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Scam Spotting 101
We've all read about modelling scams online, so for the benefit of all those who are still not sure how to spot one, posted below is a bona fide scam email (yes, photographers get them too). I will continue to correspond with this prospective "client" and post here as I go. This letter was easy - they even mention Nigeria - but where the scams may differ in approach (modelling jobs, fake agencies, etc), they're all basically the same (read more at www.419eater.com). Hello Mr. Richard, How are you doing today? i have been trying to contact you. I just received your new email from Stacey Jean, who is one on my beauty model. Actually, she is based in Nigeria, and i wanted her to do some phoot shooting with you there in Canada. So i will be glad you will be available in assisting her, i need good quality photo which will be converted in CD digital format. I have an account with the Royal bank of Canada, and i was informed by stacey that your photo shooting will cost $1000, but am out of cash now as i have about 19 other models that am financing in this project. So i will send you Royal bank of Canada check of $5,100...........this will include your $1000, stacey's hotel accomodation and meals while she is in canada, also her flight fares is included. So what you are going to do is when the check arrives, you will deposit in your bank, then you will withdraw your photo shooting cost of $1,000 and then you will have to forward the dollars balance to her travel Agent in Nigeria, so that the Agent can book for her flight and hotel accomodation. So please send your full names and postal address so that i can forward the Canadian funds to you. Thank you as am awaiting you prompt reply. Dr. Elizabeth And my response: Hello Dr. Elizabeth, That sounds great. I would need to know what Stacey looks like, and her measurements for wardrobe. Can you please send me this information and a couple of photos of Stacey, and I will make arrangements here. Thank you. Richard With any luck this particular scammer is not checking MM, but given that scamming is huge in Nigeria, I'm betting they don't have time. The idea is to keep them occupied with me, so they spend less time ripping off other people. If 1000 people do this, then business really slows down for them. Stay tuned... Nov 01 06 11:56 am Link Awesome! There was a Craig's List "best of" awhile back in San Francisco where some guy strung one of these people along for weeks. It was hilarious. Looking forward to further installments! Nov 01 06 12:01 pm Link awesome I'm so getting my popcorn and soda for this one Nov 01 06 12:11 pm Link In the interim feel free to post your own scam emails. Remember, this is an educational thread.  Nov 01 06 12:31 pm Link Richard Dubois wrote: About 50 of them have already been posted . . . . Nov 01 06 12:48 pm Link Richard Dubois wrote: (smirk) Gotta love it! Nov 01 06 12:52 pm Link TXPhotog wrote: The more the merrier... Nov 01 06 01:44 pm Link it's amazing how many of these scams there are....would be nice to figure out a way to disrupt their scheme. Nov 01 06 02:27 pm Link wishingtreephotography wrote: Not hard really; but the UN Security Council would take a dim view of nukeing Nigeria. Nov 01 06 06:21 pm Link The scam here is obvious. He is going to send you a bogus check for $5,100, you keep 1,000 and send the other $4,100 to him fom your account. A few days later when the check is declared bad by your bank they will reverse the $5,100 and you will be out the money you sent. I keep wondering if there is not some way to get the check cashed and not have it charged back to me. Nov 01 06 09:30 pm Link wishingtreephotography wrote: Have a read: www.419eater.com Nov 01 06 09:31 pm Link Big Jim Slade wrote: This scam email is laughably obvious, but they must work sometimes. I've heard that the cheque they send is usually a forged (and expired) money order. I plan to have it sent to my lab and will post an image of it when it arrives. Nov 01 06 09:34 pm Link The scam here is obvious. He is going to send you a bogus check for $5,100, you keep 1,000 and send the other $4,100 to him fom your account. A few days later when the check is declared bad by your bank they will reverse the $5,100 and you will be out the money you sent. I keep wondering if there is not some way to get the check cashed and not have it charged back to me. Nov 01 06 09:37 pm Link I get tons like this. It's one of the great benefits of having a website with your e-mail address right on it (actually a link with a "mailto"). Maybe I'll pick one and string him along for awhile just for fun. Apparently, I'm winning lotteries in the UK on a regular basis. Like at least one a day. If I would just claim a fraction of my winnings I'd be able to buy and sell you all! Muah ha ha ha ha ha!!! Nov 01 06 09:37 pm Link The scam here is