ArtId Art Blog
8 Ways To Spot An E-mail Art Scam
by artid , January 26, 2011—12:56 PM
1. The person contacting you is usually using poor grammar, punctuation and sentence structure.
2. The person is "away" somewhere, in Haiti, the forest, out to sea, a sailor or an oceanographer... the latest one says he is on an asteroid.(really)
3. The person insists on paying through PayPal. They make a fraudulent payment for more than the amount of the piece and ask you to send someone, presumably the fake shipping company the extra. Do not give them your PayPal email address.
4. The person wants information from you that is clearly already in your site like the price, if the item is available, if you accept PayPal or if you can send them pictures.
5. The person wants to use his or her own shipping company. Even more suspiciously they want to come to you to pick it up.
6. They say things like this..."Will u be able to wire transfer the remaining fund to the shipping company that will come for the pick up of the item the same day u receive the payment from PayPal?"
7. You get multiple emails saying the same thing or similar only the senders name has changed.
8. They ask for information: - Name ( this will be on the Payment) - Mailing Address (Not a Po box) - Cell Phone or Home Phone Numbers - Email addresses. - Final Asking price of the art work"
The emails are being directed to artists and they are hitting multiple sites, not just ArtId members. Don't give them any information, don't respond to the email. Treat them like any other inheritance or Lotto winning spam. Delete them. No matter how tempting the offer or how innocent the circumstances don't fall for it, legitimate buyers will go through proper channels.
COMMENTS
( homepage )
05/18/2011 * 11:20:38
i have received several asking to buy specific pieces of art from my website, by name. then they launch into this whole convoluted story about how they're moving to europe, need them right away...etc.
PS i think "Haiti" was just a random choice, i don't think anyone's picking on that country...
03/22/2011 * 22:50:24
It is a fact of life. I myself been approached several times. The article is helpful but why you pick "HAITI" as a country of reference - what do you know of Haiti. You could of pick any country in Europe.
02/28/2011 * 18:39:27
I've been hit by a couple so far. Poor grammer in both. Private shipper, wanted me to remove the "advert" where it was posted as they were ready to buy now. Wanted to send money order and have private shipper pick up... and attached a nice lengthy form asking for all sorts of information. Only thing they left out was they were out of the country!
( homepage )
02/25/2011 * 17:48:46
I think I found another scam. this one from Tressa Adams or tt.adamss18@yahoo.com At first I emailed them to use the ebay buttons, and this is the response I got from her:
NAME......
ADDRESS........
STATE.Ar....
POST CODE......
COUNTRY..USA....
MOBILE NUMBER.........
HOME NUMBER.....
YOUR LAST ASKING PRICE..........
I will ensure that you receive payment at least in 3 working days.
As regards the pick up, as soon as you confirm to me that the Money Order is cleared in your account, I will inform my private mover agent to come for the pick up immediately and also, I want you to delete the advert from where you placed it on Internet cause I am ready to send the payment immediately.
I look forward to read from you soonest.
Teresa.
( homepage )
02/14/2011 * 05:17:14
I had one today.
Dreadful grammar and we will send a money order and our company will collect..Ha ha.
I'd rather have a show and sell nothing...Well almost.
So the email is....
tt.adamss18@yahoo.com.
Beware.
( homepage )
02/11/2011 * 04:39:36
Nice tips, there's a lot of scams like these going on lately. Luckily it's way too obvious most of the times.
One tip: If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
( homepage )
01/30/2011 * 18:19:38
I got hit by one I believe? it was asking me if it was still for sale and there was poor grammer. There was an odd tel# left to contact the buyer> not enough numbers to call.
Elaine
10/01/2011 * 11:29:55
These are two emails I received and the email for this person is:
luciosmith@gmail.com
So please be aware of this one
#1
i will like to know if this artwork is available for sale if so kindly
get back to me
Never thinking at time it was a scam, I responded and this was the response:
Thanks for the message, I am very happy to know that the item is available for
sale. i must tell you that i browse through the net and i saw your artwork
now, (Old Stone Shed watercolour 11 × 15 inches & Dahlia in the
Sunshine watercolour 7 × 10 inches) and i am very much interested
in the immediate purchase because i need it for our new apartment.I
will like to to buy it before someone else requested for it and i will
be paying you securely with a Bank cheque which will be payable to
your name and i will wait till it clears your bank before the pick
up,You don't have to worry about shipment, my shipper will handle it.
This is because i will be traveling out of the country any
moment from now for a business proposal. So get back to me with the information
needed to send you the payment I:E
Full Name
Standard Address
CELL NUMBER
Total cost
So that i can proceed with the payment arrangement, consider it sold
get back to me with the details,i will await your message...
thanks & regards