NEW SCAMS REPORTED     >>READ ALL ABOUT SCAMS  

A number of artists in Saskatchewan have received messages offering to buy works displayed on their internet sites. The messages comes from various persons and locations, usually overseas. 

The following messages have been reported to us as probable SCAMS and we caution Saskatchewan artists NOT to take part. 

March 2009 -SCAM

100 Artists Scammed in the “Vancouver Art Box Show” on 30 Dec 2008 
  
In December 2008, there was a call for submission to the “Vancouver Art Box Show” circulating in the Vancouver art community by “Shawn Findley, possibly 34, from Austin, Texas.” Each artist was supposed to be sent a cheque of $ 50 per sold artworks. No one got paid. He vanished into thin air.
 
“Shawn Findley” and his “girlfriend” “Carry Mann” put together a group show at the Autumn Brook Gallery, 1545 W 4^th Avenue, Vancouver on 30 Dec, 2008. The show was well-attended and many works sold. The artists were promised a cheque in the mail within 4-6 weeks.
 
Artists who tried to contact “Shawn Findley” found that they were blocked from his facebook account, and that their phone calls and e-mails never answered.
 
“Shawn Findley” claimed that he had done similar shows in Toronto and Texas. An artist contacted the gallery in Texas. The gallery confirmed that they had the exhibition but did not know “Shawn Findley.”
 
“Shawn Findley” also promised Gallery Gachet 10% of the profit. The gallery too has not heard anything from “Shawn Findley” since the event. Gallery Gachet is concerned with such behaviour in the art community.
 
Michelle Kuen Suet Fung has also contacted Autumn Brook Gallery where the event was held. Although the gallery gladly provided the phone number, no help or further communication was encouraged. 

  Contact: Michelle Kuen Suet Fung, exhibiting artist                    
             604 783 3756       snow@artatsnow.com 

February 2009 -SCAM

the pretender - part 2

A well known artist from the Yukon had her hotmail account hacked into and used to send a series of fraudulent letters to the artist's friends and associates. The letters asked for money to be sent to an address in Manchester, England.  

This type of scam is clearly identity theft. 

fraudulent letter follows:

Hello,
 I am in hurry writing you this message and I am sorry I didn't inform you about my traveling. I traveled to England and i got my self stranded. I am really stranded in England because I forgot my little bag in the Taxi where my money, passport, documents, cell phone which i have all my contacts and other valuable things were kept on my way to the Hotel am staying, I am facing a hard time here because i have no money on me. I am now owning a hotel bill of (600GBP) and they wanted me to pay the bill soon else they will have to hand me over to the Hotel Management, I need this help from you urgently to help me back home, I need you to help me with the hotel bill and i will also need (850GBP) to feed and help myself back home so please can you help me with a sum of (1,450GBP) to sort out my problems here. I am sending you this email from the city Library, I will appreciate what so ever you can afford to wire the fund and I promise to pay back your money as soon as i return home without any delay. So please use my details for Western Union money transfer because i still have one of my I D card with me,that is the only way i could be able to get it fast and leave. hear is the detail below....
Name:    xxxx
Address: xxxx  
zip code xxxx
State;   mancherster
Country ;England
After you have send the money, email to me the western union money transfer control number or you can attach and forward to me the western union money transfer receipt so that i can pick up the money and leave. Right now, i don't have any access to phone communications because the phone in my hotel room had been disconnected due to too much bills imposed on me, i only have access to the computer at the library where am sending you this email right Hope to hear from you soon. Also, the embassy here has already promised to give me a covering traveling papers that i will need to have my way back home, all i need right now is the money to settle up the bills and leave,God bless you.
Cheers  xxxx

November 2008 -SCAM 

URGENT Art Scam Alert From CARFAC Ontario Nov 
 
It has recently come to our attention that at least two members of CARFAC Ontario have been contacted by someone posing as a potential purchaser who contacts them via their website expressing interest in specific pieces. After arranging for the purchase of the artwork, he will send either a cheque, bank note or money order, which will prove to be fraudulent. Generally, he will include more money than you have asked for, ostensible to cover the shipping costs, and will ask that you refund him the extra by Western Union or another similar service. Once you have sent the refund and the artwork, you will then find out that the original form of payment is a forgery, and you will be out not only the value of the money you returned to him, but also the artwork that you have sent. This person is using the name Anderson Wuouth, has sent emails from the address: andersonwuouth@yahoo.se, and requests that the artwork be sent to the following address: Anderson Wuouth, Hirsackerstrasse 64, Postfach 324, CH-8810 Horgen, Switzerland. 

This is a form of scam that has been around awhile, but it bears reminding artists that if an opportunity seems too good to be true, it probably is. Artists, especially emerging artists, may be so excited about the possibility of selling their work - especially to an international collector - that they may easily fall prey to such scams. It is important that you approach any sales that come through your website very carefully. For further information about how to recognize and avoid this type of scam, please see: http://www.bogusartfair.info/shippingscam.BogusArtFair.info is run by CARFAC Ontario artist member Julianna Yau. In this post, Julianna also goes over the steps you can take to not alienate potential customers who are legitimate.

