I got an email from a Henry W Rowe saying he wants me to do some design work for him.
“Greetings,My name is Henry, I would like to know if you can handle Brochure and Logo Design for my company.”
Smelled like a scam, but I played along.
Second email from Henry with more details:
“Thanks. I want you to know that this is the first time I will be doing a Logo design so I can only give you little details then you can decide on designs but I want the color to consist of Black and Gold with an image of an ancient chair. I want a very mature and presentable design and my budget for this project is $2000-3000 For the Brochure, I want a double folded A4 size brochure with 8 pages and I can only supply the text content and photos but all are with my project consultant but the logo and brochure will be designed by you and the due date for the project is 15th Of August 2019.”
Reasonably good English, thought the A4 size is a clue this is a non-US person.
Third email with still more details:
“HROWE FURNITURE. This company is really based on Importing & Exporting of Furniture: Kitchen Cabinet, Sofa, Office Chair etc.
HERE ARE THE DETAILS AND PROCEDURE OF THE JOB:
1) Company Name: HROWE FURNITURE
2) MY WEBSITE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION WHICH WOULD BE REGISTER VERY SOON
3) I DON'T HAVE LOGO BUT NEED A CUSTOMIZED LOGO FROM YOU
4) I COULD ONLY SUPPLY THE TEXT CONTENT AND PHOTO ALL ARE WITH MY PROJECT CONSULTANT BUT THE ARTWORK WILL BE DESIGNED BY YOU
5) I WANT THE BROCHURE TO BE TRI-FOLD IT WILL BE FRONT & BACK THE TEXT AND THE PICTURE IS APPROVED AND CROSSCHECK
6) THE SIZE OF BROCHURE IS 8.5 X 11.
That all i can provide from my means and i hope you understand what i listed above i need more perfect Job. If you can handle this for me you will be my permanent graphics designer and i will meet you in person after this design is done, due to my trip to get some stuff for my company.“
Note brochure size has changed. Some language errors, but nothing extreme. Interestingly, there is a Rowe Furniture company in North Carolina, but no Henry associated with it. And they already have brochures and a logo.
Fourth email. Here’s where the scam begins.
“Also i will be needing a favor from you. So you can start working on it ?”
Will this be a variation of the classic overpayment scam? Let’s see.
“The little favor is that i will want you to add $4000 to the estimate this will be the Project Consultant which will be sending you the content of the Project such as images and text, once the payment is made an complete he will be sending you the details of the brochure in full also i will like to know the best file for you in sending the images and text.”
Yup, it’s the overpayment scam. Next email from Henry:
“Whats the name of the machine you used to charge credit card and whats the charges fee with taxes ?”
I tell Henry I accept payment through Square and Paypal, but he’s fishing for a less-secure method. Next email:
“Do you have another credit card processor ? my credit card doesnt remit with paypal and square”
Now the scam moves to my phone:
“Let me have your direct cell number so i would be able to text you for faster communication”
Henry fishes for a less-secure payment platform.
“Do you have another processor apart from square, paypal and venmo”
After some back and forth, Henry says,
“Okay, if you charge my credit card today how many days it will take to hit your account”
Obviously, he’s hoping to exploit the float. I tell him 3-4 days. After some more back and forth he sends me a CC number. Stolen, of course. I tell him it’s been declined. He tells me to send an invoice via Square. I tell him Square is down, and to send me a check. Crickets from Henry.
If you’d like Henry Rowe to send you money, call him at 909-492-7324.
#henry #rowe #credit #card #fraud #scam
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