I sincerely hope LL is going to do something about the scammer other than just delete the post

[Rick Nightingale]

Since the post (not mine) got deleted within moments of being posted, and since I have some experience with the matter, here goes:

Be aware of 'an account' in SL IM'ing you, and when you answer, trying to sell you photographic services. They might even point you to their flickr to show off their work.

That account, which will not be named here, has been spamming accounts in world for at least a month now.

I think at one point it was harvesting usernames from a certain clothing store group. A few of us compared notes and that group was the only one that all were in including 'that' account, with a visible members list.

So... if you get such a message, take the approriate action as you see fit. I certainly advise not to give it any money. Sure I don't have to say that to most of us here though.

Edited February 24, 2023 by Rick Daylight

[Rowan Amore]

Not a new thing.

[Persephone Emerald]

One of the most visible scammers of this type - at least for female avatars - is a guy who says he's looking for models. 

[Rick Nightingale]

Yeah, I can imagine that's common. I must admit I've not seen much of this in SL, so having all mine and my wife's alts IM'd in rapid sequence, plus hearing from a few others, took my by surprise. So we investigated, lol.

Someone just posted about it (and how much it cost them) and I happened to see it, but they mentioned the account name. Hence the post had a rather short life.

Edited February 24, 2023 by Rick Daylight

[Love Zhaoying]

Yeah, "naming and shaming" is not allowed. Too bad..

Can you not even name others in your in-world profile, then refer people to "go read my profile for details"?  Last I remember, no.

[Rowan Amore]

11 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Yeah, "naming and shaming" is not allowed. Too bad..

Can you not even name others in your in-world profile, then refer people to "go read my profile for details"?  Last I remember, no.

There is nothing specific about not being able to.post it on your profile.  There are restrictions on it on any community page, however.

• Interpersonal Disputes or Personal Negative Commentary: If you have a personal disagreement, do not post about it on the Second Life community pages. Residents who have personal differences have other channels of communication available to them — private messaging in the forums, IM within Second Life, or chatting within Second Life.

[Love Zhaoying]

4 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

There is nothing specific about not being able to.post it on your profile.  There are restrictions on it on any community page, however.

• Interpersonal Disputes or Personal Negative Commentary: If you have a personal disagreement, do not post about it on the Second Life community pages. Residents who have personal differences have other channels of communication available to them — private messaging in the forums, IM within Second Life, or chatting within Second Life.

The best thing about an interpersonal dispute is, the make-up nookie!

("I love it when we fight!")

[Polenth Yue]

I've had the photographer-offering-to-do-a-profile-photo people a lot longer back than a few months. It's different names, so it wouldn't help to offer the names anyway. I expect that they get banned sometimes and just start a new account. Anyone who contacts out of the blue about photos should be avoided and the links never clicked.

[Coffee Pancake]

Anyone want a *profile picture .. I can link to my flickr .. 

Edited February 25, 2023 by Coffee Pancake
* naked of course .. duh

[Stephanie Misfit]

2 hours ago, Rick Daylight said:

Since the post (not mine) got deleted within moments of being posted, and since I have some experience with the matter, here goes:

Be aware of 'an account' in SL IM'ing you, and when you answer, trying to sell you photographic services. They might even point you to their flickr to show off their work.

That account, which will not be named here, has been spamming accounts in world for at least a month now.

I think at one point it was harvesting usernames from a certain clothing store group. A few of us compared notes and that group was the only one that all were in including 'that' account, with a visible members list.

So... if you get such a message, take the approriate action as you see fit. I certainly advise not to give it any money. Sure I don't have to say that to most of us here though.

Shopping events may be a target too, I have been IMed at events a couple of times by an account trying to sell photographic services.

[Maitimo]

I've had mesaages offering photography services; always from male avatars who, I presume, have not read my profile.

I doubt that any of these are financial scams. More likely it's the old profile photo --> nude photoshoot --> desperate begging to do the nawties.

[Garnet Psaltery]

12 hours ago, Persephone Emerald said:

One of the most visible scammers of this type - at least for female avatars - is a guy who says he's looking for models. 

Bah, they never ask me.

[Love Zhaoying]

Punishment? Possibly pillory..if you ask me.

But I don't put any stock in it.

 

[Aethelwine]

Maybe I am missing something here?

I too don't like anyone direct marketing their services, but where is the scam here? Direct marketing so far as i know is not against any rules, except personal etiquette ones. People do make money here doing  portrait photographs.

Edited February 25, 2023 by Aethelwine

[Rick Nightingale]

32 minutes ago, Aethelwine said:

Maybe I am missing something here?

Yes - you didn't see the post I'm referring to, which is the problem of course with posts like that being removed. Not your fault.

