A few days ago we got an SMS text that looked ligitimate but we believe it is some group doing smishing. They said the party host was Mike Benard. I'm a children's entertainer and DJ and I believe they are using an SMS bot to find out cell numbers of Entertainment companies. The message asked me if I was available to do magic tricks on a certain date. I replied yes and they sent several messages not answering exactly the information I needed to know in order to book the gig. We work on a proposal and invoice system and require the party host has the event hall reserved. I called the event hall and they did not have any record of a Mike Benard calling or reserving the hall. They even asked that I not take the payment with PayPal. For out of state gigs we insist on using PayPal. After the last communication with them they asked again today if I was available for the party. This time the details were identical except for the venue address. All of the other text messages looked similar with a similar style so that's what got me suspicious. I think I need to report them to the police so other authority.
I too got a call from this number saying that there was going to be a party at the King Center (part of the college). It read like this;
Hello, Good Day. this is Mr. Mike Benard. I would like to know if you're available to do a magic show. I'm organizing a birthday party for my baby niece and I will like you to perform at the event.Let me know if you can do this. I await the read from you (poor English). i shared my prices and packages and he wrote back; The celebrant is turning 5 and the age range of the kids is between 4-9 years. About 45 kids. can I secure the date with my credit card? I do not feel comfortable using PayPal. I have several payments through them and it wasn't satisfactory.
Yes, I'm dealing with the same number and same problem. I've dealt with this from other numbers in the past. Weird that I'm contacted to photograph an event in New York - I live in Idaho!