VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Mike Harrison

You receive an email from someone who says they're with a studio in Russia, eagerly wanting to work with you, but there's been no prior contact. A Word document is attached; a brief script they'd like read ("today" is specified) for which they offer to pay the fee (in this case $150) in advance, via PayPal.

(1) The studio is not found in online searches. (2) The Properties of the Word document (titled simply "text_speaker_English") reveal that the document was created in December 2002 and has no other information. (3) The name of the person who sent the email shows up in Google searches as being one of many names on lists of reported dating and other Internet scams. And (4) The email account is not tied to a website, it is a gmail account.

I've replied to the sender, asking whether it's possible the budget can be increased somewhat, but I won't expect a reply until tomorrow, if I get one at all.

With all this in mind, a PayPal user reported that a good sum of money was taken from his AMEX account, which is tied to his PayPal account. PayPal replied that the service was NOT hacked, suggesting instead that the user's computer was, where spyware was used to collect his various usernames and passwords.

As many of us use PayPal, I thought this would be a good discussion. And, what is the concensus on this Russian "studio?"
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

Deirdre · Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 10:57 am Post subject:

I am leery of anything Russian.
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DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

Frank F · Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 1:14 pm Post subject:

Let them pay you in GOLD - upfront. Just send it to my PO Box. Please.

FF
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

Dayo · Cinquecento Joined: 10 Jan 2008 Posts: 544 Location: UK

Smells whiffy to me....
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Colin Day - UK Voiceover
www.thurstonday.co.uk

Bruce · Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 7:40 am Post subject:

I think you've spotted a couple of "red" flags there. A case of payee beware?

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

Mike Harrison · Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 3:04 pm Post subject:

There was no response to my question asking if the budget might be increased. So I'm considering this phishus interruptus.

What I didn't mention was that I first received a similar email from the same person several weeks ago but chose not to respond.

According to my web server stats and security plugins, a LOT of website hacking attempts originate in Russia, with close runners-up in China and other parts of Asia. Bastiches!
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

Scott Pollak · Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 5:43 pm Post subject:

Ironically, one of my better, regular clients is Russian, and I've just picked up a second one, also quite legitimate. There DOES seem to be a growing need for English v/o in Russia, but your lead most definitely sounds stinky.
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Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

www.voicebyscott.com