Your cart is currently empty!
An interesting Art scam that just happened to me..
Idea!!
I was listening to this american life and they mentioned a way to fight back, and that is to find ways to waste the person’s time on the other end. Send them on a wild goose chase if you will, while knowing that it is a scam. How do we waste their time so they can scam less people? Any ideas?
UPDATE!! (8/3/2008)
Received another scam! Similar in that they named the artwork on my site. This one came from Oceanic Artwork. Hopefully posting this address will warn people like the previous exchange.
Mr. Paul Simon
FOR: Oceanic Artwork
E-mail: oceanic.artwork@yahoo.com
Or writing us at:
Address:
Suite 031, Wuse phase 2,
Behind New Market central
Area FCT Abuja.
Calling us at: 09-7821850,
+234-802-525-8946
UPDATE!! (6/17/2008)
Apparently the FBI cannot do anything about this — somebody said they called back and said “Australia is out of their jurisdiction.”
What a strange time this internet phenomenon. So what do we do? Team up with the Knitting shop that is actually at this address? Keep sending the information to the FBI, regardless of antiquated structures of “jurisdiction?”
It baffles me that this still is going on.
UPDATE!! (4/28/2008)
This person has tried to pull one over on too many people! We are now encouraging everyone who has dealt with this scammer in some fashion to forward their emails and experience to the FBI.
Apparently, one of the recent emails has an IP address that originates from Vietnam
—————————————————
So I went through an interesting internet interaction this month. It all started with this email.
Hello
my name is jack tom I want to place an order in your store, and i will like to know if you ship to Australia? and my method of payment is credit card so i need you to kindly get back to me with the link to your webpage where your products are listed so that i can see more of your works after which i will place my order to you and we can go from there i will await your prompt response,
Regards
Jack tom.
I did initially think it was spam, mainly because of the broken english. I responded:
Pardon my frankness, but can you elaborate on what you are talking about?
Where did you get my email? What webpage did you see?
My artwork is @ noelhefele.com. I’ve shipped to australia before, so I am sure we can work something out. Is it paintings you are interested in? I will have prints of artworks available in a month or so.
Thanks for your interest!
Noel
I suppose I was optimistic. He responded
Hello Noel Hefele,
Thank for your fast response and i want you to know that i came across your store information via Google and here is what i will like to order for,Margate Mural Progress photos……………qty:2
Julie’s Sycamore………….qty:2
It’s 4:14. (Whey Fo Me)………….qty:3
I will like you to get back to me with the total cost and the shipping cost.and here is address for you to the shipping cost via ups or fed ex.and please kindly get back to me if this items is in stock because i do not want any delay on this.
9 Marian Street
Killaria 2071AUSTRALIA
hone: 61 2 9498 6830Do this on time so that i can be able to give you my credit card information and complete my order for me
Best Regards
Jack tom.
What was wild was that he named artworks of mine! I should have searched for that address at this point, but I needed to put up a print store anyway. So I went to imagekind and did that.
Noel Hefele to Jack
show details Jan 23 (2 days ago)Reply
Jack!
Thank you for your patience.
Please take a look at my store –
noelhefele.imagekind.com/
I wanted to find a solution for you because I don’t deal overseas frequently. I have been selling at festivals, but not much over the internet. Mostly just ebay!
Since you will be my first customer through imagekind, I am selling them to you at what the cost would be for me. I.e. no markup for me. If you do order and are happy with it, let me know!
Unfortunately I can’t sell a print of the margate mural. That is a photo of a mural I completed for a family over the summertime and I don’t have a photo to make prints from.
Please check back at the store over the next week as I will add more paintings!
Thank you again Jack!
Let me know if you have any questions…
He wrote back:
Hello noel,
thanks for the mail, what about the ???
Julie’s Sycamore………….qty:2
It’s 4:14. (Whey Fo Me)………….qty:3are they available in stock now?? if not let me know i can change my order if that will b ok by you and i will be ordering the margate mural in my next order so kindly get back to me asap so we can proceed with this transaction
await your reply.
I was starting to get confused. Yet, always wanting to believe in people, I wrote:
Hi Jack,
You can order both of those today at the web address below…
http://www.imagekind.com/GalleryProfile.aspx?gid=741ec70f-9bfe-4f1f-8ec1-be0e6473e57a
or if that doesn’t work, go to
noelhefele.imagekind.com
They are in stock!
Thank you kindly…
Noel
The curt response re awoke suspicion.
Hello noel,
i want to place my order to you directly cause i believe its not secure for me to order online so get back to me with the quote asap
I searched for the address and found out it was actually a knitting store in Australia owned by 2 nice ladies. I wrote them:
Hello Crewel Gobelin –
I thought you might be interested in this… Your address is listed in what increasingly looks like a scam…
kindly,
Noel Hefele
They wrote back, confirming our suspicions
Hello Noel,
Thank you for your email with further information of this scam. You are the 8th person to contact me, that they have been targetted by Jim Scott, John Carter and now a new one, Jack Tom.
