I am writing this blog today to warn all artists to stay away from any any potenital art "buyers" from South Africa. I received an email last week from a man by the name of Sean Jerry who was in South Africa and wanted to buy one of my works of art. He said the he was traveling to the "U.K." and wanted to settle the transcaction quickly. He wanted to send me a check and asked for my address which I gave him. He also wanted my phone number, but I did not give that to him. At first, he said he wanted the piece framed, so I gave him the quote for both the artwork, the frame, and the shipping charges. This totaled nearly $800. I am asking $500 for the painting ("Sunset at Kruger Park" in my African Sunset/Sunrise collection).
Sean decided he would frame the piece himself and he told me he would need the dimensions of the artwork so that his "framer" could make the frame. He requested that I send an email to his "framer" and copy him with the dimensions. After I did that, I got an email from Sean stating that he was going to send me a cashier's check for $2000. I was to take the $500 for the painting and send the remainder to the "framer." I then received an email from the "framer" who told me to deduct the $500 from the check and send him the remaining $1500. He also told me to hang onto the painting as his workshop was full of shards and they might damage the painting.
I felt like an idiot after I realized that I was being scammed. I had remembered a blog about art scammers and finally found the one that Clint Watson wrote. What Clint described was exactly what was happening to me. I have not returned any emails .
After discussing this situation with my family during the Thanksgiving weekend, I decided to report what I could to the FBI. The FBI has a cyber crime link on their web site where you can file a complaint online.
Thanks to Clint for the newsletter article. I am afraid what might have happened if I hadn't remembered that. Evidently, the cashier's check is bogus and somehow you're out both your money and your artwork.
I have not received the bogus check yet and don't know if I will, but I have since heard that South Africa is teeming with scammers.
The only positive spin I can put on this is that the scammer thought my work was worth $2000!
Artists, be warned!!
7 Responses to Almost Scammed
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Thank you for the warning on your experience.
I had a similar contact last month. This guy emailed saying he liked my painting. He asked what the current bid was on the painting even though the price was listed on the FASO website and not an auction site like ebay. I emailed back the price, framing info and the fact that it was not up for auction. I told him he could send his credit card number and I would ship it to him.
He wrote back saying he was on a construction site in the North Sea and he had a friend that would send me a check and I could then send the painting to the construction site.
It would have almost sounded secure but something (which I can't remember now) he said sent flags up. I wrote him back saying that I would send him the painting after I cashed his friends check. I never heard from them again.
It's hard not to fall for these scams. After all they want want to purchase one of our paintings.
Linda
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Maggie
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I had a similar incident about 3 years ago, where I was emailing with this individual back and forth, but when I started to ask more detailed questions it was all over, thank goodness.
Maggie
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