Painting for sale?

I’m sorry, but if this idiot takes you in, you deserve to lose the money and the painting. P.T. Barnum once said, ” There is a sucker born every day!” Or was that W.C. Fields. I get those initials confused..:)

I get two to three of these a month. I’ve tried reporting them to the Fed’s but they tell me they are aware of the scam and to ignore them.

I probably live a “charmed life” because I’ve accepted checks from buyer and…so far… not one has ever bounced. Of course, I cash the check BEFORE I ship the painting. I also accept checks at art shows and I must say I’m lucky to get a “real” buyer with money.

We have to be diligent and not be too eager to sell. If the proposition is too good to be true, you may end up with new wallpaper and lose your work.

Be especially careful because you have little if any way of getting back your money. Plus remember if you do deposit a fake check and start writing checks to pay bills, make purchases, once the bank finds out the check is fake they are going to charge your account the amount of the check and then your checks will start bouncing, and you will be charged fees, and on and on. It can be a financial disaster for you. No matter how official a check looks from these guys, every time it is going to be fake.

I read an article in a business magazine on corporate and personal investments. It said, if the deal sounds like it is too good to be true, in all probability it is too good to be true.

I get one of these letters, not necessarily about art, at least once a week! The first thing I usually notice, after an enormous amount of money is mentioned, is that even when the English is pretty good, the grammar breaks down somewhere along the line. Somehow these letters never look like a bonafide business letter. Once, my husband and I decided to follow one up just to see how these people go about baiting the hook, but gave it up when they started wanting information from us. But really these kind of scams have been well advertised and it’s amazing that people still get caught. There was one the other day forwarded from our Art Society asking for donations of paintings. It seemed a good cause but I was leary and simply held it for a few days to see what would happen. The Society investigated and warned all their members thankfully.

And it’s not only money they are after. Your response to a suspect e-mail gives them a vaild email address (yours) which they can sell to bulk advertisers. When the fake “you have won $1 million” email asked you to supply full information, address, telephone, etc. this is even more valuable to them. Nothing is Free. Bill Gates in not going to donate money to some noble charity every time you pass on some silly message. The rule of Don’t talk to strangers should be extended to don’t communicate to them either. I know. My ID has been compromised and I have lost money out of my bank account for my carelessness …and stupidity. Be like Robert. Don’t be like me.

What makes me mad is that these scammers are showing as much creativity as we artists, maybe more.

Thanks very much for bringing this to the attention of your huge following of artists, Robert. I have personally received half a dozen calls or emails from artists of my acquaintance inquiring about this — quite a few of them excited about potential sales, until I told them it was a scam.

Despite the serious issue you bring up, this was your funniest letter since I began to subscribe. “Why don’t I tuck $3000 into the back of the painting?” indeed.

Since my mother passed away I have and am still receiving scams in the name of my bank, Exxon, you name it, that I stand to receive millions. Also a sob letter from a woman who had many serious illnesses and wanted to give her money to someone deserving. HaHa.

These letters come in all styles and are pretty funny. At least, they give me a good laugh for the day.

And remember, only the greedy get sucked into them, the letters are too good to be true!

There is a little village in China where they turn out these paintings (the ones mentioned for small amounts of cash), unfortunately people from the States and most likely Canada have been buying them over the Internet. They are taking images off the web of works like Genn’s and selling them. China’s copyright laws are more or less non-existent and they produce too many of them for the red tape to ever get cleaned up in time. Off topic, but more or less true.

The artists in our group, Art Helping Animal Artists, which has artists in several states from coast to coast in the USA, and in Canada, Australia, and UK , have gotten so many of these it’s ridiculous. We have gotten to sharing with each other on our forum and to have to report everyone of these outrageous scams would take up way too much precious painting time!

I often get emails from deposed dictators wanting to send me money directly to my account. Of course I always comply as I really feel sorry for these folks as I know they really do need a safe haven for their money. I even went so far as to greet one at the airport after I sent him an airline ticket to the U.S., I had my guest bedroom all ready for him but he didn’t show up.

Now please excuse me as I get back to painting, so I can sell more art, make more money to buy airline tickets to send to these generous folks in obscure countries. Everyone should get a chance to come to America.

…Also is there a way to find out when European galleries offer an oportunity to exhibit??? as in …you have been selected etc.?

Love to know how to discern ….of course there is a fee.

