Tag: scam

How to Avoid Film Job Scams – Take Nine

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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

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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 Seven

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This is the seventh installment of “Bridget gets way too wrapped up in calling out scammers.” You know what to expect.

Let’s look at some new examples:

Turning Off Comments

Scammers have gotten wise to us warning each other via the comments section whether something is amiss. If someone posted a job and imediately turned off the comments, I want you to be wary.

What other details can we see here? I marked a lot of stuff in blue in this screenshot.

  • Mixing up Production Assistant/Personal Assistant
  • Saying this production, which they haven’t filmed yet, will air next month. As if!
  • Veles Productions (I covered a similar one in another blog also pretending to be Veles Productions.
  • The Day rate. Oh boy we have to dig into that one.
  • Bad grammar, improper use of English: “driver’s license in effect,” “be conversant with terminology.”
  • Incorrect job duties: Asking a PA to “guard the set” and help with lighting, props and more miscellaneous stuff.
  • Calling the crew “staff.” I’ve never heard that used on a film set. Ever.
  • Claiming these are 3 hour shoot days. Even the jobs that claimed to me they’d be a few hours ended up being like 13 hours.

Veles Productions is a real production company. They’re based in Poland. But they’re not the ones behind this. Scammers steal real production company names, director names and more to pretend to be someone else in order to trick you.

That Day Rate:

$125.21 for 3 hours.

First off, a “day rate” is usually going to be for a larger chunk of time, like 10 or 12 hours, and after that there’s overtime. Occasionally you’ll see a live event job or a corporate gig that’s only a few hours.

But this fake job post is trying to lure you in with the promise of high return with little effort. They claim you’re working 3 hours a day, total of 12 hours in the week, for $1503.

Let’s not forget that this “day rate” of 125.21 for 3 hours equals about $42/hr. Which is astoundingly high for a PA. That is like a camera operator rate on some gigs. Then if you do the math, $42/hr x 12 hrs = $504. Again, like I’ve pointed out in a previous blog post, the math just isn’t mathing.

Say hi! Cutesy weekly payment scam

Here’s another one pretending to be a well known company.

This is the type of post that’s way too conversational and cutesy. I’ve seen this “Say hi!” post format a million times. Productions are not going to care if you “say hi.” Sorry not sorry.

Other red flags:

  • “is seeking for a production assistant” bad grammar
  • weekly payment
  • Say Hi + emoji
  • gives a clearly international-leaning number. The +1 is the US country code, but it’s possible this scam is meant to scam anyone in the world. And they could just buy a spoof number.

Scamming Models

This was one that graced the Atlanta Film Production Group for 4 hours before I was able to delete and ban the poster. First, I commented on the post, asking for clarification. Why were they asking for models to act? Wouldn’t you want actors? The poster claimed they wanted models and actors. it still didn’t make sense. Finally a community member came into the comments and said it was a scam. It had been posted in another city with the same dates and details. I did a quick search on Facebook to confirm, and deleted it.

Also look at the comments. The poster’s English is awkward. Saying for the other guy to “go to bed” and “Don’t rubbish another persons project and dream”. That last part feels like British English but even that seems wrong.

Would you like to PAY to WORK on a movie!?

This one is astounding. I covered a similar one in January with another Christian film who wants extras to pay to appear in the movie.


You want me to pay to work on your movie? I’m sorry hun, that’s not how this works!

  • Look at that AI generated image! They don’t have anything real to show.
  • claiming this is a hands on learning experience, hoping to take advantage of newbies.
  • Angling the post at teenagers. Wow that’s like extra illegal?

This screenshot was re-posted to Crew Stories (a pretty fun Facebook group if you haven’t seen it) and the comments have torn it apart. Apparently this Aaron guy has been trying to fund and make this film for like 10 years. Other commenters had personal experiences with the individual and presented their misgivings.

So, what did we learn?

The same old, same old. Look for weird numbers and unreal rates and job positions. Look for incorrect film terminology or a misunderstanding of job titles. Google search names or posts to see if it has been posted or called out elsewhere.

