photography scam

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Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 6:02 pm

these are pretty common esp for wedding photographers I get them all the time. The basic scam is they send you a check for much more than you charge for the wedding, then you send them the balance, and surprise there check bounces. My basic play with these is to see how many emails I can string them along with, before they give up on me and move on. I have one right now though who is about to actually send me the check. What should I do with it when I get it? Also I used to feel good if I got a dozen or so emails from these lads but after discovering this board I feel I need to learn how to string them along and get much more out of them, maybe even some pictures of the happy couple.

Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 6:10 pm

Welcome, auknif. Smile

If the scammers are contacting you through your work, and/or have personal information or contacts for you, I suggest you stop baiting them, and set up an anonymous baiting email address. We have drop boxes available to premium members here, if you want to get the cheque sent to you. We also have a great mentoring prgramme to help you get a feel for how our more experienced baiters achieve the great things they pull off - if you'd like to sign up, the place to go is here.

Whatever you do, make sure you enjoy your time here. Smile

Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 7:34 pm

It's great that you can spot the attempted scam. Educated people are safer people. Smile

That being said, you will no doubt soon see a flurry of posts here all saying the same thing:

Don't attempt to bait these people under your real identity. They have too much information about you from your advertising or wherever they got your contact info.

If you want to do some baiting, welcome aboard! Very Happy

Get yourself some fake email addys, read the stickies, ask for a mentor if you want one, grab a lad or five, and bait safe!

Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:02 pm

Yeah I know, I shouldn't be myself for this stuff but I get so many it's fun to play sometimes. So this guy did send me check, I got it saturday, it's 3k over what I would be billing him. The check oddly enough isn't a fake money order but a business check from a company in Mich. I wonder if I should let them know some ones using there checks, I did some research online and they are a real company or some one really took a lot of time making it look like they are. My next step will be to just call his bluff, I'm kind of sick of him now anyway I think I have like 20 emails between us now. I'm going to tell him I never got the check, and since his wedding is coming so soon and Chicago mail is so poor, I'll just pick up the check from him at the wedding. then it'll be easy to see he's not actually having a wedding, since the hotel or what ever venue he's using won't have it booked for him.

Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:58 pm

Quote:

My next step will be to just call his bluff

I'm not sure that you got what the other members above were getting at, so I'll be a little more blunt. Your next step should be to drop contact. These people are criminals, thieves, and occasionally more. They have your details, and they also have contacts within the States. Do you want a knock at the door from a pissed off criminal with a gun? No? Then bait safe. We ONLY EVER bait with throwaway false details.

Back to my nice persona... Wink

You can still bait these people, just do it from new false details! Welcome to 419eater by the way, you're at the right place to mess with these people. Please just take the time to read the stickies to make sure you are baiting safe. Smile