Possible Nigerian client!

[Darius van H]

Ok, i know what you're all thinking - scammer

Did anyone else get a similar email to this one?:

Hello sir,

First of all, let me introduce myself, I am Mr XXXXXXXX and i
own a entertainment company/record label in my country Nigeria.

I am writing to inform you that i have gone through the pricelist on your
webpage for mastering tracks. I would like to know how these prices work
out for me (in terms of VAT) as I will be coming from outside the EU to do
the mastering for a few tracks.

I plan to arrive in The Netherlands on the XXXXX of June and will be there
for just a week. I would therefore appreciate a meeting with you on the
XXXXX of June to come over to the studio for the mastering of the tracks.

Thank you in advance and I hope to hear from you soon.

I asked if he could pay in advance, but he says it's not possible and can only pay cash on the day.

My gut feeling is to run a mile, but i'm sure there must be plenty of potential honest clients in a huge country like Nigeria.

Whaddayareckon?

[J-Man]

I would suggest going to the "Moan zone" and using search word "Nigeria". I think this will give you the answer you are looking for.

I say this because the letter you received looks quite familiar.

Cheers,

Jarkko

[Darius van H]

Originally Posted by J-Man

I would suggest going to the "Moan zone" and using search word "Nigeria". I think this will give you the answer you are looking for.

I say this because the letter you received looks quite familiar.

Cheers,

Jarkko

I went to the moan zone but couldn't find anything similar to this........could you point me in the right direction?

[Rick Hoekman]

Darius, I had the same letter.. It is a scam.

[Darius van H]

What's the scam?

[pmx]

they will ask you to send them money first 'to verify the address' for full payment. very weird, but apparently some people are that stupid.

[Darius van H]

Ok!

Well, he said he wanted to pay in cash on the day, so it's gonna be interesting to see how he tries to get his hands on my dosh.

[Paul Gold]

I would ask what the name of the label is. If there are legit releases you have your answer. Ask him to send a couple so you can be 'prepared' for the session.

I just did a project for a label that is doing reissues of Nigerian music. He hasn't had any problems. I think he has traveled there to make contacts though.

[UnderTow]

Originally Posted by Darius van H

Hello sir,

First of all, let me introduce myself, I am Mr Rafiu XXXXXXXX and i
own a entertainment company/record label in my country Nigeria.

I am writing to inform you that i have gone through the pricelist on your
webpage for mastering tracks. I would like to know how these prices work
out for me (in terms of VAT) as I will be coming from outside the EU to do
the mastering for a few tracks.

I plan to arrive in The Netherlands on the XXXXX of June and will be there
for just a week. I would therefore appreciate a meeting with you on the
XXXXX of June to come over to the studio for the mastering of the tracks.

Thank you in advance and I hope to hear from you soon.

Darius,

Is it usual for emails to contain absolutely no information about the music? (Style, number of tracks to be mastered, total length etc). The only thing mentioned in the email is money and not even a mention of the label's name. That would make me suspicious.

Well, he said he wanted to pay in cash on the day, so it's gonna be interesting to see how he tries to get his hands on my dosh.

I don't know about your cash but keep a baseball bat handy to protect your gear.

If I was you I would stand firm on your policy of foreign customers paying up front.

Alistair

[macc]

Congratulations!

You've officially made it.

[It'sJoeAgain]

Originally Posted by Darius van H

Well, he said he wanted to pay in cash on the day, so it's gonna be interesting to see how he tries to get his hands on my dosh.

He is baiting you Darius..he wants to know how far he can go with you. He'll never show up to your door step unless he knows you have accepted a check from him (that would be surprsising). His next move will be to tell you that he can't pay cash but will pay with a *certified* check which will be way over the agreed price so you can write another one for the difference. That difference is what he is after....Don't bother corresponding unless is for shits and giggles...

[Darius van H]

There's one sure way to find out if he's a scammer:

Offer to do the mastering for free..........if he's a scammer, i'll never hear from him again......if he's not a scammer, i'll have invested a couple of hours time and maybe have a future client and network in Nigeria!

So that's what i'm gonna do.

[UnderTow]

Is June typically a quiet month for you? ;-)

Alistair

[24-96 Mastering]

Originally Posted by Darius van H

There's one sure way to find out if he's a scammer:

Offer to do the mastering for free..........if he's a scammer, i'll never hear from him again......if he's not a scammer, i'll have invested a couple of hours time and maybe have a future client and network in Nigeria!

So that's what i'm gonna do.

Nice! What an ingenious idea.

[da goose]

I recently mastered an album from someone from Cameroon (traditional music) without to much problems, things went on slow and he had a LOT of questions but it worked out eventually. I think the CD was even promoted on some cameroon promo site. One of his questions was if i could also take care of the scores/printed music but i forwarded him to the producer for that.

I have about the same thoughts now about the 'opening' in that area of the world, could be interesting and not everything could be scam.
See how things work.. i was also pretty sceptic at first.

[Waltz Mastering]

Originally Posted by Darius van H

Offer to do the mastering for free..........if he's a scammer, i'll never hear from him again......

What if accepts the offer?

Maybe ask him some details about the project, sample rate and bit depth, instrumentation, platform he recorded on, etc.. and to send you a mix to check out.

