I’ve been mostly unsuccessful and had few followups, even fewer interviews. That much isn’t unusual.

Recently I’ve in fact received a reply to one of my emails.

Date: July 11, 2009 19:27:38 GMT+03:00
From: XXX.casinomarketingneeds@gmail.com
Subject: graphic design

Hello Adi,
Would you be able to meet up for an interview Sunday at 4:00pm?
I really am interested in your work.

Best
XXX

I was pretty convinced it was actually spam but had my doubts. For one thing, it’s from a gmail account, and I rarely receive spam from those. Secondly, it seemed to at least be targeted at me. I took a chance and replied, said that, yes, I can meet her Sunday (which is actually a work day in Israel, too). I mentioned in my email that I would like to speak to her on the phone as well.

Fun fact: I got the email Saturday evening. The email didn’t say where other than what city, which isn’t really saying much at all.

The call came Sunday afternoon. After the meeting was “supposed” to happen. Not very professional maybe? She spoke “good” English, with traces of something else in her accent. This time she said we should meet at a café somewhere along Diezengoff which is slightly more specific. Slightly. Very slightly.

The company, she said, was “the first of its kind.” Some sketchy outsourcing business for casinos. Like that’s supposed to make me feel comfortable. A casino isn’t really where honest men and women decide to make their living – be it as a player or as the owner.

But what bothered me more was that it seemed like an attempt, and a very poor one at that (extremely, in fact) to make me work and then just disappear with that work and me not getting a cent back.

You know, if she at least, say, used the company’s domain name to send me email, stuck to the actual times and just overall didn’t make this sketchy – I would have probably gone for it. But guess what.

Makes me wonder – there are people who actually fall for these types of “traps”? Would you have taken that (freelance if I may add) job even at the risk of not getting paid?