I rarely get emails regarding webdesign. In his 2nd email, the customer gave me link to a website www.agroamerica.com but he put some dots after it to make link not clickable. I would have not been aware that this is a SCAM if I would not have accidentally copied his link including the dots in browser, thus went into Google Search rather than directly on website, and saw numerous blogs reporting “Agroamerica SCAM”.
However, I continued to reply at email, playing role of a naive guy (scam baiting), to see how the scam is working: he don’t even ask for my portfolio to make sure I am able to do his job, instead he say directly that will give his credit card full of money and request me to pay half of money to person who provide content, then probably he will block the card or chargeback the money, leaving me in loss.
Scammer:
Thu, Jul 14, 2016 at 1:54 PM
Good Day
I’m John,am hearing impaired.i would love to know if you can handle website design for a new company and also if you do you accept credit cards ?? kindly get back to me ASAP so i can send you the job details.
Regards
John Wharf
Me:
Thu, Jul 14, 2016 at 1:58 PM
Hi there, I may be able to help you, but may I know how did you found my email address?
Scammer:
Thu, Jul 14, 2016 at 5:16 PM
Thanks for your swift response and i got your contact from google when i was searching for a web designer
Here is the job details
I have small scale business which i want to turn into large scale business now it located in TN and the company is based on importing and exporting of Agriculture products such as Kola Nut, Gacillia Nut and Cocoa so i need a best of the best layout design for it. Can you handle that for me ?. so i need you to check out this site but i need something more perfect than this if its possible .http://www.agroamerica.com.… the site would only be informational, so i need you to give me an estimate based on the site i gave you to check out, the estimate should include hosting and i want the same page as the site i gave you to check out and i have a private project consultant, he has the text content and the logos for the site.
Note:
I want the same number of pages with the example site i gave you to check excluding videos and blogs. I want only English language, I don’t have a domain yet but i want the domain name as topfarmproduce.com, you will be updating the site for me. i will be proving the images, logos and content for the site. i want the site up and running before ending of next month.
My budget is $4000 to $8000
get back to me with:
(1) an estimate, (2) your cell phone number, (3) And will like to know if you are the owner?
Regards
John wharf
Me:
Thu, Jul 14, 2016 at 6:23 PM
I really want to know more how did you “got your contact from google when i was searching for a web designer”
Although I do have little experience in designing simple WordPress websites, I never promoted myself as webdesigner, my primary job is architectural design services (this is why using Teoalida Design in email name). I checked Agroamerica and it looks a simple website that can be done with WordPress + a responsive theme for few hundred dollars. If your budget is really $4000-8000, I assume that you want a website more unique with custom coding, in this case I will ask my webdesign partner to do the job for you. So do you want WordPress or custom CMS? in both cases I can made website for you to be able to update it yourself.
Scammer:
Thu, Jul 14, 2016 at 7:46 PM
Thanks for your response, I am okay with the estimate everything sound good and i’m ready to make payment now with my credit card, I understand the content for this site would be needed so work can start asap but i will need a Little favor from you and the favor is that I will send you my credit card to charge for the sum of $6,450.00 plus 3% Cc company charges, You will deduct $3,250.00 as deposit for the design of the website plus extra $200.00 as a tip for handling perfect work for me and you will send the remaining $3,000.00 to the project consultant that has the text content and the logo for my website so once he receive the $3,000.00 he would send the text content and logo needed for my website to you so work can start asap,Sending of funds would be after money clears into your account and You will be charging my card for remaining balance upon completion of work.
Kindly get back to me so we can proceed with payment asap
Regards
John wharf
Me:
Thu, Jul 14, 2016 at 8:35 PM
What? are you sending your physical credit card? instead of making payment via PayPal or bank transfer? How do I charge money from someone else card?
Me:
Sun, Jul 31, 2016 at 8:30 PM
I haven’t heard from you for 14 days. What happened? Have you found anyone else to design your website? I see that topfarmproduce.com is still an inactive domain.