CHEERS, Gail Harper

The old adage still applies “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” I received an email this year from someone who wanted to buy several of my paintings. And then a check with an extra amount that I would send back to them. My last contact with them was that I was concerned because I know that there are scams. I didn’t hear back from them! I think it would always be prudent to make sure the check cleared your bank (not just deposited) before sending anything. AND I think it’s always questionable when someone wants you to return a portion.

Hello, I got an e-mail from a Despina Tunberg, who says she is a art curator from Santa Barbara Calif. saying that she was interested in my work, and would I be interested in sending images of my work. They would be juried, and then if one or more was accepted, I could have up to 5 images published in an art book, at the cost of $600.00 per page, she said she saw my work from the Painter’s Keys, I don’t have $600.00 anyways. But would like to know if anyone else was contacted, and what do you think, is there something rotten in Denmark, or not. hmmmm Thanks D.

I had to chuckle at the ‘scam’ coverage. No doubt everyone has had hundreds of these requests. Last week we had a request to rent our B&B rooms for 6 people for two weeks and like you, they were sending a cheque for a few thousand over the cost and would we kindly mail him a money order for the change! We suggested they go to a local hotel!!

Love your letters and thought that I should really be responding to an art related item!! Next time…..Sandy

I understand that this is a serious issue, but you certainly gave me a great laugh with your description! And sadly enough…..some of our own citizens write in the same manner as “Bill”. YIKES!

For Deborah Leigh—I have received several of those types of ‘opportunities.’ I have never responded as I don’t see the point of spending that kind of money to be in a book. If I wanted to spend that much, I bet that American Style or some other art magazine would be a better investment. Reminds me of all the poetry contests where people pay to be published and get special rates if they agree to purchase x number of books.

Robert, I was just recently subjected to a very similar scam as yours. My client was from Alabama whose husband was in London, UK, but moving to Johannesburg, SA, where they were going to be moving into a new home. Their mover was supposedly from London who would be looking after shipping their household goods. The check was a good forgery but did not fool the teller at the bank, where I took the cheque to be “checked out”. I had a bit of fun emailing the culprits back and suggesting that the RCMP would like to talk to them! The RCMP have little to no recourse in apprehending these types, who probably make quite a bit of dough at the end of the day.

That’s an interesting story. I’ve had the same experience a number of times. However, the last one shook me up a little. This time the person gave me a credit card number. I have a contract with which I can accept credit cards. When I checked on the credit card number I was told it was a valid card. I was about to proceed with the sale when I thought of asking for the name on the card. The company I deal with would not give me the name but I was able to convince them to give me a “yes” or “no” if I gave them the name. It was “no”. So this ‘crook’ almost had me or someone because if he/she had been smart enough to note the name on the stolen card, a transaction could have been made. That means either I or the poor slob who owns the card could have been dinged. The other part that was scary was when I told the company about the attempted scam, they were not interested. I then called the appropriate credit card company and they too were very blasé about the whole transaction. So this business that the credit cards companies are interested in stopping fraud is simply not true. As long as they don’t lose, they could care less.

OK so here’s my proposal…. everyone who gets this email and yes I get them regularly, some even name real work on my website. I say we do the deal with the cash in the back of the painting…. a nice charcoal rubbing of some coins, my great niece’s sketch of some Euros, a one sided photocopy of a dollar bill….. you get the idea but the painting will be real…. it will be a 6″x6″ painting of a lollipop…. you know a SUCKER.

So far whenever I have Google-mapped the addresses in these emails they have never come up with a location.

Oh yes and when the check arrives…. I think I’ll just drop it off at the local police station. I’m sure they have a nice photo album to keep it in.

I had the exact same thing happen to me from someone in Australia who wanted to purchase hats and t-shirts associated with a comic book I have published this year. The order was very large and would have been great for my ego and pocketbook. That was until he offered to not only pick up the product as shipping was above $500, but he would pay me extra for my trouble. I didn’t realize I was having trouble selling from my own business, but I guess it is so. I stopped all correspondence and have not heard back since. I’m glad you did not get scammed. He had the same bad spelling and the funny thing was I “googled” his name and the name was a respected university professor in Australia. I didn’t think a university professor would have problems spelling his own name in his email address.