obvious. He is going to send you a bogus check for $5,100, you keep 1,000 and send the other $4,100 to him fom your account. A few days later when the check is declared bad by your bank they will reverse the $5,100 and you will be out the money you sent. I keep wondering if there is not some way to get the check cashed and not have it charged back to me. Nov 01 06 11:28 pm Link I just had someone try the same kind of scam on me with an ebay auction. They ended the auction early with "buy it now," waited until after the time stipulated for full payment had passed, then sent the following email. Note too they wanted to use Western Union and DHL - wouldn't want to use USPS for shipping or money orders because then it's a federal crime. "I agreed to pay the amount you want as buy it now any aditional money for the shipping.but i am using this opportunity to inform you that the amount that will be on the moneyorder will more than ur item fees.i don"t really know the exact amount it will be.bcos it will be issue by my client.and the reason of the over payment is that.the amount on the moneyorder has been signed,and it is more than ur item fees.so once you receive it.you must deduct ur item fees and westernunion the balance money to my client manager in africa.and the item is going to africa. there will be no problem about the shipment.i want you to responsible for it.also make sure you deduct ur item fees and westernunion any aditional money on the m/o once you receive it.Here will go.i wolud have end the auction but i don"t know how to do it.so i want you to go and end the auction for me asap.to asure you that i am realy intrested in ur item.i will add extra $5.00 in ur payment if you end the auction for me asap.and email me ur phone# asap today. Below are the questions i have for you. 1)is the item in good condition? 2)is any westernunion location where you to send the balance money money arround you? 3)can you make sure you get the m/o cash at ur bank the sameday you receive it? 4)can you allow me to send DHL for the pick up and complet the transaction the day you receive the moneyorder? If yes too all my questions.kindly email me back asap today your full name and address you want on the payment so that the moneyorder can be send asap, Regards," Nov 02 06 08:57 am Link The next time I get a notification that my email address has won a lottery I am going to put those folks in touch with the 419 nigerian scam people and maybe both will be happy. Nov 02 06 12:12 pm Link Narhan wrote: Thanks for sharing N. Nov 02 06 07:27 pm Link We need cybor cops. I get scamed every week. Ebay accounts is the worst. Nov 02 06 07:34 pm Link Nov 02 06 07:40 pm Link I had a pretty amusing series of exchanges with a scammer earlier this year, which I will post upon request. I convinced him to give me extra money, so that I could register for bounty hunter school and become an enforcer for him Nov 02 06 07:48 pm Link Richard Dubois wrote: We're all better off when we know how to avoid these creeps. Nov 02 06 08:18 pm Link Richard Dubois wrote: LMAO. Yep! Nov 02 06 08:58 pm Link Here is a really funny one that claims they got my name from MM, check out the bit about Scotland Yard, Interpol, and the FBI RB Good day , We at DEOLA SAGOE FASHION HOUSE LTD are pleased to introduce you to yet another edition of our beauty /fashion show tagged 'ONE STYLE FITS ALL' .We go around Africa/world yearly to recruit talented people like yourself because we believe in the saying that 'variety is the spice of life' ,Hence,we believe that when we have people from diverse backgrounds and diverse cultures which arises from different nationalities and different trainings in your specific field,it brings about more glamour and glitz to our shows. The concept of our show is to bring a lot of talents from around the world.There will be loads of designers like Dolce&Gabanna,Tommy Hilfiger,Salvatore Ferragamo,TM Lewin&sons,Prada,Gucci,Ralph Lauren and a whole lot of others and you will work with them to make this show a success. This show is gonna be holding in NEW YORK for 3 days btw Oct 23rd and Oct 26th.We are at the moment recruiting models(runway,catwalk,photo shoot,etc),dancers,photographers,beauticians-hairstylists/wardrobe stylists/makeup artists,videographers,ushers,actors/actresses,etc. All accomodation,flight and insurance will be handled by us for your full comfort.Moreso,you will be paid upfront.We will send the sum of $500 for now and you will receive the balance sum of $500 after the show. You will be required to fill the form attached below and also send us a couple of your work for a brief review.Once that has been assessed,you will receive an email confirming your employment and also notifying you as to when you will your first instamental payment. So far so good,you are qualified for our position and hence we have decided to contact you and let you