How to Spot a Fraudster
Hodge, Crusader for Justice, has given me kind permission to post this very interesting list of tips for spotting the bad guys, the scammers, the big promise – little delivery types who waste your time and weasel your money.
It’s just plain good advice for anyone who doesn’t want to lose their shirt to a huckster…
Common Features of a Fraudster
* Dictator
* Promiser
* Bearer of gifts
* Charmer
* Entertainer
* Never there
* Excessively secretive
* Permanently short of money
* Living beyond their means
* High roller
* Bad business record
* Imply victim is stupid if asks explanation of anomalies in fraudster’s patter
* Manipulative
* Psychopath
* Believe themselves to be a victim of conspiracy
Key tips to managing a Fraud
* Manage problem
* be decisive
* Have an action plan
* What do you want to achieve?
* money?
* Identification of culprit(s)?
* Zero tolerance policy?
* Publicity?
* Principle?
* Call any advisors you have early
* Gather evidence
* bottom out problem / black hole
* Asset search
* Injunction
* Stamina
* Reality check on expectations
* The money is rarely found overnight
* Expect endless/pointless delays
* Often late instruction of lawyer / change of lawyer
DON’T
* Bury head in sand
* Sit on the problem
* think it will go away
* think it won’t get worse
* Be emotional
I’m looking at the first list, and hanging my head in shame. Yep. I have dealt with people who fit almost every single item on it. It’s like some kind of amazing light going off…entertainer, promiser, dictator, bearer of gifts, short of money, bad business record, living beyond means, high roller…etc.
Gasp! I could paint that portrait!
And I hang my head even deeper in shame because I am the person who sits on the problem, hopes it goes away, and hopes it won’t get worse.
Oh, dear.
I simply must be more assertive.
This might be a good list for you to print out and keep on hand. There are so many people around the art and entertainment bizz with big promises, weenie little payoffs, and gargantuan ripoffs.
Don’t get charmed, don’t get dazzled by connections, don’t assume a list of credits means much. Unauthorized pop culture books and small press publications are often meaningless in terms of professional reputation and connections.
Just because someone wrote about JK Rowling doesn’t mean JK Rowling knows them, approves of them, has worked with them, cares about them, or wants aspiring creators to sign a contract with them.
Beware geeks bearing gifts. I don’t know what it is about that particular trait, but almost every fraudster I have ever encountered has been excessively and inappropriately chummy and giving right from the beginning. Like, with actual presents. In one case, amusingly enough, a present which had been bought with a canceled check.
If someone comes to you claiming to “represent” a list of luminaries, do yourself a favor. Check it out. It’s not hard.
If you want to know a person’s record with a pro you respect, most pros will be happy to tell you if they actually know someone or not, and if they can recommend that you work with them. If they can’t, their agent can tell you, and sometimes it is much easier to contact an agent than it is to contact a creator.
Don’t hesitate to check up on name droppers. Access is currency, and people will claim friendships and working relationships on the flimsiest of acquaintances. Worse yet, friends of pros who have an itch of avarice will try to weasel their way into gigs and connections by claiming the pro friend is “working with” them on a project.
“It’s nice that you claim you’ve known that pro friend of yours for so many years. Now, does that pro friend know how you are representing yourself to others?”
CHECK IT OUT.
Do not believe photos on a blog. Anyone can pop into a photo with a person and snap a shot.
Do not assume that someone is telling the truth when they say they “work with” someone. Do not assume that credits in a book are proof of that, either. An agent can sell rights to a story or article or picture without the people involved ever having any contact.
A person claiming to be an “art agent” can simply buy stuff from an artist and resell it for any price he likes.
Claiming the artist “works with” him is sort of like claiming you “work with” Tiffany’s because you bought a bracelet there. That doesn’t make you a gemologist.
Look, it’s easy to brag about people you “know”. If the braggart is such a hot ticket, then the people being bragged about will also be happy to let the world know they are in the “crowd”.
If the bragging is all one-sided…it’s a clue.
“So, you know all about Stephen King? Well, what does Stephen King know about you?”
c
I really do know Neil Gaiman. No, really.
Atomic Bear commented: Good information Colleen. Thanks for posting it.
I have been following The Writers Beware blog the last few years and they have lots of great information for writers about Scam publishers, agents, contests, etc. I have learned a whole lot on how publishing works and considering how Graphic Novels are getting bigger and bigger all the time…we creators have to be on our guard. The ladies who run the blog are professional writers and provide some great info.
http://accrispin.blogspot.com/
March 10th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Re: name-dropping and projects — To my eternal embarrassment, I once worded something so spectacularly badly that I came off as a name-dropping asshat when talking about a project I was doing, involving a rather famous pro’s work. I spent more time trying to explain and clear up the extent of their involvement in the project and that we weren’t friends, than I did actually doing the project. *headdesk* One for the Things I’ll Never Say Again file, for sure.
Growing up in LA as a creative geek, I’ve ended up with a lot of friends and friends-of-friends who attained a level of fame in one field or another. I wish people didn’t take being called acquaintances so badly — because that’s what a lot of those relationships are. They’re not friends; we don’t hang out and have dinner; they don’t call to see how I’m doing. But God help you if you call them acquaintances, because then you’re being cold and unfriendly. It’s a very odd code, peculiar to LA, hilariously defined here.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
OMG! What an awesome link! Absolutely hilarious! How many people do I know at Level Black??? GAAAAAHHHHH!!!!
