Protecting Yourself from Internet Fraud By ArtistsInCanada
From: "Henry Tony" Sent: Friday, April 15, 2005 10:52 AM Subject: Placing an order Hello, I will like to place an order in your store,and i will like to know if you ship to SOUTH AFRICA and my method of payment will be CREDIT CARD.so please let me know if you can assist me with the order because is really needed urgently,And please do not forget to include your web page in your replying back to my mail.I will await your prompt response. Look forward to hearing from you. Best Regards Henry Tony
OR POSSIBLY YOU HAVE JUST RECEIVED THIS EMAIL?
Attn: Our Esteem Customer,
We have deposited the check of your fund ($1.700`000`00USD) through Western Union department after our final meeting regarding your fund. All you will do is to contact Western Union director Dr. Gary Mark via E-mail([email protected]). He will give you direction on how you will be receiving the funds daily. Remember to send him your Full information to avoid wrong transfer such as,
Receiver's Name_______________
Address: ________________
Country: ____________
Phone Number: _____________
Though, Mrs. Anaet Mark has sent $5000 in your name today Senders so contact Dr. Gary Mark or you call him +229-68227357 as soon as you receive this email and tell him to give you the Mtcn, sender name and question/answer to pick the $5000 Please let us know as soon as you received all your fund.
Best Regards
Thanks,
Dr. Philip Ezeson
Sound Familiar?
Experience is what you get when you are expecting something else. Everyone wants a popular site. The traffic means the word about your wonderful artwork is finally getting out. It's exciting to have hundreds of people looking at your work, some sending you e-mail and even placing orders. Filling your first order is another milestone in your internet education. You may never meet your potential buyer, but they 'love' your work and they will pay anything you ask for it. Wow, isn't the internet great? Don't let your excitement about an order cloud your judgement. Follow common sense and the rules of e-commerce, even if that means "no sale". The Rules Protect Your E-mail Address Never post your e-mail address on the internet in a machine-readable format. Scammers often use programs to scan the internet for e-mail addresses and to automatically send pre-formatted e-mails. Make this difficult for them and they won't be able to send as many e-mails in a day. Use a form-mail program like the one provided to members of ArtistsInCanada, or get one from one of the many free script sites like this one: Matt's Script Archives
If you can't run a form-mail program from your server, put your e-mail address in a JPG file with a patterned background and post the JPG file on your site. The patterned background should be lineart and is intended to make the text difficult for a program to read. Don't post your e-mail address in open forums or guestbooks. Look for signs that you're receiving a form letter Is your name mentioned? Scammers are less likely to personalise their first contact with you. By changing one or two words could you request an order from another site? At the same time, look for words that are out of context.
The e-mail at the top of this page has several things that "aren't quite right": Henry Tony thinks he's buying from a store. Your artwork is 'urgently needed', but no reason for the urgency is given. Not exactly life-threatening, I'd guess. His grammar is poor. A 'real' art buyer would probably be more educated, though this would be a judgement call on your part. Does the author request your url? If so, why? Didn't he get your e-mail address from your site? Does the buyer mention the exact piece he wants to purchase or just say something general? A real buyer should know exactly what they want, what price they are willing to pay and will not likely accept a substitute without seeing it. Show me the money After you've accepted an order, be sure you have the money before you ship. Hold the payment in your account for at least 10 working days in Canada, and up to 5 weeks for foreign orders. It is recommended to go to your bank manager after 10 days and get it in writing, that the cheque is good!
Remember cheques bounce, money orders can be forged and credit cards can be stolen. Phone the company that is issued the payment ( the bank, Western Union, Visa, etc. ). Be sure to get enough information about the buyer to have legal recourse if the transaction goes wrong. Don't count on much help from a 3rd world country that is trying to feed the starving masses. They won't have the resources to chase down a 'petty criminal'. It's better to decline a sale than to be a victim. Don't accept overpayments. If the buyer mistakenly adds a zero to the end of the cheque, return the payment.
NEVER issue a refund for the difference. This is a common scam technique called the 'overpayment fraud'. Remember who pays if the buyers payment bounces, but your 'refund' goes through. Filling an order When you have the payment, you're ready to fill the order. Or are you? Don't include other items in the order. Consumer electronics in particular are easy to sell, and if the buyers payment doesn't work out, you'll be responsible for the cost of the included goods. Taking Action For most people, the simplest thing to do is ignore orders from 3rd world countries entirely. This is the most unlikely place for an art collector to live. If you choose not to accept orders from 3rd world countries, you should not respond to e-mails from them. Scammers keep databases of their contacts, the same as spammers.
Type 'A' personalities may wish to take a more active role. For example: Copy the e-mail headers and send the scam e-mail (with headers) to the e-mail service provider's abuse department. Report the fraud RCMP SCAM REPORT Respond to the e-mail, which takes up the scammer's time making it less productive for them to continue their activities. A single individual won't make a difference, but if a lot of people do this, it will make an impact. This has become a popular hobby with some people, and a number of websites have sprung up with publication of the e-mail exchanges. The following link is one of the better ones (coarse language warning): Scam O Rama Links for More Information. Identity Theft - Consumer Measures Committee Links to Websites Fighting the Nigerian Scam/419 Nigeria - The 419 Coalition Website
Copyright © 2015ArtistsInCanada.com If you have comments about this article or wish to provide information to improve it, please send an e-mail to the site administrator for ArtistsInCanada.
