Another scam scheme

[MichaelEzra]

FYI, be aware of this pattern - another confirmed scam scheme with elaborate job posting.
All seems well, except - they require disbursement of fees to talent, contact email does not match the real person under that name.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSpNUAPOivo6povbluzhMpOEcMW9JE8muBXtPbyPHn1dcCiYqama9J8fj1RdRsSxJezBffCsZzyT42e/pub

JOB TITLE: VIDEOGRAPHER FOR INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS FOR ALLURE
JOB TYPE: CONTRACT
COMPENSATION: $5000
 
Allure Magazine is an online magazine dedicated to everything hair. On hair.com, you can find every information about hair on one platform. We're looking for videographers who can produce and replicate videos similar to the samples below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8Quj_uF2EY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6GCrE9OhHA
 
CONCEPT OF THE JOB:
You will work as a videographer and editor, as well as direct and coordinate the talents team consisting of 4 models and 1 stylists.
The stylist will be doing a DIY hairstyle or hair treatment on the models while promoting products from our sponsors. It will be interactive and you will be responsible for directing, coordinating, planning the shoot, and disbursing fees.
 
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
Shoot and produce 4 products instructional videos (4 videos)
Assist with planning of shoots, coordination, and handling fees
Handle the video shoots, filming, lighting, sound etc
Execute video concepts
Organize and structure the videography on shoot day
 
DELIVERABLES:
Deliver 4 videos (4-5 minutes, edited, cut, picture enhanced, color correction, 1080p, No graphics, and No Music)
Delivery deadline: June 10th, 2019
Final videos to be delivered electronically via Google Drive or Dropbox.
REQUIREMENTS:
Experience shooting with HD cameras
Knowledge of lighting for film
Works well with on camera talents/artists
 
BUDGET:
Videographers: $5,000 (This includes equipment and studio rental fee)
Models and Stylists: $7,300
Total budget: $12,300
To apply, send your demo reel to: write.brennank@protonmail.com
   
Brennan Kilbane
315-889-8078
Editorial Producer (www.allure.com)





Their letter:

From: Brennan Kilbane [mailto:write.brennank@protonmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2019 6:02 PM
To: Michael Ezra
Subject: Re: VIDEOGRAPHER FOR INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS FOR ALLURE
 
Hello Michael,
Thanks for responding to our job post and the interest to work with us on this project; your work are vast and beautiful.  This is a one-time gig and it's a day shoot (.5-6 hours)
 
You will shoot and produce 4 videos; each raw clip should be between 45mins to 1 hour while the edited/cut copies should be 4-5mins each. The concept is to have the hair stylist do a quick-fix on the models (one at a time) while you film. Also, you’ll coordinate and plan the video session, as well as disbursing fees.
 
The videos will be interactive and stylist will do most of the talking which includes introducing products, the talents, and explaining the styling procedures. Also, you will record the stylist audio elements as she explains the procedures.
 
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
 
Regards
Brennan Kilbane
315-889-8078
Senior Writer & Editor (www.allure.com)

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

What’s the scam part? There is a separate budget for “talent” and the email matches his real name?

[MichaelEzra]

The job request is impersonating someone else with a publicly viewable professional profile and request to disburse payments.
The issue is that they provide the talent and what photographer to pay them.
I was able to find that person on allure, get to his personal website, find his email and replied there. He confirmed that someone was using his name.

[fdisilvestro]

The first red flag is the email used in the job posting. It should have had an allure.com domain

[MichaelEzra]

That's right. That was the first thing that prompted me to dig further.

[TonyVentourisPhotography]

Disbursement to talent is common.  Often a photographer can bill expenses and logistics up front in order to cover set expenses like talent, catering, etc...  Fairly common to be the orchestrator of a lot of details on a shoot.  The email stuff is definitely shady.   I am generally cautious of any job where I can’t meet, or at least speak with people over the phone, and be able to get back to them independently of them reaching out to me.

[D Fuller]

Disbursement to talent is common. Often a photographer can bill expenses and logistics up front in order to cover set expenses like talent, catering, etc...  Fairly common to be the orchestrator of a lot of details on a shoot.  The email stuff is definitely shady.   I am generally cautious of any job where I can’t meet, or at least speak with people over the phone, and be able to get back to them independently of them reaching out to me.

While this is true, in the commercial video world, it is also common to be paid 50% upon acceptance of proposal and an additional 25% prior to the shoot date. The object being to ensure that payment for all out-of-pocket expenses are in hand before they are expended. (This is the standard payment language from the AICP contract.)

The scam comes when they ask you if they can pay by credit card, then dispute the charge after you’ve paid the “talent.” The way I avoid this scam is to refuse to take credit cards in payment. If they send me a check for the deposit payments, I’m all in. So far, none of these “offers” has done that.

[JoeKitchen]

While this is true, in the commercial video world, it is also common to be paid 50% upon acceptance of proposal and an additional 25% prior to the shoot date. The object being to ensure that payment for all out-of-pocket expenses are in hand before they are expended. (This is the standard payment language from the AICP contract.)

The scam comes when they ask you if they can pay by credit card, then dispute the charge after you’ve paid the “talent.” The way I avoid this scam is to refuse to take credit cards in payment. If they send me a check for the deposit payments, I’m all in. So far, none of these “offers” has done that.

I would be wary of checks too; technically they can still take two weeks to fully clear.  You may deposit the check, do the shoot, only to find out later it was a bad check.  I had this happen with a dead beat client who owed me around $6K once.  The check initially cleared only to bounce about 2 weeks later.  I was pissed to say the least, but did eventually get paid in the end, after threatening to sell the contract out to a collection agencies. 

Insofar as paying for the shoot expense, I have found this is very common so long as you are supplying the models, stylist, props, locations, producer, etc.  However, whenever the firm is supplying those for you, they pay directly, always.  If they have already went through the trouble of contacting the agencies to source the models they want, it is only natural for them to pay the agency directly.  It does not make sense to forward the bill to the photographer, especially since the photographer (in this situation) would have had very little to no interaction with the agency.

[MichaelEzra]

However, whenever the firm is supplying those for you, they pay directly, always.

Yep, that is what I expected. The fact that they referred to the stylist as specifically "she" was an alarm, as they clearly had their talent lined up to receive the payment from the photographer.

[ZoeSanderson]

Of course, a bunch of people now use services that provide disposable emails. I had to use such services myself many times when I was registering accounts in the App Store and PlayMarket. The idea is that you are given a disposable email, which cannot be tracked. And with it you can register anywhere and use it as a fake name, or if all your mail is busy use it as a backup. I recommend you check site new dark news , there is detailed written for all related to this.