I recently had a person contact me through my website desperate for a photographer for a family event. While I don’t care to photograph events he was in urgent need and I hate to turn down work.  The event was in two weeks.

The contact was in the form of a text message on my phone. He claimed he had some hearing loss due to a recent surgery and couldn’t speak by phone. He gave me the date, time and the name of the hotel but he didn’t give me his full name, only “Steven”.   I obtained an email address and I sent Steven a quote. I asked him to sign the contract and pay a 50% deposit.

Steven asked if he could send a payment directly to my bank or through a payment service. I offered him Paypal. He said his lawyers told him he shouldn’t use Paypal… Finally he told me he wanted to send me the full amount for the event and asked if I would be willing to pay the event organizer.

If anyone tells you they want to overpay you for a service so you can pass money to someone else, it’s a scam.

I asked him for his full name, address and phone number and the name, address and phone number of the event organizer. I haven’t heard from Steven since.