Web Design Scam Requests
Every web design company gets scam requests, and we’re no exception (even though we’re not really a web design company, per se).
And SEO scams are even worse. In fact, I’ve written about a sneaky SEO scam before, and several dozen other SEOs commented to thank me for exposing it.
But the web design scams are different. As far as I can tell, they don’t want your money.
They want your time.
At the end of the day, these are probably SEO scams too. If you build the website they want, they’ll probably just use it for spammy link building.
Points for creativity, though.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
“Do you accept credit cards?”
Joe Kelly · joekelly1417@hotmail.com
This request came from “Joe Kelly.” Here’s what the email said:[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”scam-item” width=”5/6″ offset=”vc_col-sm-offset-1″][vc_column_text]Hello,
How are you doing today? my name is Joe Kelly I’m a retired Surgeon in the Army. Who Served in Iraq and Afghanistan, I read about your Web Design service on a business directory I would like to know if you can do Web Design for my new company and will you be able to get me an estimate?
Also what to know if you accept all major type of credit card for payment? and also want you to get back to me with ur Email address so i give you my Website Design details
Thanks i hope to hear from you soonest.
Regards,
Joe Kelly
joekelly1417@hotmail.com[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]See that name? Joe Kelly? Seems innocent at first, but it’s fishy to me.
Here’s why:
Joe is the easiest name in the book to pass off. It’s the 10th most popular first name in America, according to census data. And there are about 3,000,000 Joes in the US.
Joe by itself isn’t fishy. Being a popular could make it believable. But that’s the point. Pick a believable name to fly under the radar.
Joe doesn’t become fishy until paired with the last name: Kelly.
Why is Kelly a fishy last name in scammer Joe’s case? Because my last name is Kelly. Isn’t that convenient?
It’s meant to be disarming and relatable. “Oh look, someone who has the same name as me!” Sorry. Not buying it.
Yea, sure. There are a lot of Kellys in America (about 300,000). But it’s too convenient.
Also, I like to believe that a US Army surgeon would be capable of writing a better email than that one. Typos and syntax errors all over the place![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
“My name is _ and I’m a website designer”
Jason Johnson · circle357marketing@gmail.com · 7015573934
Like the above, these emails come from a different name every time, but they all follow the same formula.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”scam-item” width=”5/6″ offset=”vc_col-sm-offset-1″][vc_column_text]My name is Jason and I’m a website designer. I’m reaching out to find out if there are changes or improvements that you’d like to make to your site. Have you been thinking about updating your site to a more modern look and feel or adding some features to the site that automate some of your business processes? If so, I’d really love to speak with you.
Is there a time we can speak in the next couple of days that would work for you? I can provide you with some suggestions of different things that I’ve done that have made a big impact on my clients’ sales. I’d love to be able to help out.
Let me know what number to call and what time works out best for you and I’ll do my best to make it work.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Best Regards,
Jason Johnson
circle357marketing@gmail.com
7015573934[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]Unsolicited web design and online marketing emails are the worst. Never answer them.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
“I design great looking websites for small business”
Ed Frez · onlinedesignexpertz@gmail.com · 302-316-3863
Like the above, these emails come from a different name every time, but they all follow the same formula.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”scam-item” width=”5/6″ offset=”vc_col-sm-offset-1″][vc_column_text]My name is Ed and I design great looking websites for small business owners. I’m contacting you to see if there are changes or enhancements that you’d like to make to your site.
Have you been thinking about upgrading your site to a more cutting edge look and feel or adding a few elements to the site that will help automate some of your business? If so, I’d really love to speak with you.
Do you have a free minute we can talk in the next couple of days that would work for you? I can give you a few proposals of different strategies that I’ve done that have had a major effect on my customers ROI. I’d be happy to help out.
I look forward to speaking with you,
Thanks,
Ed Frez
onlinedesignexpertz@gmail.com
302-316-3863[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]Unsolicited web design and online marketing emails are the worst. Never answer them.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
“Interested in redesigning or upgrading your site”
Sterling Chambers · webdesignerzroyal@gmail.com
Like the above, these emails come from a different name every time, but they all follow the same formula.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”scam-item” width=”5/6″ offset=”vc_col-sm-offset-1″][vc_column_text]I’m contact you to find out if you’re interested in redesigning or upgrading your site, or if you’re interested in building a new site. I am a very skilled web designer with various abilities and can create just about anything that you can come up with. My rates are affordable at any budget.
Please let me know what you’re looking to do with the website and I can give you a proposal on getting it done.
Kind regards,
Sterling Chambers[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]Good thing Sterling Chambers is contact me![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Joe Kelly hit our web design company, too, but no one here has the last name Kelly! Just figured I would Google the email address to see if it was legit before I built out a profile. Then I stumbled accross this. The Kelly thing might just be a coincidence!
I figured it may be, but it still seemed fishy to me! Thanks for your comment and I hope this post was helpful!
I got one from Ed Frez at onlinedesignexpertz@gmail.com. Dead give away 1) no Phone number, 2) No company Website (If you are website designer you know that future clients want to see a portfolio and YOUR WEBSITE!) and 3) If you do websites and/or SEO… why is it you spam with online forms?
These kind of scams are annoying… give it up!
Just got a new variant of this one… I almost stopped reading at “reaching out” but thought I’d google the name and came here.