Yup, I had a couple of those scam emails. I was wise to them, but an incredible number of people fall for them. My brother was all set to take off to Lagos to meet a beautiful woman who just happened to be president of both an oil company and a gold mine…and another friend agreed to rent his old French farmhouse to a Nigerian family for 2,000 pounds sterling a week in the middle of winter…

I am on a painting holiday in Villefranche-sur-Mer. I happen to own the Citadel here, if anyone wants to make me an offer…

I feel rather embarrassed that although this scam is known for years now there are still people who step into this trap. I am getting regularly mails suggesting this kind of stuff in all varieties.

Whenever someone is suggesting sending payment without further question regarding my work these mails go into the bin immediately. Whenever someone suggests sending checks although I have clearly stated on my website how I am going to accept payments the email goes into the bin.

You’ll probably get a letter from every artist on this one. I posted these tips on my blog about a similar letter… man, if I had a dollar for every time I won the European lottery.

Here are some tips on what to look for in an art scam letter:

1) If they don’t know your name.

2) If they are not so good with the making of english?

2) No checks, money orders or 3rd party checks, especially if anyone is overseas.

3) Credit cards only and whatever the transaction give it 10 days or more to clear.

5) Google the address and call the number that’s associated with the googled info.

6) If they want to send a check for way more than the amount and want you to send the balance back with the art, it’s fo sho a scam.

7) Anytime they put their name in all caps… this must be something they teach in scam school.

8) If they use the word trust or invoke the name of Christ. One hopes that there is a special place in hell for anyone who attempts to gain your trust by saying “one in Christ”

9) and finally only scammers end with “best of regards”

Much of what is apparent in these scammails is something simple common sense will tell you, just turn off the “ohboyasale” feature in your brain.

BEST OF REGARDS

LARRY MOORE

I had a similar experience when I was trying to sell some wheels on CraigsList. I received an email from a Hilmo Agic that said he would send me a certified check and overnight it to me. I received an overnight check from a New York address for $3250 (much more than I was asking for the wheels) on a check from a Virginia publishing company. I called the publishing company and they said that was a closed account and they’d had a lot of calls. I didn’t even know it was from Hilmo until he sent an email saying hurry up and wire back the extra money so he could send his shipper down to pick up the wheels. The check looked legitimate so I could see where some might go ahead and cash it and wire back the difference. I realized it was a scam and told Hilmo the check was no good and he was a fraud, etc thinking that would end it. However, he sent ANOTHER check, this time from a business company in North Dakota. Urgent emails followed from him about when I would wire the money so his shipper could pick up the wheels. I told him to send his shipper down, I’d pay him in cash and the local law enforcement community would be here to talk to him about where he got hold of so many fraudulent checks. The emails stopped.

The next time I got a suspicious offer concerning a certified check, I told him cash or postal money order only. He went away immediately. In the U.S. the postal money order is a great option for transactions. They are available at any post office and the fee is quite low.

The same approach came to me about my car advertised in a local Oregon paper, from someone with middle-eastern accent (“as near as I could tell”) in New York who had a bank in Quebec! I sold the car to someone here but eventually a check arrived clumsily addressed for three times the selling price which I took into Bank of America as directed, but to alert them of the activity. The bank recognized right off that it was bogus. The “friend” who was going to come pick up the car and the difference in the amount never arrived. The whole thing was wildly crazy and although I can be gullible I never bit.

I receive at least one of these inquiries per month. The first time that it happened I was very excited and thrilled that the Internet was working for me. My husband was not so thrilled. He told me to respond saying that all payments from abroad go through either my accountant or lawyer and that was the last I heard of that. So….if I suspect foul play that is exactly what I say. Wastes less time I figure.

Two days ago I had a different kind of inquiry. I actually responded to it with titles and pricing. I did my dudilligence (sp). The man that wrote had spellled colour with the ‘our’ so I figured that he was likely not an American. ” Maybe he was for real’, I thought. I looked his up his name ‘Robert Menard’ on Canada 411 and sure enough there are several Robert Menards strung out across the country. That is when I decided to reply. Within the hour an answer came saying ‘Thank you for the information’ and that was it. I ‘googled’ his name only to find that there is an up and coming artist in France by that name. When I found a site that supposedly carried his work, I clicked on his images, the response was ‘image not available’.

My conspiracy-theory self believes that I have been scammed. I wonder if this person is going to print off my images and needed to know approx. how much I charge for a piece so that they won’t be found out. However, it could be the artist in France wants to know what Canadians, with my level of painting skill, gets for a picture. I will likely never know.

The part that ticks me off with all of this is that it took a lot of painting time away from my day, researching, responding and pondering. What a waste.

