Photographers, be aware of this common ambassador email scam. You'll see this a lot in different forms but the intent is almost always the same. These scammers want to convince you to give them your personal information so they can exploit you.
Here's how the ambassador email scam works. You receive an unsolicited email claming to be from a well known company. They tell you how they love your online profile and your social media presence. They offer to give you free product, a hefty salary, and a benefits package that's out of this world. They hook you in with the promise of all of these things just to get your information. Here's how to spot the scam.
This is an email I received recently. Here are the giveaways that this is a fraud:
It's from a .gmail address. Big companies have specific email accounts, not free email accounts. Be cautious of any email claiming to be from a large company but sent from a free email account such as gmail, hotmail, etc. Gmail is very helpful in this regard because it shows you the full email address of the sender. You can see right away if the email was sent by a free email account.
It's unsolicited. They emailed me out of the blue, "We are reaching out to you today with an exciting..." Large companies will scout talent, arrange agreements, put contracts in place, negotiate, etc. Details like this won't be in the introduction email.
These emails are usually templates with the names changed. In this case, they said they discovered me becauser I've tagged them in some posts. Not the case. I've never tagged this company in any posts. This is another classic tell that this is a fraud.
Right away, they offer to send free product, pay outrageous salaries, and give a benefits package that's too good to be true. The scammer is hoping you get excited about this opportunity and send them all of your information. Don't fall for it.
If you receive one of these emails, it's best to ignore the sender. If you think it might be a legit email, contact the company through their website and check the authenticity of the email before responding. In this case, I reached out to the company referenced in the email and let them know that someone is using their name in the scam. Often times, companies will post information so you should be able to verify that it's a scam with a quick search.
Here's the actual email I received. You can see the scam indicators circled in red.
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