LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A Las Vegas musician was scammed out of thousands of dollars, only months after quitting his job to pursue music full time.
Now, he’s hoping sharing his story will protect other musicians from falling for the same trap.
For David Dunham, drumming has always been an escape.
“When I was a kid and going through stuff it was my punching bag. I was able to vent through my drum set,” Dunham shared.
After saving up enough money, Dunham decided to take a leap of faith and trade his job as an RV mechanic to chase his drumming dreams.
He says he was taking any and every gig he could.
“I was just making a ton of Instagram posts, just saying, ‘hey, I’m super available,’” he explained.
He says he was over the moon when his friend helped him book a spot drumming in a commercial filming in the valley.
The only catch was Dunham had to pay for his own wardrobe using a mobile payment app with a $4,000 check sent to him from the company.
“I thought that was a little strange, I was like, ‘why are they having me pay for the wardrobe?’” he wondered. “With the contact that I had from my friend who got me the gig, and the money that they were saying they were going to pay me for this gig, my guard was just completely down.”
He says he deposited the check with no problem. He even saw the money in his bank account before sending thousands to the company’s “wardrobe specialist” for his outfit.
That’s when the check bounced.
“I called my friend who got me the gig, and I’m like, ‘do you know these people?’ And that’s when he was like,’ no, it was just a random email I got,‘” Dunham said.
The thousand of dollars Dunham saved up to pursue his dreams were stolen.
He says the drumming community has banded together to support him, offering encouragement, gigs, and even donations.
Now, he’s sharing his story to protect them in return,
“I don’t want this to happen to anyone else. Lot of us musicians, if we take a hit this big, it can totally devastate us,” he says. “Anytime somebody is sending you money to send somewhere else, be extremely cautious. In fact, just don’t do it.”
Dunham says he reported the scam online through the FBI’s website. When he confronted the company via email about their scam, they never responded.
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