Web Design Scam! Heads up!

Just be cautious after some good talks. Suddenly they will say "you have to transfer some fees ($$$) to their account before we will start project, now tell me what's your bank numbers ######?" Then you better run away or never reply to them at all.

I got a text from a guy calling himself "Arvind", asking about web design work. So I told him to email me what you want done.

I got the same email as others posted - word for word -

"i have small scale business which i want to turn into large scale business now it located in CA and the company is based on importing and exporting of Agriculture products such as Kola Nut, Gacillia Nut and Cocoa so i need a best of the best layout design for it. Can you handle that for me ?. so i need you to check out this site but i need something more perfect than this if its possible .http://www.agroamerica.com.... the site would only be informational, so i need you to give me an estimate based on the site i gave you to check out, the estimate should include hosting and i want the same page as the site i gave you to check out and i have a private project consultant, he has the text content and the logos for the site.

Note:

1. I want the same number of pages with the example site i gave you to check excluding videos and blogs.
2. I want only English language
3. I don't have a domain yet but i want the domain name as www.goldenfoo.com
4. you will be updating the site for me.
5. i will be proving the images, logos and content for the site.
6. i want the site up and running before ending of next month.
7. My budget is $4000 to $11000

Kindly get back to me with: (1) an estimate (2) And will like to know if you are the owner ??

I honestly believed it considering the Agroamerica site looked legit - but when I googled "Gacillia Nut" - it showed up as a scammer alert and brought me to many forums declaring the person as a scammer using different names.

I can't believe will go to such extent to scam others. Terrible.

This is still happening.

1st email from bobwayne794@gmail.com (Bob Wayn): Hello, Am Bob, I would like to know if you can handle an informational website design for my new company? kindly get back to me ASAP so i can send you the job details. Thanks, Bob

2nd email: Hi Sara, I have a small clothing business for both male and female, now am trying to expand the business and i want you to build an informational website for it for advertisement and to increase my sales rate.

I need you to checkout this site but i need something more perfect than this if possible,http://www.missrebel.co.uk.

The site would only be informational, so i need you to get back to me with an estimate for the web design, the estimate should include hosting and i want the site to have not more than 8 pages since it is informational.i have a private project graphic designer,he has the text content, images and the logos for the site.

Note:

1. I want only English language
2. I don't have a domain yet but i want the domain name as bobwears.com or bwears.com 3.You will be updating the site for me.
3. I will be proving the images,logos and content for the site.
4. I want the site up and running before ending of next month.
5. My budget is $2000 to $8000 Kindly get back to me with: (1) an estimate (2) I will like to know if you are the owner ? Thanks, Bob

Blocking this guy immediately!

Someone just tried to scam me with this, they used the email williambruthner@gmail.com I Googled Kola Nut and Gacillia Nut, and I luckily ran into this article. Thanks for sharing.

I has this email come in as well. Ronald Constanzo was the name they used. Just as a heads up, they are still running this scam.

Has anyone here lost money out of this scam? Or actually been paid? What does he do when he is saying he'll send you $$ for you to send on to the consultant? Surely that never happens; if he had a stolen credit card he would just use it, not scam people. We're talking to one of these guys right now... ' Marten Rodriguez '.

Having a bit of fun with the guy. We need to send 'his consultant' $3,500 after he gives us $5,700. We've said our bank needs to verify the transaction from him so we need 3 payments between $5-$9 spaced out across 2 weeks.

Interested to see what happens! Will fill you guys in with the updates.

This is still happening. I got this exact email today!

I just got the same tactic, slightly different email. Luckily these people aren't very creative...

i have business which i want to turn into large scale business now it located in CA and the company is based on importing and exporting of Salon Equipment such as Dryer,hair cream,Weavon,Hairdressing,Clippers, i need a best of the best layout design for it. Can you handle that for me ?. so i need you to check out this site but i need something more perfect than this if its possible .http://www.missrebel.co.uk.... I have a private consultant that has the text content and logo for the site . the site would only be information, so i need you to give me an estimate.

I want the same number of pages with the example site i gave you to check excluding videos and blogs.

1. I want only English language
2. I don't have a domain yet but i want the domain name as R.E.SalonTools
3. you will be updating the site for me.
4. i will be proving the images, logos and content for the site.
5. i want the site up and running before ending of next 2 month.
6. My budget is $2000 to $5000 8.Give me your personal cell phone number 9.Are you the Owner

no thanks

I got something similar today, but the company is in "WI" and it is for beauty products. Thanks all for the heads up!

Hey Everyone, I had the same thing happen to me today but it started with a text! The name that was given was Donald Chaney and the phone number was 502-783-7451. They said they got my information from a third party company I use. Then they sent me an email like the one above about the Kola nut or whatever. The email was sent from chaneydonald8@gmail.com This is some of the response that I got:

Ok fine, I would need you to charge my credit card for $5500. so $500 would be a deposit payment for my website design and the remaining $5,000 you would help me send it to the project consultant that has the text content and the logo for my website so once he has the $5,000 he would send the text content and logo needed for my website.

Regards
Donald Chaney

I responded by saying there is no way I could do that.

Please kindly help me out of this cos am currently in the hospital under going some treatment, please kindly help me out i will surely give you a tip of helping me out.