Hi Deborah Lee. Yes, I also got that e mail and I said yes. They selected one work but when I looked at the web site it said far too little: other “Masters”, distribution, etc and the design didn’t quite blow my skirts up either. Robert gave some good advice: land phone numbers, full contact addresses, faxes and names must be on the e mail, and no attachments, only a web site to look at with full information supplied.

I am not sure my scam was Nigerian..kept getting emails about my work….wanting to buy two or three….sending courier.

Next thing I know…a bank check in the amount of $7,000 arrives in my mail. The courier was stuck somewhere….could I send $3,000 to him and rest would be for my paintings. I took the bank check to my bank…being born in Brooklyn, N.Y., USA, I am naturally a skeptic and very street wise. The bank the check was drawn on was in Florida, USA….guess what?? My bank called the Florida bank and found out it was one of many bank checks that were stolen from this bank. Information was given to the FBI, but because it was such a “small amount of money,” they were not interested in chasing the scammer down. The saying used to be “Buyer Beware!” Now for artists the saying needs to be changed to “Seller Beware!”

These scammers have taken a lot of artists, I think because we tend to be more trusting individuals as a whole. I however have had 20 years of retail training and management prior to becoming a professional artist. I saw many swindlers, thieves, and no goods along with their antics. I guess the old adage if it sounds like a duck, looks like a duck, smells like a duck, then it must be a duck holds true. Too good to be true usually is. I really wanted to prosecute the guy but the police just laughed and said that they had enough people calling daily to paper a bathroom. Nothing can be done because there is no real way to chase them or catch them. They also didn’t feel it was a good idea for these people to find out where I was working and living.

I was not surprised about the art scam. I had recently inquired about a pet for adoption, or sale. I received a reply… ‘the dog is free but the flight charges and other charges are $7,000. I am in can coon and cannot keep my pet, please give him a home’ and I will send you back any $ remaining… Another one was here in the states and was the same context except the cost was $400. The first give-away to the scam was the language and spelling. So, they are targeting pet lovers as well as broke artists :) Deleted and hope not to get another, but I also found out that they use very common American names like, John Doe, Bill Smith, etc, so I do not even open them now unless I know the name. It is sad to loose so much trust in man-kind like this, best to be safe.

This couldn’t have come at a better time. Following the stress of the election (down here) left room for a bit of humor and that was quite a bit.! I’m still chuckling as I think I’ve had dealings with him or his brother.

I appreciated your sense of humour about this pathetic scam! I had a close call a few years ago. It was rather more sophisticated than yours. It created a plausible persona who would receive the painting as a gift (along with a photo of the person). They were very excited to be gifting the exact painting they had ordered, not just anything in their price range. When I was ready to ship I notified them I had cashed the postal money order. They emailed back saying that the intended owner had been tragically injured in a traffic accident and would I return the money? I replied (fully alerted by now) that I was very sorry to hear that and I would as soon as it was fully cleared the system. Sure enough the money order came back in a week – it was counterfeit. The bank which cashed the money order had assured us it was as good as cash.

The warning signs I spotted were numerous; illiteracy, which I also attributed to her ethnic background, the oddity of an Australian email address wanting to ship a painting to Greece, and a postal order in US dollars drawn in Maine! The timing of the “tragic accident” was a little far-fetched as well.

Surely, anyone falling prey to that scam was born yesterday. However, here in the US, especially with the “global save the earth types” you could make a hefty profit selling those “shrooms”, along with any other “herb” that alters their consciousness from the reality they face.

This scam happened to me out of Florida a few years ago. The people sent US Postal money orders, which seemed so much more solid than a personal cheque. I asked my bank to examine them carefully because I didn’t know if they were legit. The money orders are tricky because they can take up to a month to clear. I stalled the buyer – who seemed much more legit than yours, and sent me so many biographical details that were so entertaining I got hooked on the narrative, never mind the sale – so that when the money orders came back fraudulent, I still had the paintings and the bank could take back the money. The truly ironic thing was that my bank threatened to prosecute me for fraud for depositing the fake money orders. They backed off – but it was nervous-making at the time.

I had contacted the Mounties as soon as my suspicions rose and they told me to just cut off all communications with the people as they were most assuredly crooks, but the stories they were sending me were fascinating so I went along for a while just for the theater of it all. To be noted, though, not all of these people are as obvious as your Bill. Some of them write perfect English and have very convincing and enticing proposals.

