[WARNING] Do NOT work for/hire 'xi0s'!]

I have been contacted on msn by someone using this e-mail adress:
workisforlosers@hotmail.com (Supposedly his name is Callum)

He asked me to do a design for his cms software, but he wanted a mockup first, to test my skills. I started on this for him and spend quite some time on it. I showed him a preview and he wanted some changes before he could decide, I made them and showed him again (two revisions I believe). At this point I kept stressing the fact that he had to decide and send me a downpayment if I had to continue.

After that he started acting shady and gave me loads of changes for the design on parts that he previously told me were fine as they were, as if he was trying to keep me busy. I did some research on him googling his email and searching for him on clantemplates.com, turns out he has been known for scamming. I've told him to **** off on msn, then he dissapeared.

Just thought I'd warn you NOT to hire this guy.

Thanks for the heads up, but it's something that you should expect if you don't take a down-payment before you start on the work.

I know Saulie, it was kind of foolish. I was just really in need of that $200. Plus I have way too much trust in people, I'm aware of that.

His username on here was xi0s, but it looks like he's been banned or something. (no activity since 2007)

To everyone, do not do any work for anyone for free; even (especially) if it is under the guise of a potential contract. Your portfolio, resumé, etc. should be more than enough information for any prospective client to get an idea of whether you might be suitable for the job (or scam) on offer.

The particular person being mentioned was banned from here over two years ago. If anyone gets a whiff of them being active again on the site, do let me know.

Thanks for rubbing it in Salathe, I'll be wiser next time

Hi guys,

For a start, I too have links with the fragage project and I'd rather you didn't tarnish my reputation through involving that brand in a dispute between yourself and another developer. That's highly unprofessional on your part.

Now, I know how arguments like this go on this community but I'd just like to say that Callum (xi0s) also had me working on a mockup for this site. He was very open with me, and I've worked with him on dozens of large projects and we meet from time to time in person for drinks and to talk about planning projects. He was very open and upfront that he had other designers working on it, that he would choose a concept to go ahead with before he paid and that he would not pay for designs which he felt didn't meet the spec.

I only say all this because from looking at the chat logs etc, it seems very much like Jeroen is over-reacting because he agreed to do a free mockup, agreed to make some changes, and was then not chosen for the final project. At no point did Callum lie to Jeroen or try to deceive him, from what I can see.

Anyway, don't flame me! Just putting in my two cents

Regards,

Did he actually state he was going to pay you Stylized or that'd be dependent on whether or not he liked your concept? Either way I guess you've learn't a lesson, as Salathe said, never ever do work for free.

Encore, how am I deliberately harming your reputation by using the brand name?
I wasn't sure you had links with it and I didn't mention your name anywhere.

If you were reading the chat logs properly you could see that I agreed to work on the design without payment, I agreed to make some changes and that nothing was said about me being chosen or not yet. So don't tell me that I'm doing this to take revenge because I didn't get hired.

Callum was acting real shady the entire time. He didn't give me any answers everytime I asked him if he had decided to actually hire me. He told me that all he needed was a mockup and based on that he would decide if he'd hire me. Then when I had the mockup done (allmost a full page design) he still didn't answer my question with yes or no, but asked me to do even more changes before he could decide.

At this point I did a background check on him and found out that he's been banned at both this forum aswell as clantemplates.com for scamming people.

I've already admitted that it wasn't smart of me to do any work before a downpayment was received, I'm aware of this. But I hate the fact that Encore is now sticking up for his friend when it's clear that this guy is not doing things the right way. He's been known for scamming, I've done my research on two forums. There isn't anything in this story that he has done to deceive me, I had agreed to do all the work that he had asked me to do (which wasn't smart). But I got a negative feeling with Callum, decided to check him out, and found out that he has been known for scamming people. Which is all I'm telling you right now.

I've removed the brand name from my posts.

I've had bad encounters with the fella as well. This was years ago, when I was into gaming and such.

If you guys post some proof, I'll believe you