Artworks Inquiry - Scam
It started with this e-mail.
"Hope this message finds you well. I saw these creative works on your website and i will like you to get back with more details if they are still available for purchase.
Gate AND Tulips 05
I will appreciate an urgent reply.
Best Regards,
Kathy Johnson"
I replied yes, and after a few back and forth emails, I actually emailed her two small images to make sure we were talking about the same two images.
I quoted her $425 for the two matted unframed photographs shipped and she agreed. She told me her husband will be mailing me a check. The check arrived on Saturday morning May 24th and within minutes she sent me an e-mail containing a printout of a screen capture of the Post Office tracking.
But here's where it got weird. I received a check from a company called "Around The Rings" and it was for $1910.00. At first I figured it was a licensing fee for my sports photographs, because it is a sports oriented web site, and I do license my sports images a few times a year. But when I got home from the post office, the e-mail was waiting. My reply to the e-mail was I hadn't gone to the post office that day and because of the holiday I wouldn't pick up my mail until Tuesday the 26th. She even texted me twice to make sure I would pick up the check on Tuesday. Did I mention the check was from a company located in Atlanta. The envelope had a California return address and mailed from Texas.
That gave me a day to research the company and check. I called Around the Ring and spoke to their accounting department. The check had been written on an account that had been closed a year ago when the checks had been stolen and then had been used to pay for purchases on Craig's List and eBay at various locations around the country. The company had me send them a copy of the check to forward to the FBI.
It's now Tuesday May 26th and I'm eagerly waiting for the e-mail to tell me where to send the overpayment.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
Comments
Here's my latest:
Dear Sir/Madam,
With reference to the above subject, please quote your best competitive prices CIF ABU DHABI DUBAI, by sea and air with the earliest delivery with payment terms and your Offer should be exclusive to us.
Do please find on attachment our Order Description and get back to us ASAP for BUSINESS.
Yun Lee
Best Tiles Co. LTD
Email: salesxpert@mail.com
Mob.: 86-1810507359
Fax.: 86-595-8678979
Best practice would be to not ship until the "check" clears, or make them pay with paypal. Just a thought.
THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH LARRY !!!! You just saved me a lot of time and pending disappointment as I was just in the middle of corresponding with this "lady".
The reason I played along was out of curiosity.
The check and all correspondence was forwarded to the FBI who already had an open case started by the company who had their checks stolen last year.
Larry Berman
Here's another scam email I just got on Saturday - I don't even have to bother looking it up.
Good Day,
How is everything with you? I picked interest in your artwork and
decided to write you. I will like to know if your artwork can be
purchased and shipped internationally?. I can email my artwork order
as i don't place order on websites and payment will be completed in
full once you confirm my purchase order with a quotation.
Kindly let me know when you are in office and ready to take my artwork
order also let me know if you accept Visa Card, Master Card or
Paypal? for payment furthermore you can email me your recently updated
website or art price list in your response.
Best Regards
Mrs Cummins
Yep, old scam.... I received the first one in 2005 ... I now report them to the police's email fraud division. I once received a social security check that actually belonged some poor guy in California... from a "collector" in Africa (!)
Larry, I'm surprised that you opened the email and went as far as you did. When I posted a possible fraud alert back in March, this is the comment you made to me:
Never open emails like that. Never, never, never reply as it validates your e-mail address and you end up getting even more spam.
Larry Berman
It seems like I had one of these type of emails back in 2013. I can't remember the details because it did not go too far. But now that I think about it, it must have been a similar scam.
I would love it if a few folks who've been doing this for quite a while and who sell artwork online could share "best practices" for getting paid without being scammed. Do you use PayPal? Wire transfers? Do you use a service that processes credit cards and protects you from fraud? Do you require full or partial payment in advance? My wife and I use the Square and PayPal Here at art fairs, but are not sure how best to manage online sales. (In case it helps, she paints original acrylic works on gallery-wrapped canvas of at least 3ft x 3ft--so the cost of shipping is significant as is the loss of a single work if the payment were to fall through after shipping.)
I have recieved many of these also.
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