Scammers are targeting clients looking to get their hair braided by using real stylists’ work and creating fake social media pages.
Reports of Scams
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is receiving reports of scams targeting individuals wanting braids. Scammers take pictures from legitimate stylists and post them on fake social media pages.
Modus Operandi
Potential clients find the fake pages and book appointments, often making small deposits. Clients realize they have been scammed when they do not hear back from the supposed stylist on the appointment day.
Impact on Legitimate Businesses
Real stylists like Porsche Hensley, who has been braiding hair for over 10 years and owns Divine Innovation 615 in Nashville, are affected. Hensley reported instances where clients arrived for appointments, only to find out they were scammed.
Precautions to Avoid Scams
BBB advises not to pay for the service in full before the appointment. Visit the stylist’s location before booking. Verify the stylist’s work by searching for them online and including the word “scam” after their name. Ask for the stylist’s license number and verify it.
Continuing the Business
Despite the scams, stylists like Porsche Hensley remain undeterred and continue their work.
Conclusion
Scammers exploiting the popularity of hair braiding are causing issues for both clients and legitimate stylists. Clients are advised to take precautions to ensure they are booking authentic services.
This is a great depiction of me, angry but with a sense of humor. I mean I pay for these pictures, why not use them!WOW, when I tell you that TheIndustry.biz has been incredibly therapeutic for me over the years. It’s been like a public diary of my frustration and anger over the years but also my dark sense of humor which, I’m sure, saved the day.. I cannot believe some of the things that I said. I held a grudge against Kevin Fleming for years and I finally had a conversation with him about it and then I had to understand that I was really mad at myself. During my career, I made some backward moves and worked at places that I shouldn’t have. That’s what happens when you don’t have a mentor but in a lot of ways, TheIndustry.biz not only saved my career it saved my life and it WAS my mentor. I’m glad a lot of this shit was funny otherwise I don’t think people would have kept reading it. I will readily admit that I STILL hate Christmas music and a lot of what I say in her about Radio DJs working six hours on the air is still true. Thank you for putting up with my shit over the years. Know that what you are about to read is no longer me. Originally posted Nov 8, 2009.………………………………………………………One of the worst memories of working at urban radio during the holidays for me was the now-defunct KACE and the Christmas season. As far as KACE, all Sh…TY things come to an end (laugh) I KNEW that station would fail and I must say I’m glad it did and while that’s usually not my style, you would agree with me if I told you the whole story. I got to work 6-hour shifts during the weekend in the middle of the holidays EVERY holiday.A true programmer would not put a Radio DJ on the air for 6 hours. I don’t give a damn about budgets. That’s just too damn long and too damn lazy on the so-called programmer’s part. From Thanksgiving (it’s earlier now) through Christmas day playing that dreaded ass Christmas music.If one more black listener requested The Temptation’s Silent Night, I may have kicked Eddie Kendrick’s ass. I have heard The Temptations “Silent Night” at least 10,000 times… LITERALLY. Another favorite “What do the lonely do at Christmas” by the Emotions… A song that would surely push someone thinking about Yuletide Suicide over the edge and make them leap off a building with their glass of Bourbon and Eggnog. Am I the only black person that likes Eggnog? That shit tastes good but you can tell if you drink a whole carton you might have a stroke.Let’s not forget Charles Brown, Merry Christmas Baby, the requests for that one FINALLY died off over time and Eartha Kitt’s “Santa Baby” the only thing Black people liked that Eartha did. Eartha was pretty much the grace jones of the 60’s and when I was a kid, I thought was a man.Christmas music would not be so bad if the artists didn’t record the SAME DAMN SONGS OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN!  How much appeal does Silent Night have when the same song is sung by 400 people?…. NONE!Can the writers get off their lazy asses and get creative and give us some NEW CHRISTMAS MUSIC so that we are not listening to the same shit from 1858. That’s why when Donny Hathaway came out with “This Christmas” in the early 70s it was an INSTANT HIT. It was a NEW song. Now, of course, everybody and their great grandmammy has recorded a version of that song DESTROYING it too.At any rate, thank God for, iPods and MP3 Players in cars, mines will be in full swing this holiday season so I don’t have to hear that Christmas Shit. I have warned my people to beware as I plan to wear my headphones in the stores and shopping malls too.