Stay safe out there folks.

How to Avoid Film Job Scams – Take Six

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Okay, first thing — Thank you to everyone who shared the blog and reached out to tell me that they used my blogs on scams as a resource to keep themselves and their friends safe. It really warms my heart to see a difference being made.

I don’t only write about scams but since getting the word out has been useful, I’ll keep up the occasional update post on the topic.

Recently I spoke at another Atlanta Film Production Mixer about my career and what red flags to look out for. Again I had multiple people telling me about scams they encountered.

Lovely photo shot on actual film by one Marco Gutiérrez.

It’s time for an update. Here are a few more scams to look out for. Now, keep in mind how they are done, not necessarily the individual job itself. Most of these posts have dates that have passed now. It’s literally impossible for me to keep up with them. But if you note why these posts are scams and arm yourself with that in the future, you are less likely to become a victim.

The Math isn’t Math-ing.

How can you tell this one is not a real job?

For one, some quick simple math will tell you something is up. They claim the job pays $85/hr. It’s 3 hours a day for 8 days. $85×3= $255/day. $255/day x 8 days = $2,040. The post claims the Personal Assistant PA is getting $765 for the entire job. Wow.

Also, a “personal assistant/production assistant”? Those are two different jobs.

For some reason I’m also seeing this “3 hours a day” grift a lot lately. Maybe it’s to entice people for a seemingly large reward for minimal work.

Another thing to do when considering if a job is a scam or not is to check the likes and comments. Here you can see one person who is familiar with this particular scammer and calls them out.

That’s…Not How This Works

This can be a scam or just a person who doesn’t know much about the film industry. Sometimes that’s the same person.

I’ve seen multiple jobs asking for “two DPs” or a media manager who is actually acting as an editor assistant.

The two DP’s thing I want to elaborate on quickly: a project typically has one Director of Photography. That’s the lead guy or gal in charge of the camera department. You don’t want too many cooks in the kitchen. You may find multiple DPs on very large Hollywood style projects or big features, because you might have a second unit DP in charge of stunts and other scenes. You would also have multiple DPs for different episodes of TV shows.

But if you see a post for a small project looking for multiple DP’s, they are either misunderstanding what a camera operator is or …

200 PA’s and 20+ camera operators and assistants? Either this is a huge show or…

Maybe just see that they want you to join a Discord for more information and realize what the problem is.

“No Experience Necessary!”

Be very wary of any film job that says “no experience necessary.” I’ve seen that on a lot of scams too.

Truth be told, production assistant is an entry level position. A job can ask for a more experienced PA or one who has worked on certain shows, but the understand is that sometimes this is a PA’s first job.

But how about a job offering a suspiciously high rate for a first time PA?

Yeah, stay away from these.

How to Avoid Film Job Scams – Take Five

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It would be a full time job for me to update this blog everytime I find a scam posted or someone I know shares a scam they found with me. There’s no way to keep up. My overall goal is to equip you with the know-how to see the red flags and avoid being scammed at all costs.

Sometimes I can’t name names. There’s a few reasons for this:

  • scammers can also be identity thieves who stole someone’s picture and name. You don’t want the real person to get in trouble.
  • It’s just a fake made-up name that will evaporate anyway. Like one I covered, Jake Smith became Jeffery Cooper became Ethan Snith.
  • Maybe I’m wrong. Or maybe the poster is just inexperienced and went about things the wrong way.

I do however want to bring the following items to light, and also reinforce the red flags you should look out for when vetting a scam job post.

Red flags to look out for when vetting a scam:

  • bad grammar/spelling
  • incorrect film terminology. (I.E. Production Assistance instead of Assistant.)
  • unusually high rate or weird weekly rates/hourly rates for usually a day rate job
  • Job poster turned off commenting on the post. That’s usually because people started getting suspicious and asking the right questions.
  • large blocks of text that ramble on about the proposed job.

