Scam Email: Andrew Roundy

Here is a scam email I received this morning. Looks like the scam was sent from a hijacked server. Notice how all the emails are either made up or belong to someone else - except for the Reply-To address, which is where your reply goes when you write back. That is the throw-away gmail account the scammer is using to communicate with their victims. The rest of this email is pretty standard stuff - they withhold most of the scam until a person replies to them. But the formatting is off, as usual.

Return-path: [more@monkey.xyzdns.net]
Delivery-date: Tue, 22 Feb 2011 03:50:43 -0600
Received: from monkey.xyzdns.net
Subject: Order Enquiry
From: Andrew Roundy [Roundyandrew@andrew.com]
Reply-To: roundyandrew2@gmail.com

My name is Andrew,I want to place an order in your store,I will like
to know if you ship to Philippines.Do you accept credit card?.Get back to me
with your website/price list.I will await your prompt response
Best Regards,
Andrew

Scam Email: Eliot Graham

Here is a typical scam email under the name of Eliot Graham. It's almost always the super horrible grammar, spelling and formatting that gives them away.

Return-Path: [mackerelrodrigo@gmail.com]
From: Eliot Graham [graham_eliot@yahoo.co.uk]
Subject: Inquiry about your sculpture

Hello
I saw a preview of your sculpture work via a friend of mine  she reside in Amsterdam Netherland she a send me a link to a site that previewed your work so am writing in request to know if you can direct me to your own personal website where i can view more of your work and see if we can reach an agreement in purchasing some of
your sculpture i would like to have them displayed in my new home, my friend also tell me  about  your creative approach to you work and it's creativeness i do not reside
in the Netherlands which as been a major concern to me on our to purchase your piece can you send me images or website to your new work.
Thanks
Eliot

Scam Email: John Smith

This scammer was not going to get my attention being I'm an artist and don't sell the below items. He didn't take the time to target his email per the audience he was mailing to. He probably just sent out a bunch and hopes anyone who sells these items will fall for the scam. There is no Applied Supply (again, what's with the period after the company name and their name at the end of the email??) in Berkeley and I googled the address and a UPS store is located there. So this scammer just didn't try too hard.

Return-path: [which12buy@which12buy.com]
From: John Smith [appliedsupplyinc@gmail.com]
Reply-To: appliedsupplyinc@gmail.com
Subject: Quote request

Hello,
We would like to inquire if you have in stock or can help us to get the description items below,

1: SOLAR CHARGE CONTROLLER, 20amps and above.
2: Grundfos SQ Flex 11 SQF -2 Submersible pump
3: 180watt or 235watt solar panel.

Also interested in the toners descriptions below

1: HP Q6511A (11A) OEM
2: HP C8543X (43X) OEM
3: HP C9730A (30A) OEM

Please let us know the price of each item listed above. I would also like to know type of credit card that you accepted in making payment when purchasing from your company.I really appreciate your time and business.

APPLIED SUPPLY.
2512 Telegraph Avenue,
Berkeley, CA, 94704
appliedsupplyinc@gmail.com

John Smith.

Scam Email: Elaine Jackson

I love your site. My husband got an email from a woman who wanted to by 4 paintings off his website. She lives in San Francisco & was moving to South Africa soon. She also had her own shipping company. How do they part you from your money? An unknown artists' work is almost worthless especially in another country, so they wouldn't be selling the art. My husband Gene, told them he would need cash in hand before he started the project & it would be at least 3 weeks. He never got another email. There info is as follows: Elaine Jackson-[mailto:elainejackson.05@gmail.com] The shipping company: Home Front Freight and Logistics Service Logistics Ltd. No actual email address. Yes, they used Logitics twice in the name. I look forward to a reply. Wendy

Yes, this is the classic scam setup. How they separate you from your money is once you agree to the buy, they will send you MORE than the amount due. Much more. And tell you, for whatever reason, they need that extra amount they sent you forwarded to the shipping company - by YOU. You deposit their check and then forward the difference to the shipping company. The check is fake. There is no shipping company - you are only sending your GOOD cash back to the scammers, who sit at the other end of Western Union. That is what they are after - not the art. In fact, often they never receive the art that has been shipped because the address is made up. They are after that cash, which can often be anywhere from $500 to over $5000 sometimes.

Good you caught this one before anything bad happened.

Scam Email: Wayne Dickson

This was a good one I received this morning, in that it contained almost NO clues as to the level of scamminess. And I can usually spot one of these a mile away.

