Yup, Tom - it's a scam. Delete it and do not respond.
Hi Kathleen,
Its been 2 years since my last email about the scam I was in the middle of – and got out of with your help. I received another email yesterday from 'Steve Wood'. The punctuation in his message is strange, and he only
answered one of two questions I first asked him, in his response. He didn't tell me how he ran across my work:
*I want to have the beautiful painting ("name here") purchased immediately for my wife as a gift for our anniversary.I'm presently on deployment in Afghanistan,so i have limited access to communication,i will only be able to respond through email at the moment. I would have personally appreciate to have it purchased in person and to meet with you could have also been a great privilege The price is totally acceptable by me $2,000 i'm sure its framed? i will authorized a check payment to you immediately i can get hold of your information,and i want it to be delivered as a surprise to our new home.Please consider the beautiful piece of the artwork sold to me.
However,you don't have to worry about shipment,my shipper will handle it.I'll notify my shipping agent who's moving my belongings from our old home in Florida to get ready for the pickup of the artwork from your
address. I will appreciate if you can forward to me your Full details,(which you want the check payable to ) such as your Full name,contact address and mobile number.The payment will be sent to the address provided,i will not want any delay due to my inability to access to easy communication.I expect your prompt response.Thank you
Best Regards*
I'm not going to respond as I think its a scam. Two years ago, the other scammer spoke in an inflated way about my work, was unavailable to talk by phone, was 'in transition' between homes, has a 'shipper' who would handle delivery, and asking me for too much info... (who asks for a mobile number?). And the interest sounds 'urgent' and he doesn't want 'any delay'.
Your thoughts?
thanks, Tom
Monday, August 25, 2014
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I sell a lot of art online. Prints, originals, products etc. all to reputable collectors and companies but periodically i will receive one of these strange emails. I wanted to share the recent experience with the pathetic scammer STEVE WOOD. He's even using a photo of someone in camo gear as his Gmail profile.
ReplyDeleteHere is one of his emails I received only days ago
I want to have the beautiful painting (TITLE HERE acrylic on canvas 18
x 24 x 3/4 inches" )purchased immediately for my wife as a gift for
our anniversary. I'm presently on deployment in Afghanistan,so i have
limited access to. communication,i will only be able to respond
through email at the moment. I would have personally appreciate to
have it purchased in person and to meet with you could have also been
a great privilege The price is totally acceptable by me $2,900 i'm
sure its framed ? i will authorized a check payment to you immediately
i can get hold of your information,and i want it to be delivered as a
surprise to our new home. Please consider the beautiful piece of the
artwork sold to me. However,you don't have to worry about. shipment,my
shipper will handle it. I'll notify my shipping agent who's moving my
belongings from our old home in Florida to get ready for the pickup of
the artwork from your address. I will appreciate if you can forward to
me your Full details,(which you want the check payable to ) such as
your Full name,contact address and mobile number. The payment will be
sent to the address provided,i will not want any delay due to my
inability to access to easy communication. I expect your prompt
response. Thank you
Best Regards
First off, I don't allow any shippers to pickup anything. I ship and that's final.
Secondly no checks, cashier's checks, wire transfers, Western Unions and the like. I use only PayPal and I tell the potential buyer if there is a dollar over the sales price I collapse the sale. No refunds and no returns. For legitimate buyers this is never a problem. For the Steve Woods of the world, that ends the dialog in its tracks.
So watch out for this kind of email. They just cut and paste their clumsy script so its always the same.
Is this his email address stevewooden2@gmail.com
DeleteI have a hard time forgiving those who use their blogs as scams. As the blog platform becomes more ubiquitous and easier to use with a lot of automatic content generating tools and comment and trackback spam tools, blogs are being used more and more for the dark side of blogging.
ReplyDeletethank you for your website...
ReplyDeletethis 'person' had me going for a bit, till I did a google on the topic, and lo the light went on.
Add this to your list:
"Mosh Nayef" [nayefmosh@gmail.com]
I was almost fooled - but luckily I am wary of anyone contacting me out of the blue. This guy Kelvin Woods said he wanted to buy a painting of mine that he had seen on artspan.org. He seemed legit, but I was a little put off by his needing a "prompt" response. Then after I'd given him a price and method of payment (paypal), he sent the tell-tale email saying "payment is very comfortable with me through check and my shipping agent would be responsible for pick up." I did some reading on the internet, found this blog, and have decided it's a scam. His email address is: Kelvin Woods How can we report these people and catch them before they steal from other, more naive artists??
