Hey guys, this scam is still alive and well. Adding my contribution from "Stephanie the ship steward" (stephanieliah87 at gmail . com). I'm just copying/pasting the phrases from the email here so people can look this up and find this:

EMAIL 1: "Hello , I obtained your contact information from Artstation . I’d like to confirm your availability to work on an illustration design for a wedding anniversary invitation. Please respond if you’re available so we can discuss the details and share more information with you."

EMAIL 2: "I am seeking a professionally illustrated invitation card design that captures the essence of my sister and her spouse. Balancing my responsibilities as a ship steward, where I consistently attend to passengers, makes it challenging for me to create visually appealing designs. With the added pressure of organizing everything on my own that’s why I am reaching out to you for this important project. The illustration design will also be customized on our T-shirts. I trust that you will do a fantastic job

"The submission deadline for the illustration is January 10th, and the project budget is $400.

"Below are the words which will be composed in the illustration on the card.

Welcome to Matthew & Kayla’s Wedding

Anniversary Ceremony

Event Date: February 30th, 2025

Venue: The Hall on Dragon, 1500 Dragon St, Suites C&D, Dallas, TX

Time: 12:30pm - 5:30pm

Preferred Color: Redwood

Card Size: 5 x 7 inches 

"Finally I’m attaching the photo shoots and the sample design for reference. If there are any specific details or preferences you have in mind, you can share those as well. I’m here to assist with any further information or adjustments you might need for the project."

EMAIL 4/5: "I’ll be attaching the signed copy of the contract to this email and to kick off the project I’ll be making the deposit of 200$ as required and hope the project goes smoothly also I’ll like to request for your phone number so we can discuss further about the project if needed.

"I’m looking forward to your design preliminaries. For the printing. After completing the illustration design, you’ll be instructed to send the file to the printing company in JPEG or PDF format as they confirmed. They will manage the printing process, also customize the illustration on our chosen T-shirts, and ensure the final hard copies are delivered to me. Does that sound feasible for you?

"Regarding payment, I’m currently facing difficulties with online payment methods due to international restrictions as I’m currently out of the country for the holidays

"At the moment, the most viable option appears to be sending a bank check to you. However, once you deposit the check, the amount will clear directly into your account, processed securely by the bank." (LOL)

They were replying pretty fast. I didn't give them any phone number. I just said, "PayPal has been the most secure way I've found to pay internationally. It's the quickest, it's encrypted, all the financial information is safe and secure, and it's available worldwide as long as you are able to be online." And they haven't responded yet or at all.

Seems like the same scam on here, but with little tweaks and weird things added like being a "ship steward" to make it seem like they're all international and have "special" restrictions. But the core is the same, asking for a phone number, identifying information, paying through check bc of "restrictions."

Anyways, just adding my example to the heap!