I looked up the name and in fact a Wayne Dickson does exist in texas and is part of a company but not the company referenced in the yahoo email address. Then I looked up the company name and there IS a company by that name - in Texas! But their email addresses on their website are referenced differently. Still does not put it out of the realm of possibilities. The spelling and formatting wasn't recognizably horrible. Okay, "...and am from Texas" is pretty horrible grammar but not unthinkable from a normal person. No reference to a third-party shipper or living out of the country. And the source IP number didn't tell me anything because the email was sent via yahoo mail. Just not enough clues. The *only* recognizable clue in this email is the "period" after the name at the end of the email - which oddly seems present in almost all scam emails, like they all use the same templated software that puts a period there or something. Normal people do not put a period after their name at the end of an email. Also - and this is more a grey area, normal people would not ask what my final price was for a painting when the prices are clearly listed on my website. They might ask if I offer discounts, but I don't think they would ask, "what's your final price".

Return-Path: [compassgroupco@yahoo.com]
From: Wayne Dickson [compassgroupco@yahoo.com]
Subject: [name of piece]

Hello there,

My name is Wayne Dickson and am from Texas. Was going through your works and love this piece.What's your final price for it and am really interested in purchasing the piece.

Thanks and i await your response.

Wayne.

But these are not entirely strong blazing clues, so I fell back on an old technique I have used in the past. You will notice in the above email that the only place he references the name of the painting is in the subject line. So I took the email, removed all the identifying TO information, changed the Subject line to "RE: Inquiry" and pasted his email in one of my throw-away (or I don't care) hotmail accounts. I'm counting on my knowledge that scammers send out hundreds of thousands of these and he won't know what original email he sent it to nor will he remember the name of the piece he put in the subject line. Here is what my reply (from my throwaway hotmail account) looked like:

To compassgroupco@yahoo.com
Subject Re: Inquiry

Hi Wayne,

Which piece were you interested in?

Katie

> Hello there,

> My name is Wayne Dickson and am from Texas. Was going through your works and love this piece.What's your final price for it and am really interested in purchasing the
> piece.

> Thanks and i await your response.

> Wayne.

I even put in those ">" to make it look like a reply. I forgot to add what would have been a great personal "inside" joke to me and sign my email, Katie. (with a period) but I forgot to.

If it is NOT a scammer (and really, I'm thinking it IS a scammer), they will immediately remember the name of the painting that interest them, what my website/real name is, etc. Real collectors know these details when they've found a piece they want.

My guess is he will never reply OR thinking he's got a dumb one on the line, he will reply and ask for a list of my top pieces - but given I've moved this reply to hotmail, he's not even going to know which website this was originally targeted to. So I'm back to, I don't think he's going to reply at all. There are too many other emails he has sent where someone will think he's for real and begin the process of the transaction that will turn out to be a fake.

I'll update this again if he writes back, but I'm not expecting him to.

Scam Email: Jordana Jack

Here is an email I just received from an artist. Nothing unusual about this except it was a little odd the scammer wrote three times to get a list of items. Usually the scammer, playing a huge numbers game, don't linger where there are no responses from potential victims.

Hi

I've got a new one for you!

someone calling themselves "Jordana Jack" but also "Mrs Jordana" who emailed me in both English and French, using the email address jordanajack@yahoo.com .

Quite a weird one, because they sent three emails asking for lists of my work (which are easily viewable on my website) before asking for two prints - "which they would use their own shipper for". Amusing because it would cost me a few euros to post these in a tube!

Keep up the good work

David

Scam Email: Kurt Amelles

Here is an email I received from an artist this morning:

Kathleen,
I got an art scam email today and your site was a help. Looks like a variation with a new address involved. The email did not seem right to me so I checked the headers and researched it out and came across your site -Stop Art Scams. Its upsetting that these people prey on artists- who have made a career scraping away an existence for their art. Whoever this is I regard them as pond scum.
Thanks for your efforts,
Holly

Sender: mackerelrodrigo@gmail.com
From: Kurt Amelles [kurtamelles@yahoo.es]
Subject: Interested in your work

HelloI
 saw a preview of your work via a friend of mine Nancy Welsh she reside
in New Jersey she a send me a link to a site that previewed your work so
 am writing in request to know if you can direct me to your own personal
 website where i can view more of your work and see if we can reach an
agreement in purchasing some of it.    I am aconstruction
engineer by profession in Madrid Spain am going to be displaying your
work in both my office and resident my friend also tell me  about  your
creative approach to you work and it's creativeness i do not reside in
the England which as been a major concern to me on our to purchase your
piece can you send me images or website to your new work.ThanksKurt

This is a pretty typical "first email" in the scam process. This particular scammer took no effort to format his email properly and it didn't really make sense that someone (just a made up name) sent a link that showed the work but at the end he is asking for images or the website.

