I had at least two scammers after me in 2005, then seven more between 2016 and 2018 with Victor Smith, Michelle Dormanen, Albert Spencer, Anthony Martinex, Richard Matt and Peter Tetteh. This chapter was the first time our e-mails, SMSs and phone conversations were in French. Lisez cette page en français.

On March 18th 2021 I applied for a job as a photographer on an employment web site. On March 24th I received this SMS from the phone number 07 56 98 65 65, a few days later the con artist was using 07 55 12 26 66:

Good evening You have applied for the position of professional photographer with our services on the site of our partners. If you are still looking for work, please send us your cover letter to our recruiter for more details: fullframeproduction@europe.com Sincerely, FULL FRAME

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I sent my cover letter & résumé and in return I received this response with several grammar and spelling errors, higlighted in blue (they’re impossible to reproduce here unless you can read French and look over the original text):

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Wednesday March 17th 2021

From: FULL FRAME <fullframeproduction@europe.com>

Good evening

We have just learned of your application, regarding the position of PHOTOGRAPHER M/F. You will sign a CDD or CDI contract depending on your availability.

Main missions of the position to be filled:

Under the direction of PHOTOGRAPHE M/F,

The photographer is an image professional. He is able to take pictures in the domains of fashion, marriage, news, landscape… He is above creative. However, he can devote a large part of his activity to marketing photos and prospecting for new clients.

Type of contract: CDD or CDI.

Employer: FULL FRAME

You work 05 working days in the week (which you choose yourself) from 10:30 am to 5:30 pm in the evening. You have an hour’s break in the afternoon. The remuneration will be €1,832 net/month.

On the day of signing the contract, you will be invited for a professional model shoot. Our team will fournnish the appropriate equipment necessary for a photo shoot (a Nikon 14-30mm + Z6) before signing the contract to judge of your skills on the day of signing the employment contract.

The first role of the photographer is to adapt to the evolution of both photographic and computer equipment, then carry out all the necessary retouching work thanks to his mastery of the computers, which is why the equipment will be made available to you.

QUESTIONNAIRE

Name: Henry
First name: David
Full address: 35 rue des Trois Bornes, Paris
Postal code: 75011
Mobile phone numbers: 06 33 65 51 19
Age: 58 years old

PS: Please answer the questions

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Hello,

It will be a pleasure to participate in an interview and a test shoot! I have been using Nikon digital SLRs since 2008 so I figure I’ll quickly understand the Nikon Z6. I wrote my answers to your questions at the end of this message…

All the best,
David Henry

So far so good, he’s writing about photography, the job, hiring, work conditions, the appointment and hasn’t written about money, aside from the salary. The only thing I didn’t like is the “marketing activity” because I’m a photographer, not a salesman. On the other hand, a 14–30 mm zoom isn’t really used for photos of models and portraits, for fashion pictures photographers prefer to zoom beyond 70 mm.

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Re: Photographer David Henry

From: FULL FRAME fullframeproduction@europe.com
Date: Fri, Mar 19, 2021 1:46 pm

Good evening

After carefully reviewwing your profile, your application will be accepted if you meet the conditions.

You will benefit from rights and advantages granted to employees working for FULL FRAME. We will send you an invitation that you will receive no later than Thursday April 1, 2021 at your address.

You will arrive on Friday April 02, 2021 at 3:00 pm for a job interview which will entitle you to:

- signing of the employment contract

- a promise of employment issued to you

- the work badge which gives you access to the stand and the reserves of our company.

The work is scheduled to start on Tuesday April 06, 2021. You will be declared as an employee with FULL FRAME.

You will receive an invitation which specifies where you will be working.

Before starting, you will have to photograph the manequins in ourstudio to be sure of your skill in the domain. To doo this, a Nikon Z6 + 14-30mm f/4.0 S will be provided to determine your skills as a photographer.

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS:

The camera is intended for all trials and texte when you are hired as a photographer with our services, it will be delivered to you by a supplier which gives you the time necessary to understand the camera better. You will receive from our team a check for 2,000€, you will retain 200€ to compensate your financial expenses and you will send the remaining sum, i.e. 1,800€ to our supplier to allow them to deliver the camera to your address. After receiving your invitation, you must arrive with this camera so we can ascertain your skills and choose for you the job position to be filled.

PS: Please reply to this email so our director of human resources can call you and provide more details.

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Hello,

It will be a pleasure to come by on Friday April 2nd for the interview and the test photography session, I prefer the afternoon for talking on the phone…

Yours truly,
David

Receive a free Nikon Z6, why not, it is much better than my D600 which is already very good. On the other hand, the discussion between €200, €2,000 and €1,800, the check that must be cashed in order to then send funds, are the classic signs of a scam. Another sign is that he sent me e-mails me at 11:00 pm or midnight, no one in a company works that late. As soon as I saw this I compiled all of our e-mails and SMSs to make this web page.

