Morning guys, received the following e-mail about my artwork, tried to reply but it bounced, think this is a dud one, maybe wrong.
e-mail below:
Hello
How are you doing? my name is Jack tom i am an American but i presently live and base in Australia i am interested in ordering some of your artworks and ship them to me here in Australia my method of payment is via my American issued credit card kindly let me know if you can assist me with the order ,kindly get back to me with your website address again so that we can proceed with this transaction I will await your prompt response as soon as you receive this mail,i will be be very glad if you treat this email with good concern
Thanks with Regards
Jack tom.

Sorry Azza. There was a reported scam email sent from zeroone art warning about this person.

any time someone contacts you from your website and asks for art details and your web address - just don't bother...they're always scammers.

Hi guys realised after posting message, this guy is a scammer, shame some people have no conscience, so back to painting. Will post my latest painting started soon.

There is too much info about his whereabouts, and the payment method. No normal person would
go on about where their CC was issued etc. They would mention a particular piece and why it appeals to them or why they love it so much that they want to buy it etc. It just doesn't sit right from the word go.

http://www.leylamurr.com

Hi, I'm new here and found this forum trying to figure out if some emails we received from "Jack Tom" were ligitimate. Looks like a resounding NO! However, I'm wondering how the scam works. My husband produces instructional DVDs on various painting techniques, and the Jack Tom email he received stated an interest in purchasing several of them. My husband (poor unsuspecting soul) replied to the email and was given credit card information, as well as an address and shipping information. When I saw the email exchange, it didn't feel right to me. Something is off.

Anyway...that was a long story, but I'd be interested in the details of the scam if someone could please fill me in. Thank you!

usual way is they send you a cheque for £xxxx too much and ask you to pay the shipper the extra ( or something like that) you bank the cheque - it clears - you pay them the excess and .. .weeks later the original cheque is returned and bank claws back the funds leaving you out of pocket.

a change in the banking laws recently means they can only take back the money within a few days, i posted this on my own forum and (i think) on here at the time.
maybe an end to money laundering scams at last... I've mentioned it before but bears bringing up again - there was a change in the law this year - banks have had to tighten up their act with cheque clearance or bear the loss themselves.
http://www.gotelee.com/news_det.asp?id=3055
even better - its called the 2-4-6 rule.. interest paid after 2 days, you can draw against it after 4 days and after 6 days it cannot be withdrawn if found to be fraudulent unless the customer ( of the bank) has colluded in the fraud.
Of course if its a huge loss and someone has accepted a £10000 for a painting of say - £200, then I would think the bank is going to try a test argument to say the customer is at fault for accepting it and try to get that counted as collusion maybe? I don't know - but on the surface it seems like good news for us.

I'm glad this topic came up. I've had a few e-mails recently saying that my work has been seen on the net (no mention of where) and could I supply more details, confirm my contact details, etc.

They are usually written in pidgeon English and I tend to ignore/delete them, but I always wonder if I am turning away genuine people.

In this case, "Jack Tom" wanted to pay by credit card and even emailed the credit card number. We now know it's a scam (thank you all for having this info here!), but were going crazy last night trying to figure out how it works. Then, my husband was thinking of creative responses to this person. I suggested he just send a quick email saying he was aware of the scam and to not contact us again. Thanks!

alli

Don't reply to the email if you haven't already, it just confirms your email address and it won't do any good anyway.

Elise

My husband had exchanged a few emails with this person before he forwarded them all home for me to look at. I think he wasn't that suspicious at first because people from outside the US who try to order products often have trouble--the credit cards don't go through for some reason. The shipping is also more expensive, so those transactions are usually done by phone. It was only after the subsequent emails that my husband became suspicious.

I kept googling this scam and found that it isn't limited to art or art related products. Everything from fishing gear to jewelry has been "ordered" from online sellers. We're going to report the emails and let the whole thing drop.