Fortunately, this artist followed her instinct to google the guy's name and of course, we've reported on this before.

Scam Email: Ladd Smith

This is a pretty classic "first email" from a scammer. The IP path was routed through Yahoo but seems to have originated from wanadoo.fr.

From: Ladd Smith [smithladd@yahoo.com]
Subject: ORDER

Hello there,
I will like to place an order for art piece to my location in Malaysia, kindly let me know if you can charge directly on my credit card(U.S. funds) for payment.
I have a shipper who can also get the order to my doorstep in Malaysia.
Await your timely reply.
Thank you.
Ladd

Scam Email: Just Mr. James

This scammer felt no need to provide a last name anywhere. Just a mysterious "Mr. James".

Return-path: [www@server.dream-fusion.net]
Subject: mail order
From: james [makjames101@gmail.com]
Reply-To: makjames101@gmail.com

Good day,

We browsed through your web page and we are interested in ordering some of your products,we are located in Finland,we will like to know if you have the items in stocks,so kindly get back to me with the right contact person email,phone # and confirmation of website so that we can place my order quickly, and i want to know if you have your own personal shipper or can the order be picked up at your store,please advise so that we can proceed by going ahead to place the order.

Regards
Purchasing Manager
Mr James

Scam Email: Cadella Joel

Another lazy scammer, nothing is personalized, sent to an "undisclosed" list, and really - what the heck name is that at the end of this letter?

Subject: Inquiry
To: undisclosed recipients:
Return-path: [jedidiahboutique@yahoo.com]
From: jedidiah boutique [jedidiahboutique@yahoo.com]
Reply-To: jedidiah.boutique@btinternet.com

Jedidiah Boutique and
Show Room.
Plateau 14 Wesintress Rue B 774
Abidjan
Ivory-Coast,
Tel:00225-670-22-414

Dear Sales,

 I am interested in your
product, kindly reply back if you are interested in selling to my company and i
will be glad to be one of your best customers . My prefered method of payment is by my credit card  you
can ship to my location via USPS,or FEDEX let me know if you are willing to
sell.

Regards,
Cadella
Joel

Scam Email: Jenna Furrel

Here is one that is too funny. Some really brain-cell challenged scammer has sent out a large spam mailing of his scam, and his templated "pitch" refers to buying christmas gifts (ooops!) but it just went out this week (end of January). So lame. How is he going to catch victims this way?

Here's the one I received from Jenna Furrel (jennafurrel@yahoo.com)

Hello
I have visited your website and i am very impressed by the wonderful pieces you have on display. I will like to buy this pieces for my parent as christmas and 30th wedding anniversary gift

(Names of my art and sizes)

I will like to know how much this costs.about the shipping i will like to arrange for pick up if you dont mind and the delivery address is in UAE and also if you accept mastercard or Visa card as a method of payment.
Kindly get back to me asap.
Best Regards
jenna

Scam Email: Naomie Fashions Store

Okay, the first flag on this scam email was just annoying, and totally lazy of the scammer - the TO field was just to a list of undisclosed recipients (which probably means millions of emails). The second flag? Notice how the FROM email doesn't seem to match the name and more importantly - how the FROM and Return email do NOT at all match the REPLY-TO email (which is where all your reply emails will actually go - this is the disposable email account the spammer is using, I bet a complaint to AOL would actually get that account shit down). The content of the email is the same-ole, same-ole stuff we see time and time again in these scams.

Return-path: [magretodinba@yahoo.com]
X-Mailer: YahooMailClassic/11.4.20 YahooMailWebService/0.8.107.285259
From: Naomie Fashions Store [magretodinba@yahoo.com]
Reply-To: infonfb@aol.com
Subject: I Am Interested In Your Products,
To: undisclosed recipients: ;

I Am Interested In Your Products,
Dear Sales

  I am Mrs Naomie George  the owner of (Naomie Fashions Store ) I am interested in your products, kindly pls get back to me so that i can be able to make selections if you are interested in selling to me,

My method of payment is Visa Or Master Credit card Payment method,and kindly pls don’t hesitate to reply back if you accept

my method of payment,

Bellow is my shipping
Best Regards
Mrs Naomie George
Naomie Fashions  Store
No 56 TRECH  Avenue 45
Abidjan,Ivory-Coast,
West Africa,
Tel;0022507225825

