Andrey Feldshteyn 11 Oct 2006

One more for the collection: --------------------------------- Dear Sir/Madam, I just browsed through your work on http//www.artxpo.com and I have seen the pefection and neatness in your work, will like to buy this piece from you for the upcoming PAN AFRICAN ART EXHIBITION that will be held in South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana Respectively.

I am an art exhibitor and collector from Oxford UK one of the lucky participant at the exhibition and registered member of the British Art and Sculpture Council. The Certificate of presence and display will be forwarded to you as soon as your artwork has been purchased and registered with the works that will be present at the exhibition. This certificate will stand as souvenir that your work was on display at the exhibition and who knows might be award winning art at the exhibition. Here are the works I will be buying for the expo and will like to know if you still have more for sale. Let me know the prices of this work (s) ... You dont have to include shipping fees in this becuase there is an official shipper for the expo that will pick up all bought and registered work from artists and this service will be paid for with the registration fee on pick up. Let me know as soon as possible. Thanks Selena Tait 34 Marshal Road,Cowley Oxford, OX4 2NR, United Kingdom +447031914341 --------------------------------

I am really curious, why this "official shipper" character is appearing again and again? :)

Cynthia Adams 18 Oct 2006

Not sure if this is a scam or not.Recieved this email today and he wants my email addressThis message was sent by David ([email protected]) via ArtWanted.com:

Hello Cynthia. I have seen some of your lovely artwork on Artwanted.com

I was wondering if I may display some of your art on my webpage. I would also like to include a way for people to contact you. If you will kindly provide your email address so that I can place it on there as well.

Thank you much. Keep up the lovely work of art for many to view and enjoy.

Peace,

David :)

---------------------- NOTE: This message was sent by an anonymous user on our site who typed in the sender's name and email address. This information is not verified and could be incorrect or false.

If this e-mail appears to be an art scam or unsolicited spam, please report it to us by forwarding the e-mail to [email protected] - Thank You

Is this a genuine website offer?I haven't replied to it but desperation ofgetting shot of all the work is tempting...lol.

sandra macdougall 30 Oct 2006

I was scammed !

The inquiring scammer sent the e mails through my website which they then were redirected to me. When I recieved a Money order for 2,200.00 in Us Funds

My inner voice told me this was wrong. First , I didnt have anything for sale at that amount . And the picture of interest was the original and priced at 1,200.00.

I took a copy of the money order and saved it...Then I took it to the bank to verify it. The teller passed it , although I asked them if it was ok. It fooled even the bank. twelve days later the money deposited in my account was retracted leaving me overdrawn. I was about to refund this scammer. But the timming for him didnt work. For me I learned an expensive lesson. It cost me a peice of art work valued at 1,200.00 shipping 99.99 to London and insurance. Yes I sent the Art out.And For this Victim it is a hard lesson as these scammers, prey on our passion and egos. Most of us are struggling artist and I think that is the hook. Being validated for what we do is a big part of our world. Unfortunatly it is better to learn from hard lessons than to think we are that great.

The funny thing is ..the bank teller offered me a higher exchange rate on those phoney US funds...Gee thanks!

THE SCAM LETTERS BELOW >>>

-----Original message----- From: [email protected] Date: Sat, 02 Sep 2006 05:41:56 -0700 To: [email protected] Subject: www.sandramacdougall.com - Contact Submission

> Dear Sir, We see one of your painting you pasted in your web site namely > Fairy Dust and we have interest to purchase it to present it to our boss > father's birthday. Kindly give us your price, postal address and your > payment information via check. Please dont forget to include the > shipping charges to London Your early response will be highly > appreciate. With best regard Fred Olat >

info wrote: Fred Olat

You can order your Print on line from the website or send a money order via mail . You will need to specify your Order information.

Sandra Macdougall

Dear Sandra, Sorry for late response, My boss Father who want to do birthday was very sick that is why you didn't hear from me, but thank God he is okay now. l have sent to you the check for the painting now and l will like to know if you have received it and to let me know the time l will receive the painting. With best regard Fred Olat Ramond

From: Fred Olat To: Sandi macdougall Subject: Re: London Address Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2006 01:21:49 -0700 (PDT)

Dear Sandi, l will not be able to purchase more than $500 and please sorry for the incovenent. Please mail me back and let me know the out come and how you transfer the balance. Thanks Fred

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Fred Olat To: Sandi macdougall Subject: Re: London Address Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 05:14:54 -0700 (PDT)

Dear Sandi Thanks for your response, My name is FRED OLAT RAMOND, 45 Booth Close, London, SE28 8BW Tel; 44 07024035067. Please send me the balance of my money to me through western union to me and mail me to give me the control number and question and answer with my name and the sameaddress, Looking forwrad to hear from you With Best regard Fred Olat

Sandi macdougall wrote: Fred ,

If we are to send it to London , We do not have an Address. Please confirm a Shipping Address . As your Art is ready to be sent out. Again We only have an address From Canada. The purchase also exceeds $500.00 The funds sent will have to clear usualy a fifteen day period.

Sandra Macdougall

ArtWanted.com Staff 30 Oct 2006

Sorry to hear this Sandra. It's happening more and more. We hope all members can read this thread and be careful dealing with those that want to buy artwork.

Jane Duke 31 Oct 2006

Hi Sandra I am so sorry to hear what happened to you. This was an absolutely classic overpayment scam where the victim is sent a (fake) cheque for too much and is asked to forward the 'balance' on to either a 'shipping company' or a 'friend they owe money to' or as a refund.

I get very frustrated by art websites which warn artists to make sure they have received payment before sending out work as it suggests the main danger is having artwork stolen. This is NOT the purpose of these scams and by concentrating on that it blinds people to the real scam which is getting you to send money to someone else. Hurtful though it is to our pride as artists, these crooks have no interest in our art whatsoever. This overpayment scam is used on all sorts of sellers, not just artists. Our neighbours nearly got caught by the same thing when selling a classic car.