I have looked into what can be done from the Australian end, but nothing if a fraud has not been carried through.
I have a disclaimer on my Home Page for the first 2 criminals and will now add Jack Tom.
Thank you again and have a lovely day. Kind regards, Margaret
Kind of funny! It’s a niche scam that I came close to believing! I have to say that is a first. I used to wonder who believed these scams, but when it tunes into a particular desire of your own, you tend to gloss over the inconsistencies.
As a result however, I’ve posted some work at noelhefele.imagekind.com, where you can buy prints of my paintings. Not a bad development in the end!
Comments
85 responses to “An interesting Art scam that just happened to me..”
This is a bit weird because that is very near where I lived in Australia. I’ve even walked by it when I went to the Killara train station by mistake!
I’ve “just” received the same email from John Carter. I’m glad I found your blog post by googling part of his email to me.
I am disappointed, but glad I found you’re blog site. I have been dealing with John Carter, and thought his order was legit. Jack tom’s email was almost word for word the same as John Carter’s. I found your blog site by googleing his home town. Thanks for posting this info, It saves us artists a lot of grief. Jim
I was suspicious of this and I found you by googling his phone number. HERE IS SOME OF MY CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIM:
Hello,
Thank for your fast response and i want you to know that i came across your store information via Google and here is what i will like to order for,
MARC JACOBS-ELIZABETH 5 Pc Setting (142584
qty :6
I will like you to get back to me with the total cost and the shipping cost.and here is address for you to the shipping cost via ups or fed ex.and please kindly get back to me if this items is in stock because i do not want any delay on this.
9 Marian Street
Killaria 2071
AUSTRALIA
Phone: 61 2 9498 6830
Do this on time so that i can be able to give you my credit card information and complete my order for me
Warmest Regards
John
AND NOW GOING FOR THE KILL:
Hello,
Thanks for the total quote of my order.The total cost of my order is quite correct and okay by me and I’m ready to pay the bills . Also want you to help me Charge another $800 USD to a shipping agent who is going to pick up my ordered items from you.
The $800 US that will be sent to the shipping agent is for the shipping of my order plus other items i ordered from different countries which will be deduct from my credit card.Also, I’m compensating you with the sum of $250 US for the transfer fee and for your efforts. Please note that i should have given the shipping agency my credit card for him to deduct the shipping funds but he told me that he doesn’t have the facilities to charge or debit credit card , so that’s why i bring my vote of confidence in you and i don’t want you to betray the vote of confidence i put in you, so i want you to transfer the funds to him after you have make the charges and the money charged from my credit card is in your account,then you can now make the transfer to the agent via western union.i will have love to do this my self but there no western union here around me,So the charges you’ll make on my credit card will be:
Order Fee ($864.00)
Agent fee with shipping fare ($800 US)
Transfer Fee plus Your Compensation ($250 US)
Total:($1914)
right now so that i can forward my credit card detail
Note that my credit card will be charged for the amounts above . Please do get back to me if you are in the offices to you , then you can charge full amount and transfer the agent funds to him via western union.
Warmest Regards
John
Wow, has your blog just saved me a hugh headache. I got an email from Jim Scott last night wanting to order 15 pieces of my work. The correspondences I’ve had are almost identical to everything I’ve read here. I started to be suspicious when he responded immediately to the email I sent from the States at 7:00am to Australia. Either he’s up at all hours, or is lying. I see now which it true. Thanks so much for your post. I’d gotten to the points in my email about “his agent coming to my store to pick up items, therefore I didn’t need to figure shipping charges.” Also, he seemed overly eager to give me a credit card number. He mentioned it in three different correspondences. I googled his name and address and was brought to this site. THANK YOU!
So glad you guys searched and found this post. I had hoped it would help prevent this from happening to someone else. I was amazed at the
specificity of the scam and how many people contacted me regarding it! I was certain it would be the “over pay” technique, however that is supposed to work.
It makes you feel weird when they target a particular hope/dream you may have!
Same thing here-only not artwork but rather a $4500.00 Waterpillar. I found you by googling the address. Thanks for explaining how they could profit.
Thanks for posting the info. It helped when I googled the intro line of the scam and it exactly matched yours. Mine was from “Brenda”. Not for art goods, but rather a ridiculous quantity of video programs we had produced.
Goofy, but sad……
the targets diversify! A Waterpillar! Wow!
Jack tom sent me a request for my art as well. Now i know not to bother responding. Thanks everybody!
