scam on craiglist?

[Victor Nguyen]

I'm nearly out of high school and want to pursue videography. I recently got a gig but it seems fishy, here have a look and tell me what you think.

MONA FILM PRODUCTION CONTRACT

Dear Applicant,
· We will be coming to your area for a shoot (June 2nd - 6th 2012) for a motion picture production.

· We are not to disclose the script or more details concerning the shoot until when we believe it is safe to do so, this is due to piracy, if you are not comfortable working with us this way pls do not bother to respond to this email message.

· You agree to be available to work during the filming period (“the Shoot”) from (June 2nd - 6th 2012).

· You agree to give over any rights you may have in the finished film to Mona films. This will allow us to distribute the film in any and every way we can.

· We will aim to ensure that working days are not longer than 10 hours.

· We will do our best to ensure your health, safety and welfare during the shoot.

· We will have public liability insurance to cover you during the shoot.

· We will provide you with food and refreshments throughout the shoot. We will liaise with you over your travel arrangements to and from the sand either provides transport or pay travel expenses which we need to agree in advance.

· We will need you to be there in person and be really ready to work.

HERE IS OUR CONTRACT OFFER:
- Salary ($300 per day)
- Free Accommodation,
- Transportation allowance.

Interested applicants guarantee that:
1. To be available for the shoot between June 2nd - 6th 2012.
2. To participate in a total HOURS of Work and/or technical assistance, otherwise stated prior to the shoot.
3. To be loyal and be ready to work on set with the crew.
We will send your payment for the first day and Transportation allowance to the location immediately you accept the offer. The Location will be disclosed as soon as we finalize all necessary procedure.
Only interested applicants should pls reply to this message, we have limited vacancy for this job as there are a lot of talents around.

IMPORTANT: Sponsor for this production has agreed to send out payment prior the shoot date so as to facilitate workers to be versatile and be ready for the job. Shoot starts June 2nd - 6th 2012.

I am putting to your notice that the payment is ready. The Sponsor will send you an overpayment (For example if they send $1500, you will deduct $350 and send the remaining balance to an address we will provide). This payment will cover your first day of work ($300) and transportation allowance ($50).

The remaining funds will be used for the necessary payment required to make the shoot/production a success, secure the location, costume, and rights which will be paid by the Production supervisor.

we have decided to USE THIS MEANS BECAUSE the Production supervisor travels around a lot and it’s hard for him to receive payment cause of his unstable location and that was why we have decided to add his fee to your payment so that you can send it to him as soon as you have your own payment (PLEASE TAKE NOTE).

NOTE: We are a new Production company, we are working on our website and a lot of other things...We have dreams and aspire to hit Hollywood big time!!! But life is a hurdle, we are taking one step at a time, we hope you are ready to achieve and live the Hollywood dream with us.
If you accept this offer, send in the following information:

Full names:
Full Address (No P. O. Box):
City and state:
Zip code:
Phone number:
Post you are interested in:

I reply and here's the latest email. She also sent me a check of 1850

Hi ,

How are you doing today? Sorry for the delay in correspondence, it is due to our sponsors. Pls, payment have been mailed out and to your residential address via USPS courier Services.

USPS TRACKING NUMBER: 420 77089 9405 5036 9930 0008 7282 26

IT WILL BE DELIVERED TO YOU TODAY OR TOMORROW BUT PLEASE STAY AT HOME TO SIGN FOR THE

USPS PACKAGE. I will like to inform you that, enclosed in the package you will find a payment worth the total sum of $1850

from the sponsor, As soon as the payment is delivered you can proceed with the below INSTRUCTIONS.

Here is how to go about the transaction, the financial officer has given strict instructions that as soon as you get this payment, you will proceed to your bank and have it credited into your bank account and as soon as that is done, have your part payment deducted $350(First day payment and transportation allowance) while you have what is left over withdrawn out in cash, proceed to the Western union store and have the funds wired to the Project supervisor's information below so that he can book a studio, make all necessary payments and get his crew moved down to your city for the shooting.

