Hello,
I go through your art work and i really like your creative, due to this i really have the interest in buying this your work, so kindly email me the price of it and the info about the work because i
really like it and also my wife also have an interest in it as well because we saw it together from your web and we want to buy it.
Hope to read from you,
Robin.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Scam Email: Robin Map
This scam is typical in all it's content but what was newsworthy about it was the artist who forwarded it to me said, "I went on Skype with him (allegedly for him to prove he was real) but he was Nigerian, typing to lots of other people at once, and very shady, and would only deal with cheques and to get his own people to 'ship' the work. Total fraudster! Beware!" They got the scamster on Skype! I am wondering if they can maintain their untraceability that way. I'm sure they've thought that all through but I think it is a scary escalation in the scam world to now be able to SEE what these cockroaches look like!! Yuck. Email this scammer used was robinmap1@yahoo.com.
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Okay, I have since found out this "Robin Map" is pitching a Skype conversation to make himself seem more legitimate to potential victims, but it is texting on Skype only, at least for this artist, who just forwarded me the email.
ReplyDeleteThe scammer's first email was just like above. The second email looked like this:
Hi Peter,
Thanks alot for the response about the price, the price is ok by
me,meanwhile am from Netherlands.
The payment will be arrange through cheque, And i will make an arrangement
for the pickup myself by appointing a shipping company that will come
for the pickup at your location or in your
studio anywhere the work is locate, Meanwhile you will be the one who
will arrange the payment of sending the
cheque and the insurance of the cheque to your address that you will
give to me due to some reason which i will
explain to you..
Kindly email me the info below.....
Name on cheue;
Address;
Phone number;.
Once i recieve the info above along with the sending of the cheque
fees then the cheque will be send out to you.
Also i have a skype id we can communicate through skype and call
ourself for easy communication and for more
explanation.
Here is my skype id robinmap i will be waiting for your skype id as
well and if you don't have try and create one
by going to www.skype.com and download skype and register with them
then after that email me your skype id.
Hope to read from you,
Robin.
and this is his third email where he reminds his intended victim of the crux of the scam - that the check will be for more than what is owed and the victim will forward the difference on to the shipper (who doesn't exist - it is just the scammer at the other end of Western Union):
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:22:23 +0100
Subject: Re: Transaction begins.
From: robinmap1@gmail.com
To:
Peter,
I have receive the info and i will definately work things out in other
to send out the cheque to you.
Meanwhil i will be waiting for you on skype in the evening time so we
can talk and communicate.
The one i want is the three part photographic work, and also have it
in mind as i have already informed you that i will include the
shipment fees for pickup of the piece on the cheque that i will send
to you which you will transfer the shipment fees i include on the
cheque to the shipper when the cheque arrive.
Hope to read from you,
Robin.
I've had the same guy recently, he's calling himself Frederic Map now...
DeleteIts Frederic for me too... Ignored him/her/it now.
DeleteThe artist just sent me the actual Skype transcript:
ReplyDelete19:59
i will appoint a shippin company that will
come for the pickup myself
20:00
and also i will include the shipment fees
for the pickup which you will transfer the shipper i appoint for the pick up in
other for them to come for the pick up at your studio or your location
20:02
ok
20:02
pls be written
20:02
am not clearly hearing you
Peter 20:02
no problem will change to text
robinmap 20:03
i
found your work through my searchiing on google me and my wife together
Peter 20:03
what were you searching for?
robinmap 20:04
through google
Peter 20:05
ok. So if you could send me through a
screen shot of the work. I'll busy myself with making it
robinmap 20:06
you mean what i want you to draw or what?
Peter 20:07
no do a print screen
robinmap 20:07
then what do you want me to send now
20:07
i don't get you
Peter 20:09
you have sent me a link to my site of the
work that you would like to purchase. I want to make sure that the work that I
am making is the work that you have seen on my website as I often update the
site.
20:09
Perhaps it would be easier if I sent you
through a jpg of the image
robinmap 20:10
ok do so
20:10
and i will now mail you back the one i want
Peter 20:10
will send through now
robinmap 20:11
send it to my mail not here
Peter 20:11
will do
robinmap 20:11
include there price along
Peter 20:11
yes
robinmap 20:12
am waiting
Peter 20:12
have to grab it. Give me a second
20:14
sent
I also got this email, and only stopped responding to him after I googled his email address and found this site, so thank you so much for putting all this information up here, it was so helpful to me!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Susan. I received an email from a certain "Robin Map" wishing to buy one of my sculptures, asking to pay by cheque and wishing to have the work collected by his own shippers. I also spoke to this person on Skype who said he was from the Netherlands but did not speak Dutch so I checked his name amongst the spammers.
ReplyDeleteI had heard of this type of fraud by nigerians and the voice I spoke too gave me this impression.