Regards
Donald Chaney

JUST A WARNING TO EVERYONE!

Still seeing this, just as a heads-up to all! Similar email with slightly different budget and other wording but basically the same. Today was the second attempt.

How do you prevent this from happening? What a pain! Ugh! People need to get a life. Haha.

Keep an eye out for this, everyone! It's still happening.

Scam is still active: email: lindammy20@gmail.com

Thanks for getting in touch. I would like you to review the details and get back to me with any question you may have.

Here is the project details, well i have a small clothing business for both male and female which i run, now am trying to expand the business and i want you to build an informational website for it for advertisement and to increase my sales rate..

so i need you to check out this site but i need something more perfect than this if its possible http://www.missrebel.co.uk. the site would only be informational, so i need you to give me an estimate .The estimate should include hosting and i want the site to have not more than 5 pages ,since it is informational. I have a private project consultant, he has the text content, images and the logos for the site.

Note:

1. I want only English language
2. I don't have a domain yet but i want the domain name as ELITEXCLUSIVEAPPARELS.COM
3. You will be updating the site for me.
4. I will be providing the images,logos and content for the site.
5. I want the site up and running before ending of next two month.
6. My budget is $3000 to $6000

Still happening.

As the owner of a reasonably legitimate business, the first sign of trouble is that this guy texted our business line. Not that I've never had a person text the line, but only existing clients or people who think web developers are all college kids who will gladly accept $600 to become their design and development slaves... but I digress.

Major red flags:

1. Completely ignored my request to schedule a time to talk
2. Used the phrase "kindly get back to me..." - who says that? Internet scammers, that's who.
3. In the email this person sent the sentence structure shows major signs of a non-native English speaker (not in and of itself bad, but most of these scams are overseas based)
4. "I want only English language" - we've had clients request that a site can be translated to Spanish & Portugese, but never, ever in seven years has a client specified they only want English. It's assumed.
5. "I want the same number of pages with the example site I gave you..." - not exactly something a client would never say, but more than likely they'll tell you they want 12 pages, not to go look at some other site and count those pages...

There are a surprising number of these types of scams out there - be very careful! Some of our rules:

1. Don't give your bank account info to a NEW business unless you can verify they are legitimate somehow. If you can't verify they're legit, they can send you a check or pay with a credit card.
2. Don't start work without a contract and a down payment (at least for new clients).
3. While you're at it, don't start development at all until the client has agreed to a sitemap and has at least an outline for content. That's not related to a scam, but will protect you from those inevitable situations where a client doesn't get you content for months and then wants you to drop everything and get the site wrapped up.

Hello everyone, thanks for keeping this thread alive. It’s 2020 and this is still going. We received this email:

Hello, Am Jessica Wilbert I am hearing impaired, so i communicate better by text messages or e-mail ( preferably ) . I wanna know if you can handle website design for a new company and also if you do accept credit cards via Clover and PayU merchants ? If you do, please kindly get back to me ASAP so i can send you the job details.

Stay safe and blessed, Jessica Wilbert (312) 883-4630 ( text only )

Email is jessicawilbert37@gmail.com

After some emails were exchanged we got this:

Dear Tiago,
Thanks for your response, My business needs to upgrade from its present scale to larger scale, We deal in importing and exporting Agricultural products of all kinds. Here's a sample (http://www.agroamerica.com) to look into but I will prefer something more perfect than that if possible. And the site would only be informational with the best of the best layout. This will include hosting so I want you to give me an estimate based on the site sample provided above. My private project consultant has all content and logos for the site and NOTE:

1. I want the same number of pages with the example site i gave you to check excluding videos and blogs.
2. I want only English language
3. I don't have a domain yet but i want the domain name as purefarmproduce.org
4. you will be in charge of updating the site for me.
5. I will provide the images, logos and content for the site.
6. I want the site up and running before the end of next month ( let me know if that is possible ) .
7. My budget is $4000 to $8000

Kindly get back to me with: (1) an estimate (2) your cell phone number (3) And i`ll like to know if you are the owner so i know who am dealing with directly ??

Stay safe and blessed, Jessica Wilbert

We still sent a proposal, although we took the lead with a grain of salt. Finally, we received this email that definitely raised our eyebrows and revealed this to be a scam:

Thanks for your response, i am okay with your estimate and i wanna proceed so i will be depositing $3,000 using credit card so work can commence ASAP, i understand the content for this site would be needed for the job to commence so regarding the content i will need a little favor from you and the reason i need this favor from you is because the consultant does not have the facility to charge credit cards and i also am presently in the hospital for surgery ( to correct my hearing problem so i can communicate by hearing and speaking using phone and to replace my knee cap as a result of accident i had ) so i will be glad if you can help me out with this favor,The favor i need from you is, i will send you my CC information to charge for $9,300. $3,000 will be a deposit payment for my website design and youll help me send $6,000 to the project consultant that has the text content and the logo for my website so once he has the $6,000 he will send the text content and logo needed for my website to you. Youll help send the consultant`s payment to him via cash deposit or transfer into his account, sending of funds would be after funds clears into your account and the remaining $300 is tip for your stress and helping me out.Thanks once more as i anticipate your usual swift response in due course.

Stay blessed,

Jessica Wilbert (312) 883-4630 (text only)

Stay vigilant. Thanks again, Tiago