A Little Help Please—Am I Being Scammed?

I was contacted recently by someone claiming to work for Facebook. He was wondering if I'd be interested in allowing parts of some video I shot at a Bernie Sanders rally a few months ago to be used in an online commercial he was involved in making. This is actually the 2nd time I've been asked to give someone the rights to use this particular video which you can view below.

The initial contact was followed up with another email detailing the legal specifics about granting Facebook the right to use the video in addition to an offer of $1000 for its use. (Page 1 and page 2.) In a follow-up correspondence, he stated that all they needed from me to proceed was a digital file of the video which they now have. I was told that I'd be contacted by another person who would arrange for me to be paid.

I received an email today from the person responsible for making the payment to me. One of the things he's asking for is a filled-out W9 form for the IRS and I assume I would obviously need to provide my SSN. Maybe this is how it has to be but I'm a little concerned about giving out this information. I did a search for Kapsized, Inc. and all I could come up with is this link to two videos they've produced.

I dunno. It seems legit but it could also be a scam. Thoughts? Please share them here or on Facebook. Thanks!

Comments

David Bryan Gilmore said…
It could be "ligit". I have been paid for a few of my photos on flickr over the years. Sometimes it is a check but mostly it's with accreditation to the photo and a copy of the book or magazine. Actually the city of Tacoma is the one that paid me for use.
I'd never give out my SS# even though it's already been compromised by an IRS scam.
We sell our art here in town but never end up paying taxes as the individual amounts received don't ever reach that threshold.
For me it's just as fun to see my work being use.
April 22, 2016 at 12:27 PM
Kevin Gilmore said…
I've had several requests over the years to use images of some of our stained glass work but there's never any payment involved with it, only as you said, copies of books or magazines where the image was being used and yeah, that was always more than enough for me.

I have no doubts that our SSN have already been compromised many times over. Still, it's a tough call.
April 22, 2016 at 12:31 PM
Kevin Gilmore said…
I sent him the info. I have to believe there are easier ways to obtain my SSN if that's what the intent is here.
April 22, 2016 at 12:47 PM
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