I am very leery of any contacts through my website since this happened, and I did tell CARFAC about it – they said they would alert their membership.

I had this happen to me a couple of years ago when someone wrote they wanted three of my paintings they saw on my website and would pay by Cashier’s Check. Long story about moving to England, wanting shipper to pick up paintings and give me a check over amount I was charging and for me to give him the balance back, etc. Check came and looked authentic but I check with issuing bank and found out it was a good looking counterfeit.

Reported incident to FBI and local authorities but never a followup, too difficult to trace.

While a part time artist, I work full time in the computer field, and I have had some good friends fall into this. Someone offers to buy something, sends a check for too much (with some random reason- often it is a paycheck they can’t cash quickly enough), and asks for money in return. .

Unfortunately, Bill most likely doesn’t care much about getting your painting. (Hard to believe, I know… but true.) What he wants is the $3,000 in real money in exchange for the $10,000 in fake money. Not a bad living if you can keep the authorities off your back.

The way that things are shaping up in just about any field of enterprise, an example that I have been taught, is a pretty good one. And one that I teach to anyone that I have ever taught in any line of work. Always get at least 50% deposit up front.

Either cash or Certified Bank Draft, validated & in your account. This method certainly separates the good from the bad. Global Economic situations the way that they are, dictate these types of procedures.

Even I get these pijun English queries from enthusiastic collectors who want to buy a train load of my paintings and are very willing to trade me a worthless check for them. It is sad that some of these scams are successful and artists are duped with little recourse to regain their works. There are no cops on the Internet. Dishonesty, deceit, manipulation are the norm and not the exception. It is a depressing example of unrestrained human nature in action.

Gee, Bill hasn’t gotten in touch with me yet!

Although I haven’t received one of these “fishing” emails for quite a while, or else they hit my junk box, they have made me very cautious of doing art business via e-mails. Recently though, after hearing from several interior designers / art consultants who had seen my work in a sourcebook widely distributed in the states, I have experienced my first sale through totally virtual channels. It was a bit weird, particularly since I never even spoke to the designer, after she sent me an email saying they wanted to buy two of the paintings from the images I had emailed to her. I did, however, do my Google research and found the firm, and her bio, and called and left her a phone message. We communicated through e-mail exclusively! Then a check arrived from the design firm and I shipped out the work to an unknown client. Bizzarro world – yeah a bit – but since the check was good, I was happy to comply! Another thing that this brings up is having an accurate, calibrated monitor, so that when you do send out images in an email, you can be pretty certain folks are seeing the same work you are! It’s very troubling to read that so many people have been taken in by scam artists though.

Just as I read your article on Bill Brown, I just cracked up laughing; you have a wonderful sense of humour, There are a lot of these bogus people or situations around. The Gallery I deal with here in NSW Australia, experienced very similar thing and they almost fell for it.

I once got a very convincing offer in the email to buy 2 of my paintings. The email originated in Canada and spelling was correct so I didn’t see through it right away, but the way they listed the titles and sizes of the paintings was reminiscent of a “template” email.

I forwarded the inquiry to my dealer and got a response that was apparently supposed to be funny “It’s a scam for sure, it’s difficult enough to sell one of your paintings, let alone two”.

Oh my oh my! I laughed out loud. It all sounded so familiar! Thanks for a great morning chuckle, and a warning for those unaware.

I’ve had a few of those guys contact me. So now I repond to inquiries, “Payment for exact amount of purchase only.” If they write back wanting to pay more, then I know they’re attempting a scam and I don’t take the transaction any further.

Regarding the scams, I either just delete with no contemplation or tell them to send lots of cash, US dollars in cash. Never a response.

I must be as old as the hills as I have known about these scams since before computers. The letters came in the mail and were typed on manual typewriters (for you youngsters, they were sort of like a keyboard). It wasn’t the painting scam thing, but to share millions, you only had to give them your bank account number! I have heard many of these people sending scam emails drive Mercedes…must be some artists or others willing to fall prey.

Judging from all the above replies, I wonder that this is a $100 million dollar a year scam. It seems everyone knows about them.

I got one last week offering, I told them I had just won the lottery here and was canceling my internet service and leaving on an extended vacation to parts unkown. i left no forwarding address. They never responded.

Fortunately I have yet to be bit by one of these scams. But, will share this as a heads ups for all the artists here.

