Hi everyone,

I never thought I’d be writing something like this, but earlier this month, I was scammed and lost $6,000. It was devastating, not just financially but emotionally too. As many of you know, I’ve poured my heart into my music and art, and this sudden loss has made it difficult to keep up with basic expenses and continue supporting my projects.

For those who want to know more details on what happened:

I was contacted by someone who pretended to be from Cal Arts posting about a job position. I was in a desperate spot looking for extra work and in hindsight I now see the red flags, and anyone reading this should know about these kinds of scams so they do not fall prey to them like me in the future.

The scammer used an official Cal Arts staff .edu email and sent me paychecks that went through but bounced a few days later. The job was to help them purchase office supplies, which I was to do on my own account and get reimbursed later. I never got reimbursed. So on top of fake paychecks, they also made me spend my own money on supplies I never used.

Because of this, all my accounts are overdrawn and frozen, I am scrambling to make financial ends meet with this setback.

I have reported this to the LAPD and the school has reported it to the FBI, as it seems to have happened to other Cal Arts alumni as well.

Now, a lot of people have asked me, if it’s part of a crime, then shouldn’t the banks at least refund the scammed money for the supplies if not the faulty paychecks? Well, they haven’t. They say that it is my fault that I fell for the scam and I won’t be receiving any help from them. The school is also just brushing me off, and I have no choice but to turn to crowd funding in addition to any gig or source of income I can find. I think that also due to my short banking history in this country and my immigration status, the banks are also not really incentivized to help me.

I’m starting this fundraiser with the encouragement of my community to help me recover from this setback. Every contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference in helping me get back on my feet and continue doing what I love: creating, teaching, and sharing music with others.

Thank you so much for reading, sharing, and supporting. Your kindness means more to me than I can put into words.

Yenju