You can also do your due diligence by briefly looking into the job poster. Do they have no Facebook friends? Did they recently make an account, or change their name and profile pic? Did they post a very similar job in multiple groups with different dates?

Now these things don’t guarantee a scammer, but if you checked a few of them off a list, that’s a real good indicator.

Kevin – But Not Really

An Atlanta makeup artist was contact by a legit enough sounding job poster. They used a real person’s name who is in no way connected to the resulting attempted scam, so I deleted the last name.

It uses a familiar format: Fake Kev contacted the makeup artist saying they found their info on “Georgia Production website.” Sometimes it’s called a film directory or similar, but a lot of scams used this “I found you on (something that doesn’t exist).”

They also said “Kindly,” “regards,” and “send over your resume/credits.” which are all things I’ve seen a hundred times in these scam emails.

Although our makeup artist was excited at the opportunity to department head on a project, they kept a cool head and did their due diligence. They asked for a deal memo, tax docs and contact info for the additional makeup artist. This is all normal, good stuff to check on if you’re offered a job.

Then this mystery job poster sent a $3000 check to the makeup artist’s home….from an electrical company.

Folks, never, ever receive payment before a job. It is a check phishing scam. After that check goes in your bank and you immediately withdraw the funds for some equipment they ask you to pay for or, in this case, hiring an additional makeup artist, the bank finds out a day or two later that the check is fake and now you’ve sent your own money right back to the scammer.

“It’s me Kevin the film guy” said the scammer

Our makeup artist did not get scammed because they knew when things weren’t adding up.

The scammer tries to guilt the makeup artist by saying they already confirmed (they didn’t) and trying to place blame on them for not stipulating a lack of deal memo was a deal breaker. And the scammer clearly didn’t know what a deal memo was because they proceed to call it a “demo” a couple times.

Sometimes these scammers know just enough about film to get by, but their story falls apart very quickly when a professional digs in.

Also note the poor grammar that indicates a non-native English speaker. “The payment was unable to be deliver,” “I will hand over to you meeting,” “You should have tell me this.” Look, I get it scammer, using past tense is hard. But if you want to make the Duolingo owl happy, you have to at least try.

Cinebyte

This one is posting a lot so I wanted to bring it to everyone’s attention.

Another crew member in a Facebook group called out Cinebyte Productions as a scam, even posting the highly suspect email he received from the company.

The email is full of bad grammar and is just a huge block of text. I’ll reiterate what I’ve said in the past. When you are a professional in the film industry and someone offers you a job, it usually starts. “Hey, so-and-so recommended you. Are you available to cam op a scripted series in May?” And then you proceed to get more details on further communication.

The Cinebyte job postings are posted by several different people (or the same person using different names, isn’t this fun?). They also use multiple emails. So far I’ve seen: cbytefilm@gmail, lanawilson496@gmail, cinebyteproduction3, etc.

The postings are fake but the company is real. Someone stole David’s name and pic and the company name to seem legit.

I wanted this entry to end here. Guys, I’m tired of chasing these scams. I just want to catch non-Pokemon branded creatures in Palworld and relax for once. But there’s one more I’ve got to cover.

The Music Video Scammer

I’ve covered another shapeshifter before. He went by Jake Smith, Ethan Smith, Jeffery Cooper and every version of those names. Now we’ve got this guy.

Someone named “Eric” (but not really, follow along) posted this job for a PA on a music video. Responsibilities included driving talent and “on-set assistance” (groan).

A number of PA’s hungry for work fell into this supposed job. I learned they did do some driving around, but it became apparent that things were not on the up-and-up. PA’s were expected to pay for lunch, pay for an iPhone SE and headphones. They picked up Ken, a man who was supposedly in a car accident and couldn’t drive himself around. I suppose Ken, who claimed to be the rapper’s manager, the contact they were driving around, hair/makeup artist who, on closer inspection, might not have been an actual HMU. The driver/PA did three days of pickups/drop off’s to such places as a park in a seedy neighborhood, Cookout and, amazingly, Dave n Busters.

