# Probably a scam....



## Cinka (Feb 3, 2012)

Got an inquiry this afternoon from "Kelly Brown". Because I tend to get a lot of scam inquiries (not sure why), I'm in the habit of looking them all up before I respond. 




> Hi! I'm Kelly Brown. We will be needing some one ASAP to take up the photography aspect of our wedding occasion scheduled for next month , 03.10.2012 starting from 10;00 AM - 04;00 PM . So what I am asking is -;
> 
> A package which includes six hours of shooting time plus a 20 page custom designed album .
> 
> ...



...This doesn't look like a scam, but the address listed at the bottom (kellybrown1977@gmail.com) is not the address it came from. That is: brown1231910@hotmail.com and leads to "personal assistant" fraud listings on Craigslist. These things bum me out . I also can't figure out what the angle is. Any one have any thoughts? 

I went ahead and responded very briefly on the chance its legit, but I'm afraid I've had more scammers emailing me lately than legit brides.


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## TMBPhotography (Feb 3, 2012)

could be a newbie trying to get an idea of what to charge. Going this route gets them their answer verses them just cold calling and saying "hey, I am in the same business as you, what do you charge so I can figure out my prices?"


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## Rephargotohp (Feb 3, 2012)

"to take up the photography aspect of our wedding "

Who the F talks like that?

Here is how the scams work, You say it's $2000. They mail you a check for $3,000...Ooops we made a mistake, send me a check for $1,000 back or bank wire or paypal or whatever. You in good faith do. a week later. Bank calls says Check is no good you got. You loose


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## The_Traveler (Feb 3, 2012)

Scam
seen this exact thing in another place.
why not play it out and find out the address they want the check sent to?


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## karobean (Feb 3, 2012)

Hi Cinka,

I got the same thing and I'm in Guelph, Ontario. I also got another with the exact same heading but a different wedding date and name. Totally a scam!


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## phototao (Feb 5, 2012)

I got "hired" for Kelly Brown's wedding too, but something didn't sound right from the very beginning. Thank you for posting this. I wonder how many photographers "Kelly" is hiring.


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## BlairWright (Feb 5, 2012)

TMBPhotography said:


> could be a newbie trying to get an idea of what to charge. Going this route gets them their answer verses them just cold calling and saying "hey, I am in the same business as you, what do you charge so I can figure out my prices?"



Agreed, I will bet this is a local photographer doing some "market research" . Way too specific to be a client. The reason I am thinking this is because they are asking for digital copies but still want to order a book, that does not make sense.


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## BlairWright (Feb 5, 2012)

Appears to be a known scammer - I would like to know where to report a gmail address that is sending out scam/fraud mail? I reported it to spam@uce.gov, - Gmail Help


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## Chris R (Feb 6, 2012)

BlairWright said:


> Appears to be a known scammer - I would like to know where to report a gmail address that is sending out scam/fraud mail? I reported it to spam@uce.gov, - Gmail Help



This.

Any time you get an email from an unknown sender you should Google the email address and 8/10 times you can determine if it's a scammer or not.


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## KmH (Feb 6, 2012)

Pretty much just like last scam you posted about:

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/beyond-basics/240051-scam.html


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## uduxdigi (Feb 8, 2012)

These kind of scams are too old on the book and yet they still pursue just to fool anybody.


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## shaw (Feb 8, 2012)

I received this same email but a different date and have been corresponding with her for a couple of days now. Don't want to sound dumb but it never crossed my mine that it was a scam until today and did some digging.  So did anyone ever find out if this is really a scam? I was excited about the job and I do get emails wanting quotes for weddings all the time and have landed the jobs. Feeling at little pi**ed off now! Any info would be appreciated!!!


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## 2WheelPhoto (Feb 8, 2012)

Send money in advance and they'll throw in a free Nigerian parrot.


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## snowbear (Feb 8, 2012)

Tell dear miss Kelly that you need a non-refundable (unusually large) deposit.


