[Hidden-tech] SCAM: "Web designer needed"

Tue Jun 9 14:28:02 UTC 2020

CASE IN POINT:::::::::::  Email I just got.  Be careful people they latch
on to everything.

Hello
Good day..
My name is Mr Gerald Crawford with the gerald cooperatives Inc And i am
sending this email to your business in regards to the order for some Flyers
with the following specs.

1. measures 8.5 x 11
2. 80# Gloss Text or 100# Gloss Text
3. One sided
4. Full copies Black Ink on White
5. Flat flyer’s l want you to write off the flyer’s ( HELP STOP RACISM )
For the Artwork.
6. No Bleed

And Please provide a quote on 80,000 copies and please send me an email
reply back with the Estimate price of that plus tax without shipping
.Advise me the method of payment you accept.I will be Looking forward to
hearing back from you so that we can proceed with the Order .

————————————————-
Urgently waiting to hear from you soon.
Thank you.
Best Regards
Gerald Crawford .

*Paul Stallman,*  Owner, Creative Director and Web Guru

(413) 364-6147 | paul at alias-solutions.com

*alias*|solutions
GRAPHIC DESIGN | WEB DESIGN | FULL COLOR PRINTING | LARGE FORMAT PRINTING
www.alias-solutions.com
<http://www.alias-solutions.com/>

