SCAMMER POSES AS FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHER

I was going through my inbox this afternoon and this email popped out to me. It reads:

Hi,

We are interested in both (Male and female) professionals models for a sales commercial coming up which includes a video advert and Co-operate Photo Shoot. I am Director Santino (DIRECTOR) from Annie Leibovitz (CEO) Annie Leibovitz Photography®. Interested Models who will be available are required to mail back with a brief introduction and two recent works, be sure to Include your current location in other to be considered for immediate booking. Feel free to mail back for additional information.??

MALE & FEMALE MODELS FOR CALVIN KLEIN COMMERCIAL SHOOT

Event Date 1 : APRIL 23RD 2021 and APRIL 24TH 2021

Event Date 2 : MAY 7TH 2021 and MAY 8TH 2021

* Time : 10 A.M. - 3 P.M

* Nudity: No

* No level of experience is required. (Free Model Coach available upon request).

Compensation : Paid

Warmest Regards,

Annie Leibovitz (C.E.O)

Annie Leibovitz Photography®

Santino (DIRECTOR)

Right away this email sounds suspicious. First off, it came from directorsantt1cindysherman@gmail.com. There’s no way in hell that a Annie Leibovitz representative is using an @gmail.com email account. Second, who is Cindy Sherman, and why is her name in director Santino’s email? Yeah, no- this is definitely a scam.

One of the easiest ways to check if an email is a scam is to search for the text of the email. Google showed many, many websites with detailed descriptions of a scam with similar wordage to my email. One photographer was scammed into believing she would be collaborating with the famous photographer on a project with Adidas. According to her blog post, the photographer actually announced on their website that their was a scam going down in their name. The FBI was notified!!

If I were to email back the scammer, they would likely send something along the lines of “We are going to pay you $500 and but give you an $8,000 check. The remainder on the check, $7,500 is for location and wardrobe. Please forward it to the fashion stylist along with your measurements.”

They want to send me a fraudulent check. I would cash it and before it bounces, they want me to send a huge amount to someone else. Once the check bounces, I am out the $7,500 I sent to the ‘stylist’ and the $8,000 that I now own the bank. Worst yet, there is no photoshoot.

It’s Not Extra, It’s An Advance-Fee Scam

If there is ever an arrangement where you are paid an extra amount and expected to ship the remainder to another party, it’s a scam. This is called an advance-fee scam or more infamously known as the “Nigerian prince scam” or the 419 scam. The number 419 refers to the section of the Nigerian Criminal Code dealing with fraud, the chargers and penalties for offenders. Other nations known to have a high incidence of advance-fee fraud include: Ivory coast, Togo, South Africa, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland and Jamaica.

Scammers have used fax and traditional snail mail long before emails. Fax, email, calls and texts are essentially free for the scammer, so they are extremely popular in the scamming community today.

Identity Fraud

Bogus Job Offers is a very popular way for scammers to collect personal identity information. Scammers will trick their prey into thinking they have landed the job opportunity of their life. They send in the social security card and w-4 with all their personal information on it. Scammers won’t hesitate to turn around and sell this information to the highest bidder.