Here's a funny addition. I googled Naomie Fashion Store and while there is a Naomi Fashions, there is none with Naomie. Then I decided to google the email address: magretodinba@yahoo.com and came up with the most odd posting from that email address. Obviously, the scammer is engaged in all kinds of unseemly activities online:

magret, F, 1987, Cote D'Ivoire
Writing language: English, French, Italian
Correspondence: e-mail
Am magret odinba am girl sexy and lovely lady and i will like to meet you and share something very imporatnt to me with you and i want to know you better so that will can share something benefit for you and me together which i know that you most be a good and honest person and i believe that you will not betray me after, i need you please contact my private email so that i will be able to send my photos to you email at- ,magretodinba@yahoo.com

Ugh, so slimey, I need to go take a shower. I googled infonfb@aol.com, for grins, but there were no results for that, as I suspected.

So our little slimey scammer is making use of someone else's email account, but picked a super slimey one, hoping his intended victims would just hit reply to write back to him (I know, he's pretending to be a woman) and not notice that now the replies are going to a different AOL account. I'll go submit the complaint to AOL now...

Scam Email: Cody Morgan

So many things about this scam are what we see all the time. Their questions are meant to throw the potential off thinking they'll use a legitimate means of paying. But as the victim begins to converse with the scammer, the story will migrate back into their "model" - overpaying and asking the difference be sent to the shipper via Western Union (and the "shipper" just turns out to be the scammer at the other end - there is no shipper).

From: cody morgan [codymorgan2010@gmail.com]
Subject: General Inquiry
Date: Monday, January 17, 2011, 2:21 PM

Dear Sales, Good day to you, Am Cody Morgan by name, kindly answer the following question: 1: Can you ship to Atlanta, GA 30310 . Do you Accept Pick Up? 2: Do you accept Credit Cards account details for only form of payment your swift response will be highly appreciated. Best regards Cody Morgan DIANE INC 734 DAYNA DR, , ATLANTA, GA 30349

Scam Email: Debby Barnes

Hi,

I was the victim of an attempted scam in the last few days. When I got a $3,000 check for paintings which totaled $250, I knew it was a scam. So disappointing.

The scammer used the name:

Debby Barnes [deb.barnes01@mybestmail.com] & [deb.barnes00@gmail.com]

Here is her original email:

Hi,

Hope this message finds you well. I saw these creatives works on your web
site and i will like you to get back with more details if they are still
available for purchase.
 Twins  and  Fawn.

I will appreciate an urgent reply.

Best Regards,
Debby.

She repeatedly ignored my requests to pay with paypal and the scam followed the steps outlined in your description exactly. She was in London for a few days but she and her husband were moving from New Jersey to Johannesburg. Her husband would send me a check and a moving company would arrange to pick up the pieces.

I almost fell for it. As of now, they still think i have. If it hadn't been for the warnings you posted, i would have just thought it was  fishy but not been sure it was a scam.

Thank you so much for this.

Scam Email: Bob Larold

Here's a scammer that sent me three of the very same emails and really took no time to even change up his email. Clearly as an artist, I would have none of the very specific items he's listed in his email. He never bothered to change the personalization of his spam from some other target. Oh well, makes it easy to identify.

Return-path: [xanga@server.lanseng.com]
Subject: Quote request
X-PHP-Script: xangatrack.com/boyosamy.php for 212.60.73.79
From: Bob Larold [officesupply001@gmail.com]
Reply-To: officesupply001@gmail.com
Sender:  [xanga@server.lanseng.com]

Hello,

How are you today? I wanted to know if you have the the listed items below
in stock or maybe you can help us to get them,

1: SOLAR CHARGE CONTROLLER, 20amps and above.
2: Grundfos SQ Flex 11 SQF -2 Submersible pump
3: 180watt or 235watt solar panel.
4: Shurflo Pumps ( Model 9325-043-101)9300 Submersible Pump
5: DC-AC POWER INVERTER 1000watts and above and it should be in 12vdc to
220/230/240vac

Also interested in the toners descriptions below

1: HP Q6511A (11A) OEM
2: HP C8543X (43X) OEM
3: HP C9730A (30A) OEM

Please quote us your firm price for the following goods. I would also like
to know the type of credit card that you accepted in making payment when
purchasing from your company.I really appreciate your time and business.

OFFICE SUPPLY PRODUCT
9200 N.W 24 ST,
Stateunrise FL, 33322
officesupply001@gmail.com

Bob