Every PA who responded to and did this job (it must have been more than the 3 days, as multiple people were scammed), did not get paid and were ghosted by Ken/Eric.

So Ken/Eric got called out on Facebook, and not long after he changed his name and profile picture to Chris, copying another real filmmaker’s profile pic and image, and posted this job:

I wasn’t ready to post the blog when this went up, so I immediately posted right after this that “Chris” was the same guy who scammed the music video PA’s. Within minutes, “Chris” deleted or changed his Facebook again. Whatever identity he picks next, I’m sure he and many others are out there ready to scam again.

A lot of our scammers are overseas, trying to steal your account information or get you to send them equipment and you’re out the money. But some scammers do this up close and personal. Let’s keep our community safe and keep each other informed.

Previous posts on this topic:

New Year, Same Old Film Job Scams

How to Avoid Film Job Scams – Take Four

New Year, Same Old Film Job Scams

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I use the blog on my website to teach what I know about the film industry. But one topic keeps coming up: Scams. It’s gotten so common that now people just associate my blog as “the scam blog.” My last scam related post was in August, but I’d have enough fodder to update the post weekly.

Here’s an example:

Love that comment.

I highlighted the red flags that should stand out for you:

  • Generally poor grammar: “The dates for a documentary-style TV show for Veles Productions (extra space added) this month are August 21-25.” Also the weirdness of hiring a Production Assistant/Personal assistant, two completely separate jobs.
  • Astronomically high rate for a PA $1500 for 12 hours (and weird added “4 hours per day.”) Day rates for PA’s range around $175-250ish per day (12 hours) depending on the market and type of gig.
  • Must have “terminology knowledge.” What!?
  • Using the word “staff” instead of “crew.”
  • The PA is helping set up “lights, props and tools.” PA is an entry level job and typically shouldn’t be doing any of these things, but as budgets get tight (read: stingy) a lot of places are making PA’s take on extra responsibilities. It’s not great but… I’ve seen it done.

That’s your typical example of a film job scam that’s posted to social media. It could be Facebook, Instagram…heck I’ve even seen scams posted to StaffMeUp and LinkedIn. Nowhere is safe, so always keep your guard up.

I wanted to shift gears for the new year and arm you with two other types of scammy jobs to look out for: Illegal internships and opportunity scams.

Illegal Internships

I’ve worked on a number of movies, tv shows and other projects where we’ve got some newbies working as PA’s who are billed as interns.

Internships have been under fire before in the entertainment industry. A famous case occurred during the production of Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan. Two interns sued on behalf of 100 Fox Searchlight interns for backpay as they did work as employees, not interns. The class action lawsuit was resolved in the interns’ favor.

But I’ve also run into it on several low budget features and other projects where someone eager to enter the film industry comes in as an intern. Read between the lines — unpaid labor.

Sometimes I make a point to ask the intern “Are you in college right now? Are you getting college credit?” If not, then it gets sketchy. A legal internship benefits the intern alone, through work experience and/or college credit. Typically an employer is helping the intern but not benefitting themselves — well, in theory. But if that intern is doing the work that a full time employee would do? That’s a problem.

If you want to volunteer on someone’s project, that’s up to you. But I wouldn’t ask you to take the title of intern if you’re doing an actual job for someone. I even wrote about deciding whether or not to volunteer on a film set before:

5 Reasons For and Against Volunteering on a Film

“This is your opportunity!”

The real reason I was inspired to do an update on scams is because I came across this on Eventbrite.

This “event” someone posting that you could work on a faith based film — for the low, low price of $199! That you pay them.

Oh jeez, where do I start with this one?

You should never pay to work on a movie.

I’ve seen this scam before in another form, someone advertising they needed crew for a movie and asking the crew to pay to work on the film. The audacity of this.

Oh also, “star” in a movie? With no acting experience? That’s fishy enough. At best you’d be an extra. Someone sitting on a park bench in the background or filling tables in a restaurant. Not a main character with lines.

