Art Scams and Art Spammers, Be Warned

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Comment by VEGAS GIRL II on May 1, 2009 at 11:45pm

Thanks for the invite, i really like to know as much as i can about the business and whats happening, even after working in several art galleries you cannot know enough about whats actually out there.

Comment by Karin Teresa McCaslin-Fain on May 1, 2009 at 11:36pm

Wonderful idea for a group. Thanks for inviting me. Karin Teresa

Comment by dawn hilton on May 1, 2009 at 11:15pm

Here on art Gallery On-line we have seen a big increase in the number of art scams going on recently. We wanted to warn all our members & Artists about possible art scams/ spams that you may be e-mailed about.

First of all, you can never be 100% sure something is, or is not a scam, until it's too late. All you can really do is review the context of the e-mail and look for signs of a scam. If you suspect a scam, alert us about it and DO NOT RESPOND to the e-mail.
If you don't respond, they do not know your e-mail address or even if you got the e-mail. If you do respond, you open the door to be a victim, please be aware.
If in doubt, please contact one of us and we will advise to the best of our ability.

Below are a few signs of a scam that should raise 'awareness' for you.

ART SCAM SIGNS:

1.The buyer is usually outside the US.
2. The buyer is vague on the exact artwork they want to buy.
3. The wording of the e-mail is strange or not proper English.
4. They mention they will have their shipper contact you.
5. They ask for your home address.
6. They offer payment via cashiers check (which are easy to counterfeit).
7. The payment amount is usually higher than the amount of purchase.
8. You may be asked to purchase other items, non-artwork related.
# The same e-mail is sent to many members on our site in a short period of time.

HOW MOST SCAMS WORK:

Normally a group of e-mails is sent out to many unsuspecting artists. Those that reply will be asked for additional details on the artwork such as the price. Terms are agreed to and a counterfeit check is sent to the artist. The artist sends out the artwork. The Artist tries to cash check and told it's a fake or weeks later they are notified that it bounced. The Artist loses artwork and money.

HOW TO AVOID AN ART SCAM:

The best way to avoid scams is to not reply to inquiries that contain some of the common scam signs mentioned above. If you do reply and think it's a real buyer, we suggest that you simply tell them to purchase your artwork online with a credit card or direct bank transfer in to your bank account.... Credit cards can be stolen, but it's easier to catch them and track payments than a cashiers check. When in doubt, don't fall into the trap. It's better to say 'no' to a suspicious buyer, then to get involved in a scam.

WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT SCAMS?

We are always watching our e-mails for possible art scams and spammers updating our e-mail system to block known scammers & spammers, making our network one of the very safest networks online today.

Here on the network we have a team of artists that are aware of the scams and spammers online today, I will place their details up shortly.

*****If you suspect a scam, please report it to us immediately. If we feel it's a scam, we will block that person from sending any new e-mails to other members. If that person has sent e-mails to many members, we will let those members know about the potential scam or spam, any member spamming or scamming with be instantly banned from our network.*****

We hope this knowledge has been helpful to everyone. Please use caution responding to any e-mails with signs of a scam&fraud.

Spam is when someone usually an art networking site or art site sends you an invite direct to your page, but also sends about 20 others or more the same message at once, these are spammers & usually just want you to join their art site.
*****Be sure to check out their website first.*****
Here on our network, we will not tolerate this and the new spammer will get one warning, if they persist, they will be instantly banned from the network

Thank you for your help and support.

We are a community of Global artists protecting each other, "all for one & one for all".

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