Funny Scammer

There'a a similar scam in use that targets photographers.

I have received several e-mails from people, always from overseas, but
often from countries where english is the native language. The poor
english is usually a dead give-away that it's a scam. The people do
their homework though. They claim to be traveling to my area to have
an important family event (anniversary, graduation, birthday), and
usually even give me a real location for the event ( a genuine school,
or event hall, church, etc.) that is near me. The plans are always
last minute (the event is usually less than a month away), and they
want to send me a cheque or bank draft (usually claiming that price is
not an object because of the late date and the importance of the event
to them) for my FULL FEE. They just want "all of my details" (some
have even been so bold as to request my bank information so they can
make a "direct deposit") so they can forward whatever amount I want
right away.

Of course if the photographer (many photogs have been burned in this
way) replies, they might have begun the process of have having their
identity stolen, or they might receive the financial instrument as
promised. Of course the event will be cancelled, and a refund will be
requested in short order ... and if the photographer is naive enough
to send a refund right away ... TOASTED (the original instrument is a
forgery, or stolen), even if they have a policy of keeping some small
amount as a non-refundable deposit.

The Spanish Prisoner (sort of ... the movie of the same name is really
pretty good if you haven't seen it!) ... most photographers aren't
used to being paid in full ahead of time, but it surprises me to read
that this thing is still working today on some shooters ... greed is a
powerful weapon.