Laura Stout, Dallas, Tx

Anybody have any contact with this person? She (?) has written me twice talkiNg about buying my art. The English was pretty good but not perfect. She spoke of buying one painting, then attached 4. Of course, there was the obligatory red flag in that her husband will send the check…but he’s not home right now…my assumption is that this is a scam…it fits so many patterns we’ve seen. Let me know if you know anything?

9 comments
  • Anonymous

    This is a money laundering scam. They send far more than the price asked( who does that???) lol Then they ask you to refund the difference, the result is clean money as it has come from a legitimate account, yours.
    The rule of thumb
    if it looks too good to be true, then it’s a scam.

  • Anonymous

    I had the exact same experience, only the name and location in Texas were changed. The scammer’s English was flawless and they seemed quite legit. But when I researched their name on Spokeo, PeopleFinder etc. , nothing came up. When I did a search for the address they wanted the art sent to, it turned out to be a very nice condo that had recently sold. The listing agent’s name was posted so I called him on the chance that possibly the new buyers were whom I was dealing with and they wanted artwork for their new home. Haha. The real estate agent told me I was the second artist to contact him and that the other artist’s story was the same as mine. The condo’s new owners were not the same individuals that had contacted me and were not looking to buy any art. I am really glad I made that call; it saved me from being scammed. There’s a very helpful section on PayPal’s web site that offers ways to protect yourself from unscrupulous people. I recommend it highly. Had I known about its existence sooner I could have saved myself from wasting time and getting my hopes up.

  • Anonymous

    I have the same experience. Same name and location. I actually sent her the artwork and she sent me a money order with so much money, more than I asked for!
    I deposited it today. Still waiting for it to show in my account.
    The weird thing is that she wanted me to send her the difference back in 3 separate money orders. Weird!
    I don’t know what this means!

    • Anonymous

      What it means is, you probably lost your art. They send money orders for far more than requested, then you send back the excess. In the meantime, the fake money order you deposited is rejected by the bank and the money you returned to the “buyer” is also lost.

      • Anonymous

        I’ve had exactly this one in the UK. The sent me a cheque from a bank in Paris, but not from the person expected (the buyer’s ‘business partner’, apparently), and for more than double what I expected. I flagged it with my bank, and they held onto it in investigate. The upshot was that if I had paid it into my account it would initially have looked like a legit deposit, but the cheque was from a stolen book, and after a few days or so the fraud would have been detected and the money returned. The few days is the window is the window for the fraudsters have to get you to send them cash and art – though I suspect the art was immaterial, as presumably the address they gave me was fake.

        In a later one the fraudster was after the art too. Claimed he was buying antiques in London and having them driven to him in Norway, via Scotland, and that his van would stop off en route to collect my paintings in Wales. His proposal was to pay me extra for the art, and that I would give the balance (in cash) to the driver to pay his fee for delivering all the antiques, etc. It was pretty brazen.

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