Chinese Scammers Pretend to be Agency
If you’ve been paying attention at all, you would know that there is a rise in fake agencies trying to buy media. Their scam is usually simple: they buy media, insert viruses and other types of questionable things into the mix, and when they are caught, never pay for the media. Some people like Torq Cisek, use pseudonyms to buy advertising and insert code of other ads into the mix, cheating the advertiser. Either way, these scams are on the rise. I’ve found thanks to an alert from a reader, another scam ring located in China, preying on those who might not be taking the time to really dig in deep.
Thanks to a friend who noticed something fishy and emailed me to check them out. He was emailed by an “Angela Giaccio” of “ZammaMedia” with the following message:
Hi! My name is Angela Giaccio and I represent Zamma Media. Please let me know your advertising conditions, we have a couple clients interested in running RON banner campaign with you. Start date -as soon as possible. Could you please let me know the following: – How many unique impressions per day can we expect (the client is looking for 100K and more)? – What CPM rate can you offer us? As soon as I know that, I’ll get back to you with more details and budget info. Looking forward to hearing from you. — Angela Giaccio Advertising Manager
Angela Giaccio
Angela.Giaccio@zammamedia.com
(321) 332-7971
He responded, the person on the other end seemed interested and provided him with the following credit sheet:
All of the references that they provided were all registered with the same Chinese registrar, on the same day. This made it very easy to figure out that something was wrong to start.
I decided to actually call these references, here is the video of what happened when I did.
There were some other issues, but the registration of ZammaMedia should have given it away. The registration listed, 4020 Fidler Drive doesn’t actually exist. The number I called wasn’t a business number and no one picked up. The number at the bottom of the mail additionally went to a voice mail service. Additionally, the two addresses don’t match up, and none of the numbers given match up either. The customer service number on the website is for Maryland, while the addresses registered are for Texas and Florida.
Paula Washington it@zammamedia.com
210-705-6643 fax: 210-705-6643
4020 Fidler Drive
San Antonio TX 78229 us
Zamma Media
1802 N Alafaya Trail
Orlando, FL 32822
+1 (410) 670-4467
While I am not sure, I believe this scam ring may be associated with the people mentioned here.
If you have any info, email me at pace@industrypace.com
4 Responses to “Chinese Scammers Pretend to be Agency”
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(C) 2010 Pace Lattin. It is the policy of this blogger to not edit or remove any content and comments, unless it is specifically attacking a protected group or irrelevant to the conversation, such as a spam. These are the OPINIONS of the respective writers, posters, commentators. All DCMA Notices shoudl be sent to pace@pacelattin.com
What happened to requiring bank references?
On a side note, read this article to see the future of Chinese scamming: Chinese companies rent white foreigners
I'm sure this will surprise no one.
I work nearby the so-called Zamma Media – Alafaya Trail, FL "address". I thought I would stop by to check in with the folks at the Zamma Media customer service. The 1802 Alafaya Trail address is a single story building of office suites. I asked the concierge at the main desk where I could find Zamma Media . . . . . . . . .and they replied that they had never heard of them. They weren't familiar with any interactive or internet related tenants in their building. Go figure.
Thanks Pace, that gives me the answers to questions that have bothered me since last winter.
I would recieve reports that people entering my website were being plagued with rogue antivirus
scareware. I had the host scan the site and used a scan I found myself and they showed no
malware on the site. Googleads sent me a notice that they were dropping me because my site
was unsafe and Mcafee Site Advisor gave it a red flag. Strangely enough when Googleads were
removed the problem disappeared. It looks like even the big guys don't do their homework either.
Thanks Pace for this information! We were just running a credit application and I found this information through the Google Search. I had a feeling this company was not legitimate, but this just answered my question. This really helped!
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