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## antawnmason (Feb 9, 2012)

...most probably, just be careful mate!


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## chriskaasi (Feb 9, 2012)

Rephargotohp said:


> "to take up the photography aspect of our wedding "Who the F talks like that?Here is how the scams work, You say it's $2000. They mail you a check for $3,000...Ooops we made a mistake, send me a check for $1,000 back or bank wire or paypal or whatever. You in good faith do. a week later. Bank calls says Check is no good you got. You loose


I got the exact same email here in Florida. My Kelly Brown is getting married on the 25th. Everything has been going along normally until today when she sent me an email saying she accidentally made the check out in a higher amount and she needs me to wire the difference of the money via Western Union to the wedding planner for booking the hall. Oh, plus she and her husband to be are currently out of the country right now - *before* the wedding.  Sigh...


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## naptime (Feb 9, 2012)

you will get these in just about any line of work.


when i had my pizza shop, i would get emails that someone wanted to pay for a pizza party for a nephew in the united states. but the person paying lived in england or india or israel, etc...

but they really wanted to pay for a pizza party.

the offer...  they would mail me a check for the party, and i could then make the pizza's and deliver.

having worked for IBM in the past, i'm just used to these "Nigerian money scams"

so, i would play along, and of course, check would arrive for the pizza party, but of course, they "accidentally" added 1 or 2 extra zero's to the check. so if i would just go ahead and cash it, and wire transfer the balance back to them they would appreciate it. they would even be generous enough to offer me an extra 50 for my troubles, and a 50 tip for my driver.

i never deposit the checks, and of course never actually make the pizza. and oddly enough, no one ever called to complain about not getting their pizza party. :er:


when i was selling restaurant equipment. we had someone buy a commercial 6 door cooler from us on our website. they preferred to pay by check.

they mailed the check for the 6 thousand dollar cooler....

but, oops... accidentally made the check out for 6 thousand too much.

if i would be so kind as to cash and wire over the balance, i could feel free to keep an extra 1000 for my troubles.


now, with my screen printing shop.. i still get them.

just last week..

a soccer team in india is in desperate need of uniforms for the children on the team. but they live in a very poor part of india. if i would be so willing as to print the uniforms, and mail them to india, this third party person with lots of money and a heart of gold, will pay for everything.

he will pay for the uniforms, the shipping, my print service, the whole 9 yards.

but, he does not believe in credit cards because there are people that are trying to kill his family, as they are royals. 

so, he will send me a certified bank check for the invoice.

and, if i would be willing, he would like to also send five thousand to the soccer team for repairs to the stadium. so to save time, he will send me a check for everything, if i would just cash it, and send the extra five grand along with the shirts. 

he of course will include an extra thousand for my troubles.


i ALWAYS tell them yes!!!

i want them to waste their time, i want them to waste their money on stamps and envelopes. i want them going back and forth looking for the product or the money.


sometimes just for fun, i will go to great lengths emailing back and forth with them. assuring them that everything went smooth, it's on it's way, etc... with my fed ex account, i can pay for shipping, but if i never ship it, i can void the label and get a refund.

so, i will sometimes do that, just to give them a tracking number and get them even more excited.

i once mailed a box with an empty envelope. just for a little more joy.




the sad thing is...... they have been doing this since the advent of computers.

with all the people that KNOW it's a scam... there are so many without a clue.

the scammers keep doing it, sadly, because there are people fall for it.


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## Tony S (Feb 10, 2012)

Crap... I thought I missed out on that shoot last year when I didn't respond to the email.  Must be holding off on the wedding until they find a photographer.


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## jenschmidtphoto (Feb 16, 2012)

I received the same email, word for word, from Elizabeth Brown for her wedding in New York, NY on 4/21/2012. This is ridiculous. I have never received a wedding inquiry spam and didn't realize people do that. I've been corresponding too, so please let me know what you find out as far as what the scam is! I went online searching to see if I could find out more about this mysterious person and found this thread. So disappointing, and a little freaky as she asked for my address to send the check to (no P.O. Boxes please)...that was when I thought something might be up. Is this an identity theft thing or a money transfer thing??

