It looks like this scammer is back, but under a different name.
TLDR; I replied to a Craigslist ad for a web designer. The ad poster claims to be a Michael Cartwright who makes Learning Glass systems on demand. He wanted to pay for a website using an escrow service without discussing a contract or providing a phone number. The email address he provided was an Outlook address (usually scammers in my experience). There were a lot of things that didn't seem quite right. I'm not going to list all of them here, because I don't want him to google himself and get tips on how to con people more convincingly.
The War and Peace version
--
I replied to a Craigslist Los Angeles ad looking for a web designer. The ad reads thus:
Freelance Web Designer Wanted (REMOTE)
We are looking for a Freelance Web Designer to create a user-friendly product display website. The ideal candidate should have an eye for clean and artful web design. They should also have superior user interface design skills. Interested freelancers should get in touch for details.
When responding, the title of your email should be the same as the title of this ad to ensure prompt response. Thank you
--
My first reply:
Hello,
I'm a freelance web designer/developer, and am interested in hearing more about your project.
You can take a look at my portfolio at camillespain.com, and I've attached a copy of my resume for your review.
--
His reply:
Good morning Camille, hope you had a great weekend. I am Michael Cartwright and I make the learning glass systems on demand, and I'm in need of a simple website where I can display my products. I currently display my works on facebook, and will like to step it up. I will like to have a website like that of Smokey Bones(http://smokeybones.com/
) where on the homepage the product menu is aligned vertically on the left hand side. The company info will be aligned horizontally at the top right hand corner of the homepage, while Privacy policy and Terms and Conditions will be at the bottom of the page. I will also like a FAQs page like that of Microsoft which can be seen here https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/faq. I currently have 14 Q and A, and will like them arranged in a similar way. Such that when the viewer clicks on the question, it expands to reveal the answer. I believe that 14 questions can fit into a single page so that this does not spill into a second page.
At the top right of the page will have
1. About Us
a. Overview(Text Contents)
b. Management(Text contents)
c. News(Headlines with links to articles)
2. Resources
a. How to guide(Text+Image contents)
b. FAQ(Text Content)
3. Contact Us(Contact Form)
On the left will have three menus being:
1. Lightboard Glass Models
a. S33A Table Top Lightboard System(Text+Image contents)
b. S66A Lightboard System(Text+Image contents)
c. S66 Standalone Lightboard System(Text+Image contents)
2. Studio packages
a. S33 Table Top Lightboard Studio Package(Text+Image contents)
b. S66 Standalone Lightboard Studio Package(Text+Image contents)
3. Accessories
a. Dracast LED500 Bicolor LED Light(Text+Image contents)
b. Neon Dry Erase Markers(Text+Image contents)
c. Decimator In-line video flipping device for live-streaming(Text+Image contents)
d. BlackMagic Mini-recorder for streaming or inserting images in real-time(Text+Image contents)
At the bottom will have
1. Privacy Policy
2. Terms and conditions
I believe you understand the sub-menu are the ones I denoted with alphabets. The total pages will be about 16, all informational with no added functionalities. I do not intend to sell directly or process payment on the website at this time, I simply need a marketing site for tech products. I will like the website built in a way that will allow old images taken down and new ones uploaded at will. I have my contents and images ready for the website build, and will like to know how much this will cost, as well as a time frame. I will like a flat rate or per page rate for the entire project and not hourly rates. I understand this is a festive season, but if I can find someone willing to begin immediately, I'ld appreciate that a lot as I intend to roll out the website by the end of July 2020.
Apart from the product display website, I also intend to set up another website for mathematics video tutorials. The videos will be made using the lightboard, and accessible for free. We will begin this website as soon as the first is completed. For now, I am making arrangements for the videos to be produced in Ukraine and the USA.
Also, I will like to know if you offer domain and hosting services as well. Let me know if this is within your capacity and then we can discuss further. I believe you now know everything there is to know, So I will wait to hear back from you on how best to proceed. Please reach me directly at mcctwright@outlook.com. Thank You
--
I thought the use of "will" was a little odd, but I realize English isn't everyone's native language. Referring to March during a pandemic as a "festive season" did seem really weird, but I figured I'd send an initial quote and a hosting price sheet and see what happened.
--
My reply:
Good afternoon Michael, I did have a good weekend. Thank you for asking.
I appreciate the detailed project requirements you provided. I'll send you an initial quote tomorrow with three different price brackets, applicable timelines for each bracket, and an explanation of what the trade-offs between each price bracket are. The quote will be for a flat project rate.
Your deadline of the end of July this year is very doable, and I would be ready to start as soon as we agree on pricing and project scope.
Yes, I do offer hosting services at a number of different price tiers. I'll send a pricing sheet with the different options along with the initial quote. I don't offer domain registrar services at this time however, I can help you find a registrar that best suits your needs and budget.
Feel free to text or call me at (971) 220 - 5491, or email at camille@camillespain.com.
--
Something happened to the other email I sent that had the attached quote and price sheet. Then he sent this.
--
His reply:
I still haven't received the proposal. Please send the price sheet over asap and then we can go from there. Thank you
--
My reply:
I sent it again. Let me know if you don't get it, or if there are any issues with the attachment. Thank you.
--
At this point I started thinking this may very well be a scam. Normally with Craigslist ads you have trouble getting the time of day from posters who don't include a phone number, much less them following up when they haven't received a quote.
--
His reply:
$4200 is comfortably within my budget for the web project and I will like us to proceed asap. I just realized that a previous contractor who bid for this contract went ahead and purchased my desired domain name being CLGsolutions.com, as a bid to force my hand into dealing with him. How callous can some people be. So I will like us to proceed with a staging server instead until I can think of a different domain name.
Also, I zipped the contents for the website, here is the link to download it *google drive link was here* view so let me know when you get it.
I have funds at SquareTrade Inc, and can authorize them to mail a down payment to you as soon as Monday to get started since I am currently traveling for work. From what I know, they'll simply write you a check, so if that's fine, then we can continue
--
* I don't know who the photos actually belong to, so the Drive link is redacted.
Not only did he choose a more expensive option than I expected, but he wanted to pay right away. Without any mention of a contract. Without providing a phone number. And he wanted to pay with a check from an escrow service. I don't even list checks as an accepted form of payment on my website, which one would think he would've reviewed carefully before wanting to plunk down $4k. Furthermore, he sent a neatly organized zip file of the website contents with the text portions in .txt format.
You might laugh at that last line, but if you've ever dealt with getting website content from small business clients you know what I'm talking about. An xkcd comic strip about .norm file format comes to mind. If it seems too good to be true...
At this point I strongly suspected a scam, so I started googling. I searched for the text content from the very organized zip file and found more than one result for unfinished sites with the same text content I'd been sent. One of the sites had the number (203) 539-0334 on the contact page. I googled the number and found this forum post, where I recognized a lot of the same phrases, sentences and the odd use of "will" from other people's posts.