know that it will be a honour for us if you work with us. You will be required to fill this employment form and return back to us asap to confirm your employment. EMPLOYMENT FORM Please, you are to fill out this form accurately with correct information and/or attach any form of your identification to this form before submission. FIRST NAME: MIDDLE NAME: LAST NAME: ADDRESS: CITY: STATE: ZIP CODE: COUNTRY: HOME PHONE: OFFICE PHONE: MOBILE: GENDER: MARITAL STATUS: AGE: NATIONALITY: CURRENT JOB: WORKING EXPERIENCE/SPECILISATION: ATTESTATION I ___________________________________hereby accept the job as a representative/employee of the above mentioned company here in the United Kingdom, I shall also inform the company a week ahead if eventually l want to discontinue this job, so as to terminate all payments coming my way to avoid conflict. Signed by me. ..................... Your faithfully, ************. =================================================== Its real and legit and we have our own way of verifing information given to us to ascertain if its genuine or otherwise.We also have security agents working with us in collaboration with the FBI,Scotland Yard and INTERPOL just in case you turn out to be a cheat.Just in case you are wondering,I got your email from the MODEL MAYHEM website. To learn more about Deola Sagoe,you can visit the following links below: http://generationnubian.blogspot.com/20 … -show.html http://www.capetownfashionweek.co.za/de … aSagoe.asp http://fashion.psfk.com/2006/06/deola_sagoe_afr.html YOURS FAITHFULLY, PAUL SMITH, RECRUITMENT DIRECTOR, DEOLA SAGOE FASHION HOUSE LIMITED, 21,QUEENS AVENUE, VICTORIA ISLAND, LAGOS,NIGERIA. +234-80-244-38532 +234-1-4765962 Nov 02 06 08:59 pm Link For your (hopeful) reading pleasure (don't forget to read from the bottom up): Jake Part 1 Jake Part 2 Nov 02 06 09:18 pm Link RB and D Drake, thanks for the stories. A new email from our friend in Nigeria arrived today, in response to my request for model info: Hi Richard, Thank you for the email, i thought you have her pics, pls tell her to forward those information to you. Dr. Elizabeth [email protected] Note the scammers email, a yahoo account, not something a legitimate agency would use. So I dutifully wrote the "model", who is no doubt either the same scambot in Nigeria, or one of his pals a few computers down: Hi Stacey, I have been in touch with your agent again. I need to have your measurements so I can arrange wardrobe for your shoot here in Canada, and also if you could please send me a couple of pictures of yourself that would be just super. Thanks! R His/her response: Hi Richard, The information stated below: Height: 171 cm / 57 inchBust:87 cm / 34 inchWaist:56 cm / 23 inchHips: 87 cm / 34 inch Weight:45 kg / 100 lbs Also i have attached my photos, they wereshoot last year in paris, france,,,,,,,,,,,,but the agent in London said that i needed new photographer because according to her she said that my beauty have improved significantly. Dr. Elizabeth said she is sending to you $5,100 canadian Funds, which you will deposit in your Bank, so you will withdraw your $1,000 and forward the balance to my Travel Agent here in Nigeria, so that he can arrange for my flight, hotel accomodation and meals. So please your should send to Dr. Elizabeth your Full Names and Postal Address so that the fund can be sent to you as soon as possible. Be sweet as am hoping to meet you soonest. Stacey [email protected] Yes, her beauty have improved, and what do you know, another yahoo account. Interestingly, these are the same shots I received once before:        Somewhere in the world is the real model pictured here, who is no doubt blissfully unaware that there is a server somewhere in Nigeria with a bunch of her photos on it, marketing her better than an agency ever could. Too bad we'll never know her name. In response to the model's surprisingly detailed instructions about payment, I wrote: Hi Stacey, Thank you so much for sending this information, and for sending the photos. You have a really great look, very beautiful fashion, really raises the flagpole as we say here in Canada. Wow. Thank you also for sending the payment details, but I think it would be appropriate for me to make financial arrangements with Dr. Elizabeth directly, since it's her money. I will be contacting her right away in this regard and will let you know soonest as to when you'll be making your great Canadian fashion debut. You forgot one detail however: shoe size. Can't shoot you without shoes! Ha ha. Please send me your shoe size. Looking forward to meeting you and helping you make the great transition from internet aspirant model to real-world high fashion model! Sincerest and best regards all around, Richard The idea of course is to drag it out and keep the scammer replying to my inane emails instead of looking for new victims (www.419eater.com). Stay