This person is making his rounds with many of my artists and colleagues as well.
*ROBERT CRANDAL* - robertcrandal.ltd@gmail.com
Below is my correspondence. (I deleted my name and the requested artist's name from the correspondence) You may add to list and share, please do not share any other identifying info.
Your blog is great. Thank you.
John
On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 1:51 PM, robert crandal [robertcrandal.ltd@gmail.com]
> wrote:
> Hi,
> Thanks for the details,I am on my way to Indonesia for a conference and
> might not be back till after 2 weeks, Would have come to inspect and
> purchase the piece personally,as a matter of fact am relocating to
> Johannesburg and am trying to gather some good arts for my new home. am
> buying yours ( artist's name and price ) quickly! before someone else grabs
> it, I'll arrange to send you payment ASAP.
>
> However, I will have to notify my shipper who is shipping my belongings
> from the States to get set for the pickup of the piece at your place as I
> might be delayed in Indonesia, you don't need to worry about shipping
> though.
> Thanks,
>
> PS: Kindly get back to me with your contact details so I can get a
> certified check prepared and sent out to you ASAP.
>
> On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 1:49 PM, John wrote:
>
>> Hello, Robert:
>>
>> Thank you for your interest. The price for *(Artist's name and title*is $). This painting is available.
>>
>> The other panel, (title) is its compliment as the artist created them
>> together. They are being offered as a pair for ($) if you are
>> interested.
>>
>> Let me know if I can be of any further assistance.
>> Thank you.
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 1:56 AM, robert crandal
>>[ robertcrandal.ltd@gmail.com] wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>> My name is Robert. I recently visited your website and found your Work
>>> of arts to be appealing. I am very impressed with it and would be
>>> interested in purchasing it for my apartment I am moving into this month.
>>> Please do provide me with the price and details if it is available.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Robert Crandal
>>>
March 28, 2013
ReplyDeleteI just received the same scam email for a painting from my website.
Thanks for keeping tabs on these scammers.
Lynne
I received the same email as well, thanks for the heads up!
ReplyDeleteI am a curator and have recently been approached by apparently different people with the same kind of request. They are "traveling in Central Asia" or "moving to a new apartment South Africa" ... High price tags are no object... The red-flags went up immediately. But can anyone please give a detailed description of the modus operandi of this scam ? It seems the thing that chases them off is inserting the condition that all sales are "As Is, No Returns, and Final" into a written contract to be agreed to in writing. so that they cannot attempt a suit or complain that the item was damaged when they receive the shipment, and that the sender must pay an exorbitant fee or "shipping" back, really a kick-back. All legitimate art sales should be done by Money Order or un-redeemable Cashier's Check, or Cash (maybe even some risk with cash...) No Returns Allowed!
ReplyDeleteWe are receiving e-mails from one "Helen Harkins llc" who sent a cashiers check for a painting. The check was for $2,500 more than the total of the painting. She says the extra $2,500 is for her "shipper" who is soon to arrive in the United States and that I need to send it, via Western Union, to the "shipper." When I took the check to my bank and told them about it, they said it was a scam.
DeleteThese scams actually have nothing to do with art but they develop elaborate stories and provide details so that their scam seems more legitimate. The scam is complete well before any issues with the actual art come into question.
ReplyDeleteHere's the basics: they pretend to want to buy and have some story about moving or being "at sea" with the military. This allows them to set up the part of their story where they are using a third party shipper to handle their move or in their behalf. They may or may not use the name of a real shipping company but it is all fake. They then overpay with either a counterfeit cashier's check or money order - or they may use a stolen credit card which is not yet reported as such (and for the victim will always result in a chargeback). The scammer then asks the victim to send the extra payment on to the shipper so they can pay. If they have to explain this at all, they will make up a story about their shipper not being able to accept credit cards at this time. In fact - and here's the crux of this whole scam: it will always come down to getting the victim to *wire* the money on to the "shipper" (who is then just the scammer waiting at the other end of that wire transfer to collect the money - which once it is collected, it is untraceable and both the money and the scammer can disappear and begin working on the next victim).
There are variations in this story but the basic outline is almost always the same. And its easy to be protected against this - NEVER ever accept overpayments and NEVER EVER EVER EVER wire money on to a third party or even back to the customer. Keep wire transfers out of your life and you'll be protected against this scam.
Hope that helps.
Ron Walker
ReplyDeleteHi,
My name is Ron, I recently visited your website and found your Work of arts to be appealing. I am very impressed with it and would be interested in purchasing it for my new apartment I am moving into this month. Please do provide me with the price and details if it is available.
Ron.
Dear *****,
Thanks for your response and details,I am actually on my way to Indonesia now for a conference and might not be back till after 2 weeks, Would have come to inspect and purchase the piece personally as am relocating to Johannesburg and am trying to gather some good arts for my new home. am buying yours quickly! before someone else grabs it, I'll arrange to send you payment ASAP.
However, I will have to notify my shipper who is shipping my belongings from the States to get set for the pickup of the piece at your place as I might be delayed in Indonesia, you don't need to worry about shipping though.. About the installment please show my shipper how its been installed and she will install in for me in Johannesburg
Thanks,
PS: Kindly get back to me with your contact details so I can get a certified check prepared and sent out to you ASAP.
Ron.
I sell art online and have just been hit by this guy too. Things started feeling fishy - as I would never wire money ahead to a third party - and I alerted my bank after I deposited the check. Then, I Goggled his name and voila, all of your helpful comments here. So thank you. This guy won't be claiming another victim here.
ReplyDeleteYea!!!!! Score one for our team.
ReplyDelete