Let others know of this. All the best Susan
Thank you for leaving me private. The person seems to be from Dubai and not Nigeria. I wish to see where it leads if anywhere and will let you know. Leave me private until that moment
ReplyDeleteThank you for your posts. I just received such an email. This time from robinmap@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting on Robin Map. I, too, rec'd an email. I told him that I do refund money for shippers and would have to ship myself. I also told him it would take 2 months before shipping to make sure the check cleared. I thought that would be the end of hearing from him, but alas, he keeps saying he'll send the "cheque".BTW, checks are rarely used now. This is a scam. Again, thanks for making note. They are getting clever.
ReplyDeleteHi, I received an email the other day requesting pieces of art work, all from thomas and robin mat of den haag netherlands, if it wasn't for my girlfriend I wood have continued with this transaction, but after googling the name I was brought to this web site warning me of potential scammers, thanks for the heads up, this is all new to me. Kind Regards Joe
ReplyDeleteI've been emailed with the exact same text in the emails shown above - I felt suspicious of his odd language, and slightly impolite/aggressive demand for me to send him my details, so I googled Robin Map and found this site - thanks so much!! tell everyone you know.
ReplyDeleteIs anyone able to explain how he actually makes the money, I'm still a bit confused by the process.
Paypal is the way forward when accepting money from buyers of your work. You can generate and invoice which they can pay directly (no checks) and keep yourself safe.
The crux of these scam is always this: they will at some point ask you to forward an overpayment on what they owe to the shipper, usually explaining they are paying you and the shipper in one payment. If they send a check, it will be fake and if you go ahead and forward the "difference" (usually several thousands dollars), your money is the only good money in the equation. They will always ask it be forwarded via Western Union and there is no shipper, it is just going directly to the scammer and once it is picked up from Western Union, it is untraceable.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind that often scammers will offer to pay by credit card. Typically they are using numbers that have been stolen but are not yet reported so their number will clear as good. But these will always result in a chargeback once the owner of the card realizes their number has been stolen.
This particular scammer has added that new twist of texting with his potential victims on Skype so that they might feel he is more legitimate. But a scam is a scam.
What is the concensus about using Paypal to invoice a buyer? Do you feel that this is a safe way to receive payments, or have you heard of any Paypal related scams?
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this fantastic site!
For the most part, I've heard artists who tell scammers they only use PayPal - for the most part, end up never hearing again from that scammer. But I don't think its foolproof.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the part of the scam to pay closer attention to is ANY time a "buyer" is requesting *both* of these pieces: using their own shipping company and paying more than what is owed in order to pay that shipper through you, asking you to forward the difference to the shipper via Western Union... this will ALWAYS turn out to be a scam. So just never agree to these terms and never send any money or art under these conditions.
Sometimes the scammer won't let you know those conditions until after they've sent a check but that's okay because you still haven't lost anything. In most cases, they do mention about the third party shipper before they send a check or use a stolen credit card number.
So, never agree to forward overpayments to a third party shipper via Western Union, check any cheques for validity with your bank where you feel something may not be right BEFORE sending any artwork and you should be okay.
have just received this exact email so he is still trying to trick people. Am very grateful for this warning and blog, it confirmed my suspicions and I stopped all correspondence.
ReplyDeleteAlastair H , artist, Canada here,
ReplyDeleteI felt it was spam from the get-go, his use of english sounded asian, a particular 'pigeon'.
This time he/she is using Robinmap 1 at ymail.
However I did respond.... that desire to honor the client...but the number of non-sequiturs in the second email prompted the google search. Yes he wants my skype details, calling himself Terry supposedly in the Netherlands.
Thanks for this post folks.
Hi all He is now calling himself Peter Map,
ReplyDeletesame format of initial email
this was the last
Thanks for this blog or whatever it is Kathleen anti-scam samurai
I really appreciate your response regarding the info about the piece
and the price Thank you a lot for that.
Regarding to where i live, am from Netherlands which is the place
that am staying and living including me and my family, Due to this the
payment will be through Cheque or Money Oder base on the one that you
want.
Once again i will arrange the acqurate shipping company that will
come for the pickup of the piece where ever is locate due to damagies
and lost of goods that normally happen now adays, that is the reason
why i decide to arrange the pick up by my self so that the piece will
not lost or damage before it arrive to my destination here.
For the sake of me arranging the shipping company that will come for
the pick up i will definately provide the shipment fees for the pick
up on the same cheque or Money oder that i will mail to you.
Email me the info below in other for the cheque or the money oder to
be send out to you once i receve the below info.
Name that will be written on cheque;
Your Address where the cheque or money order will be mail too;
Including your Phone Number along;
Immediately i receive the above info i will email you and notify you
on when you should be expecting the payment and immediately the
payment has been send put i will notify you as well in other for you
to be expecting it and watching out for is arriver.
I hope you understand my mail if there is any question that you may
have regarding my arrangement you are welcome to ask any questions,
also if you don't mind here is my skype user id petermap01 we can use
skype to communicate with each other by calling our self and by
chatting and discussing without self, in a case you don't have a skype
user id yet kindly go to www.skype.com and download it and after
downloading register with skype and email me your user id so i can add
you to my skype id.
I will be waiting for your response,
Peter.
