Brindle Media

I received this info from voice over talent Lance DeBock and thought I’d pass it along.

It’s a scam that’s been around for awhile, but has just recently been applied to voice talent and the talent sites they are listed on.

Here’s the scam. The voiceover talent is contacted via email for a project (scammer claims to have found you thru an online voiceover talent service). Script is sent to you for a price quote. Once quote is given, scammer wants to pay with ‘cashiers check’ or Western Union and asks for more detailed mailing information about you.

You then receive what looks like a legitimate check for a $1,000.00 or more than your quote. Scammer then claims that his client made an overpayment to you and asks you to cash the check and send him or her, the balance due via Western Union.

If the bank cashes the check and later discovers that it is counterfeit, they will hold you responsible! So the scammer gets paid and you get caught ‘holding the bag’.

Here are some of the ‘Red Flags’ to look out for.

Scammer is from United Kingdom or somewhere out of the United States.

Scammer doesn’t seem to have a grasp of voiceover terminology, but they do have enough terminology to make you believe there might be a language or translation problem.

Counterfeit check is from a ‘legitimate looking’ company here in the United States.

Western Union and/or Cashiers check should always be a warning.

Here’s an attaching a link to this email which will give you more information about what to look out for. This scam has been around for awhile now but has just recently been applied to voice talent and the talent sites they are listed on.

http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams