I'm going to be writing an article about art scams soon. I'm going to spotlight the work you've doing with this. Shoot me an email if you have any direct quotes you would like me to use.
 

Hey Brian, feel free to use any examples that I have posted. The more artists that know about these "people" the better.

Not sure if I have any quotes on them, just that I think theyre cockroaches.

I would like to see some one investigate what can be done about them. For example, if you can track them down and have their name, address, and contact details, why can't they be prosecuted??!! If you have proof of a crime and an adress of the thief, it should be case closed, but the authorities don't want to do anything about them!!
 

It can be a hassle. They can say that they were not the one behind the computer. I'll start working on the article soon and will give credit where credit is due.
 

At last the UN and other authorities are sorting out these scamms. I just received the following email:

BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION
Metro Plaza, Plot 991/992
Zakari Maimalari Street
Cadastral Zone AO,
Central Business District, Abuja.
TEL: +234 -807 531 2081

Dear Sir/madam

The BRITISH High Commission in Nigeria received a report of scam against you and other British/US citizens and Malaysia,etc. Consequently , as a result of the international community threat of sanction to Nigeria,the country of Nigeria has decided to compensate you and other scam victims after a meeting held with the world high commissions and United Nations against fraudulent activities by the Nigerian Citizens.

Your name was among those scammed as listed by the FBI ,CIA , the Nigeria Financial Intelligent Unit (NFIU) and the Nigeria Economic and financila Crime Commission (EFCC) . A compensation has been issued out in form of ATM CARD to all the affected victims and has been already in distribution to all the bearers.

Meanwhile, your Secret Pin Number will be available as soon as you confirm to us the receipt of your ATM CARD. Your ATM Card Value shall be communicated to you later after we have received the below requested information from you. Be informed too that your ATM card maximum daily withdrawal is US$2,500.

The ATM CARD is duly inter-switched and you can make withdrawals in any location of the ATM Center of your choice/nearest to you any where in the world. We have also concluded delivery arrangement with our accredited courier service Company to oversee the delivery of the ATM Card to you without any further delay.

You are hereby advice to forward to this office the following information:

1)Your full name and address
2)Your telephone/fax numbers.
3)Your identification particulars,such as your international passport or drivers license,scanned.
3)The total amount you expended or was defrauded.
4)Your occupation.

You are advised that you should stop further contacts with all the fake lawyers and security companies who collaborated to scam you. Call me at: +234 -807 531 2081 immediately to check if the delivery date suits you.

We will appreciate your urgent response to this matter.

Yours faithfully,

Richard Crosswell
For:British High Commissioner to Nigeria

Just let Richard help you out by taking on your identity and excess wealth and you will never need worry about scams again.
 

Something to look forward to Earl.. piles of money from Nigeria.. woohoo!

They would be funny if they werent so dangerous.

Maybe people should have to have a license before they use a computer to become aware of these idiots, then they would go out of business and disappear quickly.

It's like spam, if people dont buy from the spammers, the spammers are out of business!! We would never receive another spam email again because no one would ever buy anything from them.

It's such a simple solution but I dont have that much faith in us all changing.
 

dude, you need to post more articles, things slow again at work now that we moved, not a good sign. And those at the LA Times and Guardian are very fickle, depends on who is editing on whether I get through or not.

Just wrote on the Guardians article about Dali, brought up above. Dali being the illustration of arrogance, pride, the academies, of mans hubris, delusions of grandeur. Miro being the poetic, musical, wonderous before Mankind, God and Nature. Seeing the resolutions of supposed opposites, which arise only in mans mind, not reality, the Tuth of our Universe, which is beyond our understanding, and the lies in words, in anything created by man for man alone, worshipping his illusion of omnipotence.

Getting my next article, Art and Purpose, together on other sites, step it up man! I need challenges, I am afraid I am rather competitive, that basketball thing I guess. The art world is so much easier, but dumber. Time for it to grow up again, and be responsible. Is it time? Scammers dont think so, for greed is their bait, illusion their tool. Dali would have been a great scammer, certainly much more original than this same ole same ole. But con men do go to the tried and "true". As man always looks to self delusion.

ACDE
 

I too have been contacted by this art scammer, although she is going by the name of "Betty Locke" in my communications. The same "moving company" is involved.

I was suspicious, but have already received payment. What was very strange was that my artwork total came to $1025.00 and the check was for $4000.00. Also the check didn't come from New Jersey (where she claimed she is living until her move to South Africa), but from a BMW dealership in California.

I questioned her about the overage and she said to give it to the movers. Hmmm!

