Hello guys,

I hope you are well. I am a full time working musician, here in Portland, Oregon. I get sometimes some work offers by email, through my website: wwww.ericjohnkaiser.com. A few weeks ago I received a scam, that first seemed legit. Beware of a guy that calls himself "Troung William" (t.william.vic.au.avondale@gmail.com) asking if you are interested in playing a family reunion of his. It's a scam. He will send you a check and ask you for money in return to pay for an event planner. I did a little research using his email address and found on Facebook that he has been doing it for a while all over the US and Canada.

I thought I would pass on the info in case you guys never heard about it and save you some time, unless you want to receive a fake check of $4,200!!! lol Doesn't a scum bag like that have other things to do, than target hard working musicians?! 

Take care and keep up the good work,

Eric

PS: If you are interested in the details, here is the full story. 

Early September, I received an email from a person that calls himself Troung William (t.william.vic.au.avondale@gmail.com) asking me if I wanted to play at a family reunion of his in Oregon City (close to Portland). I told him I was interested and we exchanged a few emails back and forth talking about the details. He was asking me for my bank information, my personal address and my phone number. He also told me that his "uncle" was only issuing one check to pay for the entire event and he asked me if it was ok for me to pay the event planner once I cashed the check he will be sending me. I told him I was ok with it, trying to help. We agreed on a price  and I sent him a contract through email. He never returned the contract. 

A few days later I got an email saying that the event was canceled and rescheduled at a later date. He still was sending me the check. From there on I started becoming suspicious. He was not telling me when the event was rescheduled. However he told me the check was sent to my PO Box in Portland. His goal was for me to cash his check at my band and while it clears, to have me send him another check to pay for the event planner. Of course the check he sent me will end bouncing.

To my surprise I received a check of $4,200 when we agreed on a lower amount for the gig. It was issued from "Community Bank, NA, Plattsburgh, New York 12901 107" from a company called "Norm Foote, Inc, 438 State Route 3, Suite 200, Plattsburgh, NY 12901". It was sent by priority mail from Marine City, MI, 48039

After that he sent me different text messages. I never answered back.