Andrew- Toronto, Canada
It’s April of 2008 and this scam is STILL going on. Thanks for documenting your experiences for others.
April 20, 2008-Scam is still going on. I knew it was suspicious but couldn’t figure out where the scam was. Now I know. Thanks for posting!
Thank you so much for your post – I work for a book publisher and received an e-mail just like the ones above from “John Carter.”
You saved me a lot of bother and headaches! Those poor owners of the knitting store… I hope the scam gets shut down soon.
I too had a feeling this was a scam, but as my art was mentioned by name I thought well maybe its legit, I will give it a cautionary ok. The name I was given was Tugay Bentley, ordering over $2000 in prints of my work. I even ordered more prints to complete the order, just in case it was legit. It got to the stage of having a carrier pick up the order. At this stage I googled the address and found your blog THANK YOU. it was just about word for word. I did have my suspicions but you are always hopeful. hope this helps others.
is there anything more we can do? Like find the IP address or something?
folks! for the moment let’s try and direct each instance toward the fbi @ https://tips.fbi.gov/
In the meantime, let’s look for hackers!
uh.,.. or something?
We are in the process of dealing with him right now, we are just waiting for another email to “seal the deal” not sure if having current contact with him will help catch him or not but we haven`t shut him down yet, going to see where it leads.
tmay2624@hotmail.com if you have any ideas or advise
I am corresponding with “Jack TOm,” too. He wants 150 of my hand-made soy candles. SAME wording on initial email as others have received.
I have worked “traditional” retail before, and the red lights glared at me from the first message: new, overseas client; credit card; weird quantity; doesn;t mind shipping costs; and wants product immediately.
I just asked the guy if he would be willing to wire transfer the purchase amount. Haven’t received a reply yet…(grin)
My report has been forwarded to the FBI.
Clint Bradford
http://www.soytives.com
Thank you for this information – just started receiving emails from John Carter this week and was suspicious due to the grammer with a name like John Carter from Australia – the emails we’ve received were exactly like yours only listing specific prints of my husbands.
Thank you for posting this in your blog, Noel.
Like the others we had been 99% convinced by the poster (ours is called ‘Joe Marcus’ btw) because he knew exactly what items he wanted to order.
We do not sell art but have a retail shop in England selling tools for working with stained glass, and the item he wanted to order is one that as far as we know we are the only shop in UK (and maybe the world!) selling them online. So had he ordered just one item I might have taken his card details and shipped it off happily.
I have just spent 30 minutes or so working out the best way to ship the 15 items and calculating shipping/insurance costs.
With him ordering a large number of them I even went as far as checking with our bank as to the safest way of getting paid that would meen a scammer would have had a hard time reclaiming the dosh if he had sent it to us by bank transfer.
Then in an idle moment I thought I’d google his town and postcode and found your blog entry!!
Thanks again for being public spirited and posting your cautionary tale for others to find and be warned!!
I shall definitely send copies of the correspondence we received to the FBI.
Thanks again for the heads-up!!
>>…red lights glared at me from the first message: new, overseas client; credit card; weird quantity; doesn’t mind shipping costs; and wants product immediately…
ADD to that list – using a free email address. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with Hotmail, but when added to the list of other “red light” items, it all spells, “fraud.”
Clint Bradford
http://www.soytives.com
Oh boy, it’s April 28 that this guy contacts me using “Andy Moore”
Andy Moore [andystoreshome@gmail.com]
His initial contact hasn’t changed much either:
Hello,
Greetings from Merit consultant ltd.
We have one of our numerous customers worldwide interested
in purchasing some products from you. We want to
place the order and should be shipped by you Australia. We will pay via Credit Card for the
payment . Kindly Acknowledge this offer and get us your
website for us to give you the items
needed include your phone numbers for constant communications.
Regards,
Andy Moore.
and thing is that his address:
20 Marian Street
Killaria 2071
AUSTRALIA
Phone: 61 2 9498 6830
is literally a few kilometers from where I live, correct post code and everything.
He signed his second email Andy Mac though – stuff up on his part?
Anyway, he ordered $2,200 worth of items from me and insisted he use his credit card. I sent him a paypal invoice to use his credit card and received this:
we make payment only thru creditcard.
thanks
So I pointed out he didn’t have to actually sign up with Paypal to use his credit card. =)
Then I called my bank to see what they thought and it was suggested I call him on the contact phone.
This number does not work in Australia! So I’ve just done a google of the phone number and found Noel’s blog.
Have to admit, devious little scheme but clever.
He got my suspicion on the “only use credit card” email.
Apparently, he’s taken up fishing and changed his name to Mark Worenberg. Same address and phone number, though. He tried to order several expensive items of fishing tackle from us today.
The EXACT same scam just happened to me!!!! Thank you so much for making this site!!!!
