Attention Bands : Theres a new scam going around BEWARE!

[todd17063]

we got the same e-mail for a gig in Newtown. we caught on after recieving 3 times the amount we wanted. So i googled his email address and found out it was a scam. I proceded to email him back saying we weren't available and that i would be turning the checks over to the police. I also to the rat bastard to keep looking over his shoulder for any musician with a ball bat ready to beat his skull in.

[bassist_25]

spelled bank wrong .. ya it said BANC

Classic.

[Feelgood]

So, let me see if I understand this. It's apparent that there was never a real 'gig' for you to play. And you have a scam artist's money in an account that he can't touch (unless you do a Western Union wire transfer). And if you kept the money, the only thing he can do is come over from India (or Latvia or wherever he is) and attempt to hunt you down based on your address???

If these guys make a living scamming people, then there should be no problem returning the favor and keeping this money. Normally my conscience would get to me afterwards, but in this case, I don't think it would bother me keeping money that didn't belong to me since it was from a criminal who deserved it even less!

The money orders are fake. You really don't receive any legit money.

[Killjingle]

lol. We got one too.

The Embalmed at someones wedding would have been free of charge!

[moxham123]

We got the Rod Hooper email too. They were sent through Rockpage contacts; so, somebody was obviously looking here for bands to scam. I noticed how vague the information was too. There was no phone number, address, etc. and seemed highly suspicious. If somebody is legit, they normally provide proper contact information, location, etc. as well as provide the name of the person who referred them to you. The wedding was to be at a banquet facility in Newtown, PA at an address he gave in the email that does high end events; so, they were using a reputable wedding business site to appear as if they were for real but he did not give the actual site name. I found that on my own.

Whoever found all us bands on this site probably reads the forums too.

Looks like they are not only attempting a very sophisticated money laundering scam using innocent people in the middle of the transaction, they could potentially get people's personal banking information if you send any funds back to them on personal checks.

You might want to notify the place that they are using as the event site since I would bet they have no idea this is happening.

[Trucula]

Did it look like this? When I got this I was like"what the hell,we're not a tribute band",haha.It looked kinda "wrong" so I just ignored it.

From: Rod Hooper <rod21239>
Subject: PA GIG!
Date: Wednesday, December 31, 2008, 11:59 AM

Hello

I am writing to invite you to my wedding as a band, the party is going to be hold in Newtown, PA.

The date of the party is 01/31/09, and you will be performing in the presence of 150 guests. And after then, I’ll be celebrating my birthday on 02/07/09, and I’ll like to know if your band is available to come and perform on those days.

The gig will be an indoor event, and it’s going to be in the evening, the gig will start at 7:PM and your band will start to perform as from 7:30PM, if your band know of any comedian or magician around, I’ll like you to come with one, and include his performance fee.

Less I forget, I’ll like to know the amount it’s going to cost to have your band on that day, I was told about your band by a friend of mine, he’ll be at the venue on the show day, and you’ll be able to thank him for spreading good news about your band.

This is just what I think I should let you know about the gig, and feel free to ask me any other question you may have

I’ll wait to read from you as soon as you receive this mail, so that we’ll proceed with what to do next.



Here’s the venue address,

861 Newtown-Yardley Road
Newtown, PA

Do include your phone numbers in the next mail, and the amount it’s going to cost me to have your band on that day.



Happy New Year in Advance,



Rod.

Post Script: I am aware you are a tribute band, and that’s what I want for my wedding.

I got the same email...still have it and never replied to it....I first thought Ok cool Newton, Pa. (thinking Newton Hamilton)....I was like well we could do the one date...so when I went to reply I saw Newton, Pa. and a different Zip code....I searched and saw it was near Scranton and thought...How many bands did they pass up to get us???...Has to be more allot closer than us so I never answered....

If there's money involved there is a crook somewhere...LOL Nice try though!!

[moxham123]

I hope there are not 100 bands all showing up thinking they are going to perform for a wedding on January 31st in Newtown.

[Trucula]

The Embalmed at someones wedding would have been free of charge!

Pencil me in!!...If I ever get brave enough to do it again!!!

Do you do divorces too???

Thats when the real party begins and I could use the gifts since she took everything!!

