J Lutz on thu 18 aug 05
The following is a message from a local artist describing a scam I've
not hear of but thought that I would pass it on to alert those of you
who have your own web sites.
(I've removed all names)
Jean Lutz
" An artist has his own art website displaying his
paintings. He received an e-mail from a man in Connecticut wanting to
purchase a painting, requesting it be shipped to Australia. Because of the
overseas shipping and crating, the customer said he would send "extra"
money to cover expenses.
Several days later, his partner signed for a FedEx envelope pertaining to the
above sale, however, it came from a different man in California. The
envelope contained 8 Post Office Money Orders with the instructions to
cash them and send the "extra" ($5,000.00) funds with the painting to
Australia.
They immediately called the FBI and found out this scam is on the rise,
targeting websites & Ebay.
They took the money orders to the Post Office for inspection and found
they were counterfeit. The Post Office confiscated everything and is
investigating it as International Fraud.
Make note; if you do cash a counterfeit money order, you will be
responsible for that money back to the bank.
"I think artists can be easy targets, since we are elated to
sell our work and eager to do business."
Snail Scott on thu 18 aug 05
At 08:37 AM 8/18/2005 -0700, Jean L. wrote:
>...An artist has his own art website displaying his
>paintings. He received an e-mail from a man in Connecticut wanting to
>purchase a painting, requesting it be shipped to Australia. Because of the
>overseas shipping and crating, the customer said he would send "extra"
>money to cover expenses...
>Make note; if you do cash a counterfeit money order, you will be
>responsible for that money back to the bank.
This scam is rampant lately. Beware of money orders.
IF you take one, make sure it's cleared before you
ship anything, even if it takes a while (warn the
buyer it might take a long time), and NEVER 'refund'
any portion of it as cash or any other form of money.
-Snail
Tony Ferguson on thu 18 aug 05
I get many of these and almost fell prey to a nice lady in southern Africa who recently had a child and bought a new house.. DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT SHIP ANYTHING OUT OF THE COUNTRY WHERE THE FOLLOWING IS PART OF THE TRANSACTION
1. If they have a shipper, shipping agent, or someone who will come to pick up the work.
2. If they offer to pay extra and have you send them the difference.
3. If they tell you they just bought a house and they are decorating, had a child, etc, etc.
Either we are gullable or scammers like artwork because we are heavily being targeted by these scams. One of the major scams going on is some variation on the above with a cashier's check or money order that looks legit--but what you don't know is that it can take 2 months to clear both banks and as Snail said, you are liable. These come back stamped "counterfit" and, as you suspect, not good because your bank wants your money.
My recommendation: Use paypal (or similiar service that guarantees the transaction) and tell them they must be verified via paypal. This way they can not cheat you. I recall paypal guarantees the transaction if both parties are verified.
Be aware.
Tony Ferguson
http://www.tonyferguson.net
http://www.aquariusartgallery.com
Snail Scott wrote:
At 08:37 AM 8/18/2005 -0700, Jean L. wrote:
>...An artist has his own art website displaying his
>paintings. He received an e-mail from a man in Connecticut wanting to
>purchase a painting, requesting it be shipped to Australia. Because of the
>overseas shipping and crating, the customer said he would send "extra"
>money to cover expenses...
>Make note; if you do cash a counterfeit money order, you will be
>responsible for that money back to the bank.
This scam is rampant lately. Beware of money orders.
IF you take one, make sure it's cleared before you
ship anything, even if it takes a while (warn the
buyer it might take a long time), and NEVER 'refund'
any portion of it as cash or any other form of money.
-Snail
______________________________________________________________________________
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
Tony Ferguson
...where the sky meets the lake...
Duluth, Minnesota
Artist, Educator, Web Meister
fergyart@yahoo.com
fergy@cpinternet.com
(218) 727-6339
http://www.aquariusartgallery.com
http://www.tonyferguson.net
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
Earl Brunner on thu 18 aug 05
Not so new though, cashiers check fraud has been around for a long time.
Back in the mid-70's I worked in a pottery/turquoise jewelry production
facility for awhile. The company went under as a direct result of this kind
of fraud. Cashiers check, late afternoon on a Friday (they had wined and
dined the owner for a week) 45,000.00 worth of jewelry purchased
(wholesale). Found out about Tuesday that the check was bad. It was a REAL
cashier's check, but they had altered the amount (something called washing
the check I believe). If I remember right, the actual face value on the
check was a couple of thousand, but losing 40,000.00 + was enough to kill
the company.
Earl Brunner
Las Vegas, NV
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Tony Ferguson
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 12:24 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: a new scam on artists
I get many of these and almost fell prey to a nice lady in southern Africa
who recently had a child and bought a new house.. DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT
SHIP ANYTHING OUT OF THE COUNTRY WHERE THE FOLLOWING IS PART OF THE
TRANSACTION
1. If they have a shipper, shipping agent, or someone who will come to pick
up the work.
2. If they offer to pay extra and have you send them the difference.
3. If they tell you they just bought a house and they are decorating, had a
child, etc, etc.
Either we are gullable or scammers like artwork because we are heavily being
targeted by these scams. One of the major scams going on is some variation
on the above with a cashier's check or money order that looks legit--but
what you don't know is that it can take 2 months to clear both banks and as
Snail said, you are liable. These come back stamped "counterfit" and, as
you suspect, not good because your bank wants your money.
My recommendation: Use paypal (or similiar service that guarantees the
transaction) and tell them they must be verified via paypal. This way they
can not cheat you. I recall paypal guarantees the transaction if both
parties are verified.
Be aware.
Tony Ferguson
http://www.tonyferguson.net
http://www.aquariusartgallery.com
| |
|
