Since Nigerian Scams are sooooo last month…
I’m glad to see that design and the arts have now spawned their own “sequel” to the fairly infamous Nigerian e-mail money scam (see Archrival’s “Strictly Confidential” for more on this topic…) and have generated this gem that just arrived in my Inbox:
“Hello,
My name is Susan Kathy Smith,I am an artist together with my husband Anthony Smith,We are the Owners of Century Art Works in London(United Kingdon)I live in London United Kingdom,with my two kids,our cat and dog, and the love of my life my husband Anthony Philips Smith….
It is definitely a full house, I have been doing artworks since I was a small child That gives me about 23 years of experience I majored in art in higher school and took a few college art courses Most of my work is done in either pencil or airbrush mixed with colored pencils.
I have recently added designing and creating artwork on the computer,I have been selling my arts for the last 3 years and have had my work featured on trading cards, prints and in magazines,I have sold in galleries and to private collectors from all around the world.I am always facing serious difficulties when it comes to selling my art works to americans,they are always offering to pay with MONEY ORDER,which is difficult for me to cash here
in London United Kingdom.
I am looking for a reliable representative in the states who will be working for us on partime basis and i will be willing to pay 10% for every transaction,which wouldnt affect your present job,someone who would help me recieve payments from my customers in the states,i mean someone that is responsible and reliable because the cost of coming to the states and getting payments is very expensive and time consuming,i am working on setting up a branch in the states for now i need a representative in the united states who will be handling the payment aspect for our company untill we are able to set up a USA branch. These payments are in money order and they would come to you in your name if you are willing to assist as a representative, all you need to do is cash the money order, deduct your percentage and Western Union Charges then wire the rest back to us in the UK.
But the problem i have is trust,even though i have my way of getting anyone that tries to get away with our money,i mean the FBI branch in Washington gets involved. It wouldnt cost you any amount,you are to receive payments which will be sent to you by fedex or ups from my business partners, which will come in form of money order or cashier check then u are to cash it and send the cash to me via Western Union or Money Gram.
NOTE:All charges will be deducted from the money sent to you.you are therefore rest assured that you wouldnt send a dime out of your personal money. If you are interested,please get back to me by sending the following
1.Full Name
2.Home Address
3.Mobile and Home Phone Number
Regards
Susan K. Smith.”
Among my favorite lines from this delicious work of fiction:
1. For those who didn’t know, Brits clearly refer to it only as “London United Kingdom” and by no other terms!
2. Run-on sentences lacking all punctuation are apparently all the rage among British design and airbrushing circles.
3. Obviously Paypal has closed all possible online doors to handling transactions of this nature, because it sure seems to be worth the 10% in questionable money for Americans to courier the income to the British Isles.
4. “i mean the FBI branch in Washington gets involved…” – Homeland security has clearly managed to really crack down on the sales of “either pencil or airbrush mixed with colored pencils.”
Enjoy and have a good weekend, BA readers…
August 12th, 2006 at 5:08 am
Actually, I haven’t seen the artist-oriented nigerian money scams — but I have seen an extraordinary increase in graphic design spam. Spam pushing logo, branding, web design, etc. So it’s no longer pills, loans, mortgages, stocks, etc. If there are real designers behind that spam, it makes it a shame to share their profession. I guess it takes all types, but logo/branding spam really takes the F’n cake. Before you know it there will be childcare spam. “Need someone to watch your kid while you go to the movies?” I better stop before I give someone ideas.
August 14th, 2006 at 8:04 am
I have seen a scam like this one, that ran along the lines of, “We live in some country and are planning to move to england. We are rich but can only bring a certain amount of money across with us. We are however able to transfer money over before we move. If you send us your bank details…”
I stopped reading there. I needed a break to laugh.
August 14th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
What next ? “Your Veer account has been compromised, please click here to verify your account with us, or it will be canceled . . .”
August 14th, 2006 at 7:51 pm
Oh, you got my email. Good. Go ahead and send me your credit card number Paul, and don’t forget the little three-digit thingy on the back. In fact, if you just want to post them here that would be fine. And now it’s back to my flat in London United Kingdom.
June 22nd, 2007 at 1:41 pm
I got an e-mail like this from Paul Davis. I didn’t suspect anything and replied with my name and address (they didn’t ask any bank related information). Now I got a cashier’s check for some amount of money that I suppose to transfer to London. So, I want to know how this scam works. I didn’t go to the bank with this check yet, may FBI will be waiting for me there:) But if I can cash this check out, then how can they steal something from me?
December 23rd, 2008 at 4:22 am
My Top Tip for revenge on dating scammers
I manage a dating site, and I have discovered that scammers tend to almost always use yahoo as their mail service of choice. I have also noticed that the scammer often uses the same password for their email account as they do to set up tan account on your site. So for fun, I log into their yahoo mail account and change their password, that sets them back a little. Striking a blow for the ordinary webmaster…
January 14th, 2010 at 11:15 am
I received this emial .. along the same lines as the one above but more subtle. I guess this is to give a bit more credence and nake it more bonafide.
(CENTURY ART WORKS INC.)
LONDON UK
Hello Dear,
Good day to you, my name(s) are Mrs Labiba G. Watson, I am an artist together
with my husband Smith Watson, and we are the Owners of Century Art Works Inc in
London; I live in East-London United Kingdom, with my two kids.
I have recently added designing and creating artwork on the computer, I have
been selling my arts for the last 3 years. I always had a hard time collecting
my money from my customers in United State of America (USA) because some prefer
to pay me via Money Orders and Cashier’s Check. This is because the British
Government does not permit the usage of U.S POSTAL MONEY ORDERS HERE IN UK.
I am looking for a reliable representative in the states who can work for me
online without any disturbance on your present work. I will offer you 10% of
every payment you received from my customers; all I need is a trustworthy
person.
If you are interested, please get back to me as soon as possible.
Friendly Regards.
Mrs. Labiba & Smith Watson.
Reply with this Email: artventure_inc002@hotmail.co.uk
Thanks for your assistant and God bless,
LABIBA WATSON
DIRECTOR OF CENTURY ART WORKS INC
LONDON UNITED KINGDOM.