I received this inquiry through my website from someone claiming to have recently opened an Irish restaurant in Austin, Texas.
They asked me to build a website based on a benchmark restaurant website and requested hosting, reservations, a shopping cart, and ongoing updates. They said their budget is “SUPER FLEXIBLE” and mentioned having a “private project consultant” who supposedly has the text, logos, and artwork.
They also specifically asked for my cell phone number.
The inquiry came from an Outlook email address. I haven't been able to independently verify the restaurant yet, so I'm wondering whether this matches a known website-development scam.
Here is the message I received:
Thanks for getting back to me.
I just open a new Irish restaurant in Austin Texas, which I now run and I need a website for my business to grow. I need you to go through this example link site but I need something more perfect than this if possible.
I will like you to get back to me with an estimate. The estimate should include hosting and I want you to understand that I want the same page as the benchmark website. I only want it in English language, you will be responsible for updating the site quarterly or yearly.
The site should be up and running by Early October. I want a shopping cart in my reservation page, also I don't have a domain name yet and I will prefer: NOREFESTIRISHRESTAURANT.COM.
My budget is SUPER FLEXIBLE for this project. I have a private project consultant, she has the text content and the logos for the site with the image artwork, so please go ahead and check the example site.
Kindly get back to me with:
(1) A price estimate/quote based on the above information
(2) your cell phone number:
Does this look like a known website-development scam? Are the “private project consultant,” unusually flexible budget, and request for my phone number typical red flags?
I haven't accepted any payment or sent any money. I'm just trying to determine whether I should continue communicating with this person.