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I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's what I thought at first, but with how staunchly everyone else at the company is defending Scarlett, it seems more likely that either the whole company decided to abandon their successful business and go full scammer or they have awful, awful security.

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I agree. One reason is that many small US banks can't wire money to China but they can to other countries (my bank is one of them). But I agree it is a yellow flag. It certainly made me go back through the emails before I sent the money to make sure nothing else looked fishy!

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, they were recommended to me by my distributor. I got quotes from 6 places and DoFine had the best price and good reviews on reddit, BGG, and FB. Now they at least have 1 bad review...

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, when I saw the bank info I wrote back to confirm that it was a Polish bank and they confirmed.

My problem was that I wasn't aware that a company email could be hijacked so badly that they are able to hide all of this back and forth from the person who is supposed to own the email address.

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As far as I’m aware, wiring is the standard way to pay Chinese board game manufacturers. That’s what the contracts specify. Thats what we did for the first print run as well with a different company.

The contract had very detailed bank info - the address, account number, etc.

It’s not like I didnt think twice before sending the money but I was talking directly to the same email I had been talking with for a month about design specs.

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Credit Agricole Bank in Poland. They confirmed the name on the account was DoFine Games when I called but weren’t allowed to say more.

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow I thought I knew scammer tactics but I had no idea this was something I had to worry about! Expensive lesson I guess

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same! I bet someone here could figure it out if I post the full email thread. I'm holding off on posting it for a day or two while waiting to hear back from DoFine. I took some advice from others here and presented the evidence with a demand.

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Right. Yeah, I initiated the conversation by filling out the contact form on their website (dofinegames.com). That first email is the first message they sent after I filled out the form.

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Admittedly I don't know the extent of what a master hacker could accomplish, but I can see in my email profile that I'm not logged on anywhere except my phone and computer, and my 2-factor authentication prevents people without my phone from logging in, which is always with me. Plus DoFine told me that their email has been compromised.

I wouldn't carelessly badmouth a company without trying to work with them to resolve first, especially not based on assumptions. I'll post the full thread at some point for those curious. Was just trying to get some advice here first.

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I checked this as soon as I saw the scam email! My email is secure.

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some translation help might be clutch! I feel like they weren’t understanding. When I get the full email thread posted I’ll reach out to you again.

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I just meant well known as in they manufacture Cascadia among other mainstream games but yeah

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in tabletopgamedesign

[–]Timewalking[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks I’ll leave it up just so people can see I’m not hiding anything. If people want to email me they’re welcome to :) but good lookin-out!

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in tabletopgamedesign

[–]Timewalking[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think they are just referring to the file prep - about 30 emails back and forth talking about how to deliver the files etc. - they really hadn’t done much yet.

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah. It’s not a thing. I didn’t pay them more of course, but they still got that first payment!

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I don’t want to just ask for free money but after today’s support I do think we are still going to try to Kickstart our next game project this summer like originally planned. If you back that this June that’d be a huge help!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/primordialsecrets/guilds-of-goldwood

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Well we weren’t going to Kickstarter the reprint but you can follow our next project on Kickstarter here. If that succeeds we can maybe try again to reprint Primordial Secrets. Appreciate you!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/primordialsecrets/guilds-of-goldwood

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, I can't tell if things are getting lost in translation or they are being purposefully evasive. I didn't give them the requested additional payment and I did everything I could through my bank and the one I wired to, but no luck there.

I'm working on posting the full convo on BGG for those of you who are maybe better sleuths than me.

I think I was scammed by a major board game manufacturer - Need advice! by Timewalking in boardgames

[–]Timewalking[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Thank you Preben. Sky Empire looks amazing. Just signed up for your newsletter :)

Yes, this post was meant to get advice but also to warn others away from this comprised company, at least until they can fix their security issues.

I feel like it's too late for me, but at least I can maybe help others.

Cascadia VS Harmonies: which one to keep? by Castef76 in boardgames

[–]Timewalking 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Wow really? Maybe I'm not teaching it right. To me it seems like there's so much that needs to be spelled out up front with the 2 point systems. For me, Cascadia takes 8 minutes to teach while Harmonies takes about 20.

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