Mastodawn

Art of Flora is AVAILABLE NOW! 🌸

🦆 Sister app of the App Store Award and Apple Design Award wining Art of Fauna
🌱 A cosy puzzle game based on real historical plant art
🫶 20 % are donated to nature conservation
🦾 Big focus on accessibility
🧑‍🎨 Artist gallery
🗺️ Map view to discover the plants origins
🎻 Beautiful sounds
🧒Kids mode

Exclusive on the App Store - Link Below!

Please spread the word! 🙇‍♂️

Martin Höller 3d ago

In Your Face 3d ago

Coming soon to In Your Face for Mac & iOS: direct support for Google and Microsoft calendars!

This has been one of the most requested features. and it’s been in the works for months.
You can now connect your accounts directly in the app, no need to go through Apple Calendar.

Especially useful if you’re fully on Google or Microsoft ecosystems, or use 3rd party calendar apps.

Launching early May 👀

#indiedev #buildinpublic #adhd #productivity

Martin Höller 6d ago

Stephen Robles Mar 15

I get a dozen emails a day from developers scammed by an impersonator promising to feature their app in a video on my channel. Been going on for months and Google can’t seem to stop it.

I respond to every email + DM, but now I’m going to try and share the apps and developers to hopefully give them some free publicity.

These are all small developers trying to get eyes on their app. Many fell victim to the scam and lost $100. They’re all very gracious and understanding, but screw the scammers:

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Martin Höller Mar 13

To summarize, here are the warning signs I should have caught:
- asking for crypto
- asking for a PayPal gift card
- sending a fake invoice

In hindsight I feel pretty stupid for not spotting it sooner, but it is what it is. I lost $100, learned a lesson, and at least now I have a story to tell 🤷‍♂️
7/7

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Martin Höller Mar 13

I immediately contacted the real Stephen Robles, who was already aware of the scam and is trying to work with Google to shut it down, but so far without success.
I also contacted the online shop where I bought the gift card, but unsurprisingly they won’t do anything. My only remaining hope now is the fraud protection from my credit card provider.
6/7

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Martin Höller Mar 13

The next day I received another email proposing a second video focused entirely on my app, for an additional payment. That’s when it finally clicked and I checked the email headers.
Of course it was a scam. They had been spoofing the sender address the entire time using a fake email service.
5/7

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Martin Höller Mar 13

They then asked for a PayPal gift card, claiming PayPal would otherwise hold the payment for 21 days. They even sent me a link to an online shop where I could buy the gift card and send them the code.
Which I did. Yet another huge alarm bell that I unfortunately ignored.
4/7

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Martin Höller Mar 13

I then received another reply with more details about how the video would work and how I could pay the agreed fee. They proposed paying in cryptocurrency and provided two wallet addresses.
Again a HUGE red flag, but because I believed I was dealing with the real person, I didn’t question it further. I don’t have any crypto, so I suggested PayPal (being in Europe I assumed that would be easiest). I even asked for an invoice, which they happily provided.
3/7

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Martin Höller Mar 13

A while later I received another email from the actual email address listed on the YouTube channel. Again, it looked legitimate. This is the point where I should have checked the email headers.
But I didn’t, and instead replied to the other email, agreeing to the proposed deal.
2/7

Martin Höller Mar 13

So here’s how I fell for that scam 🧵

A couple of days ago I received an email, seemingly from Stephen Robles (https://www.youtube.com/@beardfm), proposing to include my app in his upcoming Top Apps video.
It looked completely legit, written in perfect English, and I had (almost) no doubts it was real. So I replied with a few questions and requests.
But because I noticed the sender email address wasn’t the one the real Stephen lists on his YouTube channel, I also asked for some kind of proof.
1/7

Website	https://www.martinhoeller.net
In Your Face	https://inyourface.app