New scam, and the reason I no longer show my portfolio on my website

23 replies
Has anyone else heard of this? Some of you who deal strictly local are probably not having the problem but I have a national client base.

What has been happening, is some scammers see the list of your clients, go to their website and find their email. They then send a spoofed invoice to the client for some random amount and putting a message from me, making it seem like it is my paypal email.

I do my best to educate my clients about any scam that might be going around, and I try to make them more savvy. Unfortunately I have a few clients that are very naive and not very computer literate and have paid fake invoices. Fortunately though, they were able to stop payments to their bank.

Is anyone else having an issue? About half my clients I have auto billed through another gateway so it wasn't even an issue with them, only the ones that have paid through paypal.

Right now I have my portfolio unpublished.... I will probably add a registration in order to view or access my portfolio. Other than that, I don't want to risk it by having my clients exposed!

Would be great to hear from you guys... I have a feeling I'm the only one being targeted here but would at least like to know if you guys have even heard of something similar going on!
#longer #portfolio #reason #scam #show #website
  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Scary!!

    How about putting your portfolio on a password protected page that you can let qualified prospects view?

    You can say something like "I'm happy to share my portfolio with qualified people. Once we've gotten to the point where we know I can help you, then I'll give you my customer list."
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    • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
      Originally Posted by kaniganj View Post

      Scary!!

      How about putting your portfolio on a password protected page that you can let qualified prospects view?

      You can say something like "I'm happy to share my portfolio with qualified people. Once we've gotten to the point where we know I can help you, then I'll give you my customer list."
      Yeah I was thinking about having a default password to be able to send once we got to that stage, but I'm not sure about whether to do that, or if I should just make people register to see it. Have it as a hidden menu item but when they register they can view.

      Crazy stuff... good idea, I may just try it out.
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      • this is not really new, just online from offline.

        TM rooms selling toner and other business products often target fortune 5000 companies knowing different departments and lack of communication between them makes it possible.

        they make calls assuming they are there current supplier (vendor)
        submit invoices, get billing info, etc.., etc..,

        solution : 1. educate your clients
        2. you have your clients posted for credibility,
        but I like the idea of not showing them until your qualify a prospective client


        but business fraud will always exist.IMO

        my 2 cents.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    If you have them register without you talking to them, you're taking the risk that your scammer could simply register and get your customer list.

    I include very few or no clients on my sites...it is usually not necessary to get work. Surprising, I know. Every dozen or so projects someone is of the type that they want references, and I'll organize them for that one if they qualify. Usually I simply don't need the credibility boost because I've already got it by concentrating on problem solving.
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  • Profile picture of the author Leslyaviel
    Password encryption is your best option in this case as mentioned above. If you give the permission after you know who the potential client is you are not only protecting your clients but also the credibility of your company.
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  • Profile picture of the author Suze Thomas
    Wow, that is terrible! How brazen crooks can be! One of the first offline course I took advised not to make your portfolio or client reference list easily available, partly for just that reason, and that jerks might use your list of clients as a pre-qualified prospect list for other services.
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  • Profile picture of the author Danielm
    I put screenshots of some sites in my portfolio, I try not to leave too much info showing on who the actual client is. Like I told the first person who asked me for a client list, "if you were my client would you want people calling you every day to ask questions about one of your business vendors?" He didn't ask for a list of clients again after that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dexx
    Or just educate clients in advance of the scam?

    I'm not sure about the services you offer, but my clients pretty much know what to expect for services--and what my invoices look like.

    So a random invoice (in a completely different format), for a service that they have never heard about, would probably lead to them contacting us ASAP for clarification.

    I think a scammer would have more success just sending the company a virus and taking over their computers to hack their bank accounts that way!

    ~Dexx
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  • Profile picture of the author AUKev
    I avoid revealing too much info publicly, but have clients available when needed. Like having 'References Available Upon Request' on your resume.

    If you have testimonial quotes, eliminate some information.

    "Company A did a great job with my website. It looks great and we are getting a ton more prospects than before. They delivered on time and within budget. I recommend them." - Dan, Real Estate

    If a prospect becomes qualified, you can give them Dan's contact info.

    You can also show some screen shots of site pages, just blur out logos and URL's to give a visual of a site.

    No matter how confident you are that you will not lose your clients, you are putting a HUGE bulls eye on them by publicly promoting a) they are your client b) SCREAMING to the world that they have paid for a service. Unscrupulous people will go after them at every chance they can find.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jay Rhome
    I was wondering about that if I create a subdomain for each client i.e. yourcompanyname.mydomain.com. Can an unscrupulous person find out these subdomains easily and thus know who are my clients?
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  • Profile picture of the author spesialis
    Your client can charge back (for 45 days)

    You can customize your official paypal checkout.
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    • Profile picture of the author ry6782010
      That is scary for sure. Have you thought about putting a notice on your site like "If you'd like to see samples of the work we provide, please submit your inquiry at the following link", and then once you get the email send out a zipped archive or something. I dunno if that would be the best idea though.
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  • Profile picture of the author Russell Barnstein
    I'm afraid I don't understand why this is an issue. If a potential client of mine asks for references, I provide them to that particular person. If they want to see work samples, I send them screen shots or documents with the personally identifiable information blacked out.

    Why would you ever post your clients in a public place? Why would you post it for anyone who registers via a hidden menu? I truly don't get why you would do this - especially if a potential client isn't specifically ASKING for the information...

    If I was your client and you posted my details, I wouldn't be your client anymore...or I'd be calling you and asking you to remove my information.

    I'd wager a substantial amount of money that not listing your clients publicly won't change ANYTHING about how people do business with you.
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  • Profile picture of the author apolwar
    Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

    Right now I have my portfolio unpublished.... I will probably add a registration in order to view or access my portfolio. Other than that, I don't want to risk it by having my clients exposed!
    I think that is a good idea. Or maybe your comprehensive portfolio for your registered clients and a summary of some of your works for those not registered.

    You can also give your clients an SMS code every time they want to log in to your site. To confirm if they are really the registered client.
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  • Profile picture of the author abubakar89
    Thats unfortunate

    Well, those scammers were intelligent people

    Better if they use there mind in positive activities
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  • Profile picture of the author linaO
    This is a hard one. As a web designer, not having a portfolio is like saying you're "faking it". I only know of one web design company (high end, they only deal with budgets over 50k), that has a one page graphic that says "follow us, contact us, and thanks for coming" lol, no joke and obviously it works for them because they've been in business for years.

    I might remove my portfolio; I just came up with an idea. This can be a killer lead generation, having people contact you for work list. Sorry for the randomness!

    Lina
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  • Profile picture of the author Ben_R
    thats bad - im a web designer too - this is my ssolution
    maybe not have a link to your clients work before they pay -only once work is complete put them on your foio
    - and when they pay have them setup a very secure non paypal link through a phone number you dont make public -
    basically get them to call you on a dedicated line with there bank details -- if its monthly then setup a direct debit ---- seems safe to me - but correct me if im incorrect
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    • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
      I've never had a public portfolio of my clients and I've never had an issue with getting new clients. I've always thought it's not that great of an idea to publicize too much info.
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  • Profile picture of the author danielkanuck
    You should brand your invoices, and show your clientst that they should be cautious and wary of any invoice sent to them that doesn't look like your branded invoice. Also, teach them how to become tech savvy. You may even want to have them send you a text message just to confirm that an invoice was sent from you or not.
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