I was literally 2 seconds away form sending them out when i decided to look up the address!!! Thank you! who should i tell!!
-Emily
Wowzers!!!! I just got an email from the same Jack Tom…this is what he/she wrote:
Hello Kristin,
please find the attachment for the items needed 1 of each is needed asap kindly get back to me with the cost of my order asap
SHIPPING ADDRESS:
9 Marian Street
Killaria 2071
AUSTRALIA
Phone: 61 2 9498 6830
await your reply
jack tom.
Pretty sad that someone would try to pull such a scam…..especially since we all work so hard at what we do:(
I will forward all this info to this website:
https://tips.fbi.gov/
thanks again for all you artists out there!
~kristin davis
http://www.kristindavis.info
Hey
Thanks for the info. I got the same email, I wrote back that I accept cash only (in a big box…)
Paz
http://paz-art.com
Just had a mail from
Mark Worenberg [quarries2007@live.com]
same address, wants to order £1,700 worth of goods from my site. So glad I found this blog before I ordered the stock in.
Thanks all
Julie
I have been reading your blog last couple of weeks and enjoy every bit. Thanks.
I like it.
I was just contacted by Mark Worenberg to buy some of my art. I live in Ottawa, Canada and it is June 3, 2008. Thanks!!!
Thanks so much for having this blog! I, too, got email from “Mark Worenberg.”
What a jerk! He didn’t even read my reply to him about what he could order … just wanted to order some very expensive stuff.
May he receive some very nasty karma for trying to swindle people!
Hello, this happened to me and I run their credit card and send them the transfer for shipping, what can I do now????
Please help.
Hey, thanks for posting this.. I got the same type of e-mail at my art store except he used the name Andy Moore…. I thought it sounded fishy – always trust your gut!
@anonymous – the best I can suggest is to contact the FBI — the link is at the top of the page.
Hello
i deal with import and export of cosmetics and got a message from someone named Grant James with the following info:
Visa card 4465685000707644
Grant james
Card number:
Exp date: 06/09
Cvv:865
========================================
Visa card
Grant james
Card number 4465685000707529
Exp date: 06/09
Cvv:342
========================================
Visa card 4465685000707545
Grant james
Card number:
Exp date: 06/09
Cvv:765
========================================
BELOW IS HOW I WILL NEED YOU TO SEND THE SHIPPING FUNDS VIA WESTERN UNION
Shipping Agent DETAILS
Receiver’s Name: Mrs Tammy Lewis
907 old highway
City: Crossville, State:
Tennessee(TN)
Zipcode:38555
Email:pacificshippersusa@yahoo.com
He has placed a huge order and stopped sending emails only after i informed that i do accept wire transfer only.
Sfter he stopped messaging me i searched his email address on the net and it appeared that he did the same to many people and his name is among the scam email addresses.
I was wondering if there is such a site where we can place the names and email addresses of such people and that would be very helpful for those who are doing online businesses?
BTW, i also had such a bad experience with a Romanin company offering mobile phones.
Lilit
brandswholesale@yahoo.com
I just received this email today from John Carter (jccnext@gmail.com). Very disappointing. I filed a report at tips.fbi.gov
My company corresponded with the same people, and an online search yielded only this blog post. thank goodness for this page, or we may have been scammed. also, the name of my customer was Mario Hernandez.
Thanks for this Web site! I was just conacted by “Mark Worenberg” about purchasing some motor homes from me. He wants me to ship them to Dubai. I suspected it was a scam and I searched the we and found this site. Thanks for the info!
August 27, He's still on the prowl, I received an email from Jim Scott.. when I googled the phone number this blog came up.. Another artist friend of mine had the same email, she suggeted I google his name to find the scam info.. His emails were exactly the same wording to each of us & the broken english is a red flag…
My friend had someone else do this type of thing. & the credit card went through, then the credit card company pulled back the funds it was a stolen card number.. She was suspicious this time!
thanks for your blog, I won't be fooled by him. Joanne
his email is jimscott1980@gmail.com
I’ve just had an enquiry from a ‘Nikky James” using the Marian Street address and a quick google turned up this blog. Thank you for confirming my suspicions.
Sept 9 ’08
Phew! Thank you Noel for exposing this scam! I’m in Toronto and I received an email from a new name “Marthins Kyle” on Sept 5th. Same address and phone number. I found your blog after checking the phone # and address.
Seems they’re branching out, as I’m a Scrapbooking/Stamping business. They wanted to purchase ridiculous amounts of product which made me wonder why they weren’t just using a wholesaler. The rest of the scam is word for word, like described in the comments here; they wanted $1500 transferred via western union after the cc was processed. I’m about to tell them off and let others know about this so THANK YOU!
OH!! And your art is fantastic! Jan 🙂
thanks JanMac!
