Tag: how to avoid film job scams

How to Avoid Film Job Scams – Take Nine

2 Comments

On the Facebook film page I help manage, we’ve been getting flooded with scam posts again. They sneak into the group answering the group rules and questions, pretending to be real people, and then they post something like this garbage:

In my annotations, I marked in yellow the bad English grammar usage. In Red we see where it is obviously a scam.

For some reason, the scammers love to advertise a weekly payment.

As I see them, or as they are reported by community members, these scammer posts are deleted and the user is banned. Sometimes I’ll post about it on the page immediately after and hopefully catch whoever might have already emailed the scammer. But since it is nearly impossible to keep up with scam posts (I just can’t be on the page 24/7 people. I know.) my main goal is to educate our populace so that we all know what signs to look for.

Check out this similar scam job posted on a Florida film group:

I’ve redacted some identifying info like the full email and the name of the poster for two reasons. 1: the name might belong to a real person who was hacked or is being impersonated. 2. I don’t want someone mistakenly reaching out to this person.

To be fair, there’s not a lot in this particular scam job post to clue you in, but we will note a few things here before we dig deeper:

In Yellow: Things that are suspicious. One, “we are seeking” has been in a lot of scam job posts, but it is not necessarily only used by scammers. Two, the weird email they are using. Doesn’t look professional at all. But a scammer might use gmail or something that looks like a company email and a real person may be using a weird email. So it’s not a huge red flag.

In Blue: Some misunderstanding of how professional film people work. We see them stating their budget – not necessary for a PA or a Set Medic to know. But some folks might post this (see how this gets difficult to tell a scam job post?). We also have them clarifying that Production Assistants are also “PAs.” It’s nitpicky but you shouldn’t see that kind of explanation of film terms in a job post.

In Purple: I redacted part of the name but I’ll tell you that a lot of these scammers have been using weird, backwards names. Like Smith John instead of John Smith. I think it’s because they’re stealing the real John Smith’s info but reversing the name. I’ve seen this before with Jeffery Cooper/Cooper Jeffery, though the jury is still out if there was a real guy being personified or if this was just a fella using every random name he could think of.

Luckily, we can see what happens after you contact this potential job. I’m redacting their info as well, but we will call them Lily.

Lily applied to the job after seeing it on the Florida film group. Lily then received texts very soon after applying:

In Yellow: Bad grammar.

In Blue: This scammer clearly posted this scam elsewhere, because they mistook Lily as being in Pennsylvania, instead of Georgia or Florida (the group where it was posted). The scammer then immediately disregards Lily asking if the production is in Pennsylvania because they are just responding with a copy/pasted response.

In Red: Here’s the hallmarks of the scam. They try to lure you in with a flexible working situation that “won’t interfere with your current job.” That’s not how productions work! At all! They also talk about the weekly rate here, which I’ve pointed out countless times is a scammer tactic.

In Blue: Here we have a weird misunderstanding about how production works. This is continued in the next screenshot below. This person is telling a PA about a meeting and discussing the synopsis of the movie and all that. A PA would not need to be at that meeting or need that information. I don’t know why they think including this makes it seem more legit. It just makes it clear they don’t understand the film industry.

In Blue: Continuation of the weird meeting mumbo jumbo. “You’ll also have the opportunity to meet the crew!” Oh how cute. Typically that’s done on … day one of the production. Like everywhere else.

In Red: More scam red flags. A job offer letter is something a traditional job may give you, but productions are short term. If anything, you should be receiving a deal memo.

If you see a suspicious job post in a Facebook group, make sure you report it to the group admins. And if you start getting suspicious texts like these, check it against the red flags we’ve gone over here and in other installments of “How to Avoid Film Job Scams” in order to best arm yourself against a scam.

Sources:

Federal Trade Commission – Consumer Advice: How To Spot, Avoid, and Report Fake Check Scams

How to Avoid Film Job Scams – Take Eight

Leave a comment

Since I began this blog series on scams in the film industry, I started a folder on my desktop whenever I found a questionable job so I could put it in the next entry on the topic.

