Your engagement and wedding days are supposed to be among the most cherished moments of your life, and hiring a photographer feels like a natural step to preserve those memories forever. Unfortunately, for more than 15 brides in Ohio, that dream turned into a nightmare after they fell victim to an alleged photographer scam.
One bride took to social media to share her story, exposing how the scheme worked. According to her, the photographer lured couples in with packages priced well below the market rate. To make the deal seem even more enticing, he offered steep discounts if brides booked before a certain deadline, pressuring them to hand over large sums quickly. In her case, she paid a 50% deposit, brushing off the warning signs.
The scam began to unravel when the photographer vanished right before her scheduled engagement shoot. When pressed, he resurfaced just long enough to throw out new dates, only to disappear again. It became a cycle of false promises, mounting frustration, and, ultimately, heartbreak.
For couples planning one of the biggest milestones of their lives, the betrayal cut deep not just financially, but emotionally. What should have been a time of joy was clouded by deception.
The Ohio photographer was kind of smart, or maybe the bride was naive, because he made an excuse about him being in the hospital. He then told her that he is running a deal for his clients where he gives them a discount if they pay the rest of the money. Now, this is the biggest red flag I have seen. Guess what he did next? He disappeared again forcing the woman and her husband to book another photographer despite losing their money. In another video, the bride shared how she threatened him with a police report after the wedding passed if he didn’t give her their money. Thankfully, he made someone Venmo her a portion of it.
The story just keeps getting worse. The Ohio pride then discovered that he did the exact same thing to a dozen women. It turns out that he has been running this scam since high school. He even used his friends as the people in the photographs he has on social media so he can deceive people. He also made sure to keep changing his business name so that no one would realize the scam. Thankfully, the brides involved contacted each other, and there is a court case going on. On the other hand, karma caught up to the photographer because he ended up getting arrested for stealing a car. This is the kind of lesson all the women won’t forget if someone is offering a service for less than that doesn’t mean that you got lucky.
People Reacting to the Ohio Photographer’s Scam
A lot of people felt bad for all the women who got scammed by the Ohio photographer. After all, he did get away with thousands of dollars. Some photographers even shared their opinion, as one person said, “Red flag alert. I’m a photographer and I would have called the police.” Another photographer also wrote, “As a photographer, the minute you said 2K I immediately understood how this fiasco happened.” Someone else pointed out that such a scam is the reason why people should pay what good photographers ask for. “And that’s exactlyyyy why those other photographers were charging $4000-$5000,” they wrote. Others kept pointing out all the red flags that were there as one person said, “First red flag is the fact that they are charging WAY less than everyone around them for the same package.”
After the Ohio bride shared her story, other victims commented to share their own. “Girl, can you DM, there is a lawsuit going on for a male photographer here in Cleveland and I’m curious if it’s the same one. This story checks out to one we’ve heard a lot from this guy,” one woman wrote. Another woman also said, “Waiiittttt I’ve heard from another engaged girly that she got scammed from a photographer in Cleveland as well! I think his name also started with a T but she outed him to warn other brides.” It turns out that the dude’s scams are still impacting brides, as a third woman wrote, “He did the same thing to us and we get married on Saturday.” Hopefully, the court case will make him face consequences.
