We've been recently hit from a few different sites with a new wave of credit card fraudsters.
Without going into details, basically what they do is find willing partners to sit there in paid chat doing not much while they rack up $10,000+ in credit card charges. They pick their partners/victims from "low traffic" or new models who think they're doing well until the bill comes due - people unlikely to report anything.
There is an ACF thread where one of these guys does a little psycho troll routine. They are quite proud of the damage they do to both websites and models. From the looks of things, its some kind of combination misogynistic incel prank and attack on the webcam industry in general.
While the money may look good at first, the amounts involved and the blatancy puts models on the hook for criminal charges and collections. In the very best case scenario, they lose their camming career entirely with no money to show for it.
In combination, this has cost us about 5 weeks of staff salary. We've essentially been working for free for about a month. Most of the models involved, despite being handed incredible amounts of free money for no work, are usually unwilling to give any back (even with a generous offers to clear the debt), so that is as good as guilt. We've had better luck in other cases. To that end, we've had to re-evaluate how we handle things going forward. We're in the process of constructing an AI detection model that has already been successful in finding some past cases we missed. This can mean delayed payments, being checked on for some transactions, and a restructuring of benefits (TBD). This hurts all models and their supporting websites.
What we'd like to share though is how you can avoid being a victim going forward, and it comes down to 2 key things:
1) Do not rely on a single client for your the majority of your income. If you find yourself in that situation, know that it will end badly.
2) Report immediately suspect client behavior. No website has ever cut a model if he/she reported something sketchy before it was too late.
If you're willing to keep reading, here is some detail.
Relying on a Single Client
This one has been a source of woe since long before this crisis began, and we've seen variations of this since we started with the studio some 8 years ago. A single client will spend more and more money on a model, causing that model to focus her attention more and more on him. This precludes them from not only gaining new clients in that time, it also increases the risks involved.
All clients go bad eventually for a number of reasons. They can simply run out of money, turn their interests to another model (or RL girlfriend) after a few months, or feel their spending entitles them to a relationship that isn't part of the contract. If that income suddenly dries up and you aren't prepared for it, this will leave a big hole in your budget. You also haven't been putting the time in on your websites or marketing to easily replace that income. This has been the sudden end of a lot of cammodel careers - when you're used to an easy money regular, who wants to go back to working for a living?
This also increases your liability in bad situations. If your one and only client decides to charge back an entire year worth of spending through his credit card (yes, we've seen this happen), chargeback protection doesn't help you. No CB protection is "unlimited", no matter how well its advertised. In the same situation, if you'd had another 4 or 5 main clients, you'd probably be safe. The site would see your CB ratio is low and CB protection would still work just fine. You also wouldn't be out 100% of your income in addition to a site ban.
On a macro level, the big websites have figured this out a long time ago. Its always better to be bringing in new clients. Their placement systems are built for this. How much clients spend and retaining customers takes a back seat to bringing in more and more traffic. More clients and more models increase the income factor over time while decreasing systemic risk - a single superstar dropping out or a few bad apple clients won't destroy their system. Its simply good business.
Finally, having the mindset not to rely on a single client is a mental health boost. You are less dependent emotionally and psychologically. Knowing that there's always more fish in the sea, so to speak, makes you less vulnerable to being manipulated into a bad situation or over-riding your common sense.
Sketchy Client Behavior
This is a list of red flags that should be reported, and preferably before they can do damage. You have a window of sometimes just a day or two before a fraud situation spirals out of your ability to control it. As fraud detection systems get smarter, your own ability to get ahead can be just hours.
Who is suspicious?
- Clients that change payment methods or website payment platforms frequently.
- The same client visits you but from a different account - there is no legit reason for this.
- Clients that change their spending habits suddenly to double or more.
- Clients that ask or push for off-site payment methods.
- Clients that are already on a watch list or were previously banned somewhere.
- Clients that offer ridiculous amounts of money for nothing or buy long shows where they ask for nothing or act like they aren’t paying attention.
- Use your instincts, if it seems too good to be true, report it.
Bottom line is that in no case ever has a cammodel lost her job or even most of the money by reporting a suspicious client or transaction. To delay reporting in hopes of future rewards is to invite disaster.
“Chargeback protection” does not work in cases of fraud, it is not a substitute for common sense. It also has its limits in legit chargeback situations.
Because of the recent high volume of fraud, websites are in a “zero tolerance” mode. This means immediate and permanent ban, sharing fraud reports with other websites, and billing the person on record (you) for the fraudulent amounts.
Also, importantly, let the websites do their work. Bullying website staff or pressuring them publicly or privately does not help you in any way. If the money is legit, it takes at most 24-48 hours to clear so patience will pay off. If the money isn't legit, you may not see that money, but everyone lives to cam another day.
During this crisis situation, this is probably the best time to be a cammodel in the last 10 years. Use this time to the best of your abilities and you'll come out far ahead on the other side. However, its also one of the best times to be a scammer, fraudster, or con artist - desperate people make poor decisions.
Cam safely.



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