Wrap Bullys does NOT pay you to add our logo or any other company branding on your vehicle. PLEASE DO NOT FALL FOR THIS SCAM! BELOW are a few articles we have found on the web and some email examples we have seen.
If you receive an email offering to wrap your car in advertising in exchange for a weekly paycheck, be aware that this is likely a scam.
The Email
Everyone has seen those “wrapped” cars driving around in which the auto is completely covered in advertising. There are, in fact, legitimate businesses that utilize this form of advertising. However, a few email scams are going around to tap into this marketing method, known as the Car Wrap Scam. This is just a new version of the old “over-payment scam.” The email may claim to be from various sources, such as Red Bull, Monster Energy, Bud Light, or Heineken. We have encountered several variants of this scam (three are featured below).
The Scam
The email initially seems harmless enough, in which the recipient is told they will receive $300-$400 per week to drive around with advertising on their cars. At first, the sender only requests your basic contact information, presumably in an attempt to appear as benign as possible. The scammer will then offer to send you a check for a large amount, such as $1800. They’ll tell you to deposit the check, take out your first week of play, and wire the rest to a graphic house that will customize the wrap for your car.
And they’ll pressure you to wire that money quickly because the check is fake – and it will bounce. Unsuspecting victims deposit this bogus check and wire money out of their account to the scammer (posing as a graphic house) before the check has cleared. When the check finally bounces, the victim has lost whatever money they wired out.
Below are a couple of sample emails we’ve seen in this car wrap scam. The first is an initial email, and the second is a follow-up email after we took the bait for another variant to see what they’d say next.
Email #1: Red Bull
Subject: Participate In the Red Bull Car Advertisement Agent (BE PAID TO DRIVE) ATTENTION!!!
We are currently seeking to employ individuals worldwide. How would you like to make money by simply driving your car advertising for RED BULL?
How does it work?
Here’s the basic premise of the “paid to drive” concept: RED BULL seeks people — regular citizens, professional drivers to go about their normal routine as they usually do, only with a big advert for “RED BULL” plastered on your car. The ads are typically vinyl decals, also known as “auto wraps,” that almost seem to be painted on the vehicle and which will cover any portion of your car’s exterior surface.
What does the company get out of this type of ad strategy? Lots of exposure and awareness. The auto wraps tend to be colorful, eye-catching, and attract lots of attention. Plus, it’s a form of advertising with a captive audience, meaning people who are stuck in traffic can’t avoid seeing the wrapped car alongside them. This program will last for 3 months, and the minimum you can participate is 1 month.
You will be compensated with $600 per week, which is essentially a “rental” payment for letting our company use the space. No fee is required from you. RED BULL shall provide experts that would handle the advert placing on your car. You will receive an upfront payment of $300 inform of check via courier service for accepting to carry this advert on your car.
It is effortless and simple. No application fees are required. Contact email along with the following you are interested in this offer. Send the details below to [email protected].
Full Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zipcode:
Country:
Present Occupation:
Age/Sex:
Make of car/ year:
Telephone numbers:
Email:
We shall be contacting you as soon as we receive this information.
Kind Regards,
Michael Sparrow
909-666-5049
Advert Manager,
Red Bull
Email #2: Henekin
This is a follow-up email from a similar scam:
Dear Applicant
Thanks for your prompt response, It Is Very Easy and Simple with No Application fees required: Here’s how It works – The basic premise of the “paid to drive” concept
HEINEKEN seeks people — regular citizens, not professional drivers — to go about their normal routine as they usually do, only with a big advert for “HEINEKEN” plastered on your car. The ads are typically vinyl decals, also known as “auto wraps,” that almost seem to be painted on the vehicle and which will cover any portion of your car’s exterior surface.
What does the company get out of this type of ad strategy? Lots of exposure and awareness. The auto wraps tend to be colorful and eye-catching and attract lots of attention. Plus, it’s a form of advertising with a captive audience, meaning people who are stuck in traffic can’t avoid seeing the wrapped car alongside them. This program will last for 3 months, and the minimum period you can participate is 1 month.
You will be compensated with $400 (four hundred dollars per Week), which is essentially a “rental” payment for letting our company use the space. HEINEKEN shall provide Experts that would handle the advert placing on your car. You will receive an upfront payment of $400 (four hundred dollars) in the form of a check for accepting to carry this advert on your car, and other weekly payments will also come in the form of checks and delivered at your address weekly.
The following information below will be needed
Full Name:
Age:
Occupation:
Make of car/ year:
Address:(NOT PO Box)
city:
State:
Zipcode:
Do you have a driver’s license:
Phone Number(s) mobile/home :
Email Address:
We shall be contacting you as soon as we receive this information, HEINEKEN looks forward to working with you.
Hiring Manager – David Hutckins
Email #3: Advertise our Logo on your Car
Hello Moore,
Here’s the basic premise of the “paid to drive” concept. Wrap Bullys is recruiting individuals who drive cars – for our marketing practice of completely or partially covering (wrapping) a vehicle in an advertisement or livery, thus turning it into a mobile billboard. This can be achieved by simply painting the vehicle surface, but it is becoming more common today to use large vinyl sheets as decals. These vinyl decals, also known as “auto wraps,” almost seem to be painted on the vehicle and will cover any portion of your car’s exterior surface. Vinyl applied over factory paint is best because vinyl can be removed easier without damage or “paint peel.”
This Auto Wrap Ad strategy tends to be colorful, eye-catching and attracts attention from thousands daily. It creates an unimaginable level of exposure and awareness. Plus, it is a form of advertising with a captive audience – meaning, people who are stuck in traffic can’t avoid seeing the wrapped car alongside them. This program will last for 20 weeks, and the minimum period you can participate is 1 month.
You will be paid a $100 bonus immediately you sign up and a sum of $350.00 (Three Hundred and Fifty Dollars) weekly for 20 weeks, which is essentially a “rental” payment for letting our company use your space.
The decal will be installed on your vehicle by the world’s most talented graphic artists and experienced installers who we will contract for this project. We advertise the brands of several multi-national companies such as Walmart, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, StateFarm, HeartLand Computers, etc., and about 9 options and brands will be presented to you. You will get to choose what brand that will be installed on your vehicle. These companies are contributing to and financing this project.
Before we proceed, please respond to these basic questions:
1. How long do you intend to carry the advert on your car? {1, 2, 3, 4 or 5} months?
2. Do you have a valid Driver’s License? If yes, which State?
3. Do you have valid Insurance?
4. Do you use your car every day?
5. Have you crashed a car between Jan. 2010 till date?
6. Your Car Model
7. Full name, address, and cell phone number?
Kindly acknowledge the receipt of this email and let me know if you have questions.
Sincerely,
Wrap Bullys
355 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles CA 90071
Consumer Alerts
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) have issued warnings to the public regarding Car Wrapping Scams. Consumer Affairs also addressed the Carp Wrap Scam in 2015, noting, “if companies are offering decent sums of money for essentially no work at all, especially in this none-too-good economy, those companies are not mass-emailing strangers in a desperate attempt to find job candidates — such a company would already have plenty of applicants, and can damned well afford to be picky about who it hires.”
Also, warnings about such scams have appeared on many television newscasts around the country.
Watch one of these newscasts from WLOS News 13 out of North Carolina: Car Wrap Scam Making the Rounds
Bottom Line
Whenever someone offers to send you money and asks you to wire a portion back, this is an indication you are being scammed, regardless of how convincing they sound. If you receive an email like one of the samples above, you’re better off just deleting it and moving on.
If you feel scammers are soliciting you, please email us at [email protected] or call, text us at 213-293-9727
Thank you!
-Wrap Bullys