I also received such a scam. Thanks for the post to confirm my sketpicism. Thanks.
We received an identical email from Lola John samba75gsmpartner@gmail.com Thank you for this blog… i knew something did not feel right and although it was a smaller order than we are used to, it saved my company money and integrity!
Yeap, Lola John in australia is still scamming. Just was informed by my cc company that I was at risk. So grateful that they did a reversal in time. I did howe3ver waste time and money lining up my 2000.00 order with of course the 600.00 shipping fee to be western union..the approach and wording were all the same as the above folks experienced. I even double checked the cc machine company to make sure the number that called to alert me was not a part of the scammers. I’ve heard of one case of that happening. In these troubled times we are all going to have to get alot smarter. Thank you for this blog.
I am a new business too. I have had four people contact me with the same exact inquiry. The names were Kyle Marthins, Paul Williams, Ron Kay and Jon David. After I requested a wholesale company information form, they don’t respond. I also have my store set up to accept credit cards thru paypal, maybe that helps deter the scam. It’s a bummer that the first possible clients and it’s a scam.
Thank you for this information. It seems that we are yet another victim of this scammer. He is still doing his thing (oct 2008), only now he is using the name Lloyd Wayne , the email shopinawarness@gmail.com
And the adress: 20 Marian Street
Killaria 2071
AUSTRALIA
All emails are the same. All have some kind of free email account. I’ve had Briget Kritty from Tiawan, Jon David from South Korea, and Kyle Marthins, Paul Williams and Ron Kay from Austrailia. All inquiries were pretty much the same. Always ask for more information. They stop responding when you ask for their company info.
I am an artist. I got an email from Jim Scott jimscott1980@gmail.com. I knew it was a scam because I dont even have a website. I do shows and festivals, but I have no “store”. More aretist need to be up on this type of scam.
C.L. Whitehead
Wow, thanks for posting this, I’m defiantly going to spread the word.
Jeff
Add Mary Smith to the list of names. ‘She’ wanted to order $2000 worth of our skincare products. I was suspicious from the start when the products requested were the 3 highlighted on our home page (www.gingiskincare.com). The broken English didn’t help either and ‘she’ would not order from our online store and insisted on the most expensive means of shipping. I googled the Australian address ‘she’ sent and landed here. Thanks to everyone for posting their experiences.
Joel
Yep just got an email from John Carter thanks for the post helps everyone out. jeff
Hello,
Thank for your fast response and i want you to know that i came across your store information via Google and here is what i will like to order for,
Second and Ann
Oil on Canvas
14″ x 11″
qty:1
Fourth Street
Oil on Canvas
16″ x 14″
qty:1
I will like you to get back to me with the total cost and the shipping cost.and here is address for you to the shipping cost via ups or fed ex.and please kindly get back to me if this items is in stock because i do not want any delay on this.
200 GROTE STREET
ADELAIDE, 5000
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Phone: 61 2 9498 6830
Do this on time so that i can be able to give you my credit card information and complete my order for me
Warmest Regards
John
Well this Mr. Jim Scott really gets around doesn’t he?
He could at least change his words up a bit……..!
Sent us the same spew almost word for word. We’ve reported this also but looks like nothing can be done………?
dr
This guy just tried to buy some books from us. I got suspicious and Googled some of the words in his email and found this blog. Here’s the address and phone he’s using now:
200 GROTE STREET
ADELAIDE, 5000
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Phone: 61 2 9498 6830
That’s a Beaumont Tile store.
WH
I have had the same kind of story from Briget Kritty in Taiwan. All the flags were there, odd quantity of product, credit card, etc etc. When I tried to get a technical explanation fo the need for so many of the 3 types of connectors and no products that they connect too, I got a simply “I want them” response. I explained that we accept on 100% Advance Payment of Proforma Invoice via Wire Trnasfer for all international customers. I have not heard anything back. The address given for shipping was
MY DELIVERY ADDRESS
42 Pa Te Road
Sec. 2 Taipei
105 Taiwan
TAIWAN
using the “private shipping company” oceanfreightforward@yahoo.com
hope they get this guy!
Dave J
I also got the request from Bridget Kritty in Taiwan. Exact same info as Dave J above.
Thanks for posting this. Helped head off a scam before I spent too much time with it.
My company just received an email from the same scammer.
—–Original Message—–
From: Mallcom Gibson. [mailto:mallcomgibson@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2008 5:52 AM
To: barb@aspenware.ca
Subject: Order Enqiry
Hi,
We browsed through your web page and we are interested in ordering some of
your products,we are located in australia,we will like to know if you have
the items in stocks,so kindly get back to me with the right contact person
email,phone # and confirmation of website so that we can place our order
quickly, and i want to know if you have your own personal shipper or can the
order be picked up at your store,please advise so that we can proceed by
going ahead to place the order.
