A fraud/prank that is potentially serious
 

TL;DR: read the whole thing. You won't regret it, I promise.

Alright, this story is so incredibly grandiose I don't even know where to start. So lets start with a disclaimer: even though I'm personally very unsure, my bandmates swear up and down that our bassist actually believes all of this because of the way he's been acting. Despite this, he seems to be growing a little suspicious (and for very, very good reason).

Alright, a few months ago ago my band's bassist (let's call him Ethan) said that he was going to move from South Dakota to California with his girlfriend, even though he has very little money.

Yesterday, we discovered that he had wanted to move to California because his girlfriend had apparently been signed after she sent Pink a cd she had recorded. Apparently, his girlfriend knows Pink through a recently deceased relative. His girlfriend is actually a good singer, but as far as I know can't play any other instrument. Apparently, there was supposed to be a celebration, and several famous artists were supposed to show up. I haven't heard too much about that, so I'm just going to skip some of the odd details.

We also discovered that even though that last deal with Pink fell apart, recently Ethan had garnered interest (through word of mouth) from Adam Levine, who wanted him to join a post-grunge band fronted by a singer from The Voice. Ethan's girlfriend had sent a video of Ethan playing at one of my band's gigs to Levine, and apparently that was enough for Levine to take notice.

Here's where the story gets even more interesting: Ethan apparently signed and mailed in a contract that he received in the mail from Adam Levine. Ethan's brother looked over the 'contract' and he told the rest of the band that it looked professional, but the contract didn't include specifics on pay (although a large amount of money was apparently promised in a phone call that Ethan's girlfriend had received). For the record, I've known Ethan's brother for quite some time and I can assure you that he isn't lying about the contract. He's a terrible liar, and talked to us for about four hours about the possible damages it could cause.

The contract signed him to be the bassist of a band called Payne Affliction on a record label named A & M records (which does exist, for those that don't know). It said that he was to be trained by the bassist of Three Days Grace, and other such ludicrous claims. It mentioned nothing about the person from The Voice.

Overall, this story is so preposterous that I don't even know who to blame. Like I said before, my bandmates are sure that Ethan believes all of this, since he quit his job recently and goes around telling everyone about this new opportunity that he has been given. Also, evidence of this has been happening for months. He posted something about Pink liking his songs on Facebook over two months ago. To be honest, preparing a troll on this level doesn't seem like his style either. He tends to be very lazy.

If it isn't him, it could either be a scam that he fell for or a prank. Most of this story goes through his girlfriend, so its entirely possible that his girlfriend pranked him. It could also be a prank put on by one of the many people that Ethan's girlfriend has managed to enrage over the years, but it would be incredibly difficult to pull off. It could be a scam, but so far, unless the 'contract' he signed actually did have some sort of legitimacy (which at worst would make him liable for 'damages' to the band should he not show up. However, remember the name holding the contract is Adam Levine) there is no monetary benefit to this scam so far.

The weird thing is that while Ethan isn't exactly a rocket scientist, he isn't stupid either, typically. I find it hard to believe that he would fall for something like this. Overall, the view of record labels painted by this story is so laughable I find it hard to believe that anyone could believe it.

So what I want to know is who the Pit thinks is responsible, how to solve the situation, and if there was any possible way that the contract he apparently signed could end up hurting him.

Too Legit

Your friend is brain damaged and the only humane thing to do is euthanise him.

So long as he is careful not to turn the page too quickly, the contract shouldn't be able to hurt him. Just encourage him to lick his finger before he touches the paper. Papercuts are pretty uncommon anyway, but you may as well take precaution.

Best thing to do is to ring A & M Records, they'll probably be aware of any scams and will at least be able to confirm that they are not behind anything.
There shouldn't be any contracts of sorts before any face to face meetings. Also artists rarely manage their own facebook pages.

As for the contract, he should have a copy of it. If he doesn't, he needs to have a copy. If he can't get hold of the copy or is refused it then that's a sure sign it's a scam.

Professor Plum in the Studio with a new Amp

Jeese, that is VERY elaborate prank (if it is a prank). Anyway, point is, call up A&M and see if they know anything about it.

Finally, if his gf was behind all of this and it was a setup, then she's just cruel.

Thanks for the advice.

Apparently (if I haven't said apparently enough) he has a copy.


You don't know the half of it, man. I left out some details to keep pitters attention spans. I didn't even know how to include them because they were so random

Yeah - if it's legit he should be able to get in touch with A&M records (or get his borther to) to confirm the legitimacy.

Yeah I think you should sort of stage an intervention and make him call them so he can hear it from them and not deny it anymore.

With any proof that it's actually from A&M?

I think it says A & M, but I really couldn't say for sure.

A contract by mail? No notary or witness needed to be present during its signing? He sent in personal information and his signature to an unconfirmed entity?

Who was the return address on the envelope?

Edit: If it is A & M, google them and their address. At the least, it will tell you if it is going to the right place. Not much harm if it goes to them and is a prank.

If it's that random...then, it probably isn't legitimate. I'd nicely convince your buddy Ethan to call up A&M and get their take on it all. It just, from you've posted, sounds so...fishy.

Btw, if it really was his girlfriend who pulled all this, then he needs to have a serious talk with her. It's not cool, if it was her prank. You can't be in a trusting relationship with someone, if they pull this (but you can be in a non-trusting relationship). I'm not saying it was her fault or even pointing the finger her way; I'm just saying that ultimately he needs to find the culprit and stop hanging around with said culprit.

I agree. My gf and I play practical jokes on each other sometimes but once she hid in our apartment in the dark and jumped out at me when I went into the kitchen.

My legs actually buckled and I choked on my tongue. Thought I was going to have a heart attack.

It was really dick and I can't stand her for it. Just a little over the top when you screw with someone's life like that.

Yeah, I assumed the only proof would be A&M written on it somewhere. It's really quite simple to forge letter styles (whatever you call them). Best bet would be to just ring them up and ask them about it. It seems incredibly dodgy that they'd send a contract and not have anyone there face-to-face with them.

:haha:

Man up.

TS...

I'm not saying it's the Tattaglia family, but it's the Tattaglia family.

Also, tell Ethan to be careful because

That's actually fairly funny. Nonetheless, if Ethan's gf pulled this prank...well, it's way over the top. Over the top was like 100 feet down. However, as I said, we can't say it was his gf. It could be a prank by an outside party. It could also be an elaborate scam.

Just blame us. It's simpler that way.