Below is the supervisor’s information where you will wire the rest of the funds to after making your deduction

Name : Debra Marshall
Address: 317 Wards Rd
City : Lynchburg
State : Virginia
Zip: 24504

There is always a Western union charge associated to this wire Service (money in minutes),have the charges deducted from the Supervisors funds (left over) and have what is left over wired to the supervisor's information and as soon as that is done, get back to me with the Western union transaction details such as senders full name and address, MTCN #( 10 digit pin),EXACT AMOUNT SENT in the following forms

REQUESTED DETAILS AFTER SENDING:
Senders name,
Senders address,
MTCN (10 digit #).
Exact amount sent.
Amount used for Western union charges.

As soon as i get this details i will pass it onto the supervisor so that he can give you a call as soon as he picks up the funds and disclose the location for shooting to you. I hope you understand this, Please get back to me as you get this e-mail letter, letting me know you understand quite well on how to go about this transaction. I will be waiting on to hear back from you as soon as possible with the Western union details also.

Please take note that we don't have much time..

So make sure everything is completed today earliest, so that we can proceed.As you know production starts in your area very soon...Location shall be disclosed asap.

I look forward in meeting you soon. we expect you to turn up with the Western union details today, so make sure the

payment is cashed out from your bank.

Thanks
Management

[Chris Medico]

Yep. Common scam. You will find out later that the check was worthless and you sent your own hard earned money to scammers.

[Bill Koehler]

Do not touch with a ten foot pole or anything else.

They are relying on the speed of the scam to leave you holding the bag and they get the cash.

[Ken Plotin]

Classic copy of the infamous "Nigerian banker" scam from a few years back.
Your instincts are correct. Real jobs, even micro budget ones, don't hide behind stuff like this.
Chris is right...once they have your cash, you'll never hear from them again.
Better to work on small projects for free to hone your skills (we've all been there), and build your reel and relationships that way.
Hope this helps.
Ken

[Victor Nguyen]

what the heck? I complain to the FTC and they barely care

[Dave Blackhurst]

The FTC relies on people being smart enough not to fall for these scams... Depending on your location, you might try local law enforcement, if it's a slow day or they have a cybercrimes unit, they might at least take a report, but since you figured out the crime, before you became a victim, it's not a high priority "crime".

There is a federal site for reporting cybercrime (ic3.gov). ALSO, since they are using USPS, this is MAIL FRAUD, and you might report there as well, but with the USPS struggling to keep the doors open, don't expect a lot there either...

The "receiver" of the WU payment probalby either doesn't exist, or is completely unaware of their identity being used as part of a scam. IF they were actually part of the scam, they're dumb as dirt... but stupid criminals do exist, so may be worth reporting. There is a chance that they have added another layer to the typical "triangulation" scam, and they have recruited another "sucker" who they promise a "cut" for getting and resending the scam payments... and that is the "supervisor".




These sorts of criminal enterprises rely on the "mark" being greedy/desperate/inexperienced, and not smart enough to figure out that when you send $$ via WU, it's GONE, and that the legit looking check will bounce as high as a superball... AFTER you withdrew the cash, so now that negative balance is ON YOU!

There was a ring operating out of Canada a few years ago, they got busted, did some time, and within days after they got out of prison, they were already back doing the same crime, sending out legit looking checks, with similar instructions to the ones you've gotten... got one myself (unsolicited, poorly disguised as a "secret shopper" opportunity), was able to trace the original articles about the bust/conviction, and figure out the crooks took no time to go right back into "business"...

In this case, the poor Engrish skills indicate this is probably someone overseas, and not a native English speaker, and it's typically just believeable enough that no doubt some will fall for it. But if you look at it, you have to ask yourself who would do business in such a haphazard way??



Scams are out there, and if it's "too good to be true", it most likely is. Predators play on the hopes and dreams of the "mark", hoping to steal their money or whatever, and that they will be so embarrased they got taken, that they won't even report it...

[Don Bloom]

It's not that the FTC doesn't care they are simply overwhelmed with complaints and have to wrok where they can do the most good. Meaning they go after the biggest fish they can. Your single complaint about a scam that has been around from the beginning of time isn't high on their list. Good common sense is the best defense againt scammers like this.
Be careful out there, the water is full of sharks looking for dinner.