VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Moosevoice · Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2016 1:21 pm Post subject: Is this a scam?

I received this through the direct invite system of voice123 and something about it all just seems 'off' to me....

Bob Bergen · CM Joined: 22 Apr 2008 Posts: 979

Got the same thing earlier this year. Total scam!!!! Almost word for word what I got.

Eddie Eagle · M&M Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Posts: 2393

I'm betting the poster has an outlook account. It is an overpayment fraud scam that's been circulating for quite a while. Forward that thing to V123 and they will ban the bitch.

Bish · Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2016 2:34 pm Post subject:

This one has been doing the rounds for quite a while. The name changes, as does the email address supplied. Apart from the ludicrous nature of the language (you are in a good mental and emotional state of mind, aren't you?) the giveaways are the non-professional nature of the email address (usually a hotmail, zoho, aol, or whatever) and the fact that the name is usually two first names i.e. John David, Christopher Charles, etc.

Here's the scam in principle... they get you interested. As agreed, they send you $850 pre-payment, but "accidentally" send you a check for $1,350. Ooops, they sent you the studio fee as well by mistake and they ask you to send them back a check for the $500 overpayment. You deposit their check and... guess what? Right, that thing bounces like Trigger on speed!

Doug Turkel has been tracking these and has written an excellent blog post about it that should answer all the questions (I am merely paraphrasing Doug with my comments above)

http://voiceovertalent.com/blog/2016/04/anatomy-of-a-voiceover-scam/

Unfortunately, some VOs have been taken by this scam... the lure of the money blinds them to the fact that it smells like week-old fish. Your nose is obviously better than that Wink

V123 are aware of the scam and jump on it as and when it crops up... in fact, I think this one has already been reported (as of today)... but it never hurts to report it again in case it's a fresh one.
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

Bruce · Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2016 2:47 pm Post subject:

There are so many phrases and terms in that return email that ring terribly wrong and false that I wouldn't be fooled for a second, but then I've been in this game for a long time so I've heard most of the legitimate ways to hire someone.

Just this phrase alone screams, "I'm not in this business":

SkinnyJohnny · Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2016 2:49 pm Post subject:

I just replied that I wasn't interested in her scam. Didn't hear back!
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John Weeks Voice Overs
www.johnweeksvoiceovers.com

Jack Daniel · Cinquecento Joined: 23 Jun 2016 Posts: 585 Location: SoCal

What amazes me is that the scammer never tries to update the language, run it by an English speaker for intelligibility (or sanity), or toss up a website or even fake-point it to a real one. He's probably catch a lot more folks trying to make a living.

I guess it must work, though. Money is a powerful desensitizer. I've certainly inquired into fishy stuff before.
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Jack Daniel
Narrator / Man About Town

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

If it smells fishy, it usually means there are sharks in the water.

DougVox · Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 8:56 am Post subject:

Jackson, I know that it seems counterintuitive, but there are actually some very good reasons that the scammers' notes are written so "poorly."

In fact, a few years ago, a Microsoft Research paper looked in to this exact issue. What they found is that the sketchy language actually improves the scammers' ROI.

What the scammers try to do is filter out people who aren’t gullible enough to fall for it.

They've gone from targeting everyone with an email account, to only focusing on the very small portion of the population that is somehow oblivious to this type of attack.

Basically, the bad language helps them helps them identify the suckers in the group.

The last thing scammers want to do is waste time trying to lure people who are too sensible to fall for their schemes. It’s much better to concentrate their efforts on the truly gullible.

So these emails are often deliberately written this way. The 99% of people who know better will put them straight into the trash. The remaining 1% — the easily deceived — are more likely to be reeled in.
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Doug Turkel (tur-KELL)
Voiceover UNnouncer®
UNnouncer.com

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

Moosevoice · Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 9:08 am Post subject:

Moosevoice · Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 9:09 am Post subject:

Moosevoice · Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 9:13 am Post subject:

Thanks everyone who posted here. Based on the responses here and my keen 'bulls**t radar' I've replied to the culprit and notified voice123.
Thanks again for confirming my suspicions.
My reply to them if anyone needs to copy and paste if they encounter the same thing:

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

Another example of why working with an agent is preferable. For the most part you never have to worry about this kind of stuff.

Lee Gordon · Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 11:21 am Post subject: