Shown below is the second email correspondence between myself and a scammer that I encountered on ArtBreak.com. She was using the screenname Betty44 and sent the following message:
Hello,I received this poorly structured message about 1 day after I got the first one from Marcus Mcfadden. Receiving two "too good to be true" opportunities in such quick succession added to my suspicions. It was after she requested to pay by check (just as Marcus had) that really sent up a red flag. That is when I did some searching on the internet and stumbled across your Art Scam Blog.
Am interested in the following artworks(Trees,Swirls).
Let me know if the artworks are still available so that i can proceed with the payment as soon as possible.Send an email to (bettyjjclark@yahoo.com)I will await your quick response.
Betty.
The scammer is using the name Betty Jean Clark, email bettyjjclark@yahoo.com. Unfortunately I could not find the IP address for this account.
Thanks for helping raise scam awareness!
Curtis
On Sun, Jul 29, 2012 at 12:41 PM, Betty Jean clark [bettyjjclark@yahoo.com] wrote:
Dear Curtis,
Thanks for the mail.Well,i will be much happy to proceed with the payment of the artworks.Let me know the price of the artworks when framed.Regarding the shipment,i will inform our shipping agent that is moving our other home decors to our new home to get in contact with you via the shipping arrangement today.
Furthermore,do you do commission works?i will love to have a lovely artwork for my coming baby.Get back to me with your mailing address and your phone number so that i will be able to make an arrangement for the payment as soon as possible via check or bank draft which you can cash in any local bank around you. I will await your quick response.
Regards,
Betty.
I received the same, even gave me a mailing address in Oregon. I refused to sell my artwork.
ReplyDeleteOH DEAR, I sent this person my address and phone number. I was curious if I could figure out who exactly this person was because they seemed so interested. This person sent me the same exact email. What should I do?
ReplyDeleteJust delete their email and do not reply to any additional emails from them. No need to tell them you know its a scam. Just ignore them. They'll move on to the next potential victims soon enough.
ReplyDeleteThanks for responding. I checked the USPS tracking number online and it said that the check she sent had delivered. So, I went outside and got it, opened it up, and the check was for $2,900. I had a painting I was selling for $200, so of course, that is a huge red flag. Should I bring it to the Police? Here is her email: "Regarding the payment of the artwork,i want to inform you that the payment has just been sent to you via USPS tracking number(***********************) and i guess it will deliver to your address today or tomorrow.Please as soon as you receive the payment,kindly have it cash and deduct the payment of the artwork from the payment sent and forward the leftovers to the shipping agent that will be handling the pickup of the artwork from your place and the shipment of our other home decors.I will inform them to get in contact with you via the pickup of the item today.
ReplyDeleteKindly let me read from you as soon as you have the payment with you,can't wait to have to artwork on our walls here.As soon as i have the artwork here,i will call you to discuss about the commission work i want to do for my little baby.Am wishing you the best of today.
I will be looking forward to read from you as soon.
Warmest regards,
Betty." I was afraid of something happening like this. I am new to artbreak.com, how do you deal with payments?
Classic. It's some slimey guy in some foreign country making this whole story up to get money out of unsuspecting people.
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad you caught on before forwarding on money.
Yes, if they were really dumb enough to use USPS, make a copy of all documentation (tracking number, the actual envelop you received and the check) and take it to the post office to be submitted to the Postal Inspector. Most scammers know not to use USPS because the actual act of sending a forged check through the mail is a crime. That is why most scammers use FedEx, which is a private company who doesn't really follow up on this kind of fraud. But in your case, go for it. At least subnmit it.
As for handling payments, you just have to go about your business and never accept overpayments and NEVER NEVER ever send money via wire transfer in behalf or as a courtesy to ANYONE. Period. And then just go about your business.
Scammers have to have those two components to make the scam work - they need to overpay (with a fake check or stolen credit card) and they need to convince the victim to send the difference via wire transfer. Refuse those steps and you will never be a victim of this particular scam.
Thanks so much KatieMoe. You've been a lot of help. It seems so completely obvious now, with the whole initial email, but at the time I thought they knew what they were doing and I must not have since I was new to the art world. Anyways, you do a lot of good with what you are doing. Good luck with all of your art. Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteI received the same from Sandi James, sandi_jamesv@yahoo.com
ReplyDelete--------------------------------------------------
Hello,
Do you have this lovely work for sale?
Title 1, 2011, 8"x10
Title 2, 2011, 6"x8"
Let me know if you still have it for sale.I will await your quick response.
Sandi.
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Dear [name],
Thanks for the mail.Well,i will be much happy to proceed with the payment of the artworks.Regarding the shipment,i will inform our shipping agent that is moving our other home decors to our new home to get in contact with you via the shipping arrangement today.
Furthermore,do you do commission works?i will love to have a lovely artwork for my coming baby.Get back to me with your mailing address and your phone number so that i will be able to make an arrangement for the payment as soon as possible.Here is our home address 1025 sw veterans way apt #62 redmond oregon 97756. I will await your quick response.
Regards,
Sandi.
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Although English is my 2nd language there was something strange in these emails for me, so I started looking for "Sandi James" and "sandi_jamesv" on google and I found "her" on ArtQuest: http://www.artquest.com/artquest/scammer-names.htm
and then i found your page... sigh...... :/
Thanks KatieMoe! :)
I had this also.
ReplyDeleteBe careful on artbreak!!!!
It was very good, but is now full of rubbish.
WHEW! Interesting to have come across you all!
ReplyDeleteMy husband received an email thru his website which is also listed with Xanadu Gallery. I was highly suspicious because of the phrasing used in the original email. Husband replied minimally stating Paypal is our accepted payment form, how did you come across site, etc. Today's email contained what I am pasting below, which I immediately interpreted as SCAM -- googled the addy she listed and VOILA - was directed here!
Here's a copy/paste of ALL email correspondence:
----------------------
Hello,
Am interested in the following artworks
(Artist has omited title)
11" x 14
(Artist has omited title)
22" x 28"
Let me know if the artworks are still available so that i can proceed with the payment as soon as possible.I will await your quick response.
Janie.
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ARTIST'S REPLY:
Hello Janie ~
Thank you for visiting my website and taking an interest in my work. I am always curious, how did you hear about my website?
To answer your question - yes, both paintings are available and are unframed. To calculate shipping, I'd need to know where they would be shipped. Payment would be made via Paypal.
Look forward to hearing from you.
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COPIES OF TWO REPLIES RECEIVED TODAY FROM "Sandi" too bad the person didn't realize that their original alias was Jani - LOL!
Dear Burl,
Thanks for the mail.Well,i will be much happy to proceed with the payment of the artworks.Let me know the price of the artworks when framed.Regarding the shipment,i will inform our shipping agent that is moving our other home decors to our new home to get in contact with you via the shipping arrangement today.They can arrange for FedEx pick-up right from your studio/residence.They are also been charged to handle insurance and other logistics involved with the shipments.I found your lovely works at Xanadu gallery.
Furthermore,do you do commission works?i will love to have a lovely artwork for my coming baby.Get back to me with your mailing address and your phone number so that i will be able to make an arrangement for the payment as soon as possible.Here is our home address 1025 SW veterans way apt #62 Redmond Oregon 97756. I will await your quick response.
Regards,
Sandi.
---------------
Do you accept Money order or a check.Please advise.
Sandi.
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Google Analytics tells me that at about the time of the original email being sent to us, there was someone browsing his website from the Westlake, Ohio area. Haven't had any hits on the site from Oregon this year.
EMAIL ADDY that the email came out under:
janiebrawn@yahoo.com
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Despicable the lengths some people will go to. Hope this helps us ALL keep a wary eye.
I am sadly part of the "betty clark club" I was soo ecited but noticed the broken english, and the fact that after mentioning prints and cost of sizes and options in finishes and such in my second email, they didnt mention any of that, but did tell they wanted it framed. ? Odd that they wanted to pick up a framed painting from oregon in stead of picking out the framing themselves right??
ReplyDeleteAlso the commision and baby comments were there too, bummer but glaI i happened on this site before I committed to anything. This is very upsetting, oh well. Keep your heads up out there, artwork selling hopefuls, I know I will.
OH MY GOSH. I MUST LET MY MOM KNOW SHE IS AN ARTIST WITH THAT NAME OH MY GOODNESS. I'M SO UPSET
ReplyDeleteThe scammer contacted me as "slick 8080" then switched to "polo steve". He sent a $1950 bogus check (no bank identiy, no address) via UPS for a $140 sale, and asked for the difference to be sent back to him via western union. I told him I'll send the check and the return address (spring grove,pa) to law enforcement to check out his scam.
ReplyDeleteHi. I received a few days ago a mail from Artbreak site regarding the interest of a Mr. Richard Bolton in my art piece published on the site. I have to inform you that I started the process of selling the piece to Mr. Bolton and was via Paypal how a send an invoice for the amount of the piece but Mr. Bolton askes a few things and I stupidly felt on the scam he perpetrated against me for the amount of $650 USD
ReplyDeleteI'm writing you just to let you know and be advised that there's a group of fraudulent buyers using the site and maybe getting the money from other people as they did to me.
I was asked to pay a picking up agent and custom taxes as the customer wanted in order to get paid, but it all happened to be a fraud. The money was sent to two different people as follows:
Rose Blough
634 Ross Mountain Park Road
New Florence
PA 15944
and
Brenda Knight
1127 4th Avenue
Fort Dodge
Iowa 50501
USA
Please be advised of this situation and let other users of Artbreak be aware and not to be harm as I just was by this awful situation.
Regards.
I recieved an over payment for products I sell online. I feel so stupI'd....went to wire funds, to a Rose Blaugh at same address above, but was flagged. I already deposited the check at my bank, and ordered the products they wanted. I am feeling so foolish and naive right now!
ReplyDeleteMe too. Just this past week I was approached by a Christy Webb via my Etsy Store. She wanted to buy one of my paintings. He/She said she was having problems paying her driver over the internet because she was at sea (an engineer on a ship) and the internet was bad. I agreed so she then said she'd paid $3,500 into my Paypal for the painting and to cover the drivers fee. I then got a phoney (I didn't realise it was phoney at the time) Paypal advice stating that the money had been received into my account but in order to receive the cleared funds I would need to make a Western Union payment of $750 for the driver. My partner fortunately had the fore-thought to Google Rose Blaugh and thank heavens this page came up. I too felt really stupid, but blessed to have narrowly avoided being scammed by this low-life. BTW, Christy Webb is an Anglo sounding name but she had broken English too. I felt like giving him/her a piece of my mind, but instead just Spammed all correspondence from her email address.
ReplyDelete