Is it for real or is it a scam?

Hey guys. What's up?
I need your advice. Some time ago I have received an email which I didn't take seriously. This is it:

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''Good afternoon,

My name is Caroline and I’m contacting you from Tele-Search, a Japanese TV company based in London.

We are currently working on a programme for Japanese TV called ‘People who want to go to Japan’ which is broadcast by TV Tokyo. The programme focusses on people with an interest in Japanese culture, and for each episode one contributor is sent to Japan to learn more about the subject they are interested in. The production team came across Wabocho and your interest in Japanese knives and sharpeners through your blog and we were wondering if you were potentially interested in appearing on our show.

The filming would take place between 20th April and 2nd March this year. I understand from your website that you are not currently taking any further orders but we were wondering if you were available during this time?

If you are interested could you tell me if you have ever visited Japan before?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Caroline Graham''

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As I said i didn't take it seriously. However They emailed me again:

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Good afternoon,

My name is Caroline and I’m contacting you from Tele-Search, a Japanese TV company based in London.

Sorry to email again, I just wanted to ask if you had received my email last week regarding a filming opportunity for Japanese TV?

As I mentioned in my previous email, we are currently working on a programme for Japanese TV called ‘People who want to go to Japan’ which is broadcast by TV Tokyo. The programme focusses on people with an interest in Japanese culture, and for each episode one contributor is sent to Japan to learn more about the subject they are interested in. The production team came across Wabocho and your interest in Japanese knives and sharpeners through your blog and we were wondering if you were potentially interested in appearing on our show.

The filming would take place between 20th April and 16th May this year. I understand from your website that you are not currently taking any further orders but we were wondering if you were available during this time?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Caroline Graham

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So that made me thinking and I answered and asked for more details. This is their answer:

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Hi Greg,




Thank you for your email.




No problem at all. For the filming, we would come to film at your home or workplace, if possible, to show your work and passion for Japan. We would also film a little of your everyday life. Usually the filming would be over 2 days, but this varies from person to person.




As I mentioned, for each episode a contributor is sent to Japan to learn more about the subject they are interested.




Unfortunately the team from Japan will no longer be coming over to film this month/ early next month, however, they would still be interested in filming with you in the future. I was therefore wondering, if you are interested in filming with us, if you have ever been to Japan before? And if you have ever appeared on TV before?




Please let me know if you have any more questions about the programme or filming.




Many thanks and I look forward to hearing from you,




Caroline




Telesearch (Europe) Ltd



www.tele-search.co.uk

2016-

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So guys. What do you think? Is it for real or is it a scam?

 

my 0.02$ : call them.

 

I work in InfoSec. This looks fairly legit. If they start asking for SSN, birthdate, passwords, or bank acct info, scam. Otherwise, yeah, call them.

Also you might want to remove her contact info from your post. If it's legit she probably doesn't want that out there on the web. Just a thought.

 

What got my attention is that the filming times changed from the first contact to the second. That may not be to uncommon though, but it's a red flag in my book.

Another red flag for me is the name of the show. People Who Want To Go to Japan....? Just sounds fake

You can never be to safe with this stuff.

 

Some interesting things: https://www.bookdepository.com/Inside-Japanese-Company-Fiona-Fiona-Caroline-Graham/9780415306706

Established in 1986, Tele-search is one of the leading media companies in Europe specialized in the Japanese market.
With a portfolio encompassing everything from television production to corporates and events, Tele-Search offers a comprehensive range of production services to Japanese producers undertaking projects in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. We equally cater to UK and foreign producers requiring assistance with Japan-based projects.

Seems legit.

 

Go for it. I think you'll figure out if it's legit or not, but it sounds reasonable to me.

 

…you mean I'll need to buy a TV then?

 

I say do it. As long as they don't ask for account numbers etc then you are good.

 

Thanks guys. I will give it a try. Maybe I will start enjoying knives again

 

Greg, what ever happened here. Is there an ending to the story?

 

I've been curious a bout this too....

 

Late to the party but here is one of the shows:

 

LOL

 

MattS I have resigned from participating in the show. I was thinking about it for a long time and at the end I have decided that I don't feel right with it, because I didn't touch any knives or projects since over 1.5 year. I just don't have a time which result in lack of passion. That's it. The good thing is that they said that it is an ongoing program and if I ever change my mind then I can come back to them.
So far I am happy with my decision and I am not that stressed

Kentos where did you find that program? I wanted to see it as well.

 

Cut and paste this into YouTube .

にほんにいきたい人応援団

There are a bunch but the Japanese producers troll YouTube and get them removed.

 

Hi guys. How are you doing?

What an unexpected change of situation. A few days ago I thought about sending an email to that company, but I had no time and I have decided to postpone it for a couple of days. And you know what? They have contacted me and asked me If I am still happy to participate in the programme. Yes!!! A camera crew from Japan will visit me in my flat on 17th and 18th Dec There will be a cameraman, director and translator They want to record a lot about knife repairs, some knife making, handle making, cooking, interview, friends etc. All of that in 2 days. I will start preparing today. Finger crossed that everything will be ok.

 

Fun! Please keep us posted.

 

Congratulations! Sounds like it will be a blast.

 

This is fricken cool! Have fun!

 

Hey guys. We have finished filming on Monday. We were recording for 12h on Sunday and 10h on Monday. There was a lot of stress at the beginning, but after a while, I got used to the camera. It was strange because, for example, I had to repair a nakiri they brought from Japan and 4 people and the camera were staring at my hands. Hehehe. Overall it was a great experience. We had a lot of laughs and the atmosphere was great. We took a selfie:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1AzLnLiASwwJBMpuD3ysTnIfbYgKHOlXh