We are discussing online web design scams in the age of Coronavirus-19 today. Many online scams are being perpetrated against web design companies, programmers, content writers, and logo designers. However, it doesn’t end there. These corrupt people have designed schemes for most small businesses all online.
These “scum” will contact you by email, disguising themselves as a potential client. These web design scammers will then ask for a proposal. But they will not provide their company name, phone number, or any pertinent information that you could use to identify them completely.
The next step if you fall for this nonsense is the following:
They will request a design proposal to be developed. Once you send it to the address, they will now email back offering to send an amount above and beyond what you asked. They will tell you to send the difference to their content writer and logo individual.
But again, they will not provide the name of either. The trick is to get your banking wire transfer. They are claiming their associates can’t take normal credit cards. This is a huge scam and several of our design associates have received their emails.
Never offer a “wire transfer” number to strangers:
Know ahead of time that you should never ever offer a proposal that asks for any bank wire transfer. This allows these web design thieves to get directly into your bank account and rob you. Never deal with anyone who will not provide personal information. A first and last name, a phone number, the name of their company, their domain name, a URL, etc.
Let clients know you prefer to deal by phone as well as email and even a Facetime call may be needed. Ask them where they are emailing from, where did they hear about your company and any other information that will help to identify the scam. You can use this information when reporting it to the police.
What to look for (red flags) if you suspect a scam?
- An inquiry by email from a startup company
- They inquire if you are the company owner
- An inquiry from a company outside the USA asking for prices
- Not enough information is in the inquiry, no phone number, etc.
- The scammer asks if you accept credit card payments
- Scammer email suggests a budget range
- They use poor grammar and punctuation
- You cannot get any response for direct questions
- You cannot find out any personal information
- The fraudster may ask you to send money by Western Union
- The fraudster may ask for your wire transfer info (beware)
Scams … what next?
Today we are all dealing with a lot. We are dealing with a virus that is completely invisible. It can harm any of us, but mainly the elderly. We are constantly worried about this and many of us have been trapped working in our home office for the past two months. On top of this, we are now experiencing looters in our streets, disguised as protestors and now online scams.
All of this can cause depression or worse. We urge each of you to stay safe, eat healthily, go for walks. Do your best to stay positive, not only for yourself but for your family as well. We pray that all of this will pass soon and we will finally have some semblance of normalcy again. Our team of designers is here to talk anytime with our fellow associates.
Hearing from other business owners and sharing experiences can offer a bit of hope. We are all in this together and should stick together to guide us through this new world we find ourselves in right now.
Thanks for stopping by and reading our newsworthy post today.
