"TO GOOD TO BE TRUE?" By John Schneider
I’d say about 25% of the people who ask me to quote a price for playing at their event end up
hiring me. Thanks! The other 75% have either selected another musician, were just window
shopping or cancelled their event. But then there is an extremely small percentage of people
who are either crazy or scam artists. Here’s an example of the craziness that musicians
sometimes have to endure.
I get a request to submit a bid from someone who has contacted Gigmasters.com and wants
a musician for a wedding reception to be held in about two weeks in Florida. I live in the
Washington, DC area and I’ll play anywhere if you pay me, but I could not understand why this
person would want me to travel such a great distance. Did he think I was the perfect musician?
He couldn’t find a local musician? Immediately, I stated to get a little suspicious. Oh, and his
name and writing style made me think he didn’t have full command of the English language.
Here’s what he wrote in his original request:
“Hello, I am an event Coordinator. I have read your profile. Get back to me about your and rate.
I will be needing you in bradenton Florida for my client's wedding reception. Get back to me as
soon as possible.”
I responded by bidding $1,000 and following up with a number of questions like: What’s your
phone number? Where will the reception be located? How come I can't find you when I
search for your name on the Internet?
He did provide answers to come of my questions. His area code was from Washington State.
His client’s phone was located on the Isle of White in Great Britain. And I discovered his client’s
home address was a sports bar. Oh, and around 4am the next morning he sends me an
email message saying he wants my home address right away so his client can send a check
and confirm me as the musician.
Meanwhile, GigMasters sent me a message stating the gig had been cancelled because they
highly suspected it was submitted by a bogus client and possible con artist.
I must congratulate GigMasters for their diligence. They do all they can in preventing con artists
from utilizing the GigMasters website. For example, they ask all clients to verify their email
addresses and telephone numbers, and they block all IP addresses which originate outside of
North America. Unfortunately, from time to time a con artist with a bogus event does slip
through the cracks. In their message to me were a few basic warning signals which can help
recognize a con artist:
Anyone who asks you to mail money; Anyone who is vague about the details about an event;
Anyone who provides excess details which are not relevant to an event ; Anyone who you
have a difficult time reaching by telephone.
Most of this happened during the Thanksgiving holiday. So this morning I get another message
from this bogus client saying he’s a wedding planner and he’s checking on my availability.
Now he’s acting as though we never spoke, but it’s fine with me.
So here’s where I’m confused. What’s the scam?
He says he wants my address to send the check to me and then I’ll be confirmed to play. So I
cash the check and then what? Or does he claim the check got lost in the mail and I’m
supposed to provide information about my bank so he can wire funds, but instead he removes
funds from my account. What do you think?
I’m a trusting musician who seldom needs an advanced deposit or contract before playing at
an event. It makes mesad to think there are nuts out there – like Bernie Madoff – who take
advantage of people all the time.
So, be careful.
