Have anyone else gotten this thing? I dont know what to make out of this. I got an IM from this guy, and I'm not all that blown away for some reason >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Instant Message from raptor64: Dear Thor Danielsen , on behalf of Hungary's most prestigious science fiction magazine, Galaktika, I am congratulating you on your work. Our staff decided that from now on month by month we are introducing to the Hungarian readers and SF lovers the world's most talented but sadly less known artists and their work. Naturally, your pictures deposited on the Net are not of the resolution fit for printing. So please send a copy of the RenderoSity's files and more-more new your SF worlds. to the above e-mail address in this minimum size (the larger the better): 210*300 mm, 300 dpi. (RGB-jpg, 1 letter max.: 25 MB) I also need a photo of yourself and a short CV (time and place of birth, schools, works and career up to now). In addition to this I need a mail address to which we can send a complimentary copy of the magazine with your works in it, and also a bank account number to which we can transfer the (meagre) royalty fee due. Best wishes, Istv Burger editor in chief raptor64@enternet.hu

I would ask for a contract, and a sum of that fee, before ild send anything. Also see if you can find the mag on the web.

The first thing that I noticed(and I might be totally off base here,...I usually am)other than the fact he's asking for an account number,....is that he's asking for an image for print and wants a jpeg ? Why not a tiff ? And RGB not some 4 or 6 color CMYK ? Absolutely do not send him any of the requested info on your life,.........that to me is a dead giveaway that this is some sort of scam. Probably an Identity theft deal or something. Given the info he's requested he could get fake ID's and if you live in the U.S., Social Security info. Why would he want to wire transfer the funds if they are so meager, rather than cut you a check,......probably cost more to do an international tranfer than the amount of the stipend he's offering. I would decline this rather dubious offer. But I have an unusually suspicious nature. Just some food for thought.

I'd want to see the mag in reality first...in either case I'd never send a bank account number.

Attached Link: http://www.fantasticmetropolis.com/show.html?ey,hungariansf,1

Don't know if this helps but I found this on the web. It was an article about sci-fi in Hungary.

" The publication of Galaktika came to an end in 1995 and no stable SF magazine has appeared in Hungary in the last seven or eight years. Twenty to thirty science fiction and fifty to seventy fantasy titles and RPG books are published every year, mostly written by slightly talented Hungarian authors. "

But then I found this LOL...http://galaktika.scifi.hu/

Message edited on: 11/15/2004 00:43

Yeah! He's Legit! Send ME your bank account number too while you're at it. How stupid can people really be to fall for something like that?

Trash it and forget it, this is just another scammer trying to get account numbers and photos for fake ids, I've gotten over eight of these in different formats in the past 2 weeks, even one from citibank saying they are closing my account, their mistake is, I don't have a citibank account, never did.......

Yeah, teh only relevant part of that message is the request for photo and account number. The rest is just window-dressing. Bastards

Attached Link: http://www.metagalaktika.hu/

It is quite suspicious. OTOH, there's that link up here. (The last issue was published on October 24.) Istvan Burger _is_ the editor of the magazine, together with the accent on the a. They do talk about 3D graphics on the index page. Then, enternet.hu is not a free e-mail service, although it still could be used for scams. (For instance, seznam.cz is a free e-mail service and I got spam from there.) Also, enternet.hu is not in spam databases. OTTH, sackrat, it's easier having an inter-bank transfer than sending a cheque. I'd follow Rochr's advice and I wonder if he could help with Hungarian on the Galaktika pages, cause I cannot find any contact address. They do have forums.

Message edited on: 11/15/2004 03:05

Im at work now, but ill check out the page later tonight and see what it sais. It doesnt necessarily have to be a hoax. Some people just have a strange way of expressing them selves when writing in another language. And ive sent jpegs to legit magazines, (french Score Mag), and they turned out great. Ask for a contract, and ask how much they intend to pay you before you do anything.

You could set up a paypal account if it is legit, then they could "donate" to you electronicly,that way they have no real account info.Also, if they are for real, they will sign a contract of some type.

Hey he could send you a voucher for Renderosity or Daz products if the money is so 'meagre'.........never, ever send your bank details to anyone...and that includes the bank........I don't even have mine on my puter.