Regards
Purchasing Manager
Mallcom Gibson.
I’m so glad that I googled his address and found your site. I was made suspicious when I received a reply from him signed as Mark Williams rather than Mallcom Gibson. I have replied back to him that we only use Wire transfer for payment from International orders (evil grin)
Hi there
Another person here thanking you for the alert. We are a lingerie company. We received the email with a request for a large amt of goods. I googled him because it seemed fishy and found this!
Thanks, again.
Alyssa
IT IS NOW NOVEMBER 25TH & SCAMMERS ARE STILL TRYING. SAME EXACT EMAILS AS SOME OF THE ONES LISTED IN THE BLOGS. I BELIEVE THE NAME HAS CHANGED TO PROTECT THE CRIMINAL – THIS IS THE NAME AND CONTACT INFORMATION FROM OUR EMAIL WE RECEIVED. THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR A HEADS UP ON THE SCAM! AT LEAST IT WAS ONLY TIME SPENT EMAILING AND NOT OUR MONEY.
EMAIL: amarthins4@gmail.com
NAME:ANDREW MARTHINS
COMPANY NAME:AMARTHINS CO LTD.
ADDRESS
20 Marian Street
Killaria 2071
AUSTRALIA
Phone: 61 2 9498 6830
January 7, 2009 – just got an email from “Jack Tom” – here is the contact info provided:
Jack Tom
jackttom@hotmail.com
50 Marian Street
Killaria 2071
AUSTRALIA
Phone: 61 2 9498 6834
We are book distributor in Upstate NY and it looks as though the scammers have branched out of the art community. Here is the contact info from our e-mail.
Mrs Briget
42 Pa Te Road
Sec. 2 Taipei
105 Taiwan
TAIWAN
Dear Client,
Thank you for contacting ocean Freight company for your service.We ran into our data base on the location you provided and also rectified the customer id number (TW56HFJ76T) and later got to discover that we have shipped some wines to Mrs Briget in the past.We located in United Kingdom but help private customers in pick up like this. so getting your shipment to your client won't be a problem.
For a shipment moving from 220 Lafayette Street Utica, NY 13502 to Taiwan with the total Total weight and dimension you provide, below is the Standard and Express Shipment Air Freight quote.
customer id number (TW56HFJ76T)
Express Shipment (2 to 3 days) $750.56
Standard Shipment (3 to 7 days) $631.67
The freight costs includes:
Collection from your Yard
Customs clearance
Duties & taxes
Inland transit to Taiwan
Insurance
Door To Door Delivery
Pick Up Address
220 Lafayette Street Utica,
NY 13502 USA
Recipient:
42 Pa Te Road
Sec. 2 Taipei
105 Taiwan
TAIWAN
Pick up will be made by our agent in the states after payment is confirmed.We will need you to provide us with an estimate pick up date and time so that we can schedule a date and time for you before the the goods are ready for picked up as we normally have a lot of shipment request.
As soon as we receive all necessary information from you we will proceed on the pick up at your location,Also i will like to inform you that we only accept Western Union Money Transfer/Money Gram for now prior to pick up and collection of package which will be paid as soon as the order is ready for pick up. so you would have to send us the amount to which the weight of the goods weight via western union/wire transfer so that we can do the pick up and settle the necessary tax and custom duties,this price includes insurance and all there duties,then we will get back to you with the necessary details.We have greatly reduce the price of your shipment. For further information don't hesitate to contact us. Looking forward to be of more service to you.
We looking forward to be of more service to you and your company
I own a small fair trade store in Dallas and received an order from a woman named Brenda Drake in Taiwan with the exact same address as the one given to Dave J.:
42 Pa Te Road
Sec. 2 Taipei
105 Taiwan
TAIWAN
also wanting it shipped through a private shipping company (tudorairfreight@gmail.com) to be sent to
NAME :: Nelson Penta
ADDRESS :: 65 Galloway Rd,
London W12 OPH,United Kingdom
Needless to say, I will not be shipping this order, but I do have to deal with whatever chargebacks come through on her credit card payment she made.
The scam lives on ! Here is the latest set of credentials that they are using:
Hello
I want to place an order in your store,and i will like to know if you ship to Taiwan and my method of payment will be credit card. So please let me know if you can assist me with the order,And please do not forget to include
your web page in your replying back to my mail.I will await your prompt response as soon as you receive this mail,i will be very glad if you treat this email with good concern.