“Sign up from our website and receive a 25% discount!“

“Star in a Faith-Based Christmas Movie! No Acting Experience Required. Now available in over 50 major US cities. Bring the whole family!“

If it wasn’t clear this was a scam before, I clicked on the website link and saw that the “admission fee” was now $50 (how generous! And also not the definition of 24% off from the original $199) and now the location was listed as another state. Not Atlanta but Venice Beach California, Detroit, Los Angeles, etc. It’s a “pop up filming event” (the heck is that!?) in over 50 major US cities!

Using the word “local.” So many of the Facebook-posted job scams I’ve covered have used terms like “local” or “in your area” so they can scam far and wide. Or there’ll be a weird space before the location or date because it’s clear they copy and paste and change a couple details.

There are plenty of other scammy looking opportunities, classes, events that try to sell the dream of a career in film to new people. If something seems too good to be true or glamorizes the whole prospect of joining a film production, think twice before you submit or pay for anything.

Stay safe in 2024.

Sources:

Fox Settles ‘Black Swan’ Interns Lawsuit After Five Years

More than 40% of interns are still unpaid—here’s the history of why that’s legal

How to Avoid Film Job Scams – Take Four (blog)

5 Reasons for and Against Volunteering on a Film (blog)

How to Avoid Film Job Scams – Take Four

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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

How to Avoid Film Job Scams – Take Three

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This is a perennial post on my blog now.

There are a lot of scammers out there who want to take advantage of you.

This is especially so in a freelance gig worker job where jobs can sometimes be few and far between. Slow times of the year (December into January definitely comes to mind) mean film workers can get desperate for that next job, especially if they’re entry level like a production assistant, and living on a paycheck by paycheck basis. It’s possible these scammers are aware of the slow times for work and we’re going to tap into that later.

These scams can target a person in many different ways. I’ve received e-mails from either very fake sounding names (Vincent TONG) or very famous sounding names (Steven Spielberg, scammers? Really?). I’ve received text messages that claim I was discovered on some film directory and my “skills” are perfect for this job, and I just need to contact them to learn more.

Here’s a common copy-pasted scam I’ve seen under a bunch of names. I’ve actually posted one such version below here so you can compare.

Red Flags? We have many:

  • awkward grammar (non-native English speaker)
  • imaginary profile on “film production directory.”
  • Weird punctuation – “Titled” is capitalized, but the actual film title is inexplicably in parentheses and lowercase.
  • $1800 for a production assistant. Also what’s the rate of pay? Is that supposed to be a day rate?
  • “Stay Blessed” – common in scam e-mails. See also: Kind Regards.

The scammer can also create a fake social media profile, often spoofing a real person’s name and information, and contact you directly or make job posts online to lure in as many unsuspecting victims as possible.

So what is the scammer’s goal? Easy. To steal your money or even your identity.

One of the most common scams targeting film workers is the check cashing scam. Someone asks you to cash a check, saying you’ll get part of it and someone else gets the rest. The check is fake and you’re out thousands of dollars.

Here’s an example of a word-vomit e-mail that is likely the lead-up to a check cashing scam. I blanked out the name of the sender because they were impersonating a real person.

The red flags in this email:

  • It’s too long! My legitimate job emails usually are: “Hi, you were recommended by So-and-So. We have a feature coming up in March and we’re looking for a camera operator. Are you available? What are your rates?”
  • bad spelling/grammar
  • Asking for way too much personal information.
  • $1800 – they like this number, don’t they?
  • Pre-production pay? What?
  • Kind Regards AND Stay Blessed
  • More information section*

*This section is where we have the lead up to the check cashing scam. they’ll likely send a check, it will look real, prior to the job start date. They expect you to put that in your bank account. They either expect you to send money elsewhere at that point, or they’ll get your bank info and clean out your account.