Peter.
this scammer is now also using the email address petermap1@gmail.com - i googled it when he first contacted me and no google results came up. it wasn't until a friend who had recieved the exact same email as myself alerted me to this website that i found out it was a scam. i guess they will continue to change identity / email address to make it easier to avoid being found out as a scammer. beware! and thank you for creating this site.
ReplyDeleteI too got his email, but He called himself fredrick Mark.
ReplyDeletethis is his email:
Good Day,
Am highly delighted in your art and am interested in the piece of your
work that i add on the subject.
Kindly tell me the details of the piece and their price and let me
know if you still have them available for purchase because am really
interested in purchasing them.
I will be waiting for your response,
Best Regards,
Frederic.
I told him that I would send him prints is he paid through paypal in advance.
Didn't hear back from him
Beware James Fryer!!
ReplyDeleteAnother name with exactly the same email message!
He actually uses the titles of several of my pieces of a/w in the title of the email... rather creepy I feel...
Here's the message... sounds familar!
From: James Fryer fryercarrington@yahoo.com
Hello,
Am highly delighted in your art and am interested in the piece of your work that i add on the subject.
Kindly tell me the details of the piece and their price and let me know if you still have them available for purchase because am really interested in purchasing them.
I will be waiting for your response,
Best Regards,
Fryer.
Hello all,
ReplyDeleteI got a message from this James Fryer as well this morning...., exactly the same words
Take all care!
Yes, James Fryer has emailed me too, exactly as above with a list of my work, including several of them which are marked as already sold. Here's the message:
ReplyDeleteFROM:
James Fryer fryercarrington@yahoo.com
Message flagged Wednesday, 4 April 2012, 21:34
Hello,
Am highly delighted in your art and am interested in the piece of your work that i add on the subject.
Kindly tell me the details of the piece and their price and let me know if you still have them available for purchase because am really interested in purchasing them.
I will be waiting for your response,
Best Regards,
Fryer.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI got an email from 'James Fryer' today too! It is exactly the same as the one above, and it listed several of my works in the email title too. The mangled use of English and the way it's written alerted me straight away to the fact that this is a scam. This guy is clearly going to keep trying with different names,or it's different people.
Beware James Fryer!
My "potential buyer" is also Frederic Map.
ReplyDeleteThe contact info for "his shipping company of choice" was logisticshipper01@yahoo.com . He is yet to answer my question regarding this ("The shipping arrangement is fine. Do they have an office or a contact person in Israel? Or a website? Seems strange that an international company would only have an email address with Yahoo.) This was what I asked him a few days ago, and now he's probably disappeared, learning of my suspicion.
His phone number is +44 70 24077239, and this is what I found when I googled this number:
http://www.data-wales.co.uk/ni_070telnumbers.htm
Add tyler stewart to the list of names being used by scammer..
ReplyDeletePlease also add Brandon Domergue to the list of scammers - i have received very suspicious emails from him with convoluted instructions for shipping and payment. Once i insisted that all payments must go through Paypal I never heard from him again. He said he was based in Canada. Grrr, this is the second time this has happened to me so this time I knew all the signs to look out for.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI am Page Jocelyn from the UK, i came across your items on the advert website and became interested in ordering from you.
i will like to inquire on the items you have for sale because i will be buying it for my new apartment.
I will like to see different pictures of the types of Items available and my method of payment is by check.
Hope to hear back from you soon.
Regards
Page Jocelyn
From Italy, this happened to me:
ReplyDelete4 LUGLIO 2014
Hello,
I am Page Jocelyn from the UK, i came across your items on the advert website and became interested in ordering from you.
i will like to inquire on the items you have for sale because i will be buying it for my new apartment.I will like to see different pictures of the types of Items available and my method of payment is by check.
Hope to hear back from you soon.
Regards
Page Jocelyn
We sent mails until she gave me the adress:
80, HEAVEN DRIVE,
ABERDEEN,
ABERDEENSHIRE,
AB40 9HE
UNITED KINGDOM
Lucky for me I googled it and found this site!!
Thanks!
Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteI wondered large orders.
The adress was same
80, HEAVEN DRIVE,
ABERDEEN,
ABERDEENSHIRE,
AB40 9HE
UNITED KINGDOM
I got on email Lynette Dixon
greetings from Finland!
Hello, I am in conversation with this man.... Now he is Saly Riding :-)
ReplyDeleteHere is his last e-mail:
Hello,
After going through the pictures i am okay with the present condition of the Art Work and i am also okay with your price of the items = (€18,200.00)
Kindly let me have the full details below to issued out the bank check as requested,so that my financial can issued out the payment procedures Asap..
FULL NAME :
FULL ADDRESS:
MOBILE NUMBER:
TELEPHONE:
Kindly get Back to me with the Above list of Details requested From you.
Regards
80, HEAVEN DRIVE,
ABERDEEN,
ABERDEENSHIRE,
AB40 9HE
UNITED KINGDOM
Thanks
This scam with so called Dixon Lynette has been going on too long. How do we stop these scam artists? Mine was dated July 17, 2016. Thanks so much for this website and everyone's efforts and participation .
ReplyDeleteI received one as well from Lynette Dixon this time buying an artwork for 'his' wife!
ReplyDelete