From Audrey Briggs [audriggs@gmail.com]
Subject artworks purchase
Good day to you.
I am so excited that I came across of your work on internet search,I
am interested in purchasing these creative artworks from
you.....................
Standing Together,Deep into the Forest,Road to the Ridge,Hidden
Treasure,Below the Fishin' Hole and Beckoning Route
Let me know their various prices.and how much discounts are you going to give?I will be happy to have these selected artworks hung in our new home in South Africa.As well,I want you to take out the shipping cost.I have been in touch with a shipping firm that will be shipping other house decoratives.
We are traveling from our Seattle home to our new apartment as soon as
possible.On Paying for the artworks,I will be glad to pay you with a
Money Order or Cashier's check in US funds that can be easily cashed
at your local bank,please let me know on how to proceed for the
payment of the creative artworks.
I will await your advise on how to proceed.Have a wonderful day.
Take care,
Audrey Briggs
Friday, October 29, 2010
Scam Email: Audrey Briggs
Here is the latest email received:
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I got the same email today in Atlanta. Only the names of the artwork where different.
ReplyDeleteJeff
I received the identical email on November 8. 2010, with the names of my paintings instead (which are visible on the web).
ReplyDeleteI also received an identical email but with names of my paintings. Since I've had a similar encounter which resulted in receipt of a counterfeit cashier's check for more than the fee was, I was suspect. Glad to see this posting here.
ReplyDeletedeb
Several of us in NH got identical emails from AB with our titles of our paintings inserted.
ReplyDeleteSheila
I got the same letter with my paintings listed. Must be mounting a big collection with unlimited funds, right?
ReplyDeleteWell, she has struck again here in Maryland. Exact same letter but with different titles.
ReplyDeleteTom D.
One more attempt from the infamous AB has struck Southern NJ. I was suspicious since there was no mention of the sizes of my paintings that she was interested in hanging on the walls of her Seattle asylum.
ReplyDeleteJust got Audrey Briggs email above today in Nov. Just reading it sounded phony. As artists we need websites for PR and for selling and this is what it unfortunately generates.
ReplyDeleteI thank my gut feeling and blogspots like this one to educate.
So beware, she hit Southern NJ
I received the exact letter in South Jersey. As above the names of the paintings were the names of my paintings, but everything else was the same. She was going to hang mine in her new home in Johannesburg SA. The mover was to pick them up and pack them.
ReplyDeleteAnyway to make this stop. why isn't it illegal?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, there is no way to stop it.
ReplyDeleteIt is not illegal until there is a loss and a victim. Just receiving the email is not illegal. It *is* a crime once someone has lost money and/or property.
It does not seem to have the attention of the authorities that could address this, and most of the origins of these emails are outside the jurisdiction of the United States.
There have been various efforts from internet providers to shut down spammers, based on the lost of money from using their resources and bandwidth. Some have been successfully prosecuted (but these have been cases where the money and/or resource loss has been very high) and as you can see, it hasn't made much of a dent in the amount of spam everyone receives.
My guess is these guys are keeping themselves out of reach and just under the radar of becoming a major problem enough to get authorities to do something about it.
Our only hope is to reduce their "success" of getting victims and making money and have them move on to greener pastures. But scammers have existed since the beginning of time and I suspect will always exist. We just need to educate each other enough to make it so hard for them to make money this way, that they have to move on to another scam of some sort.
I still secretly enjoy the idea of making them send their "check" (which will be fraudulent) overnight mail - at least making them spend THEIR money, and then totally ignoring them after that... if enough of *us* did that and they were losing money, they'd have to tweak their scam and make themselves more obvious.
But there is no stopping them, and that is the sad news part.
They hit me up today... I will go ahead and get them to send the fake check... and waste their money like you said!!! Same message wording and everything... what a freakin TEASE!!!
ReplyDeleteI just got hit up with this scam (I'm in the NYC metro area) and immediately knew it was bogus--the whole tone was off. It's a pity that such people exist in the world. A pox on them all!
ReplyDeleteAnother one today in NJ. I was told by a colleague that you can still report it (even with no actual loss), so that when enough complaints are reported, there is a track how big of a problem it is.
ReplyDeletejust out of curiosity is the scam about getting money from us... or the art for free?
ReplyDeleteKaty Caroline
Katy,
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not about the art at all. That is just a by-product. What they end up doing with the art, I have no idea. They are really after the cash "difference" that is sent to them by the victim.
It's typically that they say they are sending more than what is owed because then the third party shipping company they use will be paid from that overpayment - and then they ask you (whoever the victim turns out to be) to send the difference to the shipping company via Western Union.
The scam is there is NO shipping company and you are really sending this money to them, and once they pick it up at Western Union it is completely untraceable and unrecoverable. The amounts I've seen have ranged from $700 to $3000 so it's a money-maker if they can keep finding victims who fall for it.
I smelled a fish and based on what I've read here, my suspicions are confirmed. In this case the scammer was trolling the BWAC (Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition) website for victims.
ReplyDeleteI've alerted the BWAC staff and will spread the word through other channels.
Thanks so much for this resource.
I have received the same e-mail in Virginia. The information that was used for the order came from my web-site. Times are tough and the money would have really helped. I wanted to believe it was true; however, my instincts were telling me it was too good to be true. Just was contacted from the freight company this morning. Still feeling uneasy, I searched Audrey Briggs, Seattle and found your postings. Thank you so much for the great work.
ReplyDeleteI'm always so pleased to hear the success stories - the ones where our sharing information on this blog helped an artist or anyone from becoming a victim of these scams.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. There is no shipping company. It's just them again. I'm glad you did not go any further with them. Congratulations on trusting your gut instincts that something was not right.