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info on this site. I could have made a mistake and gotten twisted into a bad situation. The Name Mosh Naef contacted me about my work. He wanted to purchase but only through credit card. No phone, on an oil rig at the moment. Please send price , shipping and wanted to set up future purchases. Sounded almost right. Went back and forth for awhile then suddenly his name changed and he wanted to start a gallery with just my work. Alarms went off and started to search on google. His address did not come up and your web page came up with a post with his name in it. Thanks again
ReplyDeleteI received the same email from kelvinwoodss@yahoo.com. This is the last email he sent:
ReplyDelete"Thanks for the swift response,i am in Scotland at the moment,would like to issue you a check for Bag lady syndrome including the shippers fees for organizing a home pick up service as it a little bit expensive sending out 2 different check at once.You do not need to worry about shipping my shipping agent will come pick the painting up from your house for shipping. What I want to clarify is will you be able to send the shipping money to the shipping agent as soon as you receive the paycheck and you deduct the money for the sales of your Bag lady syndrome (9)? If you agree to assist in this capacity, send your your details in this format please
1. Your Names (Which will be on the check)
2. Your Address (Where the check would be sent)
3. Your Home and cellphone Number to Contact You
I appreciate your prompt response"
I was able to track his IP address and there are two connections coming from Switzerland and Poland.
I never use Cash, Check, Money check, Cashiers check. Only Paypal.
Recognizable as a scam with a cut-paste method for inquiring about my art from Artspan as well as poor grammar and insistent payment in check form.
I reported this guy as Phishing on gmail so hopefully they will investigate.
Another one from Kelvin Woods to me, an artist part of artspan.org in San Francisco. He was interested in the art piece I used for my profile image,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the swift response,i am in Scotland at the moment,check must clear before we proceed,would like to issue you a check for the Emerging man including the shippers fees for organizing a home pick up service as it a little bit expensive sending out 2 different check at once.You do not need to worry about shipping my shipping agent will come pick the Emerging man up from your house for shipping. What I want to clarify is will you be able to send the shipping money to the shipping agent as soon as you receive the paycheck and you deduct the money for the sales of your Emerging man? If you agree to assist in this capacity, send your your details in this format please
1. Your Names (Which will be on the check)
2. Your Address (Where the check would be sent)
3. Your Home and cellphone Number to Contact You
I appreciate your prompt response
Kelvin
Kelvin Woods
Original Email:
Morning,I am interested in buying __________,i would like to know how payment would be made,and the price you listed for it.have a nice day..I appreciate your prompt response
kelvin
Got the same email from "Kelvin Woods" via 'kelvinwoodss@yahoo.com:
ReplyDelete"Morning,I am interested in buying ________,i would like to know how payment would be made,and the price you listed for it.have a nice day..I appreciate your prompt response"
when I emailed him back saying Paypal is what I accept for payment, his reply was that:
"Thanks for the swift response,price is very ok with me,payment is very comfortable with me through check and my shipping agent would be responsible for pick up please let me know if that's fine by you...."
ummm... no it's not, SCAMMER !! PAYPAL ONLY, I SHIP IT OUT.
*am about to report to gmail so hopefully they will look into it...
Yep, this guy's still active. Emailed me this year. same style starting with 2 emails. I was suspicious & am glad to find this blog info. Thanks. Will also report to gmail.
ReplyDeleteSo glad I thought to google just now and found your site. Thank you. Mine came from the "Kelvin Woods" alias. Just seemed strange- and I thought the "prompt response" prompt was weird too. That's all artists need, someone scamming them out of their work...
ReplyDeleteJust got the same deal from Kelvin Woods. Kelvinwoodss@yahoo.com
ReplyDeletethank you for this blog warning. Here is what he wrote:
Thanks for the swift response,i am in Scotland at the moment,would like to issue you a check for Mermaid including the shippers fees for organizing a home pick up service as it a little bit expensive sending out 2 different check at once.You do not need to worry about shipping my shipping agent will come pick the painting up from your house for shipping. What I want to clarify is will you be able to send the shipping money to the shipping agent as soon as you receive the paycheck and you deduct the money for the sales of Mermaid ? If you agree to assist in this capacity, send your your details in this format please
1. Your Names (Which will be on the check)
2. Your Address (Where the check would be sent)
3. Your Home and cellphone Number to Contact You
I appreciate your prompt response
Kelvin
I got one from Kelvin Woods, too:
ReplyDeleteMorning,I am interested in buying "art title"
,i would like to know how payment would be made,and the price you listed for it.have a nice day..I appreciate your prompt response
kelvin
The sketchy punctuation and wanting a "prompt response" made me think to google him. I'm glad I was able to read up on this here and now I know not to respond. Thank you!