tuned... Nov 03 06 05:19 pm Link My email to "Dr. Elizabeth", asking more inane questions: Hello again Dr. Elizabeth, I received an email from Stacey just now - I'm really impressed at how good looking she is, wow. For photography I can think of a hundred different ways I would do her. Her portfolio will look quite impressive. I thought it would be more appropriate for me to contact you directly regarding the monies for this shoot. A fee of $1000 is acceptable to me, but I would have to have an additional $25 to pay for a makeup artist and $25 for a wardrobe stylist, which would make the total $1050. I already have very talented people to work on this project with us. I hope this is acceptable to you. If there are any particular looks you require for this shoot (high fashion, online bikini glamour, beauty and lifestyle, implied artistic nudes with hands, runway, escorts, noshows etc.) please send me those details, and how many final images you will need (I think 20 is possible - this is a common number). Thank you and looking forward to your prompt reply with great anticipation. This shoot will be truly miraculous when it happens. Sincerely, Richard I thought I would keep the request for more $$ simple for this thread, however much the bounty hunter school bit made me laugh (read D Drake's links, very funny). Nov 03 06 05:27 pm Link From "Dr. Elizabeth" (they aren't wasting any time): Hello again, It is already night here and am just about leaving the office before your email came in, from your last email i am quite sure that stacey has contacted you. I believe you are a good profesional and from your previous experience am really expecting a good job from you, okay. For the final images, 20 will be okay..........and for the looks, i think you have to use your professional experience to create a combination of high fashion, online bikini glamour, beauty and lifestyle, implied artistic nudes with hands, runway. So as i have earlier informed you, i will send you a payment of $5,100 which i have budgeted for stacey..........and since the charges at your end is $1,050, it is okay by me. When you cash the canadian fund, you should withdraw the $1,050 and Forward the balance to her Travel Agent in Nigeria, stacey will instruct you on this at the appropriate time. I will be in Sweden in 2 days times, so i will want you to send me your names and address so i can forward the funds to you in Canada. Thanking you in anticipation. Dr. Elizabeth My reply: Hi Dr. Elizabeth, That's great, thank you for accommodating my makeup artist and wardrobe stylist with the $25 for each of them. They are very experienced and will do beautiful work since their payment will be substantial. I will shoot a combination of the different styles we discussed, however I prefer implied artistic nudes without hands - I see implied artistic nudes with hands a lot and it's getting a bit dull. Of course online bikini glamour never gets dull. I forgot to ask, do you want me to shoot couture? And since I will be shooting 20 images (the total allowed without extra fees) would you like editorial designer stories with conceptual makeup? The weather is beautiful this time of year here so I was thinking of shooting outside - I have an excellent forest/wood chipper fashion idea I think you would really like. I would really, really appreciate your feedback on these ideas, I want to make sure Stacey gets exactly what she needs. Please forward the money order for $5,100 CND to my address: Richard M. M. Dubois c/o Downtown Camera 55 Queen St. East Toronto, ON M5C 1R6 CANADA If you should have any questions or other suggestions for the shoot with Stacey, please let me know. I would appreciate any sample images you can send me to ensure I shoot exactly as you would like. Have an absolutely super time in Sweden. Looking forward to a great shoot. By the way my name is not really Richard Dubois, that is my professional working name, kind of like actors and models (my agent told me to change it lol!). My real name is Charles M. Amosse. So signing off with my real name. Sincerely, Charles I could continue to drag this out with a few more emails with pointless questions and put off giving them an address, but you get the idea (the address I gave them is for a lab I use on occasion and everyone there knows my name). At this point I doubt they will write again for a while; I expect a bogus money order will be sent to me eventually, one that they churn out of a printer (one person on MM received an expired one, so the scammer's attention to detail is not always the best it would seem). This scammer's English is surprisingly good: I've received emails that were frankly illegible. He doesn't seem to have noticed that I'm getting a little silly with my replies. "Charles M. Amosse" is an anagram of "asshole scammer".  