Keep very good gallery records, and make sure you ask their lost policy before leaving any work with them…

I was in a gallery that was selling my work, (maybe 2 or 3 a month, out of a portfolio rack, they did the framing).

Well they lost three paintings. They said they never had them. I could tell by the phony grins that they were up to something. Needless to say I pulled my work and learned my lesson.

Also a friend of mine opened a gallery & handmade gift shop, she told me right off the bat that if anything gets lost, burned, or taken, its my loss. I let her have one painting for the sake of our friendship.

Are artists the only group that give free stock? Wonder how it would be for artists if every dealer had to buy the art outright before trying to make money off it.

Joyce

I regularly get 2 or 3 of these scams (I assume) every day both on my own email and my work email. Usually they involve some terrible tragedy that has befallen somebody (often a young girl) whose parent has died but has left them a fortune that they cannot access. They only need a UK bank account and an address. I have been offered almost every amount known to man in whatever currency I desire and often I am offered even more. Of course the letters are often written in halting English but are intended to invoke my christian feelings of brotherhood and justice and fair play. Despite my untold wealth I still end up coming in to work the next day.

Yes, these scams have been around the internet for years. I just delete them.

While it may be in your nature to trust that they may be real and you reply, or you feel the need for some entertainment by way of correspondence, please know that any time you hit ‘reply’ on one of these emails, you validate your email address and you will be GUARANTEED to get a nice variety of spam by being added to many more lists.

I’ve written this in years past but… The quickest fix for any email requesting work and wanting to know where they may send a check, is this:

Dear ?,

Thank you for your interest in my work. The paintings in question is priced at $— and shipping will be an additional $—.

Due to the amount of fraud in the art business, the only form of payment I accept is Western Union. Please send the exact amount $— to me via Western Union and email me or call me when you have. Once I go to my local Western Union office and have the cash in hand, I will promptly put the art in a box and ship it to you. Good day.

Trust me… you will never hear from them again on the issue if they are frauds. It works every time.

I receive many such e-mails and I delete them all. I really cannot believe that these scam artists think that anyone would take the bait after reading through the poor spelling & grammar. I also receive & delete all sorts of e-mails for employment opportunities . I like Beaman Cole’s suggestion & Larry Moore had some good pointers. Reading JR Baldini’s reply I can see why I should just delete these types of e-mail. Sometimes though I cannot resist reading them just to see what the scammers are up to. Unfortunately I think that the scammers are going to get smart about incorrect spelling and grammar. Recently I have received e-mails about PayPal transactions that I never entered into. They do not have my name on them so either PayPal is making a mistake or someone is ending an e-mail that looks like PayPal sent it so that when I click onto it they can gain access to my computer. There are all sorts of way to obtain ones personal info w/o you being aware of it. It is a shame that honest businesses such as PayPal might be used like this. I also keep finding e-mails from a bank in my in box that I never do business with requesting that click on and update my information. These type of e-mails look very official.I know that Amazon is interested when you receive what looks to be a legitimate e-mail asking about your account particulars and would like it sent to them. I guess the rule for internet sales would be to measure twice & saw once.

I got one from ‘Nicole’ who wanted a small painting she saw on my web site –I told her it would be $300, matted plus $20 for shipping. I received a check for $3,000 (from Santa Monica) & when I let her know that was too much & I would need a money order, their next try was a cashier’s check for another $3,000 (sent from London this time). Obviously they wanted me to deposit the check & when it was returned to them for insufficient funds they would get my bank number. Amazing how many of us are so gullible when we hear someone likes our work.

A few years ago, I was all excited when received similar message from an agent who informed me that he lived in USA and will pay the full amount in advance, with credit card, before shipping. I said GREAT what do I lose!. I told him, he would be responsible for the shipping costs, amazingly, he had no problem with that!! I packaged all the requested paintings as if they were ready to be shipped, went to FedEx to know the cost, stood in the line, gladly only, one person was in front of me. My turn came and once I opened my mouth informing the clerk where it was going, happily that man was still in the store. He immediately, warned me and asked “do you actually trust to send your paintings to this place!” I replied ”Why not, he is going to pay me in advance!” Then he kindly replied along with the clerk explained to me how this was the most tricky and settled way of having my paintings and even ask for their money back!!!.

Thanks God, they have opened my eyes and no wonder why the agent was so generous to pay me extra!!