PS He didn't say where he found my art but I also have had work up on artspan.org.
I almost got caught by the same guy kelvinwoodss@yahoo.com. Thanks for your blog here, it saved me. I went to report him to the local police, but they can't do anything. Just hope people check here before they get frauded.
ReplyDeleteI got the same Kelvin Woods email this morning-- he seems to have found me through SF artspan.
ReplyDeleteI just emailed the url to this page to Kelvin Woods who contacted me about buying a series of paintings.
ReplyDeleteI recently received an email from a Mariella Baldwin inquiring about my art. The clumsy script alerted me. I replied that I only take Paypal etc, so I guess that will be the end of it!
ReplyDeleteWell I've been texting a kelvin woods that I met off a dating site n I'm not an artist but he did ask me for my phone number n later asked me for my email so is there anything he can scam from me with that info
ReplyDeleteThe dating scam is a devastating scam and targets much more money and is worked over a longer period of time. The good news is you found out early so stopped communicating with him. You may get more spam emails as a result and other scammers may try and reach out to you if this scammer shares your email address, but just be on the alert now that you know they ARE just scammers. For the most part, scammers play a numbers game and just move on to other potential victims. They don't linger for long on people they clearly can't scam.
ReplyDeleteI just listed my vehicle for sale on Craigslist, and I got a text from a phone# (408)618-2416 asking if it was still for sale(s) and requested I reply to this exact email stevenwooden2@gmail.com because (he) is unable to reply back on this number, it is his office number. I thought this to be strange first of all because every office that I have ever worked in had land lines and were unable to text...then I found this blog, thanks for saving me the pain.
ReplyDeleteThe Scam is a check way over the amount you want.
ReplyDeleteOf course when you deposit the check your bank will hold it until it clears.
they know once you deposit the check your bank will let you draw money from a check that hasn't cleared yet.
As soon as you say yes you put the check in the bank THEY START harassing you to send the difference to a partner waiting at a western union in Ukraine or someplace you can't confirm who is waiting or who received the money.
Monday mourning YOUR BANK WILL INFORM YOU the check is fake and you are out whatever you sent them.
You're Bank will tell you sorry but NEXT TIME wait and Don't send the money.
Until the check clears! You still owe the money and the FEES
This number responded to a craigslist posting for a truck I'm selling, using the name email kielwilson@gmail.com. Offered to pay using paypal with a courier to pick up the pickup. Nah, thanks but no thanks.
ReplyDeleteHey texted me this from the same phone number about a boat I am selling in hawaii. My obviously male name was in the post so sir/ma'am was a tip off. Google of the number sent me here. Should I lead him on?
ReplyDeleteHello , sir/ma'am, Just trying to confirm if this is still available for sale as of now now or not, Please do get back to me at cesarvilallobos@gmail.com confirming the status of the sale if still for sale as of now. I cant really text at work but im very use to email. Will check my email in 5min.this.thanks cesar!
which site do you looked for his IP address? thanks
ReplyDeleteSee if this page helps.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.lifewire.com/how-to-find-email-server-ip-address-818402
Stevenwooden3@gmail trying to pull the same on a legal MJ real estate lease craigslist add. The text said wondering if property still for sale when it clearly said for lease. The text also said he couldn't be reached on the number he texted on because it his offices number and wanted me to email him. (most office phones don't have texting capabilities, only cell phones) Then I googled Steven Wooden in California because it was a 707 area code to see if he had a professional business registered with the state and found this page. Thank you guys, the internet should be people helping, and educating people not scamming each other.
ReplyDeleteNot an art scam but, it appears this creep is an equal opportunity con-person. stevenwooden3@gmail.com texted me from 320-289-7539 about a $7,200 item I'm selling on craigslist. Text said to email him since the number he texted from was his work and I can't reply to that number. This is the exact smae thin someone from 21Feb2017 stated. The text was suspicious and based on web search results, I assume a scam or, at the very least, a very shady character. I did not follow-up with this individual, too risky.
ReplyDeleteHaha. Just got same text saying he is at work and Asking me to email stevenwooden2@gmail.com. His text has horrible grammar.
ReplyDelete