As you’re growing your business, you may have come into contact with some gigs that don’t seem quite right. While you feel that in your gut, you may still end up pursuing it because you really want to have the work. The next thing you know, you’ve delivered the work requested, and never hear from the client again. You’ve wasted hours of your time and you’re not compensated for it.

This is a classic scam scenario. Don’t feel ashamed. You are not the only one that has fallen into this trap. It’s a pretty common one because you just never know who is trustworthy these days.

However, there are some red flags you should look out for when it comes to identifying scams. There are also some things you can do to prevent them from happening.

Red Flags for Voice Over Work Scams

• The person asks for a large quantity of work and offers to pay a lot of money for it.
• The person is international and doesn’t have any information about himself or his company online.
• The potential client contradicts what he tells you about payments or the work.
• The person wants you to send money to him.
• Even though you’ve asked questions about the work, it all still seems very vague.
• You’re unable to call him.

As you can see, most of the red flags come through communication with the person. That can be from talking about the voice over work itself or the payments. You should never send money to anyone for any reason.

How to Prevent a Scam

There are some great scammers out on the Internet today. You’d be surprised how good they can really be, so you have to be better than them. The following are ways you can do that:

• Ask for a deposit, especially for large jobs.
• If the person doesn’t want to pay upfront, require partial payment upon delivery of the first part of the project. This may only be possible for large jobs.
• Research the person online to find out if what he is telling you is the truth.
• Create a contract and have the person sign it. This can be very simple. Once you know the scope of the project, write everything down including payment terms, and have the person sign. Verify the signature with an ID if possible. If not, research the person to ensure he is who he says he is.
• Start with a small project and if payment is made, you can move on to other work.

Go with Your Gut

Just like with anything in life, listen to your gut. Your inner wisdom is always working. If you feel that someone is being untrustworthy, then go with that feeling and move on to finding other work. Always remember, it’s better to work for something that is a sure thing, rather than wasting your energy on something that may end up costing you time and money.