It indicated at best a service very much not worth buying, and at worst an outright scam to the sum of L$6000.

Besides, personally I don't like being spammed in IM by someone trying to sell me something, any more than I like unsolicited phonecalls or texts in RL for that. It's a downright shady way to do 'business' and puts the person straight into the scammer category as far as I'm concerned.As you say, 'personal etiquette'.

Edit: I probably shouldn't have bothered to post myself. The matter had just arisen again in world (another spammed alt) so when I saw the post here and was mid-reply when it got deleted, I jumped. Unless the OP wants to join in though, I'll leave it alone now. Pointeless anyway, since the only useful thing would be to name the account.

Edited February 25, 2023 by Rick Daylight

[Istelathis]

@Rick Daylight I think it was actually 60,000 Lindens.  I remember that, because I was shocked when I read it and I counted the zeroes a few times because I did not believe someone would spend that much money in SL for such services.  Then I started to wonder how much people usually charge for these kinds of services.  I thought the picture looked great, but I am not fabulous with SL photography, touching up photographs, there was no before picture to compare it to, etc.  I did try to compare it to the pictures in flikr, and had a hard time spotting how it was not as good quality as the other pictures.. the only thing I noticed is that the avatar was not standing sideways 🤣 Not to say there was nothing wrong with it, more so my own ability to notice what the poster did or know what she wanted that the artist did not perform.  For that much money, I would expect pretty good results as well, and she probably has a much better eye at it than I do.

[Rick Nightingale]

Thank you @Istelathis, you recall more details from it than I did. Wow - L$60,000... if you are correct, I would expect to have it delivered in RL, printed on archival stock on a giclée printer and framed in something expensive.

[Lindal Kidd]

Wow. I do Profile pics for people all the time, for free.

Obviously I'm missing a get-rich-quick opportunity here.

[Ceka Cianci]

There are a few kinds of those  hitters..

Most times they are just trying to trick people into slex.. Offering crazy amount of money for pictures trying to stoke someones ego..

Sometimes I just mess with them if I'm not doing anything and feel a little evil.. Get there get, get them all hopped up and horned up thinking I'm sooo into it, all undressed and all the way to the point that we are just about to do it.

Oh have to go, my show is on!\o/ Nice chatting with you *POOF*

Are they that stupid that they didn't look to see how old my avatar was and hadn't heard this one a zillion times before.. I'm losing all faith in humanity with how lazy even the con artists are getting.. Where is the originality anymore? Jeebuz crispers.

[LittleMe Jewell]

Honestly, if someone in SL wants to hand over L$60,000 --- or even just L$6,000 -- for maybe getting a decent photo or two, then let them do it.   If someone thinks the service is worth that and wants to take a chance of handing over a lot of money before getting delivery, I just don't have much sympathy if the money is lost.  People need to stop and think before they hand money over to folks - and we cannot always protect people from their own stupidity.

[Quartz Mole]

1 hour ago, Istelathis said:

I think it was actually 60,000 Lindens.

You misremember.   It was L$6000.  

[Istelathis]

1 minute ago, Quartz Mole said:

You misremember.   It was L$6000.  

😳 now I just feel silly, sorry @Rick Daylight.  

[Rick Nightingale]

Darn it... I was planning on changing careers and early retirement 🤣

Edited February 25, 2023 by Rick Daylight

[norajulian]

2 hours ago, Rick Daylight said:

 

It indicated at best a service very much not worth buying, and at worst an outright scam to the sum of L$6000.

Honestly, with how photography prices have been trending lately, 6000L isn’t far off the mark. I’ve seen some profile pictures offered as high as 15k, albeit these folks haven’t been spamming messages because they’ve been offering photography services for years and their advertising is often word of mouth. 

At the end, some folks may be trying to make a quick buck or others may just value their time at that rate. It’s up to the individual to pursue the service. 

If the individual solicitor in question was a female, I was also hit with a request. I can’t say I approve of the door-knocking pamphlet giving myself, but to each their own. 

[Polenth Yue]

4 hours ago, Aethelwine said:

Maybe I am missing something here?

I too don't like anyone direct marketing their services, but where is the scam here? Direct marketing so far as i know is not against any rules, except personal etiquette ones. People do make money here doing  portrait photographs.

There are some that might actually be selling the service for real, but chances are you'll be hit with delays, complications and poor communication... because these are people who struggled to get clients for a reason. Some aren't actually selling the service and will take the money and run, which is a clear scam. Some will give you phishing links instead of it being their Flickr. Some are just looking for sex. In the end, you don't need to know which category they're in, because you'd do better going to someone with a history of good service.