It is a scam and this is how it works

OctappusOctappus Member Posts: 68
edited November -1 in [$] Art and Sound/Music services
Last week I started a topic "Am I being scammed? If so, how?" - http://gamesalad.com/forums/topic.php?id=31291.

In brief, I received an email offering me the opportunity to develop an app for company for $10,000. A few days later, I had another, similar opportunity. I was suspicious because both used an out-of-date email address and both called me "Octappus Simon" - a term I have never used.

I was sure this was a scam, but couldn't work out how.

The answer arrived in my inbox yesterday . . . and more today. I am now getting emails from graphic design companies, app-development companies, programmers, etc offering services that match the brief requirements lists of the original emails - and they also call me "Octappus Simon"!

I guess the idea is that I sub-contract elements of the work to them, which I would have to pay for, but I would never get paid myself when I delivered to the end customer. (I can imagine that the end customer would not exist, or the project would be 'cancelled', or they would claim it wasn't up to specification.)

I hope no-one gets caught out by this con.

Check out:

Customer: www.armcode.com
Supplier: www.graphics4design.com

Comments

  • tenrdrmertenrdrmer Member, Sous Chef, Senior Sous-Chef Posts: 9,934
    Thanks for the info Octappus!
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  • Graz73Graz73 Member Posts: 13
    How does that make sense though? If you are making a game, someone still has to be telling you what needs to be made, right?
  • BlackbirdStudiosBlackbirdStudios Member Posts: 493
    Yea, thanks for the info. It would really suck to be scammed into something like this.

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  • OctappusOctappus Member Posts: 68
    Graz73 said:
    How does that make sense though? If you are making a game, someone still has to be telling you what needs to be made, right?

    For example:

    Someone from 'armcode' asked if I could build them an app and they gave me a long list of requirements, including a specific range of menu icons.

    Then along came graphics4design who said, "we are great at making menu icons - contact us for all your project requirements".

    The idea is that I would pay graphics4design $1,000 for their icons and then charge armcode $2,000 - except armcode wouldn't pay, which leaves me $1,000 out of pocket!
  • SlickZeroSlickZero Houston, TexasMember, Sous Chef Posts: 2,870
    So it's like a double whammy that's working together? One company tells you that you can buy their icons for $1000, and then out of the blue another company is willing to pay you $2000 for icons?

    And by another company, I mean the guy sitting at another computer in the same room...
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  • OctappusOctappus Member Posts: 68
    SlickZero said:
    So it's like a double whammy that's working together? One company tells you that you can buy their icons for $1000, and then out of the blue another company is willing to pay you $2000 for icons?

    And by another company, I mean the guy sitting at another computer in the same room...

    Yep. It's a variation of the 'Rare Dog' con (http://money.howstuffworks.com/con-artist1.htm)
  • Graz73Graz73 Member Posts: 13
    Very interesting!

    But I see 2 flaws:

    If you accept a big job like your example, you should ask for some money upfront.

    If you do need to subcontract, how do they know you'll hire their approved art "subcontractors" and not someone else?
  • OctappusOctappus Member Posts: 68
    Graz73 said:
    If you accept a big job like your example, you should ask for some money upfront.

    Agreed, but it takes some experience to know this, which is why con artists target naive people. If you ask for money upfront, the hustler will simply cease communications and move on to the next target.
    Graz73 said:
    If you do need to subcontract, how do they know you'll hire their approved art "subcontractors" and not someone else?

    They don't, but the scammer will never pay you anyway, so will never be out of pocket.
  • quantumsheepquantumsheep Member Posts: 8,188
    Cheers for the info!

    QS

    Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
    Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io

  • jb15jb15 Member Posts: 602
    Thanks for the info Simon. :)
  • theCodeMonsterstheCodeMonsters Member Posts: 359
    Thanks "simon" hahaha.

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