I would like to alert artists and craft people of a fraud that is going around the internet. There are many variations on this theme, but it basically goes like this;

A response to one of your ads, or an inquiry about your work is directed to you that goes like this:

[ "Hello,

Is your art/craft still available for sale and in perfect condition." ]

or [ Hello,
My name is (xxx ) and I need the purchase of a Photo Artwork. I saw your Advert on (xxx.com.) Can you provide Prints with the following details: Landscape/wildlife photography on any print i.e colour/black&white matted on 12x24 , or the largest prints you have. I am interested in purchasing any two of these specified. How much does each cost? It is needed for an exhibition in Australia. ]

In both cases you will notice that they are rather vague about the descriptions. These people are probably sending out these emails in the hundreds or thousands in the hopes that one or two gullible people will fall for their fraud. They don’t even take the time to check out your work. I always respond to the initial inquiry, because you never know at first who is for real and not. The fraud will usually show up early on. They will answer you back with something like this:

[ “Hello

Thanks for your response to my enquiry, I am satisfied with thecondition of your art/craft and am really interested in theArt/Craft. I will be making the payment by Cashier's check/Money Order

but I will include some money on the check/Money Order to cover themoving expenses of the art/craftDue to my tight schedule, I will be sending someone down to pick upthe art/craft for me. When you get the payment you deduct your moneyand have the remaining sent to him via western union or money gram thenthe person can come down for the pick up. If you are okay with thisarrangement kindly provide me with the details below:

Full Names:

Full address (No P.O. Box):

City:

Zip Code:

State:

Home Phone:]

The overpayment is a big tip off here. Also these guys never want to meet in person or they are too distant to do so. Any time anyone asks for banking info is another tip off. There is never a need to give out any banking information, and usually there is no need to give out your address on any legitimate transactions. Beware of accepting checks from distant locations. They can pass checks that look legit, but they are worthless. When they go through the bank your bank account number can be delivered back to the originator of the fraudulent check. Check with your bank about any checks that you have questions about. And always make sure you have funds before you deliver anything to anybody that you have any suspicions about.

 And then there is this:

 A comment on scams from Craig’s List.

Thanks for passing this along, it's definitely related to the scams we've
seen in recent months. We generally encourage folks to ignore these
inquiries altogether, focus on local transactions and interactions, and
avoid wiring funds or handing out personal financial details.

If you are in contact with one of these "buyers" already, our best advice
is to break off all current communication and ignore any follow-up
inquiries. If you have received a fake cashier's check or money order,
it's usually best to destroy it. And we haven't received any reports of
significant trouble from people who unwittingly gave out their name,
address and phone number, so there's probably no cause for concern if
that has happened.

We're working on ways to prevent these guys from getting through to folks
who use craigslist, but it's not easy -- they're very persistent. If
you're interested in finding out more about how these scams work,
Wikipedia has some pretty good descriptions of the various types:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_fee_fraud

And more information is available on craigslist's "scams & fraud" page:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/about/scams.html


Regards,
craigslist customer service

And This article

“I have been hearing about different versions of the "Nigerian scam" and "advance payment scam" that target artists.

Today, I heard from an aspiring artist friend who was very excited that someone had seen his artwork online and wanted to buy it! This would be wonderful, except - yes, you guessed it - it was a scam. I hated to be the one to tell him. These scammers do more than steal artist's money - they also cause artists wrongly to lose confidence in themselves.

I already have several art-related pages on this site, and decided that a page with information for artists to be able to protect themselves from these e-mail scams would be a good idea”.
 

Art Scams How To Protect Yourself