A couple of weeks ago I was targeted by one of the most elaborate scams I have ever seen.
The type of scams you read about in books and see in films. You dont spend 6 years in crypto and get scammed by the first douchebags irl that come around. Ofc, I knew it was a scam on day 1 but there was something odd about it.
They spoke to me via video call, they used their public names and they initially only offered monetary gain for me and asked nothing for themselves.
So I basically waited and let it run its course till its conclusion last night.
But let me start from the beginning...
It was a nice, sunny, winter day in 2023 AD and I was sending out emails to distributors about Freechain...
Out of a few dozen I sent out that day a response came right away from this actress/model based in New York with a million followers on social media claiming to work with a major production company that worked on some of the biggest blockbusters of all time.
She was interested in the film and wanted to know more. She wanted to get her associates involved and they could help me bring the film to new audiences and give me a truck load of money while doing so.
Because thats what they do!
Red flag right away. So after talking to her I obviously did some digging. First I sent an email to her official website to see if its actually her I was talking to. A positive response came back. That was odd, she was real...
Then I actually took a look at the websites she provided and every single one looked like it was made in a website editor from 1999.
Images on the site were grainy screenshots from movies like James Bond, Iron Man, Fast and Furious with a few images from random B films that very much looked like something you would expect from a B movie.
The guys she worked with had an orgy of companies listed to their name. All with utter bullshit put up as description of work they do. Meaningless words that sound important but actually say nothing. Half of their websites didnt work, the other half looked terrible. All the logos made in Microsoft Word with different colors.
I still went on a call with them. lol
When her associates came in they immediately made my bullshit sense tingle. One guy pulled up this Evian Spiderman commercial made by Sony Pictures and claimed it was his "TEST FOOTAGE" for the film. 🤣 .
They also gave me some fake (or maybe not) credits from the Matrix films on IMDB. There was no picture of the person credited on IMDB so they could have taken any credit they wanted.
The funny thing was that while they claimed to work on films with billions in budget, their actual credits were either films that have been in preproduction for years and dont exist or they all share 1 film credit of one of the most hilariously bad horror films Ive ever seen.
And even there they put the name of "Lionsgate" of all things as the production company behind it.
When I went to check the official list of Lionsgate films they are connected to... This film wasnt there ofc. 🤣
I also looked at their mentions on social media, looked for their pictures and all I found was them working with some no-name, completely deluded and potentially mentally ill people you would have seen on shows like X-Factor or American Idol being made fun off.
Photoshopped images, fake articles, fake videos. The only legit credits they had was this girl being an extra on a popular TV show in the background for 5 second. Her actors reel hilariously bad.
I pretty much figured them out completely at that point.
They were hustlers that worked in the industry, exaggerating everything they were doing and preying on unsuspecting filmmakers desperate to make some money.
But not until last night did they actually ask me for money.
They were patient, deliberate, cautious, took their time. First they used the girl as a honeypot... and what a honeypot she was... gorgeous.
Then they spoke about how great they are and successful. Then they offered me loads of money.
Two weeks pass. Another call, praise galore. Everything I say goes. I agree to work with them. They have their confirmation. I knew it was coming.
They finally ask for money.
This is what I receive:
First of all, this sounds like complete nonsense and was written by someone barely literate. But what they are basically saying and what they wrote in emails is that I need to send them 3500 USD so they can put me on a "Slate" for funding and receiving 1 million USD. That 1 million was already approved, they just need my 3500 USD so they can work on the paperwork and get me my money. 🤣
Slate financing is an actual thing and you can do it all yourself for free.
TLDR:
So what this basically was in the end is a typical scam of "Send me 100 dollars and ill send you 200 dollars back." Only this time they promised a million.
Some time was wasted, some fun was had.
No money was made in the end by anyone.😂