But… I couldn’t keep up. There’s too many. And the same names will pop up again and again, but new ones do too. There’s no way to truly catalogue them, so the best I can do is show you some examples from time to time, list the red flags, and hope to keep you from being taken advantage of in the future.

Google the E-mail

Scammers are a bit lazy too sometimes. You’ll see the same e-mail used by many different screennames. I’ve been chasing this mikebeebee email since at least July this year, having saved examples of this scam from different Facebook groups. I’m mentioning it now because it’s one of the recent ones to plague a group I manage.

This scam email was also used in July, when I saved these screenshots:

As you can see, it’s multiple names and “jobs” but the same scam email. I did blank out most of the names that posted because it’s likely they are hacked accounts and innocent of this posting. Or they could be completely fake profiles. Either way the most important thing is understanding the details of the scam.

Most recently, this one was posted:

Now, what happens if you apply to the fake job? You’ll likely get this email, with the name changed depending on the fake person you’re communicating with. Email screenshot attached with annotations explained below:

In Yellow: Generally bad grammar and grasp of the English language, so it’s likely an overseas scammer.

In Blue: If you are a professional, you do not need an explanation of how to do your job. This is a complete misunderstanding of how professionals are hired for a film set.

In Green: They use “kindly” which a lot of scammers use for some reason, and they’re also asking for all this identifying information. Probably for identity theft or to further sell your information to future scammers.

In Red: This part is where you know it’s a scam. The guy claims he will pay you $2000 before the job. Never, ever accept payment before a job is done. This is a check phishing scam. They are just trying to steal Your money, which they will do once you see the second part of the red section: “This covers your $1500 upfront payment and the talents'(sic) fee ($4,000) payable to their manager.“

This is how the check phishing scam works. They issue you a fake check, and before your bank notices the check is fraudulent, you’ll be issuing a check from your own balance to pay the “talent” who is actually the scammer. You are out at least $4,000 at the end of this scam.

According to the FTC, “Fake checks can take weeks to be discovered and untangled. By that time, the scammer has any money you sent, and you’re stuck paying the money back to the bank.”

Production Assistant Scams

This latest one was brought to my attention by a community member on a page I moderate. I’d had my suspicions about the job when it was posted, but I didn’t have enough info to delete and ban the poster until I received further info.

Here’s why this job looks suspicious at first glance and why I didn’t delete it immediately.

  • Casting call – for a production assistant? You only do casting calls for actors. Crew calls for film crew. I chalked this up to someone green in the industry.
  • Grammar “Seeking for.”
  • 3 days, 4 hours of work for a lump sum payment of $700. Again, I thought this was an inexperienced person who doesn’t know how day rates work. But 4 hours a day is suspicious even for a short film.
  • The poster turned off comments. Scammers do this because they know people will start calling them out in the comments. But insecure people also do this.

I couldn’t annotate this one because as soon as I started, I realized I was underlining the entire thing in red. Let’s look at those emails!

Red Flags:

  • Giant block of text. Most gigs will email at best like two sentences to see if you’re available.
  • Atrocious grammar and spelling. They don’t even spell their email correctly.
  • Wishing you good health. This is America, we don’t have that.
  • Apologizing. For some reason a lot of scam communications start with apologizing for being so busy. Maybe the intent is to make them look like they are in high demand or something.
  • Audition – for a production assistant? Oh no honey. But this detail confirms my suspicion that this was also a copy & pasted scam for an actor as well. Remember how the job post was a “Casting Call”? I bet this same scam showed up elsewhere targeting actors or models.
  • I laughed at “Camera Man.” The term is camera operator. But they probably meant Director of Photography.

Let’s look at the next email!

Red flags:

  • Scammer asking where you live (including the state).
  • Audition and PA again.
  • “Is that rate cool with you?” No. Because it’s fake.
  • Are you available the dates we already established?
  • Why are they asking what you’re currently working on? This is none of their business.
  • Asking for years of experience for an entry level position.