[taturana]

Frankly, I have worked with many african clients over the years.. great people, great musicians,always pay on time.... but none of them came from the internet...

use caution.

[J-Man]

Originally Posted by Darius van H

I went to the moan zone but couldn't find anything similar to this........could you point me in the right direction?

Here's what caught my eye:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/moan-...g-scammed.html

[Rick Hoekman]

Originally Posted by Darius van H

What's the scam?

They will promise to pay for the session in advance but the cheque has to be 'cleared' for a ofcourse a fee. Due to 'TAX' reasons they ask if you will assist them. The amount is usually around $100..

[UnderTow]

Originally Posted by da goose

I recently mastered an album from someone from Cameroon (traditional music) without to much problems, things went on slow and he had a LOT of questions but it worked out eventually. I think the CD was even promoted on some cameroon promo site. One of his questions was if i could also take care of the scores/printed music but i forwarded him to the producer for that.

There is no issue with African clients in general as far as I am aware. The only problem is Nigerian "clients" with questionable payment constructs.

Alistair

[bobsandifer]

Originally Posted by UnderTow

There is no issue with African clients in general as far as I am aware. The only problem is Nigerian "clients" with questionable payment constructs.

Alistair

Im one for stringing them along. At some point they starting talking about God and how honest they are. Its great fun in the evenings. I even had one ask after I busted him to send me a price list for cell phones in the US and would I be interested in buying them to sale to him. This stuff is great.

However, I also got a strange email from some guy in Russia with some odd request. He is still a client with me.

[Greg Reierson]

I worked with a Nigerian client last year. Besides a few impossible to understand phone conversations (bad connections) and her lack of high speed internet, it all worked out fine.

I agree with the other posters who suggest looking for this particular client or label on line.


GR

[Lagerfeldt]

Originally Posted by TrackZero

They will promise to pay for the session in advance but the cheque has to be 'cleared' for a ofcourse a fee. Due to 'TAX' reasons they ask if you will assist them. The amount is usually around $100..

More likely it's just a variation of this Advance-fee fraud - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Darius van H]

Ok, i'm not going to do the mastering for free........that was a silly idea, 'cause he'll probably take me up on it, then scam me on the second visit, so i'll end up getting scammed twice LOL!

He's got a website under construction - i googled it but came up with nothing (so nothing scam-related)

He already sent me a track to check out - interesting music - some kind of african dance pop.

He asked me if i could accept fruity loops files.

I'm just going to politely answer his emails and see where this goes.

[commaKaze]

Originally Posted by Darius van H

Hello sir,

First of all, let me introduce myself, I am Mr Rafiu XXXXXXXX and i
own a entertainment company/record label in my country Nigeria.

I am writing to inform you that i have gone through the pricelist on your
webpage for mastering tracks. I would like to know how these prices work
out for me (in terms of VAT) as I will be coming from outside the EU to do
the mastering for a few tracks.

I plan to arrive in The Netherlands on the XXXXX of June and will be there
for just a week. I would therefore appreciate a meeting with you on the
XXXXX of June to come over to the studio for the mastering of the tracks.

Thank you in advance and I hope to hear from you soon.

I asked if he could pay in advance, but he says it's not possible and can only pay cash on the day.

My gut feeling is to run a mile, but i'm sure there must be plenty of potential honest clients in a huge country like Nigeria.

Whaddayareckon?

the language is of the scam sort no doubt i.e. "first of all hello to you fine sir allow me to introduce myself," it's %100 illegit...run! don't even waste time, unless you'd have a laugh playin' it out w/ him for kicks...

scam/run

[Darius van H]

Originally Posted by commaKaze

the language is of the scam sort no doubt i.e. "first of all hello to you fine sir," it's %100 illegit...run! don't even waste time, unless you'd have a laugh playin' it out w/ him for kicks...

scam/run

I'm not sure about that - maybe that's just the way people normally address each other business-2-business in Nigeria......'cause we've only seen the scam mails, we connect that kind of language to scamming, but it ain't necessarily so.

Maybe this is my big break! - maybe you'll all see me on the Discovery channel shipping my studio to Abuja?!

[It'sJoeAgain]

Originally Posted by Darius van H

Maybe this is my big break! - maybe you'll all see me on the Discovery channel shipping my studio to Abuja?!

Hey u never know...maybe they'll even fly you to the Nigerian Scam Awards?? ..

[OurDarkness]

In fact, I am correspponding with one such person. I am driving him mad and I enjoy it...

[Statesman]

Originally Posted by macc

Congratulations!

You've officially made it.

Nice

[lerone]

Originally Posted by It'sJoeAgain

He is baiting you Darius..he wants to know how far he can go with you. He'll never show up to your door step unless he knows you have accepted a check from him (that would be surprsising). His next move will be to tell you that he can't pay cash but will pay with a *certified* check which will be way over the agreed price so you can write another one for the difference. That difference is what he is after....Don't bother corresponding unless is for shits and giggles...

Get him to come in.....and hold the ****er up with a sawn-off, and 'scam him' of his passport, money & whatever else he has. Might think twice about trying to scam people off then. This is obviously at the more extreme end of the reaction scale though .