The check is in the bank, but obviously I want no part of this now. Any advise?
 

I have been contacted by the art scammer Janet Francis and when I became suspicious I googled her name and found this site. Thankfully!

Now she is at the stage of the game where she is going to have the movers contact me, although I have not responded to her most recent email. I am wondering if I can somehow get the police involved to stop these people? Does anyone know if there is a way to have these people arrested before they commit the scam?

Obviously I am not going to give up my artwork, but I don't want someone else to fall prey to these people. Any advice?
 

Hi Mariposa,

I was almost a victim of this scam also. The name was different, but the letters were exaclty the same as many posted on this blog. I did contact the police and they actually sent an officer to the house to take info, but we never heard back from "the detective" who was supposed to take over the case. I wasn't suprised....they have many more pressing cases, but I felt I did my part as well as I could. I hope this info allerts more artists to this scam.

Sara
 

Janet the art scammer has contacted me to purchase work from my website. Be aware she is using the name JANET PERRY. Her shipper James carter from
epressmover has also emailed me.
 

I am very thankful for blogs like this where one can go to get good info. It appears that Janet Perry had almost struck again. Now that I am reading this info, she will not receive my art nor my hard earned money. I just don't know exactly how to proceed at this point. She has agreed to a price and her husband is to send a me check (which I am sure will be way too much). Her "mover" contacted me already and that is what got me suspicious enough to investigate. I am glad I did. How do I bust her? Do I call the local police, state police or FBI? I am sure the amount in question is not worth their time.
Any advice is appreciated.
 

Anon, from the feedback I have heard, don't even bother going to the authorities as it's a waste of time. Theyre either powerless or don't have the motivation to pursue cases like this.

Best thing to do is learn from it and make sure your artist friends know about the scam. The good thing for artists is that the scammers are so predictable and theyre easy to spot. Their names change but their story doesnt.
 

Janet Francis also sent me an email claiming that she works for a bank and would that a deceased man had 15 million dollars that he left with her bank. The bank would have to give the money to the government if no one claimed it. she said that I could split the money with her if I claimed to be a relative of the deceased man. She said that she was from West Africa.
 

She sounds multi-talented Anon. If the idiot used these skills in an honest way it would probably make more money than it does.
 

Oh my, they are conjuring up even more inane stories than when they started....(I almost fell for the original scenario). Thank goodness I caught on before any money or goods were dealt with!!!!!
 

I have encountered the same scam. But the name is "Jennifer Gillian" I've been contacted by the same "shipping company" I suspected this was the scam a friend had warned me about, who almost fell for it while he had a camera for sale on e-bay. This scammer if asking to buy some of my art work. I currently have "her" in an ongoing "conversation" about the sale. I googled the shippers name to check it out and found your blog. Thank you! This helped verify that she was indeed the scam I'd heard about. By the way.."she" tries to sound authentic by telling all sorts of details about "her" life...like going to her sister's wedding and being pregnant, etc
Since she is still currently pursuing a "purchase"...does anyone know of any agency that I can contact and see if I can continue this and they can "catch" them?
 

I also was a near victim of a scam, but this time, she or he used a real name, of an artist in Baltimore. The details were exactly the same, and I was contacted by email by James Carter of ExpressMovers. Looking up his address led me to this website, thank goodness. But there were so many clues before. So supposedly, the payment for the artwork will be arriving tomorrow by UPS, Haaaaaa!!!

So I think this person is going to use any name they can and will probably change the particulars so that he or she doesn't get caught.

Yuck! Slimy! I hate having been in contact with such lowlife...
 

Well, I got the "payment" from UPS. It's a check from PFG Inc. on a JP MORGAN CHASE account...for about $2000. over the sales price. So you may very well get one too. I plan on taking it to my bank along with the copies of the e-mail chain and see if they have an investigator.
By the way, "she" has changed her e-mail slightly and asked that I use that for all communication because she is having trouble with the other.
 

This time, she is using the name "Crystal Moll", and someone even called me. We've had exchanged email for almost a week, same story but more extensible. Until today, I did a search on the mover James Carter and found this blog. I was suspicious, but the check came in even had a watermark and it’s from Lowe’s Inc. I can post the entire email thread since it’s almost like a story about she is in London at her sister’s wedding and pregnant, and hospitalized, almost lost a baby.
There is an address where they want me to transfer the money:
NAME......Jennifer Gonzalez
ADDRESS......20b Plateau lane palm caost, florida 32164, USA
 

Crystal Moll is an actual person (and a fellow artist) whose name has been appropriated by the scammers.