Nov 03 06 06:51 pm Link Kenny Fayas Jr wrote: Please no naming names on open forum. Kenny, please go edit your post and remove the name or delete the post altogether. Thanks. Nov 03 06 07:34 pm Link Ever see the one where the scammer thinks he's stealing a laptop, but it turns out to be a pizza box marked "POWERBOOK" that the person who sent it had declared a $9,000 or something value on, so the import duties the scammer had to pay to get it were like $200, and the sender had friends at the scammer's shop in London videotaping as he opened the box? That was awesome. Nov 03 06 08:35 pm Link RD, Thanks for the kudos and I am glad you enjoyed my posts Mr. Dubois, err..Amosse Two suggestions if you are inclined to continue your baiting. 1) Casually mention/inquire if in addition to "her beauty have improved significantly", did she happen to undergo either a) a massive growth spurt or b) a shrinking procedure? 171 cm = 67 inches, not 57. Quite the difference between 4'9 and 5'6/5'7 and I am sure that would cause many issues your wardrobe selection. And if the model pictured has a 34 inch bust..I'll eat my hat. 2) Tell her you have changed your mind and you would prefer implied nudity...with jazz hands. -D Nov 04 06 02:57 am Link D Drake Photography wrote: HAHAhA oh the funniest thing I have read in a long time- I particularly enjoyed the photos... Nov 04 06 03:26 am Link Charl-- er, Richard, I think you should negotiate a shoot that's a little more risque. Ask Dr. Whatserface if for the fashion editorial, the model is comfortable dressing as "Bad Little Bo Peep", and a bunch of "sheep." There will be shaving cream involved. Nov 04 06 03:39 am Link Eikona wrote: Lol! Nov 04 06 08:56 am Link Latest installment... The scammer was a little confused at my name change: Hi Richard, How are are doing today? please i was a little bit confused on either to make the checks payable: Richard M. M. Dubios or Charles M. Amosse. Please let me know as soon as possible. I just arrived Sweden today and i will send the Canadian funds from here to you. Thank you as am expecting your quick reply. Dr. Elizabeth Can't cash a cheque if it's not in my name. My response: Hi Dr. Elizabeth, Since you are booking me directly and not through my agent, please make the cheque/money order payable to my real name, Charles M. Amosse. Stacey has written to me a couple of times since our last email - I get the feeling that she is having second thoughts about coming to Canada. I hope that she is not about to cancel last minute on me - that would force me to charge a cancellation fee of $500 (50% of the shooting fee). Please advise. Charles Models are so testy. Here's what "Stacey" wrote: Hi Richard, My Shoe size is 6...........please have you contacted Dr. Elizabeth..........please let me know. Thank you Stacey And later the same day: Hi again My shoe size is 6.........Have you contacted Dr. Elizabeth as i have not heard from you since. Thank you. Even though I've sent them a mailing address they continue to write, and they seem to not be able to keep track of when they've written. I guess they want to make sure I don't change my mind. There were plenty of obvious signs that this was a scam from the get-go, but let's see how much they know about European shoe sizes: Wow, you have really small feet. They seem a little disproportioned to the rest of you. Are you sure you're a size 6? Sizes in France are different from North America, so please double check - you might be a size 60 for Europe. Don't worry, I have been in touch with your sponsor Dr. Elizabeth, who is currently in Sweden. In case she hasn't told you, my actual name is Charles (Richard is my professional name, like for actors). Please forward this information to your agent in the UK, and let me know that person's name please (agents get mad when models don't tell them who you're shooting with). Have you had breast augmentation surgery? My stylist wants to know. Charles Nov 06 06 03:56 pm Link I think I got scammed today too. My only concern is that person mentioned that he was referred by ...., which is a name of one of the first woman-model that I met here. He called himself Modelling Consultant with http://www.modelsdirect.com Did anybody get something like this lately? Nov 06 06 08:17 pm Link Another thing is what do you do once you know it's a scam for sure? Some people I know insist on this being reported to FBI as any other fraude. What are your thoughts on it? Nov 06 06 08:24 pm Link Why does it always involve Nigeria?? Nov 06 06 08:26 pm Link Matt Towler wrote: I used to own a chain of computer stores back in the day before CompUSA and Best Buy existed. There were the two Nigerians that used to come by my place a lot. One day they finally bought a computer from me; with accessories about $3,000.00 or so. Nov 06 06 08:30 pm Link Matt Towler wrote: My Dad worked on a contract managing Computer Center setup in Lagos. 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