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06/09/20,
10:27:18 AM

On Mon, Jun 8, 2020 at 10:47 PM Paul Stallman <aliassolutions at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I get hit with this scam almost weekly.  Or a variation.  It's either a
> logo design, or some printing, or designing a catalog, or a website for a
> farming operation.  It's all the same, take a credit card and they get you
> to write a check to someone.  It's the same as computer/IT people (and I've
> known multiple) get caught in the scam of ordering computers and shipping
> them to a person/business and the card is fraudulent.  That's happened to
> at least 3 IT businesses I've worked with.
>
> I also know a guy that sent $5000 to someone from this website scam.  Some
> of them are very convincing.
>
> For one, I almost never get a new business inquiry (real inquiry) via
> text.  Who would start that way.  "I don't know you or know this number I'm
> texting for your business is a cell phone, but I'll try texting to hire
> you."  Every once in a while I get suckered for a little bit if the person
> is good at dragging the con on for a while.  Because I never want to answer
> rudely to a possible real new client.
>
> Since the scam now is credit card based, I lead a lot with "we don't take
> credit cards". But we do of course, but that usually gets them to go away.
> Although I had one try to convince me to sign up with a company to take
> credit cards, just so I could work with him.  :). That one I led on for
> days and played with.
>
>
>
> *Paul Stallman,*  Owner, Creative Director and Web Guru
>
> (413) 364-6147 | paul at alias-solutions.com
>
> *alias*|solutions
> GRAPHIC DESIGN | WEB DESIGN | FULL COLOR PRINTING | LARGE FORMAT PRINTING
> www.alias-solutions.com
> <http://www.alias-solutions.com/>
>
>
>
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> <https://mailtrack.io?utm_source=gmail&utm_medium=signature&utm_campaign=signaturevirality5&> 06/08/20,
> 10:39:55 PM
>
> On Sun, Jun 7, 2020 at 7:56 AM B. Kimo Lee via Hidden-discuss <
> hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net> wrote:
>
>> Hi Lisa,
>>
>> And thanks to you for sharing this, too! I’m not sure, but if its a scam
>> it might be that the guy has setup a fake Quickbooks site and could be
>> phishing for your login info, somewhere down the line. One plus is that he
>> hasn’t “yet” asked for a payment to some other individual.
>>
>> I seem to recall that the scam I mentioned below involved a 2-day period
>> while the banks process transactions during which the scammer can cancel
>> things, or somehow get the money and run, or something like that. I googled
>> "quickbooks web design scam” and got some interesting results.
>>
>> You can also send the email to spoof at quickbooks.com and see what they
>> say.
>>
>> Good to be aware of what scammers are doing. It’s such a wild west out
>> there.
>>
>> Best,
>> Kimo
>>
>>
>> On Jun 6, 2020, at 9:09 AM, Lisa Rosenthal <lrosedesign at comcast.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Kimo,
>>
>> Yes I think this was a similar scam, some of the English seemed off as
>> well. The only difference seems to be a payment or over payment through
>> Quickbooks.
>>
>> Thanks for sharing your blog post.
>>
>> Lisa
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Jun 6, 2020, at 6:36 AM, B. Kimo Lee <bklee at azurelink.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Lisa,
>>
>> A scam I’ve run into is that the scammer offers to overpay you via credit
>> card (stolen) and wants you to send a check to a “project consultant” for
>> the amount of the overpayment. As described by Mik. If you process the cc
>> payment, you become an accomplice. That scam also involved the “client”
>> being “hearing impaired”. Here’s my blog post about it:
>> http://azurelink.com/tech-news/item/23-hearing-impaired-buyer-credit-card-scam
>>
>> Probably not worth your time, but you could set up an account at a
>> freelancer site like Upwork and ask them to assign the job through the
>> Upwork system. That way payment is guaranteed. The mere suggestion of that
>> and they’ll probably disappear. LoL!
>>
>> Best,
>> Kimo
>>
>>
>> AZURELINK  ::  “Creative Design Technologies"
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Web Site Design & Scalable, Managed Web Hosting
>> Joomla! Content Management System Implementation
>> eCommerce Development
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 249 Wallace Hill Rd
>> Townsend, MA 01469
>> (413) 204-1763
>> For more information, please visit: www.azurelink.com
>> Follow Azurelink on Twitter: http://twitter.com/azurelink
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> On Jun 5, 2020, at 9:21 PM, Lisa Rosenthal via Hidden-discuss <
>> hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net> wrote:
>>
>> This happened to me recently, someone contacted me through my website.
>> They were looking for a designer for a logo and brochure, 8 pages for a
>> Antiques Business in Santa Monica. His project consultant had all the
>> photos and copy. I was given specific details about the project as well as
>> a company name and address. No website or online presence yet, it was
>> supposedly under construction.
>>
>> They seemed to have a good budget for the design part of the project. I
>> went back and forth a bit trying to figure out if it was a scam and then
>> what the scam was. I googled the address, it looked like Reddit was there
>> or had been there and it might be vacant. I called adjoining businesses to
>> ask if it looked like an Antique store was going in next door, they both
>> said no it didn’t.
>>
>> 4 emails into the conversation:
>> The guy, Mike Powell:
>> Ok I will be making a deposit for a start so we can proceed.Also, I’ll
>> like to let you now I will be paying you via Quickbooks by you sending me
>> an invoice of the partial payment so I can make payment from my ends.Let me
>> know if that’s ok with you !
>>
>> Me: I don’t have a Quickbooks account so I don’t think that payment
>> method will work. Venmo might be a possibility, would that work?
>>
>> Mike Powell: I’m unable to use my cc via PayPal, Square nor Venmo due to
>> some bad experiences I’ve encountered using it in recent time and I was
>> advised by my cc provider not to use via any of the above mentioned
>> processors for now.
>>    You can look up for Quickbooks online . It’s easy and simple to set up.
>> ..............
>>
>> Has anyone heard of that, a scam through Quickbooks?
>>
>> I just said I wasn’t interested and left it at that.
>>
>> Lisa Rosenthal
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Jun 5, 2020, at 10:25 AM, Michael Muller via Hidden-discuss <
>> hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net> wrote:
>>
>> Hey all web people on the HT list...
>>
>> Over the years I've received an innumerable number of spam emails --
>> mostly people asking me if I need help building a website for a domain I
>> just purchased. I used to ask them if they knew what I did for a living,
>> and of course they don't. It's just a robo-script emailing anyone with a
>> email address attached to a domain name.
>>
>> On occasion I get a text from someone asking if I could build them a
>> website. The exact working typically never changes, and the scam is always
>> the same. This is how they usually contact me:
>>
>> "Hello how are you doing,I will like to know if you would be able to
>> handle a website design for me ?"
>>
>> The punctuation and referral to "handle a website design for me" leads me
>> to believe this isn't quite legit.
>>
>> The first time I got a text like this the follow-up was that the person
>> was both deaf and blind, so I couldn't call nor send an email. The whole
>> thing had to be done over text. Hmmm...
>>
>> They want specifically 5 pages, because they can't afford more, and it's
>> already been designed. All I have to do is take the designed pages and put
>> them on a web server, linking the pages to each other. Seems to be quick
>> money, right?
>>
>> The kicker is -- and this is where the klaxons start going off -- the
>> scammer wants to pay me $5000 by credit card, but I have to pay their
>> designer $3000 by check, since they don't take credit cards.
>>
>> *If you are ever contacted by anyone with a similar request, just say no.*
>>
>> I am passing this info along because not only did I get such a text from
>> this guy, but also an email (below). The third screen shot has some harsh
>> expletives, so be forewarned.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Mik
>>
>> <djieiikcpfacbmlb.png>  <mchjaacgihikpfbf.png>  <oahmococlbdlgcio.png>
>>
>>
>> -------- Forwarded Message --------
>> Subject: Re: Web designer needed
>> Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2020 14:30:49 -0700
>> From: Sarmento Alves Domingos <sarmentoalves940 at gmail.com>
>> <sarmentoalves940 at gmail.com>
>> To: Michael Muller <tech at montaguewebworks.com>
>> <tech at montaguewebworks.com>
>>
>> Here is the job details, well i have a small clothing business for both
>> male and female which i run here in state,now am trying to expand the
>> business and i want you to build an informational website for it for
>> advertisement and to increase my sales rate..so i need you to check out
>> this site but i need something more perfect than this if its possible
>>
>> http://www.missrebel.co.uk.
>>
>> The  site would only be informational, so i need you to give me an
>> estimate .The estimate should include hosting and i want the site to have
>> not more than 5 pages ,since it is informational. I have a private project
>> consultant who has the text content, images and the logos for the site.
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Jun 4, 2020 at 11:57 AM Michael Muller <tech at montaguewebworks.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Sarmento,
>>>
>>> Can you provide more information?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Mik
>>>
>>> ---
>>> Mik Muller, president
>>> Montague WebWorks
>>> 239-R Main Street, Greenfield, MA
>>> 413-320-5336http://MontagueWebWorks.com <http://montaguewebworks.com/>
>>> Powered by ROCKETFUSION
>>>
>>> On 6/4/2020 11:41 AM, Sarmento Alves Domingos wrote:
>>>
>>> Hello how are you doing,I will like to know if you would be able to
>>> handle a website design for me ?
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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