Primary Blog/Gigging Musician Podcast/Episode 270 - Scam Alert: How to Spot and Avoid Fake Gig Inquiries

Episode 270 - Scam Alert: How to Spot and Avoid Fake Gig Inquiries

Thursday, January 16, 2025

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Episode Recap

In this episode, Jared shares a recent gig experience at the Denver Athletic Club and dives into a crucial topic for gigging musicians: spotting and avoiding scam inquiries. Using a real example from his inbox, Jared breaks down the red flags of a common musician-targeted scam and explains how it works. He also provides actionable advice to help musicians protect themselves while staying focused on booking high-end gigs. Don’t miss this important episode filled with insights to safeguard your music business.

Best Quote

"We’re not just performers; we’re business owners, and part of that is protecting ourselves from scams."

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Transcript

What's up, renegade musicians? It's Jared Judge. Welcome to another episode of The Gigging Musician Podcast.

I'm on my way home from a holiday party gig at the Denver Athletic Club. This is my third time playing there. I've played there for their Valentine's Day event this year and their Mother's Day brunch this year.

And so this is their Christmas one, which was super fun. It also coincided with a parade that was happening in downtown Denver which made the whole like parking and getting out of their situation a mess. Especially because the parade ended right in front of the Denver Athletic Club.

Luckily, they offered me a spot to park in their garage, which exited on a different street. Which actually is pretty funny because the street was like perpendicular to the parade route and it was a one way so I, I actually had to go down the wrong way on the one way and then there was another street that was closed. There were a couple cops there and they, I had to pull up to the barricade that they were at and the cops said, yeah, just put on your hazards and go the wrong way down the Runway and good luck.

It was super fun. Also, I'm really excited about this gig because it was the first time I used my mixer to record the actual gig, like the audio from my violin and the backing tracks directly from the board. So I also took a video from my phone camera.

So I'm excited to hear what it sounds like. You know, I have a guess as to what it sounds like, but you never truly know when you're playing a gig how it sounds. So this will be my first time actually hearing myself the way that others hear me.

So that's exciting. Right before the gig I got an email and this is probably what I'm going to talk about the most during this episode. I got an email that I want you guys to hear and tell me what you think.

In fact, we're going to analyze it on this call. So the subject line was Wedding Music Service and it was from a gentleman named Bruce Gilbert. And Bruce says hello.

I want to make an inquiry if you will be available to perform at my wedding ceremony. Sarah and I will tie the knot on January 9, 2025 at a by 4pm at a private residence in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Will you be available to perform either live pre recording or zoom? We are expecting a maximum of 15 guests.

The ceremony is just an hour and you will be expected to play prelude 7 minutes, processional 2 minutes, recessional 2 minutes, postlude 10 minutes. Let me know if you are available and how much is your fee? Which of the mediums will be okay for you to perform parentheses live, pre recording or Zoom? Please reply asap. And that's the end of the email.

So what do you guys think? Any alarm bells ringing for you? Luckily, I've been in this business long enough to instantly know that that is an email from a scammer. A scammer who wants to prey upon the, you know, the desires and hopes and dreams of us broke musicians. And we would be lucky enough to perform his wedding ceremony either live, pre recorded, or via Zoom, and he'll handsomely pay us.

So the way that I know this was a scam is first off the title of that, that subject line. I've received like thousands of legitimate inquiries for my service over the years, and nobody ever writes a subject line like that. Usually it's like, what is it usually like 1023 Wedding at Blues Chapel or whatever.

Usually it's a bit more specific than wedding music service. So instantly like the subject line got caught me off guard. And then the body of the email was actually one long paragraph.

So that's another thing is like, sure, I can tolerate some run on paragraphs and sentences, but most people break their emails down into paragraphs, like smaller one to three sentence paragraphs. And so that was another clue. Third, the language patterns that they used indicated that they weren't native English speakers.

I don't have the exact email up anymore, but it was definitely there were some grammatical things that just didn't sound natural, which, you know, I've definitely played for people whose English was not their first language. But combined with all of these other things and we'll get to more. There's lots more in this email.

Like, you know, the hair in the back of your neck starts to raise when you realize, oh, this is somebody trying to scam me. All right. The fourth thing, or maybe the fifth, I don't remember what we're on at this point, is the fact that they were trying.

Nobody ever asks you to perform for their event pre recorded or via Zoom. That's just not a thing. There was one time that I was ever asked to record a string quartet arrangement of a song by M83 was the artist.

I forget what song it was, but that was one out of like probably over a thousand gigs that I've been a part of at this point. So the fact that they were offering to have me perform either via Zoom in person or pre recorded, another huge red flag. The other thing is like, they didn't even mention anything about My services specifically.

Right. Usually when somebody emails me saying, hey, I want your violin music at my wedding, they mention something about the specifics of the act or even my name at all. There was no hey, Jared or hello, extreme strings.

It was all just a very generic template. So that non specificity was another red flag. The other thing was the specificity of the ceremony.

