New gallery up...

Hi all; I returned from Maine and finally have a gallery up of the best shots.

Art Scammers!

Well, this is a new one on me. I received an email from someone claiming to be interested in my artwork. Unfortunately, it's a scam - the kind where they send you a fake check for more than the amount requested, then ask you to write a real check for the balance. The exact same email exchange can be found here.


Unfortunately, the name the scammers used is an actual fellow artist, so I've elided their name to protect the innocent.

FWIW, here's the blow-by-blow:

1) Original contact

On 8 Jul 2009, at 11:32, XXXX wrote:
Hi,

Hope this message finds you well. I saw these creatives works on your web site and i will like you to get back with more details if they are still available for purchase.

Portal and Whaleback Light

I will appreciate an urgent reply.

Best Regards,
XXXX.

2) my reply

Hi XXXX,

Thanks very much for your interest in my artwork! Both of those works are still available for purchase, as signed numbered limited-edition prints.

All images are supplied with (edited blah blah)....

Above all, I can work with you on your needs and budget on the presentation.

Thanks again,
Ed

3) "her" response - lots of twin sisters getting married in London - something in the water?

Dear Edward,

Good to hear back from you. Yes,i will like to proceed with the purchase of both prints (matted at 16" x 20") . I think they are lovely works that will add alot of colours to our new wall and i hope to give them a good home. I should be able to frame them myself to suit our interior decor.

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,
XXXX

4) ...and then "her" "shipper" gets into the act:

Good day,

I have received communication from Mrs. XXXX that we should work with you to ship some artworks with her other house decors to her new house in Johannesburg, South Africa when you two are through with the transaction,as she advise.

I will like you to give me the kind and nature of the things she want to ship.I will like to have your studio address aswell,so i can make arrangement with any nearby Agent that will be coming for the pick up once you and XXXX are through with the transactions. Thanks.

I will appreciate your earlier reply .

Yours,
James Carter.
For: Expressmover.
The atlantic House.
48 Caledonian Road,
Kings's Cross.
London D 4 7 BT
UK.
Agent No..206-338-3153

5) ...at this point, "her" original email account gets suspended, "she" contacts me on a separate email address, and sends me a check via UPS overnight.

At this point, I have a counterfeit check for $2500 (much more than the price quoted), and a bunch of disabled email addresses that don't respond. ;-)

Anyway, be careful out there.

ed

Another book review..."Complicity" by Iain Banks.

Iain Banks is a contemporary author of Scottish background, who manages to write both regular (albeit plot-driven) fiction and science fiction (he adds his middle initial, "M", when writing SF.)

I've just finished reading Complicity, which originally was published in 1993, and follows two characters - one a self-described Hunter S Thompson journalist disciple who writes for an Edinburgh newspaper (written in the first person), the other an anonymous serial killer (written in the second-person).

The journalist, Cameron Colley, tends to write muckraking pieces that expose hypocrisy and moral and ethical bankruptcy on the part of large companies or wealthy people. Like his idol, he also indulges in drink, smoke, and harder pleasures; carries on a torrid illicit affair; and, somewhat strangely, also is hooked on video games. The description of his day-to-day life in Edinburgh is filled with details that seem right for the setting (1993). Interestingly, although it isn't a main element of the book, he definitely captures the direction that computing was heading, even in that pre-web time, which makes this read more like a contemporary novel set in 1993 rather than an artifact of that year.

The serial killer, on the other hand, is left quite mysterious...except he seems to target the same people that Cameron writes about. Cameron and the serial killer are headed on a collision course, as the murders seem to implicate Cameron.

Iain Banks is a very readable author - he draws deft characters and gives them interesting and realistic dialogue to speak, fills his scenes with plausible details, and despite the unlikable elements of both main characters, gives them enough sympathy that you care about them and drives you to finish the book. The plot is well-written, and the story skillfully alternates between the present Cameron, flashbacks of Cameron's life, and the serial killer.

All in all, I liked this book a lot, and would recommend it to readers of mysteries or thrillers without hesitation.

If you haven't read Banks before, I'd definitely check him out, with or without the M - and this book is a fine place to start.