Freelancers (Especially Chicagoans) Beware
Scams are never going to stop happening, so we have no choice but to train ourselves to be smarter than our would-be scammers. In the case of this recent Chicago-centered scam, it would be easy for most freelancers to see through the email and ignore it.
But what if you are new, naive and hungry? In the case of this scam, I would say the biggest clue is that it is nonsensical. I mean, just because you have a PhD doesn’t mean you can write well…but you should be able to write better than this.
Second, there is no need for them to know where you are from, so that part of the email should raise your hackles.
So, what’s the point of this scam? What do they hope to get out of you? Maybe an article, maybe your Paypal information, maybe your address. Who knows–does it really matter anyway? You have real jobs to find 
