Email scam! How can I report this to someone?

This is happening to me for the 4th time now. I get an email from someone claiming to be in need of photography services for a family reunion in my area. They request a quote for a certain number of hours of photo service, and specific print packages for the 4 or 5 families that will attend. Once I give it, I hear back that their event planner does not take credit cards, and they want me to run the event planner's fee through my processor. They offer to cover the fees, plus a generous tip for my trouble. Once I process the payment, they want me to pay the event planner, keeping my share for my expected services.

I never let it go farther than this- I assume that they will cancel the reunion, dispute the entire charge, and leave me out a substantial sum. The first time I was contacted, never heard back after I declined to accept the event planner's fee. The second time, same thing. The third time, I had some fun at their expense, quoting an outrageous fee ($10,000) to see if they would accept. They did. They countered with "we'll place a $1,000 deposit for now" to which I replied that my fee was due entirely in advance, and was non refundable. Again- I never heard back.

Now I am getting the emails again. I really hope no one is gullible enough to fall for this, but at this point- I am looking to bring some grief to the scam "artists". Does anyone know who monitors or governs this kind of thing? it has to be illegal, right? Who can I report this to so these people are stopped?

I appreciate any thoughts!

Steve

Is there any common factors to the email addresses they are being sent from? If so add it to the spam filter of whichever email service you are using so it gets sent automatically to your spam folder. Then have your spam folder setup to automatically delete periodically.

Is there some discussion forum out on the net where scammers get together and compare notes and give tips and pick new groups or professions to target? I just read here about someone in Texas getting something presented to them along similar lines.

You can try talking to your local police department and see if they have a fraud division. If the mail gets involved you can try your local postmaster. I recall hearing about a federal law enforcement branch that has been dealing with internet and financial scams.

The really sad thing is that the scammers and thieves keep getting smarter and more sophisticated, and in response we (amateurs and professionals) also have to get smarter and more aware of threats against us like you've received. Some battles are worth the effort of a fight, others just deserve the delete key. Is there a fraud thread in the business section here? Might be a good place to share and compare notes and keep other photographers aware of current trends in scammer-ology.

Be safe, be aware, and take care.

sfinkernagel wrote in post #17450051
This is happening to me for the 4th time now. I get an email from someone claiming to be in need of photography services for a family reunion in my area. . . . I assume that they will cancel the reunion, dispute the entire charge, and leave me out a substantial sum.

That isn't what they do. They send you a check for a large amount and ask you to use part of the money to pay another vendor for the same event. You cash or deposit their check. You send a check for the lesser amount to a supposed caterer or band member. Within two weeks, your bank notifies you that the check you received was bad and deducts its amount from your account.

The topic is covered at "Is this a scam?," a few threads down in this forum. I believe that this kind of fraud is prosecuted by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

I forgot which one, but one of the photography sites I follow on facebook put out an article about this today. Supposedly its becoming an epidemic with photographers lately.

Ahh my fault, its a different type of scam, but still directed at photographers:

http://petapixel.com …-targeting-photographers/

No checks- they are specifically asking me to process it through my credit card service. I would think that they only way they can get money back from that is by disputing the charge.

This latest one is just from a gmail account. I don't know enough about how that works to know if or how it can be further traced.

Ironcially, the address they gave me for the venue was in fact, the Scranton Police Department.

LOVE PetaPixel. Clearly a different scam though.

Thank you all- I'll continue to watch and see if anyone can add anything.

I am not terribly worried about me falling for this- it sounded scammy the very first time I got the email. It just seems like there should be some consequences for these people that waste my time and possibly bilk others out of money.

Between current cyber-scams or phone-scams that I am encountering on daily basis!, I am not too sure to pick my favorite...
Must admit though I really hate that Indian guy who mimics to call from 202 area code zone and says I own big to IRS...

Actually the card is probably stolen or has been hacked and not yet reported. Either that or it is a card that was issued through fraud. Similar to the check scam. The initial payment will go through but then it will be reported as bad. You as the vendor will be stuck because the bank will want their money back. Just another variation an a standard theme.

The problem with reporting these type of problems the scammers usually avoid prosecution by operating across national boundaries. With the Internet, now they can operate anywhere. Because of this, they will pull these scams in countries they know they will not be extradited to.

It's unfortunate noise. You can report the emails but what can really be done other than protecting yourself from falling victim.

All requests by a customer to pay more than your requested fees so you can pay a third party on the customer's behalf (shipping company, event planner, whatever) are scams. All of them!

Retail chains have the following policies to protect against this kind of fraud; the customer is advised via signage and on their receipts:

1. Refunds may only be requested in person and with government-issued photo ID (plus second reliable ID if high value), and both their ID and their photo will be recorded
2. Refunds of transactions paid using a credit card will only be made back to the original card account.
3. Refunds of transactions paid by check will be mailed to the customer's address, per their ID, after 15 business days.

This will usually stop the scammer cold. If you refund the amount to the fraudulent/stolen/hack​ed CC the scammer gets nothing. If you wait 15 days to send out a refund check that is usually enough time for the check to bounce, as long as it is from a major domestic bank. You can also call the credit card issuer or bank while the customer is there and explain your concerns and ask them to verify that the funding is available and whether the transaction triggers any of their anti-fraud controls before you issue a refund. It is possible that a check could bounce after more than 15 days, but that would be very hard to do without an extremely complex and well organized. I won't describe the scam lest I give potential criminals any ideas, but most criminals aren't smart or organized enough to pull it off, and even then the risk of showing in person with ID to get the refund check 15 days later would cause them to look for easier targets.

I get countless emails of this sort every single week! I believe that these types of scams are just a fact of life these days; if you have a lot of internet exposure and make it easy for prospective clients to contact you, then the weirdos are going to contact you, too. it's just how the world is these days. Most of theses email can be identified as spam scam by their subject line alone.....you need go no further than that - just delete them without even opening them. Unless, of course, you want to be entertained by the poor spelling, poor use of English, unorthodox abbreviations, etc. Some of them can be pretty funny because the people are just so stupid!