As I was was standing at 59th street and Lexington ave filling out some paper work an older African American man asked me to directions to MOMA. I explained to him the best i could, as i was somewhat in a rush myself. He then proceeds to complimenting my voice and how it sounds good for cartoon voicing and how he works for Viacom and he knows they are looking for some candidates to do a VoiceOver for Hello Kitty. He then seemed very interested, and began showing me all his business cards and kept praising my voice and how he had to get me into the studio.
He said he usually doesn't go up to people in the streets, but heard my voice and thought it would be perfect. He seemed like a truthful person, so i continued to listen. He asked for a few minutes of my time and whether i was interested in the job to voice cartoons. He insisted that i needed to do it, again showed me his business cards said he worked for viacom, show me a business card. He was extremely professional in his demeanor actually resembled al roker, and was put together... He talked about viacom and how they were hiring people to voiceovers and said he can promise me they would love to have my voice. He googled his name and a link came up saying how he was some manager or something, and also called Viacom and let me listen to the phone call to ensure it was in fact the company he said he was calling. He also told me the position was on weekends and asked if I was comfortable coming in for calls on the weekends, and that I was allowed to bring people to the calls with me to ensure everything was legit.
Basically, he used a lot of psychology throughout the chat. If this whole thing isn't real, it sure sounded real. He tried to make me trust him and tried to make me believe what he said. He asked for my name, email address and number, but nothing else. I asked about contracts, and he told me Viacom would email me the package and everything I needed I needed. He told me not to worry, because i'm worrying too much, and if i do, it will be a lot of hassle and he doesn't want the hassle.By saying that, its a line where it makes people feel as if HE/SHE is doing something wrong.
He said the only thing was that we had to pay for our voice kits. He told me that artists will be paid around $190 an hour, but the kits are a one time fee. He then asked if i could pay the money for the voice kits now, which would be $380. I said i did not have enough and he told me that i can get it from the ATM. He asked me how much i am comfortable giving him now and i said $60. He told me that he can spot me, but i have to pay him back once i work. I agreed. At the ATM, I got the $60 out gave him one of my cards, and he said both him and Viacom would be in touch and at this time he also mentioned he would bring me and a friend to a broadway play or Knicks game as he has connections within Viacom and can get us "hooked up"... He even stated at this point "if you don't trust me you can have your money back, I want you to trust in me and Viacom because I know you have a ton of potential" He walked me back half a block, said that he will contact me in a few weeks and gave a small hug and said goodbye. I did not have time to report this because i had to rush back to work and was also slightly caught off guard.
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