[felix'apprentice]

I hope there are not 100 bands all showing up thinking they are going to perform for a wedding on January 31st in Newtown.

im sorry, but that would be hilarious. thats prob mean of me to say, but id laugh.

- kayla

[REDillon]

I received the SAME email from this "Rod" dude. I told him also that we couldn't play those dates, either and that we weren't a tribute band, we're a cover band. Idiot. Know the difference, slurpy man!

The next day I received another email asking for the the price of our shirts and CD's and crap. I didn't bother replying and as I see, I'm glad I didn't.

Is there a way to turn these "business men" in?

[DrumAndDestroy]

I hope there are not 100 bands all showing up thinking they are going to perform for a wedding on January 31st in Newtown.

im sorry, but that would be hilarious. thats prob mean of me to say, but id laugh.

- kayla

i agree.

this is why i like punk rock. you get paid after you play. no bullshit.

[moxham123]

I hope there are not 100 bands all showing up thinking they are going to perform for a wedding on January 31st in Newtown.

im sorry, but that would be hilarious. thats prob mean of me to say, but id laugh.

- kayla

Does this sound like a movie plot? All these bands pull up at the same time to play and find out they were scammed and then hunt down the scumbag and beat him with their mic stands.

[felix'apprentice]

I hope there are not 100 bands all showing up thinking they are going to perform for a wedding on January 31st in Newtown.

im sorry, but that would be hilarious. thats prob mean of me to say, but id laugh.

- kayla

Does this sound like a movie plot? All these bands pull up at the same time to play and find out they were scammed and then hunt down the scumbag and beat him with their mic stands.

sounds like a damn good movie to me, when do we start filming?

[JackANSI]

I'd also get in touch with your bank and let them know the situation.

[VENTGtr]

I hope there are not 100 bands all showing up thinking
they are going to perform for a wedding on January 31st in Newtown.

If they do, SOMEONE will be getting married...not to mention, once everyone
got over bein' cheesed...it'd be the best weekend ever. Might be worth a drive
down to see!

[JayBird]

Wow...do any of you watch Dateline? They just recently did a story on this. Actually, for the past few years, at least once a year one of these type programs run a fraud special. The FBI actually has been tracking a whole electronic trail overseas with help of foreign Gov't to try and nab these crooks.

[soundman8199]

I had posted some used items from my store on craigslist back in october. I had received an email on one of the items. The "From" line in the email said Kelly Racheal but it was signed Jenny. But i didn't think anything of it at that time. I replied back to her & answered her questions on the item. Then she replies back to request me to take my post down off craigslist & the she will be sending me a check, but she needed my full name, mailing address & phone number. Being the owner of a business i don't mind giving that information out. Then she said she will have her mover come over & pick the item up as soon as i cash the check.

So i wrote back to her & told her i don't accept checks, but i will accept a postal money order. I asked her to give me her first & last name along with the first & last name of the person who will picking the item up.

The next email i got from her said the payment was sent out & that her shipping agent is coming over. (First it was a mover now it's a shipping agent.) I knew something was up but i decided i can play this game too. Then the email proceeds to say that when the shipping agent gets here i need to pay him for picking the item up

I replied to her again telling her i will not the item out of the store until i had her first & last name along with the first & last name of the person picking it up. I also told her that the person picking the item up did not work for me so i did not have to pay him anything, that was her responsibility. I then told her once i receive the money order she will have 2 business days to pick the item up or will lose the money. I never had a reply back or got the money order.

I printed all these emails, if anybody wants to read them you can come into the store & i'll show them to you.

Then in december i was watching the 700 Club & there was a story about someone in the middle of a craigslist scam. So i found the story & i would like to share it with everyone.

http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/495648.aspx

Just be careful when selling things or booking shows over the internet.

[DickShackBass]

This scam has been going on for a few years now. I was the assistant manager at a credit union for a few years, we had seminars about this type of scam, as well as had variations of this happen to our members of our credit union.
I am suprised your bank took the money orders. Where I worked we no longer accept foreign Money Orders (even though scams happen in the US as well).
I would definitely call your bank though and tell them what has happened. They will be more willing to work with you if you keep them informed of what is going on before they get the MO back as fraud.
Unfortunately, more than likely, you are liable for this. We took a few people to court who were scammed in things like this, its a shame because they didnt realize they were getting duped like this, but we held them accountable for anything that they deposited into their accounts.

