I was supposed to photograph a wedding today...

Today I was supposed to photograph a wedding, but I’m not going. I’m not going because it’s a fake.

A month ago I had a groom found me on Wedding Wire and asked me to photograph his wedding on October 20. It was such short notice to book a wedding, I felt sorry for the guy. I slipped into emergency/priority mode and juggled some things around in my schedule to make myself available for their Greenville wedding. This client wasn’t the nicest in the world, but I was willing to overlook his pushiness and rudeness to help him out. He didn’t even send the right amount of money to me. He said his "financial manager" wrote the check for my services AND the band’s services. Too bad my groom was living in London at the time and his financial manager had just left for vacation. I was the only one who could solve the problem. His band wouldn’t even book the date until they had their money. SO I did what any business woman would do, I took care of my client. I took care of him to the point that I deposited his counterfeit check(I didn't know it at was fake) and wired his band the $2,500 they needed to reserve the wedding date. I only realized that this was a scam when it was too late…

How he got me:

1. I had asked many people, including my teller, “when does my check actually clear the bank?” everyone said it’ll clear by the next day. When the check cleared I was confident my client was honest with me so I proceeded with sending his band the money.

WRONG: The funds are available the next day, but that doesn’t mean the check has gone back to the original bank. It took a whole week for the check to show up as a returned item(FAKE) This means I sent the band $2,500 of my own money.

2. He was pushy and rude and always rushing me. I had text messages coming in at 3am in the morning and emails asking me “can I trust you with my money?” Of course you can trust me with your money! I’m an honest person and I would never do anything to compromise my business.

His doubt in me made me want to prove myself as soon as I could. His pushiness made me want to get this situation finalized at any cost, it even made me overlook the warning signs. He was so pushy because he has a very specific timeline of when he can get his money. If my check showed up counterfeit before I sent the money, he’d be at a loss.

3. He had his band contacting me an excessive amount, giving me unreasonable deadlines to get their money to them.

Turns out his band was a fake, it was him all along.

4. Did I mention I was packing up and moving my whole home the day all of this happened. As I was handling this situation, Jeff and I were getting the moving truck and loading all the boxes. I was stressed enough as it was. Once again I did what I needed to do to finalize the situation so I could pack up my home!

5. I was just flat out unaware that this type of scam could happen. It all seemed so real and I hadn’t heard any stories like this before.

Please don’t let this happen to you or people you know. Help them know the warning signs of FRAUD.

1. Someone contacting you over the internet

2. Sending you more money than is required

3. Anything dealing with Western Union or a money transfer. Stop right there.

4. Watch for these signs: rude, pushy, foreign, a quick deadline, “can I trust you?”

5. This person is a stranger, no matter what other details they tell you

6. They resist meeting you or have only called from a blocked number

7. They tend to target young adults and older people

I’ve spoken to many police officers, my Suntrust bank tellers, and Western Union. They were all aware of this fraud stuff. “It happens every day,” they told me. That’s quite disheartening and they said there’s nothing I can do about it now. The police department wouldn’t even take all the evidence I had(emails, phone numbers, etc.) to investigate the case. So really . . . what can I do now? I can provide you with the tools to be aware and avoid being a victim of fraud.

I’ve learned a lot from this situation. Look back at my last blog “The Situation,” I wrote this two days before I was officially scammed. To read more about what I’ve learned go HERE.

Thank you for taking the time to read. Please share this blog or info with your friends and family. Help them know the warning signs. If you know a photographer or wedding vendor, help them become aware of this new trend. Many police officers I talked to were surprised at all the detail that was involved in this scam. They had never heard about this happening to a photographer. Unfortunately, we are a new target for them.