Beyond that, if you search Google for two sentences in his first e-mail of March 17, “We have just read your job application, regarding the position of PHOTOGRAPHER M/F. You will sign a CDD or CDI contract depending on your availability.” almost the all of the first page of search results contains stories about scamming attempts.

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Good evening

We want you to understand that the Nikon Z6 + 14-30mm f/4.0 S camera is just a model that we reserve just for the job intervieww to text your skills.

What is the name of the bank where you have your account…...............?

You will be contacted tomorrow around 1:00 pm.

If that time suits you, llet us knoww.

Sincerely, FULL FRAME.

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Hello,

There’s no problem with the camera, I have a Nikon D600 which is therefore pretty much the same except that it has an optical viewfinder and not a digital viewfinder like the Z6.

My account is with La Banque Postale.

See you tomorrow,
David

With this message he becomes much more interested in my bank…

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With the Banque Postale, do you have a current account or a Livret A?

We await for your answer.

Sincerely, FULL FRAME

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I have both at the Banque Postale…

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Sunday March 21st 2021

Good evening

Our supplier is giving us a discount on the price on the camera because we have ordered so many, we will send you a check for 1,500€ and you will benefit from 200€ for your financial transactions, then once the check is credited to your checking account, you will send 1300 € to allow our supplier to deliver the camera to your address.

Note that you must deposit the check in the current account so that it is credited as soon as possible.

Thanks for understanding.

Whatt are your availabilitys on Monday to allow our service to contact you?

We hope to read you again soon.

Sincerely, FULL FRAME

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Hello,

I don’t need to buy a camera, I like my Nikon D600, but if the Nikon Z6 would be given to me, I’ll gladly accept the gift!

I am available tomorrow until 1:00 pm…

Yours,
David

The price of a Nikon Z6 at €1,300 is highly suspect because this camera sells for €2,600 new with the 14–30 mm zoom lens.

Bingo! Jackpot! Victory!

On March 23rd 2021 I found an envelope with a check for €1,500 in my mailbox

Friday March 26th 2021

The scammer called me to ask if I saw the check credited to my bank account. I said yes and he told me an impossible story of how I have to go to a tobacconist with my bank card and buy PCS coupons:

Hello, you will go to a tobacconist with your credit card and you will say that you want to purchase PCS coupons of 250 euros and you buy 5 PCS tickets of 250 euros thank you

He called me after to confirm his instructions and I said I couldn’t do it that day, I had appointments and I would go to the tobacconist the next day.

He took a rather harsh tone and said “No sir, you have to do it right away, it takes five minutes in a tobacconist shop”.

I went to a branch or the Banque Populaire Bred and asked a woman if she could verify the check. She asked if I have an account with them, I said no and she said “We don’t give out information”. I asked if there was any point in discussing it with the police and she said “You can speak with the police…”

An hour later the scammer called me to ask if I had bought the PCS tickets. I told him “No I can’t, I’m busy, I have appointments, I’ll do it tomorrow.” That made him take on a very angry tone saying once again, No, you have to do it now, today!

Saturday March 27, 2021

The scammer called me at 9:00 am, I didn’t answer because I’m not much of a morning person on weekends when I don’t have an appointment, especially when it concerns to speaking with a scammer. He called back at 11:12 am and this time I had the foresight to record the conversation, click on the triangle to listen:

Hello, I am calling you to find out why you’re not answering.
Pardon?
I am calling you since you are not answering the phone.
Yes, I was busy.
Okay, have you already paid for the tickets?
I’ll do that around 2:00 pm
Sorry?
I’ll do it around 2:00 pm
That’s rubbish. You’re kidding me, right?
Uh no.
You’re kidding me?
Uh no.

Then there was a message in German I believe, another in French, “Your call is on hold”, which means he hung up.

The scammer called me back at 4:14 pm

Unfortunately I was outside and didn’t think of turning on my phone’s loudspeaker right away.

Have you purchased the PCS coupons?
Oh yes, I bought the tickets, the PCS coupons
How many did you buy?
You said five…
Do you have the ticket?
Five tickets, yes.
Okay, give me the numbers.
I don’t have them on me.
Sorry?
I don’t have the tickets with me.
Pardon?
I left them in my apartment, I’m outside
Excuse me?
I left the tickets at my house, I went out.
In your mother's ass is that it?
Pardon? (it was noisy enough I didn’t understand “IYMA”)
You left the tickets in your mother's ass, right?
I left them at my house and went out.
Sorry?
I left the tickets in my apartment and went out, I’m outside.
Whatever, come on, go fuck yourself.

In retrospect I realize that I should have bought five PCS coupons for one euro each so I could read off the coupon numbers and piss off the scammer so royally, realizing that I hadn’t fallen for his stupid scam.

The scammer sent me an SMS five minutes later:

Hello, since you preferrred to keep the money I will have to put a block on the check for the reason of a stolllen check and your account will be overddrawn and Monday morning I will file a complaint against you with the gendarmerie thank you.

I’m laughing out loud, go ahead, do me…

Son of a bitch