Good luck.

[assault-method]

Hmmm, i recieved an email asking us to play a birthday party in Philly,

Hello Friend,
I am writing to invite your band to come and perform in my birthday party on 02/28 and if you are not available on that day, it can still be done on the next day which is Sunday 03/01. let me know if your band is available on any of those days, and I’ll like you to email me the numbers I can reach you at.

The gig will be hold in Phily,PA.

I’ll appreciate your response as soon as you receive this message.

Regards,

Rod.

Definite scam.


i am glad you guys cuaght this. we have been talking to him
but he won't give us any info on the show, i was asking him about sound and everything else. he never awnsered our questions.
im glad you guys are smart we told him we would take the show.
not now though. thanx every one
assault method

[Asundor]

YOU KNOW THAT'S FUNNY. I RECIEVED SOMETHING THE OTHER DAY IN MY E-MAIL FROM A GUY. THIS IS WHAT WAS SAID. I NEVER REPLIED BACK TO IT CAUSE I ACTUALLY THOUGHT IT WAS KINDA WEIRD AS WELL THAT THERE WAS AN ADDRESS BUT NO PHONE NUMBER.

Hello

I am writing to invite you to my wedding as a band, the party is going to be hold in Newtown, PA.

The date of the party is 01/31/09, and you will be performing in the presence of 150 guests. And after then, I’ll be celebrating my birthday on 02/07/09, and I’ll like to know if your band is available to come and perform on those days.

The gig will be an indoor event, and it’s going to be in the evening, the gig will start at 7:PM and your band will start to perform as from 7:30PM, if your band know of any comedian or magician around, I’ll like you to come with one, and include his performance fee.

Less I forget, I’ll like to know the amount it’s going to cost to have your band on that day, I was told about your band by a friend of mine, he’ll be at the venue on the show day, and you’ll be able to thank him for spreading good news about your band.

This is just what I think I should let you know about the gig, and feel free to ask me any other question you may have

I’ll wait to read from you as soon as you receive this mail, so that we’ll proceed with what to do next.



Here’s the venue address,

861 Newtown-Yardley Road
Newtown, PA

Do include your phone numbers in the next mail, and the amount it’s going to cost me to have your band on that day.



Happy New Year in Advance,



Rod.

Post Script: I am aware you are a tribute band, and that’s what I want for my wedding.

[hitman18]

Hair Force One got the same email about the newton PA gig.

[BloodyFingers]

I got email from something I put on Craigs List too. Same as above.

[Jason_of_soundrive]

This is weird. I got the same email too.

Today someone else (or maybe the same guy?) tried to scam me on the phone. Watch out for someone saying they are from "Hitt Music Group." They try to get you to commit 400 or so dollars up front... the guy talked to me on the phone for like 20 minutes trying to convince me. It's creepy and a scam. I kept asking him what his company did and his responses were all B.S.... when that failed he just tried to intimadate me into it. Very weird.

[floodcitybrass]

Yep I got the philly email too. I didnt respond.

Its best not to post your email address on public web pages.

This page shows all of ours.
http://www.rockpage.net/bands/portal.php

I'm not complaining about rp. Its in the privacy policy/terms of use.
However, if rp wanted to get rid of that page, I would have no problem with that. I'd rather have a contact form.

Our band web page has no email addresses listed on it. It just has a phone number and a question form.


The way these things work is kinda neat. A person runs a web crawler looking for pages with lists of email addresses. Once it finds a page of email addresses, it looks at key words on the pages and tries to figure what everyone's shared interest is. It then categorizes list of emails (for example the rockpage emails) as "music." It then looks and tries to find out where everyone is located using hings on the pages such as "All times are Eastern Standard Time" and "local and regional music community here in Pa." So then it sends a precanned email address out to us.

If you respond to the email, then they know your email is valid, that you read it, etc. The rest is history.

Its a bunch of bullshit. Unfortunately alot of these scams are overseas.

[mikers85]

we got this too! we thought it looked suspicious, thanks for posting saving time from being wasted trying to figure out its legitimacy