It's a perfect trap. The scam of all scams. It consists of sending an email to a writer proposing a fun job, which also happens to be (somewhat) remunerated. Suggest writing a short story about a railroad, because it will be part of a campaign to promote public transportation. If you offer them 300 euros, they'll say yes, delighted. And from there, it's yours!
Once they've hung up, happy (300 euros is enough for self-employment), they'll sit down at the computer to start testing. It's time for the first call. It will be the municipal technician from the City Hall who will let them know that in order to be paid, they'll need to provide a quote. "Why should I provide a quote if you guys mentioned the price?" they'll exclaim. The technician will then have to start sending links and tutorials so they know how to do it, if they're so... boomer. This will overwhelm him even more.
While we have him watching the tutorials, the second call should come. This time it will be the Sinergias employee, the company in charge of "the entire image" of the campaign. She will ask him for a photo. No, not just any photo. It will have to be taken in an industrial warehouse in Poblenou and with the rest of the participants. Now she will "share" an Excel sheet with him where he will have to fill in the possible dates.
"You'll have to wear three or four different shirts," the Sinergias woman will then tell him. He will babble that he doesn't have that many and that the ones he has are all the same. And then, without giving him a chance to breathe, she must tell him: "And we'll talk about the video online. You have to record yourself, as if you were talking to a friend, inviting them to read your story. I'll send you videos from last year now."
It's a huge scam because by pretending to ask a writer for a piece of writing, you actually get them to write a budget, fill out an Excel spreadsheet to bring three t-shirts, and record a video pretending to call a friend. The story? The story is the excuse. What people are going to share is the video, not the story.
