Photography scam in Sheffield?

[Maquina 10]

If you're a photographer and have been approached by <name removed>, be careful. He is trying to book a photographer for a family gathering offering payment up front however:

a) the date changes to suit your availability. Surely if you're having a family gathering you need to contact all members to make sure a change of date is ok.

b) the venue he mentioned (The Chimney House in this case) has no record of him contacting them at all. Interestingly, they were contacted by another photographer (besides myself) asking the same questions about <name removed>.

c) he wants to make full payment using a credit card and asks for your card processor information... don't give out any details, my bank have advised this is not a good idea and opens you up to fraudulent activity.

d) he used the word 'Hall' to describe the venue, and the english is broken.

 

If you're a venue in Sheffield, watch out for this too...if anyone wants to book your 'Hall'. Would be interesting to know if anyone else has had experience of this.

Edited June 1, 2018 by mort

[Firparnian 10]

Four members of a photography group I'm in have had the same enquiry

[drolnhoj 15]

I guess if you think it is a scam, you treat it as a scam. Everytime I get a call about the problem with my BT internet, which I don't have, they end up swearing at me and hanging up.

[pattricia 574]

I guess if you think it is a scam, you treat it as a scam. Everytime I get a call about the problem with my BT internet, which I don't have, they end up swearing at me and hanging up.

 

I’m phoned regularly from callers saying that they are from BT when they aren’t.

[Guest busdriver1]

Personally I really dont believe people fall for these pathetic scams.

TBH I just view them as another stupidity tax.

[blackydog 40]

Personally I really dont believe people fall for these pathetic scams.

TBH I just view them as another stupidity tax.

 

They are not all pathetic. Some of them are highly sophisticated and refined. I just NEVER answer the landline.

[andco 10]

I inform them that before we can proceed to the purpose of their call that they must provide their full invoicing address, transfer me to their accounts department so that I can verify the information in order to raise a £500 invoice which they must pay in advance and with cleared funds before going any further.

 

They end up shouting at me and putting the phone down,

[paula4sheff 10]

I quite enjoy stringing them along for a bit, giving them some made up details, then telling them to shove it when their hopes are up and I'm becoming bored.

[Phili Buster 10]

I quite enjoy stringing them along for a bit, giving them some made up details, then telling them to shove it when their hopes are up and I'm becoming bored.

 

Good fun isn't it when you have a bit of time

[paula4sheff 10]

Good fun isn't it when you have a bit of time

 

I do enjoy it yeah, when I've got the time!

 

Another favourite, if I don't have the time, is to say "oh, hold on a moment" and just leave the phone- see how long it is before they hang up while I'm getting on with things. Some of them hang on a surprisingly long time!

[Cyclone 10]

Why has the name been removed? I really don't understand the moderation on this forum sometimes.

[mort 10]

Why has the name been removed? I really don't understand the moderation on this forum sometimes.

 

 

As soon as something is posted on a forum, that makes the forum owner jointly legally liable for the comments posted, and puts the forum owner in an impossible position because they cannot possibly have enough information to defend a comment made by another person in a civil court action. The only possible way that any forum can proceed is to only allow posts which they feel are not legally problematic, and to remove anything which is reported as contentious as soon as it is reported.

 

 

If you want freedom of speech then post things on a format where you alone bear the legal responsibility for anything you post. Any forum which allows full 'freedom of speech' simply hasn't had any legal issues yet.