If you have already been a victim of this type of scam, either from "Anderson Wuouth" or another scammer, there are steps you can take. This webpage: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/scams/overpayment_e.htm has been put together by the RCMP and lists steps you can take to report the crime to the appropriate authorities. You can also go to: https://www.recol.ca/intro.aspx for information about reporting electronic fraud.

There are also several websites that post names of art scammers, which can help alert other artists. Here are a few you can report this scammer to: http://www.artnewsblog.com/2008/05/list-of-artist-scammers-and-fraudsters.htm  and on the forum at: http://www.bogusartfair.info/forum. If you don't want others to know that you have been the victim of this type of scam, you can email the details of your particular case to julianna@bogusartfair.info, and she will post it anonymously for you. Also, in order to protect yourself in the future, you can let potential collectors who approach you through your website know that you only accept payment for international orders by PayPal or another form of payment that is more secure. If they are only able to pay using a bank draft, money order, etc., make sure that you find out for certain that the payment has cleared and is legitimate before you send any artwork, or any refund for overpayment. A legitimate customer will not have a problem with waiting.

One of the best things you can do is to let other artists know about this type of scam and to warn them of the signs to look for to avoid falling prey to these scammers. If you have received what you believe is an email from a scammer, you may want to consider forwarding the original message you received to any other artists you know, and warn them not to fall for a similar scam. By warning your colleagues, you may help prevent this from happening to another artist. Please feel free to forward the resources in this message to your artist colleagues as well.

Please feel free to get in touch with the CARFAC Ontario office if you require any other information. We hope that this message will help prevent other artists from falling victim to this scam. 

CARFAC Ontario

April 2008 -SCAM

"Toronto Arts Show" warning from the Ontario Crafts Council

December 2007 -SCAM

NEW SCAM – the pretender

A well known artist from Newfoundland had his gmail (google) account hacked into and used to send a series of fraudulent letters to the artist's friends and associates. The letters asked for a loan to help the artist's father with emergency medical expenses.  

The most alarming aspect of this SCAM was that the scammer pretended to be the artist. Initially the scammer posed as a member of the Google trouble team and told the artist their account would be closed unless they sent in their password. Once the scammer had the artist's password they used information from the artist's website, including his CV and his contact information, to construct a letter which appeared to have been written by the artist himself. The letter even included a link to the artist's real website.

When the scam was detected the artist contacted Google in order to shut down the gmail account. A notice was posted on the artist's website to alert people of the scam.

fraudulent letter follows:

**I NEED URGENT ASSISTANCE ***

Hi there,
          i just travelled to denmark early this morning for a New
year programme that will last for about 2 weeks.

 Lately,i recieved a call from my younger sister that  my dad has been taken a hospital in uk(yorkshire)to be precise for a kidney transplant.Though i knew that he had the kidney problem before,i never knew it will result to this kind of problem now.

 Right now,since i am an art teacher,i dont have much cash on me to send my younger sister so i ask if you could help me send her about $1580.00 then i will pay you back as soon as i come back home.

   I know this is a very shy thing to do but i really need this help from you becasue i have no other choice and i am helpless here.Moreso the doctor is asking for a deposit into the hospitals account before treatment and the operation will commence.And you know things like this needs fast and urgent attendance.

 COULD YOU BE OF HELP TO ME PLEASE?I will gladly wait for your reply.

(name of artist)

website www.nameofartist

November 2007 -SCAM

Hi xxxxxx,

How're you doing and how's work and the family ? I just finished
browsing your website and couldnt keep my eyes and mind off your good works. You're such a good and creative artist.
I got most captivated with your works enlisted below:

(1)  xxxxxx  (2)  xxxxxx

I learnt they're for sale so am very interested in purchasing them to
ornament both my home and office. My wife chose the "xxxxxx" for the
living room.
I was shocked to realise you're in Canada as i came across your website
from a Google search i ran about artworks. Am based in London, England so will
you be able to ship down here ? If so, please calculate and reply with the total plus
shipping cost to London.a
Whats your payment policy ? I confirmed with the Finance Dept. of the
company i work for and got to know that we run an account with a Canadian Bank so could have them issue and mail you a cheque in Canadian Dollars on my behalf as payment which i suppose is the best and most secured method.

Have a great day ahead and hope to read from you anytime soon.

Gary Kenner.

  Kenner Gary
  Public Relations Officer.
  General Leather Company Ltd.
  London W1U 7QY, England
  Tel: +44 (0) 704 571 0973

Hello,
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 out of your stock.

xxxxxxxxxx (titles of works)

Thanks.    Best Regards,      Kathleen    kat_cole000@yahoo.com