Another Banner Scam Email from Ghana - "God is Great"

Some people obviously don't read my blog. I am blocking all traffic from the Nigeria and Ghana IP blocks the coming days (the printing business is not typically economical to outsource from overseas). Below is another scam message I received from Rev Daniel Larry. At least this time what they are requesting printed on the banner is spelled correctly (not much else is).

From: Rev Daniel Larry Reply-To: revdaniel_larry@yahoo.com Subject: Banner Order Good morning !My name is Rev Daniel Larry.i am intrested in some " banners" to purchase and i believe you do carry some instock for sale.I will appreciate if u get back to me with the cost for the following sizes 30 inch by 20 inch .I need 2 colours wich is white as the text colour, black as the backgroud and print"God Is Great" on the banners.the banners should be 1 sided card. I will appreciate if u get back to me with the total cost of 100.00 quantity and what do you accpet as a payment.Wish u all best in business and hope to hear from u soon . Best regards....... Rev Daniel Larry

After my first quote of $10,000 USD he wrote back the following: (notice they have changed to flyers from banners)

Hello Michael,
Thanks for your mail back and i appreciate it,I want you to
contact Dalex Shipping Logistic's and mail them the sizes and weight of the products so that you can get the shipping cost for me.I will be donating the flyers to a
Orpahanage in Ghana and the delivery Address is

Osu Kid's Home
440 Airport 100 Rd
Osu, Accra
Ghana,00233

Contact person for the shipping company is Brad Miller and their email address is dalexsh@gmail.com When you get the quote i want you give me the total cost of both the products
and freight cost so that i can pay with my Mastercard and you front the funds to the shipping company cos i will busy with a Church Conference which just came Asap..Get back to me with the prices so that i will give arrange my Credit Card for the payment
of the Products and the Freight Cost..Thank You

In Him,
Rev.Daniel

--Michael

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

UPDATE 01/23/09:

If you are worried that you may have received a fraudulent request or a scam email, read the follow up article I wrote on Signs to look for to prevent Fraud on International Orders and Other Redflags

At http://digitalprinter.blogspot.com/2008/08/international-fraud-signs-and-order.html

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Online Vinyl Banner Printing Myths and information - Part 1

When looking to having a custom vinyl banner printed, the internet can be your best and worst friend in the search. A quick online Google search for Vinyl Banners will show over half a million results and as of this article, no less than ONE HUNDRED advertisers bidding on that keyword. Thats ten pages of sponsored results for Vinyl Banners alone. How do you search through all of those providers to find the best one to fit your needs? Use the follow rules when choosing a print shop or sign shop to print your custom vinyl banners.

High Resolution -- vs -- Low Resolution

Most print shops and sign shops offering custom vinyl banner printing under $3 per square foot are printing at low resolutions, 180 DPI or 360 DPI. The reason the banners are so cheap is because the printers they use can quickly spray the minimum amount of ink needed to create a low resolution print. This resolution is acceptable if you are not going to be looking at the banner from more than a few feet away, such as a billboard, banner for a building, etc. For Tradeshows, store displays, businesses, and other corporate use these low resolutions will allow you to see noticable resolution "dots" and when up close the image will appear fuzzy.

For high end banner applications, high resolution is needed, such as 720 DPI or 1440 DPI. The higher DPI, or dots per inch, your Banner contains the more clear and photo-realistic the image will look. For banners containing background images or photographs this is a must! 1440 DPI is photo quality for all intents and purposes and will yield an excellent result with deeper, more saturated colors.


Full color vinyl banners -- vs -- four (4) color vinyl banners
Four color vinyl banners, or printers that offer 1/2/3/4 color vinyl banners, are generally not a wide enough color gamut to correctly produce all the colors that most current banners need. Now new printers offer up to 12 inks to produce colors never before available and colors and shades significantly better than any four color banners. When printing background images and photographs onto custom vinyl banners, generally at least 6 inks are recommended -- 8 inks or more preferred!

MOST IMPORTANTLY - REQUEST SAMPLES
Always request print samples if your project allows time to do so. This can give you a night and day experience of some of the differences in quality out there in the printing world. The samples should be free or you should pay a nominal fee to qualify yourself (to prove you're really interested) and cover shipping costs. If they will print a sample for you of your exact image, that is the best but not always an option.