Warmest Regards
Mrs Brenda Drake
Following by a request for an order with our expensive items:
MY DELIVERY ADDRESS
42 Pa Te Road
Sec. 2 Taipei
105 Taiwan
TAIWAN
Also, I experience difficulties when it comes to getting orders to my address here in Taiwan i would be best if you contact the shipper which i used in the past(tudorairfreight@ymail.com or tudorairfreight@gmail.com), you can also notify them with my customer id#TW56HFJ76T.I will need you to obtain a quote and get back to me with:
COST OF THE ORDER
COST OF THE SHIPPING VIA TUDOR AIR FREIGHT
TOTAL COST (ORDER + SHIPPING)
Once i have these details, i will get back to you with my credit card details immediately.so you can charge and make the necessary shipping arrangements.
Regards
Mrs Brenda Drake
Emails used:
tudorairfreight@gmail.com
b.drake60@hotmail.com
We have no intentions of engaging any further. No merchandise was shipped and no payment accepted. Hopefully this post helps others in the future not to fall victim to this.
Here is one we just received at our skincare company. Almost identical…..
jazzy smith wrote:
> Hello ,
> here is the item that i will like to order from you
> ANTIOXIDANT REGENESIS CREAM I
> QTY 10
>
> AYURVEDA-ENERGEN FACIAL OIL II
> QTY 20
>
>
> MY DELIVERY ADDRESS
> 42 Pa Te Road
> Sec. 2 Taipei
> 105 Taiwan
> TAIWAN
>
>
> Also, I experience difficulties when it comes to getting orders to my address here in Taiwan i would be best if you contact the shipper which i used in the past (AIRNEESSHIPPING111@GMAIL.COM), you can also notify them with my customer id# TW56HFJ76T. I will need you to obtain a quote and get back to me with: COST OF THE ORDER COST OF THE SHIPPING VIA AIRNEESSHIPPING111@GMAIL.COM TOTAL COST (ORDER + SHIPPING)
> Once i have these details, i will get back to you with my credit card details immediately.so you can charge and make the necessary shipping arrangements.
> Kind Regards
> Mr jazzY
Hi, I also were contacted by a Briget Kritty who wanted to purchase a large quantity from my online. Wanted sent to this address in Malta
Name of Company:Briget Investment
36, Old Treasury Street
VLT 1410
Valletta
MALTA
Wanted order shipped by a company she used before called ASSESS AIR FREIGHT for shipping quote. Here is there email address assessairfreight@gmail.com
With an address of
Customer Service
65 Galloway Rd,
London W12 OPH,
United Kingdom
+447024062743
Lucky I gooled them as I too was very suss when they would reply to the email when it was the middle of the night in the UK, and then asked to wire money to a Western Union Bank Account.
I am just more concerned they have hacked into my computer!
I to found this web site googling the phone number. In our case he calls himself Frank Carter and his address follows:
481 Princes Way
Longwarry North, Victoria 3816,
Australia
Phone: 61 2 9498 6830
I googled the address and it appears to be a an empty lot!
I recently received the exact same email wanting to purchase a large quantity from my company. I was curious so googled the address and found your blog. Thank you everyone for posting your experiences. it has saved me a lot of trouble and money. I would like to add a new name that people should watch out for.
Andrew Marthins
20 Marian Street
Killaria 2071
AUSTRALIA
Phone: 61 2 9498 6830
His grammer is getting better because it did not raise a red flag for me.
I think I have narrowed down his IP address. It is …
BATC7300I01_CONSUMER
Country:
PHILIPPINES
Region:
MANILA
City:
MANILA
Got the same email from "Frank Carter" looking to place a large order and for some reason not using our online store.
The more questions I asked the more things didn't add up right. After getting shipping quotes for him he suddenly decided to have his "shipping agent" pick up the package in person.
As my B&M shop is in a remote small town, this I do not believe.
A little Google and lo, he starts popping up on all sorts of scam lists.
June 2009 – Briget Kritty is now saying she is in Thailand,
Delivery address:
1925 The Parkland Rd.Khwaeng Bangna
Khet Bangna
Bangkok, 10260
Thailand
using same London address for ‘shipping agent’ Assess Air Freight
Customer Service
65 Galloway Rd,
London W12 OPH,
United Kingdom
with a badly spelt email address constomer service assess air freight – assessairfrieght@gmail.com
Payment was to be Western Union money transfer:
make the payment to us via any western union outlet around you
*NAME :: Johnson smith
ADDRESS :: 40 Leicester Square
City, London
United Kingdom
WC2H 7LA*
We are a small company in Australia and came VERY close to loosing a lot of money so thank you for this blog and its many entries.
Have traded correspondence for an order from USA to Australia. Two initial emails, followed by order. I had some suspicions from the grammar in the first email, Another flag in the second email because he was not comfortable ordering online. Third email showed that it is clearly fraud. The order is impossible. 70 large Becca Kits!!! We are the #3 distributor of the brand. 10 of this item at wholesale is plenty to hold us. It is not a fast mover. Even if he went for a top selling item, the quantity should have him looking to buy wholesale from the manufacturer, not retail.
