Scammed!

“Did you get stood up?” A stranger asked me as he passed.

“Actually, yeah. I think I did,” I replied bewildered and shivering in the light coat I regretted wearing instead of my big winter option. Back at home, I reasoned that I was only walking from my truck to the venue for half a block–it didn’t seem worth it to bulk up for temporary discomfort.

A client reached out to me back in early November about shooting their class reunion at The Transept at 6 PM on today’s date. By 6:20PM, I found myself photographing both my watch and the venue as proof of integrity. The inside was dark. No sign of life. Had it been canceled due to snow? Had it moved and no one told me? I wanted to give it 20 minutes before giving up and going home, and this photo was evidence that I was, indeed, there at the date and time if they later accused me of no-showing.

With numb fingers, I hammered out an email explaining that I was here despite there being no event, and that I’d given it a reasonable amount of time before leaving. Deep down, I wanted to give them a piece of my mind for ruining my Sunday night this way, but I kept it professional. Cincinnati is a small market, and burning any bridge can lead to disaster.

After I got home, I sent a text to the friend who referred the client to me. Long story short, I’d been scammed. There never was an event or real client. After reviewing the email exchange, it became obvious. I felt incredibly stupid for a few hours, but I was overall thankful that I hadn’t lost any money in the process. It was the least painful hard lesson that I could’ve learned. I was also relieved that it wasn’t just a bad person who canceled an event and didn’t tell me.

I didn’t give them my bank information for a deposit like they requested, I didn’t pass up other work to do this, and the only real loss involved paying to park and standing outside for a half hour in a light jacket in 10ºF weather. Now that I know I can be scammed, I will be more vigilant in the future.

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