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Beware the scam
Artists are not immune to email scamming and spamming.
Artists have been the target of a probable email scam over the last month.
Some artists have had e-mail correspondence with a person who seems to know details about their work not readily available on the web . He is offering large amounts of money for long lists of art work often hundreds of pounds more than they are worth "to cover shipping" which he is going to arrange.
The email reads:
Good morning,
I was searching through google images directory where i came across this sophisticated and attractive work of your's that made me keep starring for moments will love to purchase one or two piece from you and i will appreciate it if you can kindly let me know how and where i can see more of your new works and if possible can i purchase via email because i reside in Sweden. I will like to have your work as a beautification to my living room will await your response as soon as possible.
Regards
Rayze
Trading Standards haven't heard of this scam but say it has all the signs of being one, and advised to proceed with the utmost caution if anyone intended to go ahead - but advised against it.
Variations on a theme.
Two other reported variations on the scam are as follows:
1.
You recieve a cheque from the buyer for a lot more than the value of the art they are buying. You bank the cheque, the person then asks you to send the art to them and gives you a bank account number asking you to pay some money into this account to cover the shipping costs for sending the art. This is the way they get their hands on your cash. The cheque they sent you will then bounce as it is bogus. The person is not genuine as if they send you their address and you check it out on Google, you will find that although it sounds genuine, the details will be slightly wrong and the address given doesn't actually exist.
2.
The buyer sends the purchase money, say, £800, possibly by banker's draft, and puts in perhaps another £1000, explaining that he has other business in the UK and his agent will collect this extra money when he calls for the goods. The seller is quite happy because the £800 purchase money is in the bank. The agent arrives, collects the goods and receives the surplus £1000 from the seller. "Rayze" then cancels the banker's order and the seller is left having give away £800 worth of goods and £1000 cash.
The police will only pursue it as a fraud if either goods or money have been handed over
A similar scam has been reported in the national press consumer pages with regard to car purchases.
What do I do if I am approached?
If artists get an e-mail from this person and are unsure ring Trading Standards on 0845 040506. If they have dealt with this person and have had problems they may be able to get help from the European Consumer Centre 0845 604 0503.
Update, January 2011
Another suspected scam has been reported by several artists in the last two weeks. All artists have received this identical email:
I saw a preview of your work via a friend of mine [name removed] she reside in Middlessex United Kingdom she a send me a link to a site that previewed your work so am writing in request to know if you can direct me to your own personal website where i can view more of your work and see if we can reach an agreement in purchasing some of it. I am a Educational consultant by profession in Rome Italy am going to be displaying your work in both my office and resident my friend also tell me about your creative approach to you work and it's creativeness i do not reside in the England which as been a major concern to me on our to purchase your piece can you send me images or website to your new work.
The email usually does not have any addresses in the 'to' field and two artists have traced the IP address the email was sent from, to servers in Ireland and Scotland. One of these servers in particular has a history of scams originating from it.
The following links also give details about various scams aimed at artists:
First published: a-n.co.uk August 2010
Back to topComments on this article
I'm going to send them my used tissues from when I had a cold...
posted on 2011-05-04 by David Vassie
I had a complementry email out of the blue from a Derek Bergt it was a yahoo.com address accompanied by a gravemcfly@gmail.com this was from so say Australia. I didn't follow through with further contact not wishing to get involved with any shipping and my work being to commission and not off the shelf. But reading these emails it smacks of something similar so I hope this info helps others.
posted on 2011-04-08 by Adele Christensen
I had this e-mail about a year or two ago.
posted on 2011-04-06 by James Fickling
Comment removed by the writer [24 March 2011]
posted on 2011-03-02 by Susan Jones
Comment removed by the writer [23 March 2011]
posted on 2011-02-16 by Sarah Younan
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I've had a few scam emails lately, though fortunately I realised they were fraudulent. They all purported to be from overseas buyers suggesting they'd like to purchase work they've seen on my website. Pointers to them being scams: (1) email asks me to confirm prices even though those are given on website (2) always say their contacts will arrange shipping (3) name on email address and "real" name spelt differently (4) spelling and grammar mistakes suggest English is not their first language even though their name and country imply it should be. (5) receiving several of these emails in a relatively short time and though the details are different the overall pattern is the same. Hope this saves other artists from getting scammed.
posted on 2011-11-08 by Jackie Garner