need to send part of the money back - so you lose whatever you send back. Do a search on Nigerian scams. Oct 22 06 04:31 pm Link Dani16 wrote: so if you got booked by someone legit in Milan, you wouldn't go? Oct 22 06 04:31 pm Link Dani16 wrote: fair enough Oct 22 06 04:31 pm Link Jessalyn_54 wrote: Probably not without Asking you guys first to make sure that it is ligit. If that situation should arise it would take alot of reaserch to prove that it is ligit. and then Yes i might go it alone. ( also if at that time i have experience with traveling over seas for modeling than - definetly.) Oct 22 06 04:34 pm Link Scam attempt. The emphasis on being asked to recruit "international models" at $100k a pop for a project seems incredibly far fetched. I'm pretty sure that no one has their own immigration officer. English is horrible. Signed by "jimmy" - hmmm, very professional for someone with such a huge budget. Asking you for more pictures after offering you a job - daft. Too many signs to go into really, dont even entertain these emails. Oct 22 06 04:34 pm Link CO_Charlie wrote: -Very True. Oct 22 06 04:35 pm Link Dani16 wrote: I might be mistaken, but I'm getting the impression that you're looking for any reason for it not to be a scam. IT'S A SCAM! Oct 22 06 04:36 pm Link so if you got booked by someone legit in Milan, you wouldn't go? Absolutely. If you get booked by someone legit in Milan. But 1. How do you know they're legit? And 2. How do you know they're even in Milan? Oct 22 06 04:38 pm Link Rossi Photography wrote: For This kind of Money, Anyone would be looking for any spec of hope that it may be true, it doesn't mean that i'll do it in the end. Oct 22 06 04:38 pm Link Sounds like a variation of this: he sends you a check, you deposit it into your bank and asks you to keep a portion for yourself, and send the balance via Western Union to his confederate in Nigeria (or wherever). You deposit the money in your account in good faith, send the money, find out later that the check ( or certified bank check - either stolen or fake) bounced. You are out the money, and he cant be traced. I've had similar offers to fly to London to shoot weddings for 10K (i'm sure all the local wedding shooters are booked full) Oct 22 06 04:38 pm Link SCAM! SCAM! SCAM! Dont give it another thought. Oct 22 06 04:39 pm Link Ever ask yourself why they don't hire models already residing in the UK? Oct 22 06 04:39 pm Link John Jebbia wrote: Either that or he'll instruct you to wire him the $1,000 he menioned out of the $5000 check you deposit. The check will bounce and you'll be stuck for 1K Oct 22 06 04:41 pm Link CAP210 wrote: Yes- The shoot in london was the scam email i recieved 3 weeks ago, i didn't do it. Oct 22 06 04:43 pm Link Just a Question though, He will be Sending money first, so if it is a scam What would he be scamming for ? Girl... I'm not sure you are ready for this world !! -- I think you should wait a few more years! Oct 22 06 04:43 pm Link sureshotstudios wrote: ...she's 17. Oct 22 06 04:45 pm Link sureshotstudios wrote: Lol... I was biting my tongue. I'm glad you said it. Oct 22 06 04:45 pm Link sureshotstudios wrote: Waiting a Few years wont make me any smarter in this sort of thing- Experience will and talking to the people that do know will. Sorry that i'm young and ill experienced but waiting around wont change that, How did you find out about scam artists? Oct 22 06 04:46 pm Link As a clue, heres how i would usually book someone, even if its on the strength of an online portfolio, which ive done several times. Email a project outline to model. Discuss and agree via email. Offer that she can bring an escort. Send contract and release for them to look over. Pay for the flight and accomodation and send the model all the details. They can easily check the bookings direct if they want to. Wait for the day - sort contracts and release,shoot, pay model for her time. I think the paying of Flights and accomodation in advance is very comforting to a model, a little risky for me but, it hasnt backfired yet. Anything more difficult, involving weird check transactions etc etc always screams scam to me. Oct 22 06 04:46 pm Link e-string wrote: Thank you. Oct 22 06 04:47 pm Link CO_Charlie wrote: SEE I'm Learning here- becuase of the poeple that are willing to teach! thank you for your information. its helpful to see how a real photographer would do things. Oct 22 06 04:48 pm Link True - you can't go through life believing that everything is a scam. But filter it with some reasoning. First recognize - even though this may be difficult to accept (!) - that you are young and innocent. Second, try to find some perspective. To succeed in modeling -as in anything - both talent and experience are needed (and - sad to say - lots of luck). There are always exceptions - the rare discovery on the street or in the drugstore followed by immediate fame and success - but, for most, the trade has to be learned and the dues have to be paid. So find work with good photographers near you. Get the experience. Build a good portfolio. Learn the realities of the profession. Look carefully at work you admire and learn how it's done. Don't be in a hurry. You have lots of time, so use it well. Oct 22 06 04:52 pm Link pw-gii photographics wrote: YES i understand all of this and i know that this is a scam, Thank you for your useful input. Oct 22 06 04:59 pm Link Dani16 wrote: Good for you. Damn don't ever let them near PC. They will be broke before new years Oct 22 06 08:41 pm Link just to add to the info and raise the alarm,a number of years back young women were lured overseas with legit sounding offers of work either in modeling or as entertainers with up front payments that were real cash for clothing,air fare ,etc.So the point about the check bounceing and other red flags don't hold as a warning. Turned out to be white slavery ring for brothels in middle east and asia.A few dollars spent up front to get the girls out of the country is nothing compared to what can be earned. The same trick is still being used in the Balkans to lure girls into prostitution in the middle east today,everything appears to check out,there is actual money upfront,clothes,etc.The point is it is a scary world and it pays to be skeptical no matter what! Oct 23 06 12:46 pm Link |