—–Original Message—–
On Behalf Of: edmundse816@gmail.com
Subject: Website Enquiry
Company Name:
Message: Hello, I’m Ed Frez and I’m reaching out to you to know if you’re interested in any upgrades or changes to your site. When I look at your site, I think that your clients would really be more engaged if you give it a more cutting edge look or add a few elements to it (or even a few new functionalities). If this is something that you are interested in, I am an expert in WordPress and various other website platforms / shopping carts (I’d love to tell you more about these platforms if you’re not familiar with them) and we can help you in setting those up for your website. We can talk more about it in the next couple of days if that would work for you. I can give you plenty of information and examples of what we’ve done for other clients and other sites and what the results have been. Let me know if you’re interested and hopefully we’ll be able to speak soon. Thanks, Ed Frez – Web Designer / Programmer
Yep all my clients got this email to from Ed Frez – Web Designer / Programmer about 200 of my clients received this email. They are going through my portfolio and sending all my clients this crap! Never use lead gen co…Unless you want allot of problems for your company on the net..
Came across this post when I looked up Jason Johnson circle357marketing@gmail.com. I wanted to know what they push and why a web designer would A) Ask a web design company to build a better site for them and B) use a gmail account to contact potential leads. The gmail is a dead giveaway, not to mention no link to a company website or portfolio. Another scam worth noting comes with frustration. I had a person reach out to me using a known contact as a reference. They asked if I could quote them to build a site based on an example. I spent time working out the quote and once I sent it they replied: Thanks, your quote has been approved! Can you invoice us the full amount and then send half the money to our content guy for us? He will then send you the content and we’ll pay the rest of the invoice when the job is complete….WTF? I hope no one falls for that.
Have you gotten messages from:
David Taylor
601-533-8855
expertdesign78@gmail.com
Jason Johnson
Benjamin Livingston
Carl Miller
James Wilhelm
Ed Frez
Tim Landon
Brad Walker
Andrew Ratcliff
and others…
These are all from the same person:
Justin Shayota
https://www.facebook.com/justin.shayota
https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-shayota-86494689
https://www.adoseo.com/
justin@adoseo.com
2275 Michael Faraday Ave Ste 5 San Diego CA 92154
Phone: (619) 323-0000
Also under criminal investigation in CA
Justin Shayota, 33, of San Diego, California-Conspiracy to Traffic in Counterfeit Goods, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 23202(a), and Conspiracy to Introduce Misbranded Food into Interstate Commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371
https://www.fda.gov/iceci/criminalinvestigations/ucm531401.htm
@slcpunk (great movie, btw): what makes you sure that all these personalities come from Justin Shatoya? The link you shared talks about Five Hour Energy, not SEO scams.
Hey slcpunk…. Im not sure how you came to the conclusion that im sending spam email to people, but it is not me. I would appreciate it if you would remove this post. Thanks in advance.
Hey im Justin Shayota and I can assure you im not sending out any mass emails to anyones clients. About 2 weeks ago I started purchasing leads through a US based lead generation company that was supposedly getting leads through their email newsletter. I will definitely stop using this company.
Hey @justinshayota:disqus, I deleted slcpunk’s comment. I agree: without providing any evidence, that comment has no place here.
I have no reason to assume you’re the evil mastermind behind every SEO/web design scam email I’ve ever gotten.
Can you elaborate on the lead gen thing? No need to name names if you don’t want to, of course. But what connects the lead gen company to the topic of SEO/web design scam emails? Are they related at all?
Thanks for commenting, and I apologize again for being host to an unfounded accusation!
They aren’t scamming people. They are just generating leads and selling them to agencys.
I got a call today from another web designer and according to him they were going to a designers site and targeting all the sites in their portfolio. For that reason I will no longer use them. That’s not the right way to do business.
Thank you for deleting the post. Apparently he has posted the same thing on some other boards. Hopefully I can get those removed too.
Do you know who this slcpunk person is or why they’re badmouthing you?
Another web designer said they were interested in a website just to see who the emails led to. The leads company sent me the lead and I called and left a voicemail. He assumed because I called that I was sending the emails.
I have no idea who he is.
Dear Ed , Please stop sending me spam. I gave asked you nicely numerous times, to just stop, but your emails keep hitting my inbox. I didn’t design my website so spammers like you could use it to waste my time.
Hi @disqus_XrW8ElyKVr:disqus, thanks for your comment. I hope you can tell from the tone and tenor of this blog post that I’m not Ed Frez! :)
In fact, I’m sure Ed Frez doesn’t exist. He’s a fake persona made up to scam people into buying services.
This post is intended as a warning to others out there. If they google Ed Frez (or any of the other bogus names)—which I assume you did (the system works!)—I hope they find this post and realize they’re being duped.
Again, thanks for the comment.
Edward Frez is still going – had two from him in the last week via our company’s contact form, using Gmail addresses – EdFrez689@gmail.com and EdwardFrez824@gmail.com.
Same IP address – 207.246.240.123 – was the origin of another “web developer” scam e-mail using the name “Glenn Matson”, and convert2sales@gmail.com as the contact address.
Thanks Chris! Appreciate the update. Hope this post helped tip you off!
I receive these web design offers regularly through the mail form on one of my sites. The bizarre thing is that they never fill in the email address field. It usually just says N/A. So how am I expected to get back to them??
I got one from the Ed Frez dude in Nov. 2023 but now I’m noticing that almost all of my email “To: Name” fields (which should be “To:MY OWN NAME “) now say “To: Ed Frez “. How does THAT happen and how do I possibly get it off. Been trying to troubleshoot it with Apple but so far no luck. No settings have been changed that we know of.
Anyone else have this issue happen?