Credit Card payments via Paypal risk?

F

firehawk

Veteran
New potential client is wanting to pay via credit card (half up front and half upon delivery). Delivery will be download of videos. The potential client has asked what merchant I use to charge a credit card. I don't know why they need to know that? The job is less than 10K but I am trying to figure out if there is some risk I should be aware of.... Some type of scam since it's someome I haven't worked with before. The project will run about a month so the down payment and final payment would be about a month apart.

Through the years I normally take check payments but also have a Paypal Here setup so I can take credit card payments on location via plug in card reader for my mobile device and also run credit cards through the mobile device app if they need to pay over the phone. This has worked ok so far. They charge 2.7% if card is swiped and 3.5% (+$.15 per transaction) if card swipe is not present.
Thoughts?
 
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We only take payments under £500 by credit card or Paypal, anything over that is always via bank transfer. Although it’s never happened to us, payments via credit card and PayPal can be disputed and a “chargeback” can be raised.

On the positive side I do know a business where this happens quite often with credit card sales (they sell online training material) but they always win the dispute.
 
Thank you. That is what I'm concerned about - that they pay with CC, we do the work and then they dispute it and rip us off and I lose 45 hrs of work. The initial contact on my contact form was basically "do you shoot aerial photos and can you take CC as payment?"

Why would a client care what merchant service I use for CC transactions? Unless they are trying to evaluate how easy it will be to rip me off? Or is there some legit reason I am not thinking of?
 
Might be that they have no cashflow so need to use the CC? Can’t understand why they’d need to know the merchant though so I think you’re right to be wary of this, it’s just not relevant to the transaction. Can you try asking them for a bank transfer instead of CC?
 
Ahhhh....the plot thickens. Now they asked for a favor and here it is. Looks like a bonified scam now to me. Everyone agree?
The interesting thing is the video they want is of a real property in my area, supposedly to be graded over a 30 day period and they want progress video shot each day. And I am supposed to meet a surveyor.
So I'm not sure how this is supposed to play out.

Here is latest response pasted :

-------
Thank you so much for asking, the favor is regarding the surveyor, I actually met with him to discuss his payment before i was hospitalized due to the virus and we had agreed on how he's going to get his money but i have no means of doing that from here due to limited availability of resources in the hospital so i would like you to please include his commitment fee of $5,200 to the total deposit in the invoice so I can make the payment at once and as soon as payment clears in your account you will help me send it to him through cash app so we can proceed with the project because without the commitment fee he's not ready to proceed with the project, you know the current situation of the country. Can you do that for me please...?
Total Breakdown
Total Charges: $8,600
Deposit: $3,000
The Surveyor fee: $5,200
Tips and Stress fee: $400
 
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1,000,000% a scam.

I have seen this EXACT scam before(although not a surveyor, but to pay another contractor). I'd cut comm's with them and block the email address. And pass the info along to every other shooter/producer, etc. in your area.
 
This is a classic scam and an old one. I had an enquiry from the UAE about shooting stills at a conference over 3 days at a hotel in the UK. They went into great technical detail about their image requirements and tech specs which was clearly copied from other sources. The pay was good, they wanted my account details for the transfer that they would carry out way before the job date. Then came the paying another contractor for them bit. Their address checked out in UAE but appeared to be a warehouse rather than an office. The hotel existed but when I asked them if the event was going ahead they said they had had an enquiry about those dates but that was it. Plus, I was the seventh photographer who had phoned up that day!
 
Yeah I've read about this.

They give you money. You pay part of it to someone else.

Then they yank back what they paid you because it's not permanently transferred yet. But it's too late to get your money back from the other guy
 
Thanks everyone. Communication started off ok with their requirements and everything until paying the other contractor bit. The only way I see this scam working since the rest of the story would soon prove to be a lie is as soon as the surveyor is paid they take the money and run and I've been had.

I thought about telling the guy I'll donate him some extra money since he's in the hospital with the coronavirus and feel sorry for him :)

No shortage of scam attempts but this one took longer to reveal. Plus I get fake wedding inquiries and loads of people saying they will help improve my SSE. How about you guys?

So, back to the credit card payment. Do you guys have a limit on how much payment you will take via credit card before you require a check or bank transfer? I've always preferred check payments and the clients usually do but I didn't want to lose a job because I didn't accept CC, but now I'm wondering if I should just have a policy of only taking CC up to 500 or ~1000 so as to reduce the amount of money at risk. Seems any legit client should be able to pay another way, right?
 
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