I have been contacted by fake people claiming to be from real organizations before. I am also suspicious that a magazine with a big enough web presence does not have work emails for it's people. Try contacting the magazine and see if the real director did contact you. If they don't have an email try this: domain: scifi.hu registrant: Avana Association for the Hungarian Science-Fiction Arts registrant: Avana Magyar Tudomanyos-Fantasztikus Muveszetert Egyesulet address: Fo ter 5. address: H-3100 Salgotarjan address: HU phone: +36 32 310503 fax-no: +36 32 311119 hun-id: 1971126007 admin-c: 2000291388 tech-c: 3000101020 zone-c: 3000101020 name server: ns1.mile.hu[193.194.159.60] registered: 1997-11-26 20:26:25 changed: 2004-06-01 12:06:56 registrar: 1000231315 admin-c: Pocsai Lzladdress: Pf. 136 address: 3301 Eger address: HU phone: +36 36 518818 fax-no: +36 36 518819 hun-id: 2000291388 tech-c: Mile Informatika Kft address: Erdosor 3 address: 2837 Vertesszolos address: HU phone: +36 34 579010 fax-no: +36 34 579011 e-mail: domain@mile.hu hun-id: 3000101020 zone-c: Mile Informatika Kft address: Erdosor 3 address: 2837 Vertesszolos address: HU phone: +36 34 579010 fax-no: +36 34 579011 hun-id: 3000101020 registrar: Mile Informatika Kft. registrar: Mile Informatika Kft. (Registrar) address: Erdor 3. address: 2837 Vtessz address: HU phone: +36 34 579010 fax-no: +36 34 579011 hun-id: 1000231315

Well, I am not going to do anything with this thing, cos it must be fake. Had it been serious then his renderosity acount would have been much more filled with info. Thanks for the answears :o)

OK, here it goes. After making some investigations, and simultaneously freshing up on my hungarian reading, mr Istv Burger seems to be the editor for the mag, which really exist. Staff list: http://www.metagalaktika.hu/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=11 Since this doesnt say much in it self, i also made a search on "raptor64", and found out that a guy in their forum use raptor64@freemail.hu. The guy also calls himself Mr_Anderson, and after some more searching, i found this sentense in a discussion: "http://www.interpressmagazin.hu, Burger Istv (Mr_Anderson) keltette ra etre azt a lapot is." - roughly translated, "Istvan Burger revived that mag as well." This was in a discussion, in a poll about the most popular Galaktika mag cover. It does seem like the guy is legit, but i would still stand by my earlier recommendations and advise to some caution. Contract first, and ask about the fee. Hope this helps - Sherlock Rochr

Hey first AgentSmith now Mr. Anderson. It's possible this is just his screen name taken from the matrix movies.

Maybe his handle is Neo..;) I'd just look up one of the Nigerian 'lost funds' web sites, and supply that, and let them play with each other..but that's me..;)

A little note here... If the guy is legit, which he seem to be, i would personally never send him some spam back. His only crime would be that he like Originalmorons work. No need to punish him for it.

I'm not going to punnish him, hehe. If he really are for real, then his aproach seems to me a bit amatourish. Hehe, he shouldent have writen a mail that looks like a scam to get some personal info from me. Well, sherlok rochr, thanks for the detective work :o)

Well, if he revived the magazine by himself, and seeing that he's published practically only old stuff in the October issue, I suppose he might be a bit amateurish. OTOH (I like that acronym, it seems) metagalaktika.hu is registered by somebody else, with an address in Solym, while AVANA has the address in Salgotarjan. both contact persons have, apparently, PO box addresses. Rochr, do you know what Bt. would mean in Hungarian - Sky Bt. Looks like Sarkany Ltd. BTW, that freemail.hu address looks like a spam catcher, while it can still be used for regular correspondence. originalmoron, if the guy is legit, I'd delete the first post ASAP, so that address doesn't end in spammers lists.

Yes, i believe its similar to Ltd.

On the other hand - if he is from Hungary, maybe he doesn't know how to approach us 'western' types.........mmmm?

It is quite possible like Rochr implies this is just another budding young capitalist trying to do his thing. I've run into the same type of idealist thinking from many SF convention boards. Even an honest person can generate bad business. I've had comissions where the buyer wanted a pink elephant and kept making changes, and changes, and changes until he got a purple goat. What I thought was a fixed job making $25/hour wound up being $4/hour after all the reworks. Ask further, but get a contract. Personal information like name and address is enough to get your credit report and social security number off the internet. Also NEVER! give away your bank account number. A nurse stole my father-in-law's checkbook while he was dying and spent $30,000. She did it by spending just under the ID limit ($300) at several places a day and taking the merchendise back to another branch for cash. If the fellow insists remember, " It's allright to walk away from a bad business deal."