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Van Dyk Productions

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Van Dyk Productions Reports & Reviews (7)

- Baltimore, MD, USA
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I responded to a commercial casting call email from Van Dyk Productions by way of Chris Van Dyk. Sent in some headshots and other photos and was contacted within the day saying I had been cast in a commercial. I checked out the website and while it looked basic, it seemed legit. We emailed back and forth about the details of the shoot. They were going to fly me out to California from Baltimore and they said they where sending me a cashiers check so I could purchase my wardrobe. The check was for $***. Unfortunately I followed thru with the instructions and deposited it & sent them an email back saying I received it, along with a copy of the deposit receipt. They sent me a reply saying once the check clears I needed to deposit it into a Bitcoin account and asked for a copy of my Drivers License. They never mentioned a bitcoin account initially and asking for my license made my red flags go off!! At that point i contacted them and let them know i was no longer interested and that they could cancel the check. At this point, the harassment kicked in and began receiving emails and text messages stating that the check could not be cancelled and once it cleared they were expecting to be refunded or i would be responsible for the amount. What they didn't know was that I had a friend that was contacted to and once her check did not clear, they had no problem cancelling the check and offered to do a cash deposit into her account.

All of this happened between 7/21/18-7/24/18, Saturday thru Tuesday. I checked with my bank on Monday to see if it had cleared and it did but my bank (after hearing the story) advised me to close my account and leave the money in there but do not withdraw until some more days go by. I informed Van Dyk Productions and the harassment took another turn to thinly veiled threats of harm and that they would find me, and how it will not end well for me. Once i informed them that the threats would be forwarded to the authorities, where before the emails were coming in angry all caps & red letters, they went back to normal black and small letters stating the "drastic measures" they were speaking of was legal action and proceeded to inform me that a warrant for my arrest has been issued and legal action would soon follow for my attempt to steal their money. They even had the nerve to accuse me of a being a money scammer trying to get over on them. They attempted to use scare tactics and pressure to rush me into just withdrawing the money from my account, against my banks advice, and deposit the cash into an account they have set up with TD Bank under the name Saheed Busar, Acct. #433-996-3799...stating the if these things didn't happen by the end of the day Tuesday, it would "not end well for me". At that point i just cut off communication and once I got home i looked them up here and saw they had been pretty busy & further confirmed by suspicions.

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- Mesa, AZ, USA
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I've received an email out of the blue from this company stating they want me to join their commercial production that is happening in May 2018. The email looks very professional and clever, however, my girlfriend had a strong feeling something was off. They told me how much they are going to pay me for my service as an actor, stated that travel, hotel accommodation, and 1 escort (individual that I want to take with me) to the set is covered, and will pay me to get a professional wardrobe and booking fee/upfront payment of $***, told me to pick one of the event dates that I'm available which I responded a week prior. However, after several email exchanges, James said I scheduled (told him) that I’m available on the dates I can’t attend? I send a screen shot poof of their initial email and my response. He said this weekend is already planned, when he said the week before they are booking people, not yet set, and told me to pick one of the event dates that I'm available. Prior to that statement above, he sent me a contract stating the breakdown of total amount to be paid. My girlfriend noticed that there is something off about the amount added. After I agreed and ask questions, he responded that the dates I already picked is no longer on the table because he stated in the email "YET RECEIVED YOUR BOOKING FEE AND WARDROBE FUNDS". Nothing in the contract states that I HAVE TO PAY BOOKING FEE or WARDROBE FUNDS to work with them. I thought BOOKING FEE AND WARDROBE FUNDS are paid to ME as it was stated in the email and contract, they said they received my contract today (as if it was late?), but I only got it at 5:30am that day. They expect me to sent it the second they sent stuff to me.

THIS IS A SCAM! Their website looks put together and was created in 2017 recent, there is so many legitimate business icons attached...however something about it seems fishy. The way they spoke to me in the email sounded off, but I continued to see if they are real or not.

The name I spoke to in the email is:

James Stevenson

Cast Director II

Van Dyk Productions®

The names on the contract:

Christopher Van Dyk

President and Executive Producer

Van Dyk Productions

Jesse Rodriguez

Public Relations Officer

Trade.com (SPAIN)

I would like BBB to investigate this company immediately before anyone else gets scammed!

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I was contacted via email by Van Dyk Productions. This company stated that it had reviewed my talent resume, and the company was hiring actors/models for a video shoot sponsored by Bitcoin. They asked for my physical address to send a check. This check was to cover the cost of the wardrobe. The check was $***. The check was delivered via USPS Priority Mail. When I opened the envelope, and took out the check, I felt the paper that the check was printed on. It felt like regular copy machine paper. Also, the "company" is located in California, but the bank printed on the check was in Illinois. That was another red flag. I emailed James Stevenson, the person who contacted me, and told him that I had purchased my wardrobe ( but I did not cash the check). I just wanted to see what he would say. He replied, "My instructions were to deposit the check, and then email me a copy of the deposit slip." Also, on the priority mail envelope, somone else's name was on the return address: Eric Gomez. His name had not come up in the emails.

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provided information about presuming that this is legitimate. when "James" texted me to find out if i deposited my check, the red flags really set in. searched their website's terms of condition and privacy info links, which are non existence. Tried to do a business search at the Dept of State site, presuming it was registered with California based on the address which appears to be a co share building. came across a blog on linked in which noted that it was a scam. now I may have inadvertently provided them with my data to be used for identity theft.

this is the linkedin article.

Acting Tidbits I have Learned

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/acting-tidbits-i-have-learned-leandra-wilkerson⇄ />
I'm at a loss on what to do now and if there are things to do to protect myself.

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- Simpsonville, SC, USA
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I have been talking to a company, VAN DYK PRODUCTIONS, about a commercial shoot in Los Angeles. Now, I'm still new to this. But I did my scam alert and couldn't find anything negative about the company, but I couldn't find anything good either except what was on the site. A friend of mine called me and told me he got the same email last week. Promising to fly me out and pay for hotel. They also said I'd get $*** up front and money for wardrobe that I would keep. When I got the contract, there were misspellings and the letter "I" was not capitalized. Then the company was not on the BBB. The address was incomplete without a suite number. I looked up the building tenants for the address and they weren't on it. They have a screenshot of Google Maps on their site but you look up the actual company on Google Maps, just the building number. All of this happened over a course of 2 days. They go really fast and give you deadlines. They give you pieces of information with each email and have no contact numbers.

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This is an Production company that sends cashiers check to pontential actors in order to swap fund into a bitcoin account.

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I responded to a commercial casting call email from Van Dyk Productions James Stevenson Casting Director (17777 Center Ct Dr, Cerritos, CA 90703) saying I had been cast in a commercial. I checked out the website and it looked legit. We emailed back and forth about the details of the shoot. They were going to fly me out to California, I live in NYC and they said they where sending me a cashiers check so I could purchase my wardrobe. The check was for $***. I like a [censored] deposited it and sent them an email back saying I received it. They sent me a reply saying once the check clears I needed to deposit it into a Bitcoin account and asked for a copy of my Drivers License. That sent up my red flag so I Googled the address on the envelope it came in and found another post here about a casting scam. The address the check came from: Rich Howard Palmfield Productions 1300 Kingsburg, California 93631 it's a house near Fresno. I have all the emails if you would like them and don't think I will be on the hook for any of the money because I'm not touching any of it.

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