Artist Experience: Jessica Bianchi Scam Email Part III

Ah, the Jessica Bianchi scam continues to float around to more artists, and I'm glad to say we've saved another artist from falling victim! Yea! congratulations, Sandra, for thinking to google the name before getting much further into the scam. I'm so pleased these posts were of help to you. That's why I do it. We artists have a hard enough go of it, we do NOT need the additional burden of scam artists actually targeting us!

Here is the first email Sandra got (and then forwarded to me so I could post it):

From: Jessica Bianchi [jesica001bianchi@yahoo.com]
Subject: Art Purchase

Hello,
I and my Cousin have interest in purchasing some piece of Art from your gallery hence i will like to know if you sell internationally (Belarus) and also if you accept (Credit Card) as a method of payment,if you do i want you to get back to me with your updated webpage, so that i can make choice of the Art to purchase from your gallery.
Your response is needed so that we can proceed.
I await your response.
Thanks
Jessica

 And here is the second email Sandra received from "Jessica Bianchi" (it's funny that they all look so similar, but good for us, so they are somewhat easy to learn to recognize). You can guess they grabbed the names and information right off her website:

From: Jessica Bianchi [jesica001bianchi@yahoo.com]
Subject: Re: Art Purchase

Hello,
Good to hear from you, I want you to get back to me with the cost of each and shipping cost  of the below:

PAINTINGS
Name: Flower Steps
Framed Giclee Print 16” x 20”
------------------------------
Name: Hatian
Framed Giclee Print 16” x 20”
------------------------------
Name: Let's Dance
Framed Giclee Print 16” x 20”
------------------------------
Name: Girls Chatting
Framed Giclee Print 16” x 20”
------------------------------
Name: Baiana in Salvador
Framed Giclee Print 16” x 20”

I want you to get back to me with the cost and shipping of the above so that you can have the credit card to run for the payment.
I will be looking forward to hear from you asap.
Thanks
Shipping Address
Jessica Bianchi
13F, Skoryna ave.
Minsk, Belarus

And here are Sandra's grateful comments:

Hi Kathleen,

My name is Sandra, I am an artist in L.A., I want to thank you for having the site for fraud against artists, I got the email from Jessica, first I thought that was a bit strange but after we exchange some emails I starting to fall on that trap, and finally I decide to google her before I invest my money on her order and I got your info when I google her.

I didn't know how to post my comment on your blog, sorry, you save me money and time, you are one of these angels out there, I will email her email so you can post on your blog.

I wish you a lot of success with your beautiful art, and a good karma with your great services for the art community.

If you ever come to L.A., please let me know I would love to treat you for a dinner, lunch or anything that you need.

Have a great week,

Life is full of surprises

Sandra

Glad to be of help! Let's keep posting our experiences and help other artists who will surely also receive one of these emails at some point.

Artist Experience: Jessica Bianchi Scam Email Part II

Speaking of the Jessica Bianchi scam email, here is an email an artist sent me:

Hi Kathleen,

Bless you for posting your Art Scam info....
I received a request from jesica001bianchi@yahoo.com Jessica Bianchi from Belaruse, with a request to send two paintings via some shipper in England, (no website, no business listed in the UK) when I called them, their telephone number did not exist, so I surfed on Jessica's name and came up on your blog.... Jessica wanted me to charge her account then send by Western Union $380 to cover the shipment.

it sounds the same with a few different notes, what a song...

do you mind if I pass this bit along to my artist friends?

I also google earthed both the location of Miss Bianchi, and the shipper.... Their locations didn't look right. One a slum in England, definately not a business address for a courier, and the Belaruse address was some kind of apartment complex that was not in a neighborhood where people could afford a $380 rush shipping job.

Peace to you and blessings for your blog

Artist Experience: Jessica Bianchi Scam Email

I received a call from a reporter in North Carolina today, who is doing a story on scam emails targeting artists. He said there's been a flurry of emails to local artists there from a "Jessica Bianchi", which is actually a name that has been used by scammers for years now.

He made the comment that it seemed strange that they would keep reusing the same name and his point is well taken, but I reminded him it is more about the numbers - how many thousands of these emails can they send out hoping to catch a certain percentage of unaware victims. They don't even take the time to properly format their emails. There clearly is a template being used by scammers - I've seen myself where the scammer has forgotten to fill in parts of the email template they are using. Which begs the question - is someone selling some kind of manual to wanna-be scammers on how to make millions of dollars by sending free emails??? Does their advertising for their manual say something like, "get money in your mailbox while you sleep!"

There will always be scammers. I was telling one artist they are like gnat flies - you just have to keep swatting at them, spraying them with bug spray, and hope the little swarm moves on to better hunting grounds.

That is what I hope to accomplish, in part, with my efforts. Educate artists as much as I can so they become a more difficult target and encourage the scammers to move on. It does seem like we can use the power of the Internet to keep getting the word out there and make it harder and harder on scammers. Of course, the downside is they will get more and more sophisticated and it will be harder to identify them. But let's at least make them work a little!

Jessica Bianchi - old scam name. Trust your instincts when an email sounds too good to be true, or has some aspects that just doesn't feel right.