And here is the grand finale:

Red flags:

  • Advance payment – It’s a check phishing scam!
  • Also… sponsors? Wth.

Thanks to the community member who sent the screenshots and reached out with questions about identifying scams.

Sources:

Federal Trade Commission – Consumer Advice: How To Spot, Avoid, and Report Fake Check Scams

How to Avoid Film Job Scams – Take Four

2 Comments

I really hate that this has become a recurring theme I have to address. I really just want to teach about the fun stuff. Instead, I have to keep drudging up the fact that there are many people out there taking advantage of the film community.

Things are not good right now. The SAG-AFTRA/WGA strikes combined with corporate studio greed has contributed to a painfully difficult year to work in film. 2023 has brought major career changes, such as layoffs and unemployment and the need for survival jobs to many creatives affected by the strikes.

Facebook film groups are rife with scammers taking advantage of people desperate for work and green people trying to get their start in the film industry.

Here’s some of the latest scams and suspicious posts that I and several community members have come across.

Jake Smith/Jeffery Cooper

This is likely not this guy’s real name. For one, he went from Jake Smith to Jeffery Cooper to Cooper Jeffery. Also a quick Google and both names show up as actors. Maybe they’re just common names, and that helps lure in an unsuspecting individual.

Bad grammar is often a dead giveaway on scams.

“Address will sent.” “400$”

Jeffery/Jake’s posts are rife with spelling and grammar issues. Normally that points to an overseas scammer unfamiliar with English. He appears to be in Atlanta though, because people have worked with him in the Atlanta market before. And one or two of the disposable phone numbers he’s used come back to Marietta, GA.

Be highly suspicious of jobs that are taking place “in a few hours” or the same day. Honestly, it can happen that a production needs last minute help. Someone got sick, had an emergency and couldn’t come in, your feature realizes they don’t have enough extras for a party scene (saw that one happen in person).

But be very suspicious of a job that needs you to throw all caution out the window and immediately jump in head first. They are banking on your desperation, and you will pay for it. Literally.

Yes, I blanked out the phone numbers so nobody makes the mistake of calling him.

One person, who we will call Mary, worked with “Jake Smith” on a rush call gig offering $400 for a PA on a music video. Although Mary had some concerns about it seeing like a high rate for a PA, she took the job. On this gig, she spent over $100 of her own money and was told that someone would pay within two weeks.

What followed was several weeks of ghosted phone calls. No $400 pay or $100 reimbursement. Later when she looked at Jake Smith’s profile, she found he’d changed his name to Jeffery Cooper. His profile pic also changed.

That was weeks ago. Recently, another Atlanta based film worker we’ll call Frank talked to me about the same individual, though now he uses the name Cooper Jeffery. The man sounded very shady on the phone. Frank told me that Jake/Jeffery was asking for a transport PA (Uh, okay?) to use their own car and gas and food and be reimbursed later. Jake/Jeffery then hesitated to give a name of a production, didn’t know what a COI (Certificate of Insurance) was, and soon hung up on the job seeker since they asked too many questions.

The spelling/grammar have gotten even worse. Note that the phone number changed too.

Do your due diligence. Ask questions. Know exactly what you’re getting into.

As I was writing this post, this one popped up:

These “jobs” were posted on different days, on different Facebook groups, and always last minute. This latest one was posted at 10pm, for a rush call “at 12”. So…midnight?

A Data Entry Scam Targets Women in Film

Many people who work in film are turning to survival jobs to get by right now. That includes looking into work from home opportunities. Don’t worry, the scammers have you covered there as well.

I blocked this one’s name because it’s possible this name and profile pic were stolen.

A community member I’ll call Haley alerted me to a somewhat legit looking data entry job targeting women film groups. When she asked for more information, the “employer” asked for her bank information to give her funds in order to purchase equipment.

