Word to the Wise!

Good Morning All!

I wanted to pass along some information that I have learned regarding internet scams and specifically about Bank Check scams that run rampant on the net.

My last post told you of my new membership to Fine Art America. Since joining I have been very pleased with the number of people who have viewed my work but my eyes have been opened to a new world as I was targeted by someone known to be a Bank Check Scam artist!

My initial enthusiasm with Fine Art America was boosted when I received an email from someone who claimed he wanted to purchase one of my pieces and asked for my name, address and phone so that he could mail me a Bank check for the sale amount. When something seems unlikely, as in me selling a piece of art within a few days of listing, one should beware.

I felt it odd that the potential buyer assumed there would be no shipping involved and that in fact there was no discussion of how the piece would be delivered. A red flag went up but was over shadowed by my excitement. I proceeded cautiously so in response, I asked for his location for delivery so that I might calculate shipping costs which would be added to the sale amount.
His reply was that I should not worry about shipping charges since his "collector" would pick up the piece.......

Alarm.... Alarm.... Alarm.....!

After relaying the story to my husband, he threated to disown me if I even replied to this inquiry again as this was indicative of a notorious style of fraud! It was a disappointment to realize this guy had no interest in my work and though I instinctively knew this situation made no sense, I decided to investigate using the discussion forum on the Fine Art America site.
Within moments I found my supposed buyer in the archives as a known offender who preys on new members. I quickly added my comments to inform the members that this person had morphed! He had signed his original message in one name but in the second email suddenly became someone else....

For those of you who are unaware, these frauds typically send you a fraudulent bank check for a greater amount than the purchase price and request a refund. Since they are often written from foreign countries or obscure non existant banks, by the time your bank discovers that the check is fraudulent and that funds are not available for the check to clear, you have refunded them the difference which you of course will never see again! Their interest never lies in the purchase but only in the possibility of getting you to send them money.

So I now stand christened into the world of attempted fraud and am glad that the circumstances led me to further investigation. I deleted the emails from my in box and have not heard from the predator since!

I hope that this story will help to put up a red flag for anyone who reads it, if ever put in this situation. And the old addage holds true. If something doesn't seem right, it probably isn't!

Take care and beware!

Another Great Opportunity for Artists!

Good Morning!
As a new Artist and one who doesn't feel comfortable with the Gallery scene, I am always looking for new opportunities to promote my work and get it in front of the public. While in Maine and searching the net I found a wonderful website for Artists, Galleries and Collectors alike that offers a terrific opportunity for Artists to promote themselves and best of all, it's Free! The website is called Fine Art America and by clicking this link you will be brought to my personal file on the site but can also navigate away from it to check it out. You will find that it is very user friendly and the only difficulty I have had with it was while adding photos of my work to the site. It offers a number of "artist specialties" to classify your work in, and gives the impression that you can choose more than one and although I did that, I can not really see that all of the pieces ended up in all categories. This may be user error on my part or I just am not familiar enough yet with the site to be able to find them all. Regardless of this little frustration the site seems very worthwhile.

Each Artist has a profile page, can download as many as 50 photos of their work, can list events they will participate in which will show up on the website calendar, can list Galleries that you are associated with, and of special interest to the business part of me, the site gathers information about the photos that web visitors have viewed and sends you emails regarding any comments visitors might make about your work. In addition you can create a blog connected with this site. Since I already have one, I have instead created a link to this one. For anyone who sells prints of their work, the site offers a paid membership for prints on demand where buyers can purchase direct from the site. They do not at this time offer the purchase of original artwork but you can list your artwork for sale with prices and photos in your gallery and buyers can then contact you directly if they are interested in your work.

After being a member for just a few days I was totally amazed at how many hits I have had of the different pieces I have downloaded. I realize it has been less than a week since I joined and that they feature new artists that join each day. Perhaps my hits will go down after the initial push, but I still got more hits than I would have elsewhere and look forward to seeing how it all progresses.

I recommend Fine Art America to any artists looking for more exposure. It will only cost a bit of time and you never know where it will lead....