Scam Appears On Elmhurst Patch Website

ELMHURST, IL – If you recently saw an advertisement on Elmhurst Patch seeking film extras, disregard it. It appears to be a scam.

The ad was posted a couple of weeks ago in Elmhurst Patch's classified section.

The ad was headlined, "Paid Beginner Level Film Extras For TV Series."

It said it was seeking people in or near Elmhurst as "non-speaking amateur movie extras for Comedy, History Genre TV Series filming soon in Elmhurst."

Kassondra Schref, a spokeswoman for the city of Elmhurst, told Patch on Monday that officials knew of no filming projects planned in town.

In an email to Patch, a reader said the person who answered the ad said she needed to buy a Target gift card for $200 and that the person would send a check for it. (Virtually any transaction requiring the purchase of a gift card is a scam.)

"He would tell me where to drop it off," the woman told Patch. "The check would come with the contract, then proceeded to call me Saturday night a few times to see if I got the message. No legit producer is going to call you on a Saturday night like that."

The reader said she stopped responding to the person.

On Monday, Patch also emailed the person, who responded within minutes. The person went by the name "Marvin Hayes."

"I am the casting director for the upcoming 'Matt Foody' TV series filming soon in the Elmhurst area," the person said.

A Google search turned up nothing about a "Matt Foody" project.

In the email, the person listed a broad genre for the project – "Comedy, Family & Drama."

According to the email, the project would last for seven weekends, Saturdays and Sundays.

The email said a person would be paid $200 per four-hour shift, with up to three shifts available a day.

"Please make sure to reply as soon as possible to complete your film extra spot reservation," the email said.

Elmhurst Patch is asking its parent company to remove the ad.