We should be careful (myself included) on putting names out there - there may be innocents in the crossfire.

ed
 

Yep she is at it again...glad I found you this is the latest email I received this morning...
from Janet Gillian jann.gill001@gmail.com
to Francine
date Fri, Aug 7, 2009 at 7:09 AM
subject Re: regarding art pieces by Francine
mailed-by gmail.com

hide details 7:09 AM (3 hours ago)


Reply

Follow up message
Dear Francine,


Good to hear back from you. Yes,i will like to proceed with the purchase of both works ( Diana's Roses and Iris Dream 16x20 ) . I think they are lovely works and i hope to give them good home.

I am presently away in London for my twin sister's wedding even though it comes at a time when i was preparing for a big move and also expecting a baby but it means so much to her. I should be back in few days.


Meanwhile,i will like you to forward your mailing address and phone number so i can inform my husband still shutling between our home in New Jersey and Jo'burg, SA on where to forward the payment . He has just been transfer to head the IT section of their head Office in Jo'burg.

I can also forward your contact info to the local cartage company that will be moving all our house decors so they can get in touch with you to arrange shipping details. They can arrange pick up FedEx pick up of the artworks from your studio.


I will look forward to hearing from you so i can know how best to proceed. Cheers.

Best Regards,
Janet..

- Show quoted text -
 

I have just been royally scammed by "Janet Gillian". I was about to contact the FBI when I decided to google the address of the mover. Yes, all "her" emails are almost identical to those posted. I believe she got me for $2700. I received a check via UPS overnight in an amount which was $2700 over my asking price. The check was drawn on Lowe's Inc. Same story--the overage was to cover moving costs and should be wired to the moving company before they come to pick up. I asked for a contact name for the movers who would be picking up and ignored the fact that I never got one. I am feeling really foolish even though my instincts told me there were strange inconsistencies. I could rationalize all of them away on the basic notion that this is an honest person. My question now is what to do. Someone mentioned contacting the company the check was drawn on. How does one do that? Who do I contact at Lowe's Inc.? I will go to my bank and the bank the check was drawn on to see if they can do any investigative work. Otherwise, I would appreciate concrete feedback.

By the way, here are the names they used:

Janet Gillian:
(jann.gill00l@gmail.com
Jeff ("her" "husband") he actually
called me! Maybe I spoke to
the real "Janet"
James Carter, the moving agent
who signed "his" name Jeff
Jeff Moll whose name was on the
check from Lowe's

"She" told me they were moving from NJ to "Jo'burg" and actually gave me both addresses so I could put them on my mailing list. I could quite understand why the check came from Lowe's in North Carolina. (Red flag ignored!)

When I got her first email I googled her but couldn't put anything together. I got to this site by googling "expresmover kings cross"

Thank you so much for all your comments. Any advice anyone can give me would help me regain a little confidence.
 

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!! I totally was almost scammed -- I have the art packed and ready to ship. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING THIS POSTED!!!!!!!! The letter you have online was VERBATIM!! I googled the mover and then "Janet Gillian". I am so stunned. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

I wonder what would happen if I just cashed the check... : ) (which is arriving tomorrow, by UPS, from her husband!) Geez!
 

There is no date for these posts -- are they even 2009?
 

The post was made January 2009, but some comments were added as recently as this week (18 Aug, 2009)

Janet Gillian seems active at the moment.
 

Also, it doesnt matter when the post was posted as the scammers have evolved very little. Their stories and tactics change little, if at all.

One could say that the artist scammers are so retarded that they havent participated in evolution for quite some time, if at all, as theyre still acting like monkeys.
 

Heres the latest on Janet Gillian or Janet Francis who is still active in trying to scam the artists. Thanks to your blog I was able to put 2 and 2 together. I must have received half dozen e-mail including one from her mover Jeff in "UK". quoted below is a message received on 17th Aug.

An artist in Vancouver Canada:

"Hope this message finds you well. "
Thanks so much for your concern and
patient regarding the whole transaction. It has been a very difficult
time with alot of things on the plate.


Anyway , i will like to inform you that the payment has been sent to
you by my husband and he was advise that you will receive it Tuesday
morning. It was sent via UPS and the tracking number is
1ZF428X60490359574 .


I will also call you later today for more details .


Meanwhile,i will like you to have our both addresses ,you can add it
in your mailing list. I will like to hear about your future works and
art shows. Our address in the states is...


269 Park Ave, Lyndhurst, NJ 07071

While our new address in SA is....

BLK 30AB10,
Nelson Mandela Way,
Joannesburg,
807LA,South Africa.


Try and get back as soon as you see this email . Cheers.


Best Regards,
Janet.