I don't know if you remember, but they asked like, we want you to play for the prelude. Seven minutes processional, two minutes recessional, two minutes, postlude, ten minutes. Like, nobody knows that how long those things are supposed to be.

Like, that's what we musicians are experts at coaching people on is these are the timings of your event. Nobody ever comes knowing those timings beforehand. So that specific specificity was another red flag.

And then another one was the fact that they were being super pushy about, like, let me know as soon as possible if you are available. It almost reeked as if, like they were desperate to get to book me. Right? Like, usually people need to be wine and dined a little bit.

Not in the literal way, but in the, hey, let's get to know each other. Like, usually it's the people booking you that don't trust you that much. So they need a little bit more, you know, trust building before they're comfortable, you know, booking you.

And so the fact that they were like, eager to book me is another red flag. So I think we're up to like six or seven red flags here. Then the last red flag was there was no email signature, so that was eight.

And I don't know, probably after the second or third, the red flags were going up in my mind. And that's when I decided to share it to our business Tips for Gigging Musicians Facebook group. If you want to see the screenshot of the exact email there, and you can see they even had a picture on the Gmail.

You know, when you can put an avatar up when somebody sends you an email. So red flags. And the way that that scam works, in case you're wondering, is had I not realized this was a scam and decided, yes, let's book, then they would insist on paying you via credit card or check.

And they would also insist that they, like, they'll tell you something is weird about their photographer or caterer or something, which makes it so that they can't pay them. So they want to include their additional fee, like the caterer's fee in your check. And then they'll just say, hey, if you could, you know, mail the difference to the caterer.

Here's their address, which is actually the scammer's address. And then so you'll, you'll do it and you'll trust them. So you'll pay the caterer, whatever, like $1,000 or something, because you got a check for $2,000.

You know, 1,000 for the cater, a thousand for you. And then so you, you've paid them money and then you deposit the check and then the check will bounce. So you'll be out the thousand dollars that you paid the caterer or the dj.

By the way, this isn't a real caterer or dj. This is like, this is the scammer. Your money is going directly to the scammer.

And so yeah, they, they know that musicians are desperate for gigs. And this, this is not exclusive to musicians. I've talked to like photographers and other people in the wedding industry.

Even wedding planners get these kinds of emails that some people fall prey to and it's really a shame. So I hope that this podcast brings awareness to that scam because I would hate for you to fall prey to that. You don't deserve that.

Nobody deserves that. And I hope these scammers go to jail. So there's that.

All right, well, I am actually just about home. My wife and I are going to go see Moana 2 at the movie theater. Yeah, we're, we're kids at heart.

Whatever. We don't have kids yet, but we're kids at heart. So I'm gonna go enjoy that.

I hope you guys enjoyed this episode. And beware of these scams. There is a cat in the middle of the road.

Get out of the road, cat. Okay, so beware of scams. Watch out for cats in the middle of the road.

And that is it. By the way, if you would like a little bit of personal help with your high end gig booking strategy, feel free to book a free chat with me. It's a 45 minute chat on Zoom where I will help you personally come up with a game plan for, for your music so that you can book some of these high end gigs without falling prey to scams.

Although that's not like a super common occurrence, but without having to spend a fortune on advertising or hours on social media. So book that for free at fulltimemusicacademy.com/call

And thanks for tuning in to another episode of The Gigging Musician podcast. Remember, “Your music will not market itself!”.

Episode 272 - Making 2025 Your Year of High-End Gigs: Reflect, Refocus, and Rise

Episode 271 - From Fear to Flourishing: Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone to Book More Gigs

Episode 270 - Scam Alert: How to Spot and Avoid Fake Gig Inquiries

Episode 269 - The Power of Strategic Free Gigs: Unlocking High-End Opportunities

Episode 268 - Revolutionizing Strings: Mark Wood on Innovation, Business, and Breaking Boundaries

Episode 266 - From Bass to Solo Act: Steve Lyon’s Journey to High-End Gigs

Episode 265 - How Jenny Peters Built Chicago Elegant Piano and Booked Her First Gig

Episode 264 - How to Book High-End Gigs Through Venue Tours and Strategic Sponsorships

Episode 263 - Getting Paid What You’re Worth: Booking High-End Gigs and Smart Relationship Building

Episode 262 - 5 Gigs, One Weekend: Booking High-End Events and Building Relationships in the Music Industry

Episode 261 - Why Most Musicians Struggle to Make Real Money (And How to Break the Cycle)

Episode 260 - Get Featured on The Gigging Musician Podcast: Share Your Story & Amplify Your Reach!

Episode 259 - Landing High-Paying Gigs: Breaking $3K Solo Performances & Booking Holiday Shows

Episode 258 - Navigating Gig Challenges and Maximizing Opportunities at High-End Events

Episode 257 - New Gear, Big Gigs, and Building Corporate Event Connections

Episode 256 - Building Relationships and Delivering Excellence at High-End Gigs

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