213-478-6951

This person contacted me about needing my design services for a logo and catalog with this email: masonlincon009@gmail.com

I asked them what the details were for the project so that I can send them a proposal. In my follow up email with a proposal, they kept insisting that I provide them with my phone number for better communication but if they had paid any attention to my professional email signature, they would have had access to my phone number already. After I informed them that they are welcome to text my business line, I received a text regarding wanting to move forward with the project.

As any professional would do, I called the phone number to get acquainted with the client and to ask more questions about the project. The person who picked up on the phone was completely clueless and did not have the same demeanor as the emails they sent out in regards to needs for this project. It was as if they had copied and pasted that information from some template.

They also did not have any immediate questions for me and kept quiet as they "hoped for me to say more things" like they were recording me. I told them "I just have questions about your project. Please tell me more about the timeline of your project and turnaround time and I also just want to get to know more about you and your brand" and they paused with uncertainty and said "yes, go ahead... and ask your questions." The connection was bad so I hung up and followed up with an email and of course they respond quickly and very professionally via email and text but the phone call was ridiculous.

I know for a fact that I do not advertise my design services publicly. I have signed up for some freelance sites and other similar online opportunities but I do not actively advertise and always tell my clients that if I accept projects, it's because they were referred to me or I had seen their proposal on one of those freelance sites. I asked this scammer to tell me who referred them to me and they said they found me online (which is not true).

So beware! I nipped this in the bud pretty quickly so I don't know what further steps would've looked like but I imagine it would be one of those dumb online scams where they ask for your account number and other verifications so that they can "transfer" money to your account for payment. I'm like... dude - I'm a professional, you can use my online secure payment system. Anyways I hope this helps someone!