As a freelancer, I often have people reaching out to me to help with projects. However, many of these people are scammers. They may trying to get a free product, personal information, or other something else. Whenever a new potential client contacts me, I am always on my guard. To keep myself safe, I follow a set of practices to weed out any potential scammers.
Step 1: Read the Message
This one is obvious, but it gets a lot of the clear scammers out of the way fast. I often get scammers messaging me telling me they will get my website on the front page of google for a fee. This is the most common scam I get. They are bots designed to contact every website they can find with a chat or contact feature, and are not worth engaging with. However, if they are asking for me to make music for them, then I move on to step 2.
Step 2: Check the Address
Recently, I had a person reach out to me claiming to represent a company. The email address was not the address listed on the company's website, so I reached out to the company with the following email:
"Hello [company name],
My name is Vincent Colavita, a freelance music composer for indie games. I recently got a message from [name], [email address], saying they represent your company and are looking for me to write a soundtrack for [project]. I would like to confirm if this is legitimate before continuing.
Thanks, Vincent"
The company quickly confirmed that this person reached out me on their behalf, and that I could move forwards with the project. Despite the fact that it was not a scammer this time, it is always good to double check that the person is who they say they are.
Step 3: Establish Rules
When dealing with new clients, I always establish a set of rules that keep me as safe as I can be in the event that the person is trying to scam me. The most important one is that the client will only be given an MP3 version of the final product until I receive payment. If you're a freelance artist, this is like sending a low resolution image, and only giving the full resolution image once you've received payment. It is enough to show them that I have fulfilled my end of the deal, while still giving me a safety net.
If they are not willing to agree to such a thing before I begin working, then I will not work with them.
However, there is, unfortunately, still the opportunity for a scammer to take what they can get, even if it means using low quality audio. There really is no way around that, as I need to show that I have a complete product before I get payment.
Step 4: Use Invoices
A common way people try to scam freelancers is to claim that there is an issue with payment. They may be trying to trick you into giving away a product for free, or potentially asking you to open a harmful link. To avoid situations like this, I use PayPal invoices for my payments. The invoice is automatically sent to the client, and is very reliable, so they can't say it didn't work.
Trusted Clients
Some people who have worked with me before may notice that I do not use all of these steps on them. For the most part, these are people who I met early in my freelance career, before I established these rules and was willing to deal with more to put my name out there. I was lucky enough to not run into any scammers during this time, and everyone I worked with was trustworthy. As I continue to work with these people, I feel comfortable relaxing the rules with them. They have always held up their end of the deal. However, if they ever decide not to, they will be subject to the same rules that I place on everyone else.
Doing any kind of freelance work paints a big target on your back. As such, it is always in your best interest to stay vigilant and always use best practices when dealing with potential clients. While it is great to get your work out there, security is far more important.
Comments