So it seems I might have a client.

The other day I recieved an email from a potential client. When I asked where they were getting married they told

me in Arizona. I live in Florida. so i was a little shocked. I'm a beginner and I placed an ad on craige's list

for Florida. I am just wondering if it sounds legit. I def. would love to go to Arizona. Also I wanted to know

about how to charge for sales tax. Would I be charging for Arizona or Florida. And my contract would that hold up

in Arizona?

 

This is the email I received

 

Thank you for your response.The wedding will take place at downtown Scottsdale, Arizona hotel Hall, AZ. It is a

small ceremony but very important to us.The wedding will commence by 11:00AM and my invited guest are just 150.We

will reimburse your traveling expenses and this are our requirement below.

 

Please let us know if you are interested as soon as possible as we are looking for a good photographer and we are

of course, running out of time.We will like to require your services for 6 to 8 hours on this day and will need

an estimate on the cost for the following photos:

 

1 CD with all Our photos been edited, High Resolution (100-400 Images)

1 8X10

1 DVD Slide show, 50 photos

1 8x10 Deluxe Leather Album (20 pgs)

1 5x7 Deluxe Leather Album (20 pgs)

 

 

 

And I would like one panoramic shot of the entire wedding party including both families and the attendants,

images size 19" x 7.5" (457mm x165mm) 30 10x8 prints in album.

 

 

 

Please let us know the cost as soon as possible and also note that payment will be coming in form of a Company

check, becuse my firm accountant company will be handling the monetary aspect so they will be the one to issue a

verifiied company check out to you and i think this is safe and secured,as this is what i have access to for now

and we will like you to know that for now me we are out of AZ we went to CA for a consignment and will be back

shortly please note that all Contract will be filled as soon as we are back to AZ..Looking forward to hear from

you soonest.

______________________________________________

 

Thats abot the gist of it... please let me know if I'm crazy or not? Or if I have something to worry about it

thanks !

 

Kim

Poor English, totally unlikely circumstances, it's a scam. At some point you'll be asked to shell out some money -- they'll probably send you a check (bogus) for too much and ask you to forward the balance (in the form of your check) to a third party. I don't mean to be unkind, but how can you even consider that something this blatant could be legit?

I think it is a scam by the wording and payment info.

 

Elaine (in Arizona)

All money up front including air fare and hotel. Checks deposited and cleared at least several weeks before the date.

Kim - I would bet a shiny 35mm 1.4 L lens that this is a scam. No one tells you what album they want - they ask you what albums you offer. No company checks. They are obviously too ready to do business to be real.

What will happen is they will **accidentally** send you a company check in an amount far greater than your proposed service fee, and then..."Oops! That was an accounting error! Please cash the check and wire the balance back to us in some other country." The check will bounce a few days later and you'll be out some dough.

This could be legit, if you are are a world renowned photographer and the client is a Hollywood celebrity. They need the best photographer in the world for their ceremony. Just tell the couple to send their private plane to pick you up from Florida. Do not buy airplane ticket in advance. Good luck. Sandy Labana

Kimberley, sorry to say, this sounds just like the letter I received. I still have the two checks that were sent. Of course one of them was accidentally sent to me and they asked me to cash it and send the amount of the second check to a wedding planner in another state. I knew at that point that this was a scam. However, when I initially received the email, it sounded pretty good and I was ready to shoot. Now, the wedding was only 70 miles away, so it was more believable then hiring a photographer from craige's list and paying a large amount of money to fly them across the country and expect them to product such a large amount of products. This laundry list of products is so that they can send you a larger check.

 

Oh by the way, there have been arrest in this scam. Most of the scammers are from Nigeria.

 

Are you crazy, only if you fall for the scam after the warning from the good folks here at Photonet.

Definitely a scam. I've gotten a couple of the same. Tell him that you charge $1,000,000 just for fun. IF he sends the check, frame it an keep it as a nice souvenir.

Hi Kimberly,

<br>

<br>

This is most definitely a scam, you can tell particularly by the grammar, and there always seems to be some elaborate story attatched to the wedding day. Give yourself a little time and you will start receiving emails like this frequently.

<br>

Do not reply to the email, these emails are sent out in bulk format and replies only let the scammers know that they have a "live" email, info which they can then sell on.

Always look at the wording for scams. They are clearly getting more specific and more clever. The language is

better but not quite there yet.

 

These are the red flags for me and absolutely without question this is a scam:

 

 

 

"The wedding will commence"

 

"and this are our requirement below"

 

"We will like to require your services"

 

"handling the monetary aspect"

 

"verifiied company check"

 

" think this is safe and secured"

 

"we will like you to know that for now me we are out of AZ"

 

"please note that all Contract will be filled as"

 

"Looking forward to hear from you soonest"

Sounds like a scam to me too.

It is a scam - sorry.

 

Sandy - it isn't a scam because couples want to fly you across the country, that happens all the the time. This

year we have weddings in Las Vegas, Houston, Vermont, Key West, and New Zealand. None of them are celebrities....

I like Manuel's idea!

I'm disappointed that any of you would doubt an email written in such perfect Nigerian!

That was one heck of a request. Even had the panoramas down to inches. If it was a legit bride, she would be a bridezilla anyways... Whats funny to me is people actually get duped by this garbage.

Thanks guy! I love you all...

btw Manuel your idea is fantastic!

 

i appreciate and love all your support!!!

Hi Kimberly...It's a scam...I receive them all the time. You can usually tell by the way it's worded. Mine usually offer travel expense and it is exciting to think about traveling but I read a story just recently a guy hired a photographer.. sent a cashier check and sent to much...requested extra back....the moral to this story is the photographer ended up in a big mess and was 8000.00 in debt. The cashiers check was fake . Beware!