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Fraud alert – solicitation for production services
Good morning everyone from Washington DC.
I am seeing a steady rise in fraudulent solicitations for project work coming in via my website’s booking request form.
A recent event production services request for April came in from someone attached to this contact information:
Name: Raheem Farouq
Email Address: al***********************@***il.com
Phone: +971 (504) 718-0708
The email address is a live one, and I did have some back and forth with someone answering to this name and email address. Countries involved here may be UAE and/or Oman. I contacted trade-related staff at the UAE Embassy in Washington DC, and they have replied with “…We have received past inquiries similar to yours referencing the same gentleman and company. The company is real, but based in Oman. I am afraid the below is fraudulent and is a scam….”
Prior to hearing back from the embassy staff, I had decided to try advancing the booking request via a requested phone conversation, and the communications went dead as soon as I had sent off that message.
Red flags for me :
1. Emphasis on a fixed amount to be paid for services
2. Requirement that I book the facility for the event
3. Early request for my account information (‘for wire transfer’).Going forwards, my adjusted procedure with possible suspicious requests will be to move to a phone call phase earlier. I can thereby hopefully limit the time invested in email communications. Be careful everyone.
Grant.
Grant Peacock
Washington DC
GPI TV LLC -
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