Avoiding to make my comment long, I would end it here. But please artists, do not get too excited when you receive an offer, MAKE sure first, who is behind that little other screen, search for them on Google or anywhere way you know. I would not regret truing down the $27.000.00 on a painting I only asked for $6,000!! I would have been in Florida spending the Canadian winter.

My most recent scammer was Sheila Coey from Paris France (sheilacoey@yahoo.com) who said that she was visiting her twin sister in Paris while awaiting the arrival of her new baby (Sheila’s that is.) Her husband was in the process of moving their home from New Jersey to Malaysia. Altho I mentioned my account with Paypal, he would rather send me a cheque (alert!). Nothing new here. Just wanted to leave the e-mail address in case there are others who might recognize it. Thanks for the opportunity to share experiences!

I always like to answer these scam emails with bogus information. Now, the emails telling me I have had a death in the family, of some long lost uncle in Africa, who had the good sense to hide millions of dollars in secret accounts, don’t get much of a response from me. I just hit reply, copying the entire email back to the sender and writing at the very bottom, a two word reply that, well … would earn me an R rating from the movie ratings people.

Those emails that I get telling me that my bank account has been compromised are the most fun. I just send them all the information that they ask for. No one said I had to send them the “correct” information. So I just make it up on the fly. I send them a name, a social security number, a credit card number, bank account information and even a four-digit PIN number. And then sit back and sip my wine, hoping they pull every single hair out of their heads wondering why they aren’t getting any money from the information that I sent them. I have to wonder how long the Nigerian scams would continue if everyone sent back bogus information? For every one thousand phishing emails they sent out, they got back 700 with information that’s about as useful as an acrylic paint brush that’s been allowed to dry with paint crusted all over it.

Here’s my first experience with a scammer, looks like the same scam from Dec 4th from Jill above…this is the email word for word

“i will like to proceed with the purchase. I think it is a lovely work that will add alot of colours to our new wall. I am presently away in London for my twin sister’s wedding even though it comes at a time when i was preparing for a big move and also expecting a baby but it means so much to her. I should be back in few days.

Meanwhile,i will like you to forward your mailing address and phone number so i can inform my husband still shutling between our home in New Jersey and Jo’burg, SA on where to forward the payment . He has just been transfer to head the IT section of their head Office in Jo’burg.

I can also forward your contact info to the local cartage company that will be moving all our house decors so they can get in touch with you to arrange shipping details. They can arrange pick up FedEx pick up of the artwork from your studio.

I will look forward to hearing from you so i can know how best to proceed. Cheers.

Best Regards, Betty Locke”

I emailed them back thanking them for the ridiculous details of her extravagant life and how I’d love to meet them in New Jersey next week, I doubt I’ll hear from “Betty” again.

having received two of these email scams (haven’t opened anymore to check further) was little apprehensive even posting here. One of these individuals went as far as to send a bogus “chase money order” which took up to bank and then over to a Chase facility to turn in. When tried to alert the website (the individual had viewed my artwork on fineartamerica.com) the person who had emailed more or less told me how “I had fallen for one of the oldest scams” and shouldn’t have been so naive”=I read stupid as am having problems with my resolution on the site and he is making me feel even more “dumbed up” these days. He wouldn’t provide any further help with clearing up the resolution problems or point me in the right direction. A roller coaster ride we are on these days while marketing on the internet. also, your simple math question is hard to read-sure hope I get the answer right so don’t appear as a spammer myself (smile)

I wonder if Michigan will become the next source of scams due to the economy. Our English is much better, and we could ask for a check to support car dealerships. Oh, that has already been done? Pardon me! Well maybe grants for murals on cars or something. :}

I received an e-mail from a man from London requesting help to collect money from his customers in the US. The funny thing is it was recommended by monster.com itself. You know the usual; Money orders an such. But what suprised me was the fact that Monster.com did do a background check on this.

Dear Sir,

I am an artist from Sri Lanka. Actually I want to sell my paintings. But I dont know how should i join with your website to sell my paintings. If you have any idea about that please tell me. This s my email Id – rudi_silva@hotmail.com.

Thank you

Regards,

Dilanthi Silva.

Dear sir,

i am an artist although neither i do fine art nor mordern art, but i am interested in glass painting and foil painting which is completely different from other paintings. i would be very thankful to you if you can help me in selling my paintings. i am from india, my contact no. is +917501260901, +919800827251,+919434379497. email Id- tripti1218@gmail.com.

Thankyou,

Tripti.G.karmakar.