One would think that a person saavy enough to market a photography business by building web sites, advertising online and using social networking would know enough about how the Internet works to realize how simple it is to track someone down. Unfortunately such is not the case for a New Jersey kid who allegedly tried to build a portfolio with another photographer’s work and got nailed.
The short version of the story is that an e-mail listserv member found a New York-based food photographer who would do a lot of work for a price that was entirely too low. Another member of the listserv checked out the studio’s portfolio and found his own work being showcased. The identity of the suspect and much of the online real estate he occupies was quickly uncovered through a series of searches.
Here’s the part that doesn’t make any sense — how does such a photographer pull this scam over even just one client? If we assume that the portfolio images were stolen because the alleged liar cannot produce results of that caliber, how does he deal with a client whose images do not meet the standards that were expected? Surely most businesses would refuse delivery and stop payment.
However it all worked, or didn’t, the site is only a year old. We’ll see how much longer it lasts.
Photo by El Mariachi 94.