This is a play on a standard scam that targets film people, so it’s interesting that they re-skinned it as a data entry job. The scam asks a production assistant (usually) to purchase film equipment and then get reimbursed later. It’s not real. If they send you a check, it bounces, and you’re out ALL the money.

Do not use your own money to purchase film equipment or supplies for a job, even if it seems like a legit job. In a real production, they’ll give you petty cash or a P-card in order to purchase supplies, and a PA should never be purchasing equipment at all. A PA could purchase crafty, office supplies, etc, with the production’s funds, but never equipment and never with their own money.

The Huge Paragraphs of Doom

Yet another community member contacted me about a scam she came across from someone we’ll call O. I blocked out the name because I can’t be sure if this name was also stolen.

This is an example I’ve covered before — the word vomit job offer. Honestly, just the giant block of text in enough to provide you pause before you give any info.

The TLDR version of our analysis is this:

  • over explanation of what a PA does
  • Duties that a PA doesn’t do, like check processing and booking travel.
  • “I travel a lot…so I need an assistant there.” That’s a common scam tactic.
  • Requesting a ton of personal info right away. This exact same block of text appears in a number of scams I’ve covered before.
  • overall weird formatting

Most of my job e-mails are this:

“Hi, This is Insert-Name-Here from This Show. Got your name from So-and-So. Are you available to camera operate on a 6 week reality show starting May 7th?”

That’s it. Maybe even less. Producers know you know what a production assistant is. They aren’t interested in giving you a show synopsis. They’ll get your info when you’re officially hired and you sign a Deal Memo.

After this person posted her experience with the suspicious job poster, the job poster O, started sending threatening texts and promised to “destroy you …mess up your F-ing life.” I mean, seems legit, right?

RED FLAGS TO LOOK OUT FOR:

  • Name of famous producer or production company (for instance, just got one from “LucasFilmsLTD” recently.
  • Very short notice request for work.
  • Strangely high rate or strangely worded rate (“weekly pay” “1800 flat” “you get $600 for 2 days”)
  • Job poster doesn’t answer simple questions.
  • They want you to use your money to purchase something for the production.
  • They immediately ask for your banking info.
  • The Facebook account of the poster is new, and/or seems like it’s never used (no friends, no pics, etc).
  • The job poster meets any of these red flags and also just joined the Facebook group you saw the post in.

Where on Facebook did I see these posts?

The Facebook groups I saw these scams in were:

  • Film Production in GA
  • Georgia Film Production
  • Georgia Film Community
  • Atlanta Film Production Group
  • Atlanta Film & TV Casting & Jobs Board (CS)
  • Women in Film & Television Atlanta (WIFTA)
  • Acting and Filmmaking Atlanta

Some groups are less moderated and more prone to scam posts than others (lookin’ at you Film Production in GA). It doesn’t mean you can’t join any and all film related Facebook groups, but it does mean more of the work of identifying scams and bad jobs will fall on your shoulders.

What Can You Do To Avoid Scams?

Ah, that’s easy. Delete Facebook, unplug your internet, and throw your phone into the sea. Not an option?

Then you’re going to have to do more research than you want, but trust me, it’s worth it.

If something seems off about a job, start looking into it. Is the pay rate for the job too high? Are they asking for the wrong job duties for the job title, such as a PA operating a camera? Is the spelling and grammar all wonky?

Google can tell you a lot. Google the name of the employer, the production company they are associated with, or the email. If someone else has run into a scam, they might have shared that info online. Ask your fellow film professionals, “Hey, does this job look scammy to you?”

Look at the Facebook profile of the person posting the job. Is it a new Facebook account? That alone is a warning sign. Doubly so if they just joined the group they posted in. Even more so if they turn off comments on their posts in order to avoid people warning each other.

Be cautious if anyone is trying to pressure you into taking a job without getting all the details straight.

Sources

Layoffs begin in the film industry, as Hollywood strikes continue

Philadelphia film office warns filmmakers against scammers