PORTLAND, Ore. — Jeremy Hanson describes his music as part blues and rock with a pop feel. He's the lead singer and co-songwriter of his band, Bent Spokes Posse, based in Portland.
The band formed two years ago and since then has been busy making music.
"Songs just started getting pumped out and two years later, we're up to like two albums worth of material now," Hanson said.
The band is in talks to sign with a local label. Like most bands, Hanson is looking to take his band to that next step and welcomes any exposure that helps them get there.
So when he woke up one morning to a private message in his Instagram account, he thought it was the break he was waiting for.
"He said your music is amazing," Hanson said referring to the account's messenger. "I'm like ok, I hear that a lot. so I just kind of played with it and was like 'thank you very much.'"
That message was from someone claiming to be Christian Hoard, the Instagram profile said he was the music editor for Rolling Stone Magazine.
"I was like, oh this might actually be real." Hanson said.
The two wrote messages back and forth and those continued throughout the day. To Hanson, it almost felt like an interview.
"It was when he said 'I've got enough to go on here.' He's like 'do you want to have us do a piece or an article for you in Rolling Stone magazine.' I was like, 'Oh my god'. 'Ok this is actually real," Hanson said.
Hanson replied he needed to talk with his other bandmate and would get back to the person claiming to be Hoard. That opportunity seemed too good to pass up, so Hanson messaged them back.
"Everything seemed fine up until that point when he asked for money," Hanson said.
The scammer wanted a small fee, promising an article in the magazine and wrote in a message, "The promo will cost you about $70 and it will last for 6 weeks. This is also for the page booking and the cover art, which will be placed above the article."
Hanson reached out to Rolling Stone magazine to verify if this was true, but figured he'd never hear back.
"So I was like, on a hunch, I'm gonna Google it, 'Rolling Stone's Magazine scam' and it was the first one that popped up." Hanson said.
The publication posted this warning on their website in February that said in part, "We have been made aware of attempted scams taking place over social media. Rolling stone and its journalists will never ask for payment in exchange for a profile or review in our publications."
The real Christian Hoard's verified Twitter account also acknowledged the scam writing, "My only Instagram is for my dog, and Fritz will not ask you for money, just manipulate you for treats."
Hoard's verified Twitter account and the scammer's Instagram account used the same profile pic.
Hanson said he was very close to sending money, "To have somebody on that level reach out and say hey, your music's amazing. We really want to take you to that next level. I was like, aww man all this hard work is finally paying off and then it was like the rug just got yanked out from underneath ya."
Hanson said once he learned it was a scam, he stopped replying and reported it to the magazine.
Rolling Stone says if you receive a similar message to send them an e-mail at tips@rollingstone.com to report it.