The Federal Trade Commission has an article about fake checks that you should peruse, especially as it explains how scammers get away with these fake checks:

By law, banks have to make deposited funds available quickly, usually within two days. When the funds are made available in your account, the bank may say the check has “cleared,” but that doesn’t mean it’s a good check. 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.

Federal Trade Commission

Sometimes the scam isn’t even offering you a job, it’s saying you owe someone money. Recently, this message was sent out to union members:

this is where I was going to leave this installment of “Bridget takes on the scammers” but then something happened.

Remember when I said they prey on people who are eager to work or during a slow time of the year?

The following scam is one I received four days after applying for unemployment. This scammer somehow found my email during that process. I spoke with a friend who had applied for disability, and she got the same email.

They prey on the desperate. They prey on the uninformed. Don’t take the bait, be savvy, and stay safe out there.

Have you come across a job scam and want to share? Fill out the form below.

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Previous posts on this topic:

Common Film Job Scams and How to Avoid Them

Film Job Scams and How to Avoid Them – Take Two

Film Job Scams and How to Avoid Them – Take Two

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I’ve written about it before, and I’ll likely write about it again — there’s many people out there taking advantage of folks desperate for work, a large percentage aimed directly at those trying to break into the film industry.

I actually had to push back on publishing this blog as more and more scams were outed daily on Facebook. Here we are going to look at some examples and discuss how to tell a job offer is actually a scam.

General Advice:

  • Actors should never be charged for a role or an audition. Never.
  • Actors do not pay to be represented by a casting agency. A legit agency makes money when you book roles. There is no upfront cost.
  • Anyone: If it sounds too good to be true, it likely is.
  • Beware of jobs offering weekly rates instead of day rates.
  • Be cautious with a job that seems to put the wrong duties on a job description (like a PA being expected to run sound or do payroll).
  • Do not trust someone who tries to send you a check before you do the job.
  • Be very cautious of anyone offering a big position above or below the line without seeing if you meet qualifications (I.e. Director of Photography job being offered without them seeing your resume or reel first.)

Check Cashing Scams

One of the most common scams we see in this business is the check cashing/phishing scam. In this one, the fake job provider sends you a check BEFORE the job in order for you to purchase equipment, pay other crew, or something similar. Usually this is aimed at production assistants and people new to the industry.

Nobody will send you a check before a job and nobody will expect a PA to purchase equipment or personally pay crew. The scam only serves to empty the unwitting person’s bank account, usually of thousands of dollars.

A play on this scam was posted on a Facebook group by Randy Swieca, adding in the New Coke flavor of Bitcoin to the mix. An applicant to the job said he was sent a check in the mail and told to deposit it in his account and send bitcoin to an undisclosed location. As the Facebook poster explained, money matters are a production accountant job, not something a PA is expected to do. The would-be applicant rightfully determined it was a scam and immediately posted a warning on the group where he saw the original post.

The Trying-Too-Hard Scammer

Zach Barry posted about a scammer going by the name Ann Gendry who sent an enormous block of text via e-mail.

For your sanity, I detail the red flags in the e-mail with this bulleted list:

  • Bad grammar examples: “I will like to thank you.”
  • Claiming the job will lead to a long-term opportunity. How?
  • Production assistant job that includes A LOT of duties that aren’t typical PA duties like check processing. She claims she is doing a short documentary, so it’s hard to believe she’ll need travel booking, making/distributing copies of scripts (for a documentary, remember), getting approval of copyrighted clips/music, assisting with pilot logistics (wasn’t it a documentary a minute ago?).
  • “Run errands such as purchasing supplies, props and other necessary items for the project.” This part is the check cashing scam. They will claim you need to purchase things and you will be reimbursed or they’ll send a fake check. YOU are the one out the money.
  • “Basic wage is $900.00 first two weeks preparation period and after which you will be paid Rate: $200./10hr on set.” No. You will not. This is not normal.
  • Then my favorite, the “About Me” section. Gendry claims “I have been short movie producer director in many places in Europe…I will travel a lot, hence the reason why I need an assistant to handle affairs for me on the home front when I am away on business which is usually quite often. This position is home-based.” This is very similar to a car selling scam on Craigslist where the scammer pretends to be abroad or in the army.

