just wanted to warn you guys.
The scammers are now coming after musicians directly.
Last week a "film producer" contacted me and asked me to overdub rhythm and chords for a 1.5min video he was producing.
We discussed pricing and I agreed to do it for $300 and would give up 2 re-dos if there was something he didn’t like.
He asked me if I could accept an electronic check and asked me the name of my bank, which immediately got my hackles up. I told him I could accept venmo, paypal or zelle but he replied,
“I would have used it if it was an option, but our business checking account doesn’t support 3rd party payments. Besides the company account has to reflect the payment for the project.”.
So I told him he could send me an image of the check which I would deposit using my mobile app.
Today I received a check for – NOT $300 – but $3000, followed up by an email which said this,
“Hi Jack, I had my assistant forward you the check, so I didn’t double check it before she sent it over. I’m only just seeing it now.
Apparently my assistant requested a check of $3000 instead of $300 to my manager, and now he processed a check for that amount. I tried to cancel the check, but our account manager said we won’t be able to use the account for 90 days if I cancel the check, and I really won’t want that to happen because I have to pay my employees for the month.
Can you just deposit the check and find a way to send the balance back to my manager?
I’m so so sorry for the inconvenience. My sincere apologies. 🙏”.
Fortunately, I had not spent a lot of time on this project.
Just wanted to let you guys know to beware.
