Freelancers Beware New Scam

[alti]

I was conacted out of the blue to make storyboards for a kuwait company, they ask for cartoon storyboards and offer $USD it sounds too good to be true, and it its.


they will say they will do a western union transfer and pay for some of the work , they will make it seem like it will be a long term relationship,

this scammer is good, so look out.
his msn is ivanisablack@hotmail.com

he is active right now, there are a number of other victims in china that did 3d models, i just hope he hasnt got anyone elce.

beware, the comic has characters called obeid, fatima, hamad, there are style guides and exampels and finished storyboards to take example from, this is what sells the scam so well, its because other artists have fallen for it.


please tell any freelancers you know to look out for this one, he's nasty and very beleivable.

everyone wants easy money, these storyboards seem legit, the scripts are funny and beleivable but its all bullshit.

BEWARE

i fell for this scam, organised a small team of my friends and storyboarded one of these scripts. and i feel like i've been hit in the chest with a hammer.

some people are scum and if i could find this dude i'd break his legs.

-alti

[Stoat]

So what's the scam? He doesn't pay off? Where's he make his money, ultimately selling the comic?

[petitemistress]

what a douchebag. I'm close enough, I can break his legs for you Alti! :P

[LORD M]

what a douchebag. I'm close enough, I can break his legs for you Alti! :P

Atleast try and get the police on him if you could, that would be awesome if possible.


Alti, have you had any success in contacting the police in Kuwait or so?

[carlosranna]

This guy contacted me too. He wanted a storyboard done in 3 days. I said i could do it after i received a part of the paymment. He never talked to me again.

The sad thing tough, is that i showed him a sample of my storyboard work, and i guess he can easily try to use it to fool other artists... It won´t be too hard to erase my name there.... Damn...

[wassermelone]

This guy contacted me too. He wanted a storyboard done in 3 days. I said i could do it after i received a part of the paymment.

This.

You can minimize this type of thing (which happens probably at least once to freelancers... it happened recently to my girlfriend) by asking for a portion upfront.

Scammers are douchebags.

[Jason Ross]

From foreigners its probably best to get payment up front (at least 50% up front then rest on completion) or work through paypal with some security.

[alti]

taken from a poor dude in china - link (http://translate.google.com.au/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&u=http://www.hgs521.com/html/dongmanxinwen/xinwenpinglun/20090106/145830.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=5&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Divanisablack%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26pws t%3D1)


I, through his Western Union also know that some of his personal information Name: GHUNAMI SALEM ALTAMIMI-He stressed that this is his wife's name
：ABUDHSBI UNITHED ARAB EMIRATES（） State: ABUDHSBI UNITHED ARAB EMIRATES (is the United Arab Emirates)

[petitemistress]

I think he might've meant Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, yeah... unless he's lying about that as well?

and to clarify, I'm a couple of countries away, but I know people in Kuwait if thats where he is, but it doesnt seem so? :/

[evildisco]

Western Union is the scammer's choice for "payments" even Nigerians know that.

[hitnrun]

Well, to be honest, I think the first mistake is doing business with someone who has an e-mail address like that. It's very suspicious to me. I can't see anyone serious about a business or something using Hotmail. Unless it's common and I need to move out from under the rock. Thanks for the heads up though.

[Dile_]

"soborra" ( or something along the lines ) is the head-character huh ? he got scared as hell when i asked him for money upfront.

Edit* And his english is terrible.. I sensed scam right away, i'm sorry you fell for it Alti, but he has no idea of how to use the material in production .. he think he can finish shit over-night. hes un-believeable, but its easy to get excited.

[alti]

whats more, they run a fake western union site wich will accept the code he sends you, its such a scam.

[MEMPER]

send western union an alert and a link to the fake site. that kind of fraud is a huge deal.

[ECMasters]

THANK YOU very much for posting this helpful information. This is so sad (and infuriating) on so many levels. I will pass this on!