The Copy/Paste Scam

I’m calling it that because I’ve seen the exact same scam e-mail with only names and titles changed. For instance:

“I’m Vincent TONG I’m a producer for Reforma films I saw your profile posted on film production directory, I want to inform you about a upcoming short film project coming up in your area Titled ( Grateful ) Start date: May ‪25-30-2020‬, pay is $1800, I’m in search for effective FIRST CAMERA ASSISTANT kindly reply with your updated resume for more information and consideration thank you.

Kind regards
Stay blessed”

Vincent TONG (make sure you shout that last name!) e-mailed me May 4 2020. But then there’s also:

This particular scam usually comes in via e-mail, though I’ve seen it in a text message before as well.

The red flags in this “job offer” are:

  • film production directory (for some reason a lot of scams reference this vague nonexistent service)
  • Bad grammar/spelling/awkward wording from a non-English speaker
  • “Stay Blessed” and “Kind Regards” are often used to sign off on scam emails.
  • Unusually high pay for a position (especially for Production Assistant)
  • Job offers for jobs you don’t do — I’ve gotten this same one for Makeup artist.
  • Weekly or lump sums (“pay is $1800”) instead of day rates.
  • Scam emails will sometimes steal famous peoples names and production company names to try to sound legit.

Casting Scams

Alan Baltes

A community member in the Atlanta Film Production Group recently posted about Alan Baltes, a scammer who is well known for casting scams.

Alan gets his own heading because he’s made it a point to be a jerk scamming prospective actors time and time again. Baltes has previously tried to con people by pretending to cast for Jurassic Park: Dominion and sequels to Crazy Rich Asians. You can read about his exploits here in this article related to his Crazy Rich Asians scam. Now he’s focusing on John Wick 4.

Baltes claims he’s casting for movies while insisting on a $99 fee to submit, ironically to his own Cash App.

Actors — you do not PAY for casting calls or auditions.

NDA

Another similar scam popped up on a Facebook group where someone said they were asked to pay for an NDA (non-disclosure agreement). Again, that’s not a thing you pay for.

You can read further on how to avoid scams targeting actors here. And another helpful Backstage.com article on identifying scams here.

Modeling Scams

Vina Kent shared screenshots of a modeling scam that targeted her family and probably many others. Screenshots are attached and we’ll touch on a few details that mark this an obvious scam.

  • Models are asked to pick the date of the shoot
  • The locations for the job hasn’t been determined yet
  • A “modeling coach” could be provided for new models.
  • Weird hourly rates
  • A depot of $500 will be sent before the job (possible check phishing scam)
  • Weird wording/bad grammar
  • Giant block of text with no breaks

This one is clearly aiming to scam aspiring models out of their money.

So…How Can I Tell if a Job is Real?

Use your best judgement. If you’re uneasy, do your research. Google whoever is contacting you, the company, the producer, whoever you can. If someone has worked with them before, ask them before getting into a potentially dangerous situation. Keep in mind that scammers often steal the names of real production companies and producers. Chances are that Steven Spielberg won’t be contacting you personally for a production assistant gig, sorry.

Usually, legit jobs are really basic and to the point. For some reason many scammers send giant blocks of texts overexplaining everything. You could see that in the modeling scam and the email bullet point summary by Ann Gendry. They’re backpedaling. They’re trying to overwhelm you and get you to let your guard down.

Many of the gigs I’ve gotten boil down to this: “Are you available July 23-28? We need a cam op for a reality show.” I respond with my availability and then we discuss specifics like rate and job specifications.

Scammers try really hard to get your money. Don’t let ’em. Come across a scam? Feel free to post a screenshot on social media and inform your friends in the industry. A well informed community is safer because of it.

Special Thanks:

To everyone who allowed me to use screenshots and their personal interactions with the scammers to write this blog: Zach Barry, Vina Kent, Cyntoria Mccarroll, Alexandria Denise.

