This week, I learned that I really need to spend more time on Google before accepting contracts. Usually, I’m very good at sniffing out the scams, but this person [redacted] got me by making me sign documents, contacting me by phone, appearing eager to pay me, and plying me with more work. Thankfully, I noticed that she ignored my requests for payment and refused to take on more work. Had I taken the time to Google her email address I would have found at least one person who claims she’s running a scam.

I really don’t expect to be paid for the work I did for this person/company this week, but I didn’t just take being defrauded sitting down.

I reported the email address to a number of companies, explaining how it was used to run a scam, which is a violation of any legitimate company’s TOS. These companies were:

-Gmail, the email provider;
-Dropbox, the service through which I was sent and received the digital files;
-Craiglist, the service through which the scam was advertised and responded to.

I have a name and a PO box mailing address, so my next step could be to contact authorities in that town and see what would be involved in filing charges. There might not be anywhere near enough to go on; the name and address could very well be fake.

The contract (which was very interesting) involved the transcription of an interview from a non-famous person involved in the sports and entertainment fields, so I suspect I have more than enough information to find out who is heading this project and and perhaps get some assistance at that end.

This person picked the wrong week to piss me off.

Updates:

Waiting for the eCheque to Clear

The eCheque Cleared!