My dad ran into some guy who claimed he knew ALL ABOUT J Michael Straczynski, whom he described as dark haired, about 5′ 10″ tall. Not even close.
It’s very funny to run into that at sort of name drop at the Cracker Barrel.
I’ve worked on books by a lot of famous people: Clive Barker, Anne Rice, etc. Barely met them, and they wouldn’t recognize me in a lineup.
March 10th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Did your dad take the piss out of the namedropper?
I always considered namedropping to be the Level Black stuff — when you *didn’t* actually interact with the person in question in any way whatsoever. I have been schooled.
I wish I could say that I held the line at Levels Green (the native Angeleño default level) and Yellow (almost unavoidable if you’re a professional creative here), but I admit I’ve skated into Level Red with close friends and family… usually after Guinness #5. I hang my head in shame. Speaking of Guinness, the same blog has a post on what ‘meeting for drinks’ means out here. Ah, LA: Subtext City.
March 10th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Naw, dad just ignored the guy, but he did ask the waitress about him. The waitress said he was a nutter who came into the restaurant and bragged about famous people he knew all the time.
It’s hard not to name drop SOME in this business, but I try to make it very clear when I do and don’t have a real relationship with people. Most of the people we meet are fleeting acquaintances. I’ve had dinner with famous people who could not even remember me six months later. Nature of the bizz. They meet so many people, you never stay on anyone’s radar for long!
I dumped the acquaintance of a terrible name dropper years ago. He really had me convinced he had great contacts and knew some notable people very well. I’d known the guy for years, and I had no reason to doubt his word, until I caught him in a whopper and starting asking around. All the people he claimed he was agenting/managing or knew very well barely knew the guy, and not one had anything good to say about him. “Star Fucker” was the common epithet.
I can laugh now, but at the time, I was pretty pissed at him. I have nothing to do with him now, so no worries. But to my regret, I recc’d him to third parties and some got burned.
I had to eat a lot of crow later, believe me. He had a terrible habit of not paying people, not returning merchandise, claiming he had business relations he did not have, etc. I was the last to find out, I guess.
March 10th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
I have no problem using the word “acquaintence”, even in Hollywood. Because there are some people I am only acquainted with — sure, I’ve spoken with them at functions. Most likely, we are a the “friend of a friend” level, so we know our mutual friend knows both of us better than we know each other. For instance, I am acquainted with Actress X. She’s attended the church I go to, but she’s also more a friend to a good friend of mine.
But Producer Y really IS a good, close friend. And I respect his privacy. Still, I have dropped his name occasionally with someone when we’re talking about the Producer’s work. The same thing with those who are friends in the comic book world. Because I like these people as people in and of themselves, and (in many cases) I’m simply just getting to know them better myself, I don’t like making a big deal of it.
And then there are some relationships that are just precious to me – I don’t often try to make mileage on them. But I will occasionally drop the name. Human nature, I suppose. (I’m afraid I did that last summer, when I “casually mentioned” in a few places that when I visited in NYC, I’d be having dinner with Denny O’Neil and his wife. They *are* friends.
)
March 23rd, 2009 at 11:53 am
HAHAHAHAHAHA! You’re killing me!
March 23rd, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Glad you liked it, Rus
Small world, innit?
Wasn’t it nice of Mark Evanier to link to this this morning? Thanks, Mark. I truly hope people read it and learn from this. It is so easy to get scammed. I sure did.
This post deserves a tootsie roll. Here, have a treat!
March 24th, 2009 at 9:41 am
[...] Colleen Doran reposts tips for creators on how to spot, and manage, business [...]
March 25th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Hi, Colleen! I totally know Mark Evanier, you know! I’ve almost met him…
March 25th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Cool, Kip!
And I am TOTALLY like, Clive Barker’s GIRLFRIEND because I drew a comic with his name on it!
March 25th, 2009 at 11:33 am
I thought of you Sunday when I was standing in line for art spiegelman’s autograph — thanks again for your assistance with Jules Feiffer’s! I’m not a big autograph hound, but those two guys are so important in my universe, I feel enriched by their ink marks on a page.
March 25th, 2009 at 11:36 am
My, I had no idea that was you. So glad you are happy to have the autograph.
I totally know Jules Ffeiffer.
March 25th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
I move that the new Black Card for Namedropping Offenses be replaced with a Tootsie roll.
March 25th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Awesome! I second that!
Wait, can I second something on my own blog?
March 25th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
“Delaware seconds!”
“New York abstains. Courteously.”
March 25th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
“Sit down, John!”
March 25th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
LOL!
Only problem with replacing the Black Card with Tootsie Rolls is that even after the recent discussion, I find I still LOVE the things. If they were offered as a “punishment” I might actually start Name Dropping as much as I can legitimately pull off! (And I can do *some*…
)
Now I want to go watch 1776. Heh.
March 25th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I once stole Stephen King’s collection of imported 45s.
March 25th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
I once shot Dean Koontz for snoring.
And then I sold his limited editions on ebay.
March 25th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
March 25th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
WOW! Tell Tell!
June 7th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
[...] But not everyone in fandom is nice. [...]
August 2nd, 2009 at 10:09 am
[...] started at Rich’s old Lying in the Gutters column, but is now continued at Bleeding Cool. (And if you missed my earlier post about fraudsters, go back and read it now.) LINK [...]