References:

Fake Production Assistant Listings

Crazy Rich Asians 2 Scammer Responds, Claims He’s the One That Got Scammed – Movie Web

13 Signs of an Acting Scam – Backstage.com

How to Spot a Casting Scam – Backstage.com

“It’s a F–king Scam”: Beware the Hollywood Con Queen – Vanity Fair

Common Film Job Scams and How to Avoid Them – Bridget LaMonica

Common Film Job Scams and How to Avoid Them

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Unfortunately, there’s plenty of people out there taking advantage of hungry film crew members looking to get work. It’s time we fully prepare our fellow film makers with the knowledge to avoid these scams like the plague.

One of the most common scams is a check cashing scam. Someone asks you to cash a check, saying you’ll get part of it and someone else gets the rest. In the film world, I’ve seen this come across as you needing to pay another crew member with the payment they send you. Jokes on you though – the check is fake and you’re out thousands of dollars. I’ve seen this scam numerous times around Georgia, but it’s definitely an international problem. It’s not exactly a Nigerian prince, but it’s still an old standby scammers use to great effect.

Then there was this story of a woman posing as various high profile female producers who lured people in all facets of production to Indonesia. The scam included real-looking wire transfers and the unwary crew member losing thousands of dollars on a movie that didn’t exist. This article from Deadline is definitely worth a read.

Deadline boiled it down to this: “If a high net worth producer with a seductive voice calls with an employment offer that seems too good to be true, it probably is not real. At the very least, people who receive such a call better contact the actual offices of that producer to find out if in fact that call was made.”

How to Spot a Scam

When you receive an e-mail or text message for a job, be careful of these common scam elements:

  • bad grammar/spelling
  • the word “kindly” – seriously it appears in a LOT of scam messages, it’s almost a meme by this point.
  • “We received your profile.” Weird wording.
  • Says your skills are highly preferred.
  • Asks for you to send your job position and resume – if your skills are highly sought after, surely they already know what you do?
  • Reply to secure your slot.
  • The message comes from a foreign company/name or a real production company whose name has been stolen to trick job seekers
  • The pay is suspiciously high for the job like $1500 for 3 days of PA work.

Examples

Here are some examples culled from members of various Atlanta film groups on Facebook, reposted with permission.

Red flags:

  • “Your swift response highly appreciated.”
  • “Your ____ skill needed.” Nobody in production talks like this.
  • Generally bad grammar.

Red flags:

  • E-mail comes from Gauri Khan, but name in the message is Blesson Oommen.
  • Asks a production assistant to “receive camera equipment.”
  • Daily rate for a PA (part-time!) listed as $500-$3800. I would PA forever if that was a real rate.
  • Exceptionally bad grammar, spelling, punctuation.

Scam 3

Red Flags:

  • Isaac Yu – common scam name.
  • Vague details “your city” and “your skillset.”

What Can You Do?

It’s pretty much the same as avoiding most scammers – be careful what information you share online. Most of these scammers appear to get your information through information you post online. I personally started getting many scam emails and texts after I posted my resume to Georgia Production Directory/Reel Scout but can also happen when you post your info anywhere online – Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

You’ve got to self promote to get yourself out there, so don’t relegate yourself to the life of a hermit and delete your social media.

As a general rule, don’t accept random friend requests. When in doubt, send them a message.

If a scammer contacts you, ignore the email, block the phone number, etc. Post the scam on a site like Atlanta Film Industry Watch to warn your fellow filmmakers. If a company or person’s likeness is being used to sell the scam, send them a message to inform them.

If you receive a job offer that you’re just not sure about, ask them for a deal memo before moving forward and research the company. If anything seems fishy, bow out of there. Avoid anyone who is trying to send you a check in order to pay for equipment or another crew member’s rate.

…

Special thanks to Brittany Edwards and Ashley Nelson for allowing me to repost their scam findings. An informed film industry is a better one for sure.