Online Vinyl Banner Printing Myths and information - Part 1
Online Vinyl Banner Printing Myths and information - Part 2

Online Vinyl Banner Printing Myths and information - Part 2

Eco-solvent or Solvent Vinyl Banners -- vs -- Inkjet Vinyl Banners
Inkjet Vinyl Banners are only good for indoor use or short term outdoor use. They are not designed to be durable, scratch resistant, or UV resistant. Neither pigment inkjet vinyl banners and dye based inkjet vinyl banners are acceptable for heavy use. Inkjet vinyl banners are easily scratched, no matter how many coats of protection are used on them. If they are laminated they can be acceptable, but usually the cost of laminating and the higher cost of inkjet vinyl material makes this economically impractical.

Beware of Old Machine and Cheap Ink
Make sure you are working with a company using machines not older than 5 years old if they are printing digitally. Ideally, check for someone who has the latest model or one generation behind that to be sure that you are getting a print off of the latest technology. This is especially important if you are printing something with gradients, photos, pictures of people, company logos, etc.

The use of Proper Color Management and ability to match Pantone Colors
Properly calibrating the equipment, computers, and monitors are crutial in getting outstanding performance when printing wide format banners. The ability to use Pantone Colors is another thing you should inquire about, even if you do not need them. Pantone colors are a book (swatch book similar to ones used for choosing Paint colors) of universal colors across all possible outputs. For example, Coca Cola has a pantone color for their logo's red that must be the same no matter where it is printed or what it is on. The ability of a shop to match Pantone colors is a good indication they have an effectively color controlled workflow.

Check the printers Reputation, Clients, and References
Many shops use referrals as a major source of new customers and depend on their reputation to grow their business. Many others do the opposite, leaving unsatisfied customers and moving on to the next number in the phone book. To prevent against ending up the latter, do some research on the prospective company. A good Google search on the company name and domain (i.e. Search for "Company Name" and "companyname.com") to find out if anyone is ranting and raving about their service. Don't be put off if you find a few bad reviews out of overall positive ones, but if people are only saying negative things you should avoid that company. You can also ask the company for a list of clients and references if the job size and cost are significant enough to warrant it.

The $.99 per Square Foot Banner Companies Advertising Online
I receive a lot of questions about why some companies are significantly more expensive than companies offering vinyl banners for 99 cents a square foot. Often times these are "Billboard" Quality printing -- prints made on machines designed to quickly products printing that will look good from a distance. If your application is such that people will never approach the banner (like a billboard), these banners will work great and I would highly recommend them. If you will have people approaching your banner, such as at a trade show or inside an office, I would not recommend this printing type as you will be able to clearly see the different pixels and it will not look very attractive from a few feet away or less.

Online Vinyl Banner Printing Myths and information - Part 1
Online Vinyl Banner Printing Myths and information - Part 2

“Feed the Children” Banner Printing Scam - Part 1

PART 1

Warning and information on the West Africa (Ghana, Nigeria) "Food for Children" Banner Printing Scam. Beware of this if you are a sign shop, copy shop, or printing company.

This is a scam originating out of Ghana (West Africa) regarding an overseas organization needing banners. Variations of the scam involve wanting custom printed glass sheets, signs, vinyl banners, or other typical sign shop product.

The organization, claiming to be a charity based in Europe, contacts your company via email (usually to info@yourcompany.com or web form) requesting a quote for around 50 items to be printed. This is the first part of the scam. What they want printed is typically simple, such as “Feed the Children” or “Food Needed for Child” in blue text on a white background. This seems to be legitimate up to this point, as most people would have no use for “Feed the Children” banners, and the whole charity aspect gives them some credibility. You should simply ignore these requests, as it is NOT cost efficient to ship such banners overseas (regardless of the value of the dollar).

If you reply to the RFP, or their request for quote, the scammer will send you a very kind email accepting the bid and requesting payment information. This is the second part of this scam. The scammer will ask if you can please take their Visa, MasterCard, or other credit card as payment, regardless of whether or not your quote clearly contains information on your payment policy. This is another red flag.

Banner Printing Scam Part 1
Banner Printing Scam Part 2
Banner Printing Scam Part 3

“Feed the Children” Banner Printing Scam - Part 2

PART 2

Warning and information on the West Africa (Ghana, Nigeria) "Food for Children" Banner Printing Scam. Beware of this if you are a sign shop, copy shop, or printing company.

