Scammers are getting more prevalent.
Last month, I was contacted by an individual claiming to be “Mike Eldrich,” who was interested in engaging with us for a web project.
He stated that he was starting an Auto Body business in Florida and needed help with building out a site, SEO, etc.
My bullshit detector went off immediately for a number of reasons:
- I’d seen a similar ploy used in the past, and this one leveraged an almost identical approach.
- “Mike” didn’t seem willing to have a conversation, never answered all of my questions, and didn’t appear terribly concerned about pricing when I tossed ballpark numbers his way.
I went through the motions with the request anyway.
I was curious if my gut was right, needed to build out some new proposal templates anyway, was curious what the scam actually was going to entail, and wasting a bit of “Mike’s” time seemed entertaining, at least.
In the end, I was right. “Mike” wanted to overpay us for the deposit via credit card and have us pay his graphic designer and copywriter with the balance.
So I politely declined, telling him that we aren’t a bank and to give us a shout when he secures funding.
I’m sharing this today to encourage everyone to be on their toes in regard to scammers. AI is making it vastly easier to fake voice and even video content – a tactic many scammers are starting to use to dupe people into sharing sensitive information or to pay them money.
If a financial entity with which you do business calls to gather information, ask them from which institution they are calling, tell them you’ll call them back, then track down that number from your records and call them.
If “Mike” contacts you to do a job, don’t fall for his shenanigans.
And if you ever need a gut check on a shady inquiry—or want to work with real humans who care—consider reaching out by dropping us a line.