For American members, here are two things which might help you check out supposed British addresses: 1) You can check if an address is real by entering the postal code at www.royalmail.com. Quite often these scamsters just make something up. In this instance the address given to Sandra was a real building, but a google check shows it is a rental property. 2) Any UK phone number starting 07 (or just 7 in the international format), like the one given to Sandra, is a cellphone. You might want to insist on a landline number (starting 01 or 02)and CALL it to check!

I'm sorry this is too late for you Sandra, but maybe this will help anyone else getting offers from people claiming to be in the UK.

Seth Mills 01 Nov 2006

Yeah, there's all sorts of scams out there. I've heard of some people receiving fake emails from art sites wanting to buy their art - not the bigs ones like wallsneedart.com or art.com, but small, insignificant ones. Kind of like a phishing attack from a bank.

Jennifer Chevais 02 Nov 2006

My oh my. Looks like I can join the almost scammed ranks...

This message was sent by Terry Knudsen ([email protected]) via ArtWanted.com:

Hello

I am Mr Terry Knudsen,am very happy to come across your art work: ( Discovery ) on www.artwanted.com, i will like to buy this art work becuase my company: International Intitude Of Trophical Africa has just transfer me to West Africa, and i will like to buy a peice of art work to docorate the new appartment given to me by my company

Also i will like you to know that i can only offer you $700 US Dollar for this art work, no there is no problem with the shipment, my company shipping company will take care of that, also i will like you to know that i can only pay you with cheque

Please get back to me with some information about this art work at: [email protected]

I wait to read from you soon

Thanks

Mr Terry Knudsen

_____

Super glad that I thought to check here before responding....

Rhonda Costa 07 Nov 2006

well guys it happened to me...they wanted 2 photos were pretty vauge on details but i gave my company name and address just thought well it might be a scam but you never know....well i git an e-mail with a ups tracking # and a check showed up today, i was shocked.....it was for $4000.00 i jumped for joy, but something in the back of my head sid calm down and check it out, i looked up the company printed on the check...big company, saw the name of the person who signed the check, well i thought this could be promising....gave her a call..well i said hello i am not sure how to go about this but i have a question...let me guess she says ..you got a check, yes and a broken heart anllong with it...its a scam, you are supposed to wire them back the amount of average....well knowing most of the things that come over the internet are a scam i checked it out, yes my heart was broken(I was going to save christmas) but at least i am not $000.00 negitive in the bank...watch out everyone, check out everything

Stephanie Rawkins 13 Nov 2006

I have received an e-mail from a Paul Schroger which has all the signs of being a scam. Unfortunatly I responded, asking for details of what he was interested in but sent no images, prices etc. He has replied just asking for the above. Do I now just ignore whatever may come, or is there a positive response I should do? Thanks.

nick piliero 18 Nov 2006

I get this type of crap all the time today susanhanks1@yahoo,com the house in south america needs several paintings the cashier check thing what is the price and the price was right on the page with the painting.If a buyer is on the up and up they will deal with the company. I was born at night but it was not last night !!I grew up in the bronx . NY is loaded with 3 card monte types no tickety no shirtee. thanks nick..

ellen turner 20 Nov 2006

if all these things happen/ why are we so fould? i understand you can right click any picturer an take a print an enlarge at a diffrent location, so as artist how do we find safety? i am sad about this. I had my art pt up for sale without my knowing it. i left the site for a while an now i am back. still in fear of putting my good art on> thank you e.turner

Heidi Maiers 21 Nov 2006

I get these types of letters too, in all shapes and sizes, for many years now. They are easy to spot. A popular one is for them to say they have a son who is coming to "my area" for two months and they want me to teach him. With this scam, they send you all the fees in advance and you cash their bad check. Then some unforseen thing happens that they need to cancel, and ask for a refund. They bank that your bank clears the check (it can take up to a full year to discover a check is counterfeit) and you send them a real check. What's sad is there are actually people out there that fall for their bull. Some people are fighting back though and here is a site full of entertaining reading of scam letters and people messing with them.

http://bustedupcowgirl.com/scampage.html

and another

http://www.scamorama.com/

There are tons of sites out there like these - it's a wonder they're still able to find fresh victims.

Carrie Ann Watson 21 Nov 2006

Thanks, ArtWanted and everyone who replied to let us know of these scams. I have never received a letter like this, but I'm glad I now know what to do if one shows up! :)

Carrie Ann / Searlait

Julianna Yau 22 Nov 2006

Hi, everyone.

I recently started a website, www.bogusartfair.info, for artists to share their experiences with scammers and warn others of potential scammers. Use of and membership to the website is free. Hopefully we can prevent scammers from getting away with stuff like this!

Julianna

Aida Robles 23 Nov 2006

Hi everyone, I too have received a couple of e-mails from different people. I didn't have anyone want to buy something I had posted but, they asked me to draw or design something specific for them. Inproper english was still used and one of them claimed to be a member, yet couldn't be found anywhere on the site. So, how can you really tell when it's a scam if so many people from the U.S. are grammatically challenged?

T Jerkovich 01 Jun 2008

I recieved an email from 'mogan alisha'. I suspect this is a scam. Anyone I don't know, who asks to purchase an 'item', which I didn't even have for sale, and asks for my full name, address and personal phone number, well, it's a delete button it needs !!

The email address I recieved this from is ad_alisha@...... the name, mogan alisha.

ArtWanted.com Staff 02 Jun 2008

It does sounds suspicious. Please forward the full e-mail address to our staff, so we can put this name on our 'watched' list. Thanks.

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