Avoiding Internet Scams

~ by Lori Woodward Simons

For those of you who have newer web sites, watch out for Internet scams that are designed to take money illegally from artists. You may receive emails from folks in London, Nigeria or other overseas locations - exclaiming that your work is wonderful and they want to purchase several paintings. However, the catch is that they will send you a check for "more than the amount" of the paintings in order to pay someone else for shipping or pay off a debt to another person. Then they'll ask you to immediately wire them the difference. What ends up happening is that – while your wired money is real, their check is a fake.

I have a artist friend who fell victim to this type of scam several years ago, before it had circulated the Internet. He lost a few thousand dollars. The scammer's check did not clear for several days at his bank, but he had wired his money to the offenders in the meantime as they urgently encouraged him to do so.

If you have an artist's web site, you will most likely be hit with a similar scam sooner or later and perhaps multiple times. Below is a devious email that I recently received– it's the same old scam but with a new twist. The scammers are pretending to be Americans who've recently moved overseas. The names sound American, but the text sounds foreign. I did reply to them, saying that I suspected they were scammers. Not surprisingly, I never heard back.

Here's a copy of what they emailed me. Notice the spelling errors and the awkward phrases:

Hope this message finds you well ,I came across your web page while searching for good artworks and I will like to buy some of these creative artworks directly from you which i think will be perfect for my House.

Morning Promise
Tide Going Out
Summer's Gift
Full Bloom

I will be happy to have these selected artworks in our new home. What are their prices exclusive of shipping cost? We are travelling from our Alabama home to our new apartment in London, I will appreciate an earlier reply. Thanks.

Best Regards
James and Jennifer Rudner