Retronix Gaming
While browsing the recent jobs on ScriptFodder a certain job caught my eye - someone needed a website! Of course this is where I specialize, so I applied for the job and added the job creator on Steam.
We spoke for a while about what he was looking for and within the next few days I had a prototype of the homepage in place on my personal server. I ended up with access to everything, including his namecheap account, so I could set up the DNS records and databases. I finished the project (plus a few extra things I was asked to do) and was told I would be expecting at least £50 for my efforts - not bad.
When I finished the project and asked for payment I was told he could only pay me at the end of the month, just over a week away. I accepted that deadline and waited patiently. During this week, I had been contacted by the graphic designer the job creator had 'hired' to create some logos for him. I was provided sufficient evidence to prove the designer had been scammed and the logos were being used without permission. When I went to take them off the site I noticed the passwords had been changed to the FTP. No worry, I had a backup account just in case. When I confronted the job creator he claimed to not know the person and he had his cousin create the images. From that point on I was skeptical of this character and warned him I needed the payment by 12pm noon GMT on last day of the month.
The last day of the month arrives and my PayPal still hadn't been credited. I had already sent a payment request that seemed to have been cancelled, so I took down the site and left a message for the client. By the end of the day he contacted me saying what I had done was "illegal" and he would report me to the police. Lovely gesture, but completely ill-minded. I ended up giving in and uploading one page as to try and receive the payment. 3 cancelled payment requests later I took down the site entirely.
He now had one final warning. Pay me by the 3rd or the site gets totally deleted. He continues to try and scam me and he finds himself in a position with no website. Of course I didn't delete it - I need it for a portfolio. Fast forward a few days and I get contacted by another developer who is now working with the ex-client. We chat about the scammer and how he will only be trouble. From that point all I know is the domains are no longer owned by the scammer and now redirect to another page entirely. I have heard nothing of the scammer, but know his ScriptFodder account is banned for scamming. No one has the site except for myself and I hope to keep it this way due to his awful scamming logic.