I also found these links:

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/gmail/thread?tid=7d8d82b556b4d0ff&hl=en

ModelMayhem.com - my first scam lol


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## vtf (Feb 16, 2012)

I didn't receive this one, but just recently I had a chance to be placed in charge of a million dollar trust held up in banks on the African continent. All I had to do was send a $5000 check to show good faith.
I'm now waiting to be a millionaire. :lmao:


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## lizdavisphoto (Feb 18, 2012)

I had a funny about the email I just received (see below), so I googled the email address. Sure enough! This is the second time I've gotten one of these things. The first time was from the "father of a bride" who was also a "reverend missionary" who "lived in New York". Uh huh. He (or she) went as far as to send me a check. When I received it, bing! It was for about $2000 more than I was asking. And it was a real check. I spoke to my bank and they made copies and filed a report on it, but beware, they said that if I had cashed it, I would have been in trouble too! 

And you're right, who the F says "to take up the photography aspect of our wedding"?? Moron. 


Hi! I'm Elizabeth Brown. We will be needing some one ASAP to take up the photography aspect of our wedding occasion scheduled for 05.19.2012 in FLORIDA starting from 10;00 AM - 04;00 PM . So what I am asking is -;


A package which includes six hours of shooting time plus a 20 page custom designed album .


THIS PACKAGE INCLUDES:


* 6 hours of photography; Mix of color and black and white, creative effects.

* 250+ professionally processed wedding photos, in print and on CD or USB

* 20 page custom wedding album - all prints on archival quality .


Album in top quality, elegant and built to last a lifetime for the memory of our kids and families.


* 11x14 Portrait Print - We'll choose any image from the wedding photos .


So some questions I have are ;-



- What is your base price fee for what I am asking? Is that negotiable?

- Your availability/ schedule for the 19TH of MAY? You available?

- Do you have on your package list that has something that is close to my request? If not, just email me your package list to chose from.

- Are you willing to travel ? considering both the lodging and the travels will be taken care of. Please email back confirming your availability. Thank you


Elizabeth.
brown14110@gmail.com


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## CMfromIL (Feb 20, 2012)

Check out 419eater.com if you want to get wise about money scams on the internet.  scamwarners.com is another site with great information about how they work and what NOT to do when you get these emails.


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## CCericola (Feb 20, 2012)

vtf said:
			
		

> I didn't receive this one, but just recently I had a chance to be placed in charge of a million dollar trust held up in banks on the African continent. All I had to do was send a $5000 check to show good faith.
> I'm now waiting to be a millionaire. :lmao:



You don't happen to be related to the Nigerian prince as well are you?! My goodness we must be cousins too!!!! 

Sent from my iPad using PhotoForum


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## MDStudios_Photograph (Feb 22, 2012)

Hi! I'm Kelly Brown. We will be needing some one ASAP to take up the photography aspect of our wedding occasion scheduled for 04.21.2012 starting from 10;00 AM - 06;00 PM . So what I am asking is -;



A package which includes six hours of shooting time plus a 20 page custom designed album .


THIS PACKAGE INCLUDES:


* 6 hours of photography; Mix of color and black and white, creative effects.

* 250+ professionally processed wedding photos, in print and on copyright-free CD OR USB.

* 20 page custom wedding album - all prints on archival quality .


Album in top quality, elegant and built to last a lifetime for the memory of our kids and families.


* 11x14 Portrait Print - We'll choose any image from the wedding photos .


So some questions I have are ;-



- What is your base price fee for what I am asking? Is that negotiable?

- Your availability/ schedule for the 21st of April? You available?

- Are you willing to travel ? considering both the lodging and the travels will be taken care of. Please email back confirming your availability. Thank you


Kelly.
brown14110@gmail.com


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