Scam alert..?

[Daggs Droneworks]

Fairly certain this is a scam, but not sure of the end game here. This sounds like a scam that has gone around before. I was contacted asking if I do aerial photography. I replied that I did and asked what was needed. I was told that there was a site that needed photographs taken at the cardinal directions on an initial visit, then three follow-up visits to obtain video to produce a 6-8 minute video set to "cool music". I explained that I could definitely accommodate that and asked for details. Before he would provide me with an address he asked where I was located. Once I told him where I was located, I was given an address about 20 minutes from me. And, per usual scams, he claimed he could not speak on the phone due to being in the hospital for recent throat surgery, with another surgery pending. Here is the e-mail text:

"Ok, but before that I need you to be aware that My surveyor will be working on the property survey during the shoot that is the reason why I need the Aerial photographs, pictures, and video for the progression of the site and I'm in the hospital at the moment recuperating from throat surgery. Am Preparing for second surgery in a few days before I can get discharged. I prefer the video format in MP4 or Quicktime. All raw content shots will be delivered via a DropBox or google drive( your choice ). My budget is $5,500. Can you work with my budget?"

Pretty significant budget for a handful of photos and videos. But on the chance that it was legit, I put a proposal together and sent it to him, coming in at $5,250 even though I would never charge that much for so little, stating I would require a 10% deposit to get started. He replied back with some conflicting information about the shoot, now claiming that he needed a video from each visit, not just one at the end, and that there would be two follow-up visits and not three. However, he was ready to accept the proposal and pay a $2,500 deposit.

Obviously this is extremely shady. I wrote back now asking for his company name, address, and phone number so I could apply it to the invoice before sending him the credit card link. This *has* to be a scam, but what is possibly the end game here? If I send him the credit card link (I use Wave Apps, not sure if anyone else here uses their platform?) and he actually pays me $2,500, what could the scam possibly be? Do a chargeback down the road? Not sure what I'm missing here and I'm usually pretty sharp on scam attempts.

Thoughts? Anyone experience something similar?

 

[GFields]

I'm not saying that this is the case here, but often a stolen credit card is used and often "an accidental" overpayment is made. Once you refund the overpayment the entire charge is disputed leaving you out you money for the over payment

 

[Daggs Droneworks]

That was the only thing I could think of too. I'm also morbidly curious where this goes. I doubt he'll send me any legitimate or verifiable business information, but somehow if he does and things add up, I'll send the link.

Best advice for anyone in a similar situation - if you ever get an "accidental" overpayment, never send a transaction back to them for the difference. Always do a refund for the full transaction so there is nothing to dispute, and wait for the correct amount to be sent instead.

Safe flying (and business dealing, apparently...)!!

 

[Dave Pitman]

"..do you do aerial photography service?" Right there, 99.9% scam.

This is what I have done with similar interactions.

Simply look up the property owner and ask them if they have any knowledge of this work just in case this is the 0.1 % legit request for proposal. The answer from the property owner will seal the deal.

In fact, if you tell the prospective "customer" that you are going to look up the property owner and confirm the service is legitimate for any site they suggest they are working on. It is likely you will never hear form them again.

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

The "in the hospital" scam is an old one. Stay far away from it. I always ask for at least a company email address. I don't do stuff for people with gmail.com or hotmail.com emails

 

[dfly]

Scam. Had a very similar inquiry a couple years ago, same “in hospital, can’t speak” BS, different scope of work, same refused to send address until deep into conversation. The more he texted the more it became obvious. If I recall correctly, the goal is just a different variation of the the old Nigerian style check scam where they will eventually say they are going to send you a large check instead (and actually FedEx overnight a “check” to you) and need you to deposit it, then send them back the overage, I think in cash or your own money order, etc. Once your bank determines it’s a bad check, it’s too late and you are out the amount you sent them via Western Union, etc. It sounds so ridiculous, that you may wonder who would actually follow through with all that. They use a sense of false urgency, desire for big $$ and confusion to get people to fall for it. Thankfully this didn’t happen in my case, as I’ve taken reports from others, so I was familiar with it. I started messing with them, asking stupid questions over and over, playing extra dumb, eventually calling them out on their next move. Of course, that ended any more communication. Sadly it’s practically impossible to trace the source.