If you let them know you will accept credit cards, the scammer will write back to request a shipping quote from their preferred shipping company (a fake shipping company), telling the fake shipper the number of packages, their weight, and your location. This is the third part of the scam. The scammers will tell you that this (fake) shipping company will make sure they don’t pay any taxes or import fees on the product, and / or is the only shipping company that can locate their church / compound / refugee camp. This is another blatant red flag, as it is highly unlikely that only one company in the whole world has figured out the horribly complex international shipping and tariff situation from your country to theirs.

When you contact this shipping company, they will reply with a quote and also offer services such as crating and packaging the shipment. Once you reply to the original scammer what their total price of product plus shipping is, the scammer will email you their credit card information. They will send their name, billing address, 16 digit card number, expiration date, and CVV but no other supporting documentation (red flag). The scammer will also instruct you to charge the entire amount to their card and send them an invoice or receipt when you have done this. Usually, if you process the compromised or stolen credit card the scammers gave you it will be approved by the AVS system. This is the fourth part of the scam. Once you have charged the card, the scammer will coerce you to proceed with the shipment as soon as possible, citing some rush or critical date.

Banner Printing Scam Part 1
Banner Printing Scam Part 2
Banner Printing Scam Part 3

“Feed the Children” Banner Printing Scam - Part 3

PART 3

Warning and information on the West Africa (Ghana, Nigeria) "Food for Children" Banner Printing Scam. Beware of this if you are a sign shop, copy shop, or printing company.

The fake shipping company will tell you that you must pay them for the shipment before they will schedule delivery. This is the fifth part of the scam. The fake shipper will tell you that they only accept credit cards for domestic shipments, and for international shipments you must prepay with a wire transfer (red flag). They will recommend you bring cash to Western Union and to email them the confirmation number from the wire transfer so they can schedule a pickup. If you contact the original scammer and ask to use another shipping company, they will insist they use their fake shipping company or cancel their order entirely. What is a better policy in dealing with international transactions is that both the buyer and the seller request quotes from their preferred shipping agents.

Once you have irrevocably transferred thousands of dollars overseas to their fake shipper, you will most likely never hear from anyone involved up to this point again. When the owner of the credit card receives the bill in 15-30 days they will dispute the charge with their credit card company and most likely win. This is the sixth step of the scam. This is typically were the scam ends, with you losing the money wired for shipping plus your time and cost of producing the products. If you find yourself with 50 “Feed the Children” banners, go ahead and contact your favorite charity and donate them, please.

OVERVIEW AND REVIEW OF
THE FEED THE CHILDREN BANNER SCAM

1. You Receive email from overseas requesting price on ~50 items valued around $3,000
2. Scammer asks if you will take their Credit Card as payment
3. You contact fake shipping company requesting a shipping quote and they send you a shipping cost. You send total to original scammer.
4. Scammer emails their Credit Card info and you approve their card for total amount
5. You wire the shipping money overseas via Western Union and never hear from either of the two parties involved again
6. The true owner of credit card disputes their charge (See #4), they win, and that money is automatically deducted from your account

Banner Printing Scam Part 1
Banner Printing Scam Part 2
Banner Printing Scam Part 3

Another dreary Monday

Today was rather blase, nothing too interesting. Made some prints off my Hp 5500, finally got my G5 to read it (an accomplishment none the less, but its no Onyx). Its still amazes me how you can use this printer like its own FTP server, just typing in its web address on your network and dropping files in. Not that I do that anymore, but none the less impressing. I suppose at home I could begin printing files at work to save some time if I was really in a crunch. Over all I haven't been thrilled with my 5500 lately, if it wasn't for the Pantone and the Postscript 3 it probably would have been gone a while ago. I don't do nearly enough posters etc to justify it, although it is by far the fastest printer I've used. The quality is still far behind the Epson's, which limits what I can do with it. If I were to start a sign shop, I think I would buy one of those and a W6400 ( Canon ). That's definitely a poster machine. How to start a Sign Shop coming soon...

In more news, I just switched over from www.typepad.com ( www.digitalprinter.typepad.com ) has my first post on it, I decided to opt for a free blog instead of a fee one. I need to save the money for the holidays, anyway.