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Well, this is an odd turn. Typically, it’s fake “influencers” pretending to be somebody else to try to scam companies out of free gear. This time, though, Nikon has put out an announcement stating that the opposite is true in their case and that people have been contacting content creators on Facebook and YouTube pretending to be Nikon themselves – and possibly other companies.
Nikon says that the scammers “may attempt to gain personal or financial information and exploit it for financial gain”, which is pretty much how all online scams work, but here Nikon says that they’re contacting creators requesting they make a gear using a Nikon camera and offering sponsorship opportunities.
Other than “exploit it for financial gain”, Nikon hasn’t elaborated on exactly how the scam works, but given the context, I can only imagine that it’s something similar to the National Geographic scam that’s been going around lately whereby they ask for a “deposit” on something or want you to pay for another service with a promise of reimbursement that they never intend to satisfy.
Nikon has also added a few possible warning signs to look out for in their announcement, as well as ways to help confirm if it’s a legitimate email from Nikon.
It has come to our attention that people pretending to be Nikon representatives are contacting YouTube and Facebook channel owners via email.
The fraudulent correspondence generally carry Nikon’s name, and / or refer to the Nikon public relations department, requesting that the recipient produce a video using a Nikon camera or offer sponsorship opportunities.
These emails bear no relation to Nikon or any members of the Nikon Group.
In light of the increasing frequency of these incidents, Nikon would like to raise awareness of the fact that third parties, representing themselves as Nikon, may attempt to gain personal or financial information and exploit it for financial gain.
Please note: Only official correspondence regarding existing or potential collaborations will come from an official Nikon company email address, ending in @nikon.com
Alternatively, you may also be contacted from one of our agency partners – to verify they are official, we suggest you search for their web presence to check for the following:
- Signs they are legitimate
- The website is secured by looking at the address bar (URL) to see if there is an “s” in the URL – it should look like this “https://” at the start – or if it has a lock symbol in the address bar
- The presence of contact details or official distributor details
- The presence of a privacy policy – such as a request to accept cookies / details of how your data is used
- Details of their work with the Nikon – a logo or a case study
- Signs that suggest they are fraudulent
- The absence of any of the above
- Poor spelling and grammar (including in the domain name)
- Broken links (or no additional links) to other pages on the site
If in doubt, please do not reply, click on any link or provide any information without confirming its legitimacy.
Instead, please reach out to your local Nikon public relations representative to verify the correspondence – their details can be found in the ‘Press Enquires’ section of the Nikon website. Or, you can reach out to Nikon through our social media platforms – our verified channels will have a blue tick.
Have you received an email claiming to be from Nikon PR that definitely wasn’t? We’d love to hear from you.
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