Is this a Chinese scam?

May 28, 2008 1:55 PM

Chinese language filter: is this site legit? And, if this is a scam, what kind of scam is it?

Asking for a friend: she is a graphic designer and received this email:

Subject: invitation for contribution
Dear Director,
We are the editorial department of Madison Series in China. We know your company from the details online and find that your works are very excellent. We are now collecting information for International Design Yearbook II. Can you submit some works for the book ?Thank you.
Enclose the contribution information.
Looking forward to your reply.
Best regards
Guangzhou MDX
Website: www.mdx.com.cn

First part of the question for Chinese speakers: is this site legit?

My friend then asked where they found her work, and they answered:
"We found you on http://www.sdgq.ca/
We will you send you a free copy if your contribution occupies 5 pages in our book."

sdgq is the Québec association of graphic designers, of which she is a member, but where she has no portfolio. So they couldn't have seen her work.

So if it looks like a scam and smells like a scam it should be a scam. But what kind of scam is it? Will they ask for money later?

posted by bru to work & money (3 comments total)

It is probably the standard who's who scam. Paying to be listed in these directories is a waste of your money, as no one reads them except the other people who paid to be in them.
posted by nomisxid at 2:13 PM on May 28, 2008

It could be they just want free high-res graphics. There was a book published in China a while back that was all stuff ripped off of deviant art.
posted by delmoi at 3:24 PM on May 28, 2008

I work on China/Taiwan issues, and I've been getting similar emails from supposed Chinese publishing houses about papers I've written, about photos from my time in Asia, etc.

I am fairly certain that these are a version of the "who's who" scam that nomisxid linked to. They will ask to publish her work, then charge her for a copy of the book - if there even is a book to get. I just delete them these days as spam.

There is a legitimate "International Design Yearbook" series, by the way, but that looks like a UK publisher.
posted by gemmy at 3:41 PM on May 28, 2008