No way were we touching this order, but did a search and this guy comes up all over the place.
First Email:
>> Hello,
>> I want to place an order in your store,Do you ship to Australia ? mode of payment will be credit card,I will be very glad if you can assist me with the order,I will be happy if you treat this email with good concern
>> Best Regards
>> Frank Carter
Second email:
> Hello,
> I'm very glad to read from you,I will prefer email order than online let me know if this is acceptable
>
> I will await your fast response about this
>
> Best Regards
> Frank
Third email:
>
> Hello,
>
> Thank for your fast response,I came across your store information via
>
> InLace Kits – Resins
> Becca
> Large
> qty:70
>
> I will await the total cost and the shipping cost.here my address for you to get shipping cost via ups or fed ex.Let me know if you have this items in stock because i do not want any delay with this order
>
> 481 Princes Way
> Longwarry North, Victoria 3816,
> Australia
> Phone: 61 2 9498 6830
>
> Do this on time so that i can be able to give you my credit card information and complete my order for me
> Best Regards
> Frank Carter
David Blackwell
Benton & Blackie, LLC
http://www.inlacebook.com
It's June 2009,
the scam lives on Billy James wanted to buy 200 bras from our company.
Address was
55 Marian Street
killaria, 2071
61 2 9498 6830
I could not find the company Billy mentioned but found the blog using the phone number.
billyjames7@gmail.com was the email address.
Thanks for spreading the word..look for this topic on Twitter next
It's October 20009 – the scam lives on!
This time it was Bob Smith of:
Store Adventures Inc.
110 Miller St North Sydney
NSW 2060, Australia
Telephone: 61 3 95833387
Fax: 61 3 9585 0509
I got suspicious of the unusual grammar and googled the " i will like to know if you ship to Australia" which brought me here.
For some reason, he has branched out into GIS Software! 😉
Cheers
Jo
Thankf for your blog.
I did wonder if this was a scam. I won't bore everone with the details, but if helps others the keywords are:
65 Galloway Rd,
London W12 OPH,
T: {+44} 7024 062743
F: 011 44 20 4704 3169
E: tridorairforwarder@gmail.com
Tridor Air Forwarding
Douglas Fred at
Douglas Investment
36, Old Treasury Street
VLT 1410
Valletta
MALTA
NEXT ONE:
kelly.mann09@hotmail.com
Kelly Mann
8zTriq il-Kangu. City, Birzebbuga.
Country, Malta.
Postal/Zip Code, BBG07.
janbenham@live.com
AUSTRALIA
I just received this one, too. Sigh.
—————————–
Reply-To: janbenham@live.com
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Message-Id: <20100414130133.87F321777A9@scorpionshops.com>
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:01:32 +0200 (CEST)
Hello,
I am Jan Benham, an American but I reside and work here in Australia. I will like to place an order for some items from you, but I will like to know what you have available in stock.Let me have the website address where all the products you have presently in stock can be seen and if there is any special pricing I need to know about. Lastly regarding payment I will be sending you my credit card details for the full payment charges for my order.In order to avoid any form of delays can you let me know the type of credit cards you accept?I hope to hear from you as soon as possible so we can proceed with the Order.
Thanks with Regards.
Jan.
I got the same email from "Jan Benham" in my gallery's account. Thankfully gmail passed it directly into my spam folder. It's definitely a scam.
30, June 2010
janbenham@live.com inquiry
Thanks for the blog, Jan Benham is a legit person, so I almost fell for it fortunately her actual address differed from the scammer's. Here is the current text:
Subject: Placing an Order!
Hello,
I am Jan benham, an American but I live and work here in Australia, This mail is to make inquiry on the below question.
1- Do you carry overseas? (though i already know of a freight forwarder that will pick my packages from you,since they ship lesser than any other courier and they are so effective in shipping my goods to me here in Queensland,Australia is estimated to be 3-4days) I have used their services in the past and it was splendid.
2- Do you accept credit card for payment(my U.S.A Master and Visa card to be precise)?
Kindly let me know your comments on these, before i send the items i am interested in purchasing from you.
Await your reply.
Thanks with regards
I received the same janbenham@live.com email – I found it hard to just 'delete' it as spam – couldn't help wondering if maybe it wasn't legit, though my brain was sending warning signals…
And this is is why I love the WWW – I did this search on that email and it brought me to your post – thank you!
I have just been scammed by the same people! Amazing! I was contacted by a man called Mark Spin Company name Godon Mark Inc email: mark.spin@gmail.com. They ordered a large order of Fairy Lights from me value of AU$5217.86. They paid by credit card and the payment went though fine. He included the following details for shipping in an email to me:
Shipping Address:
Adddress: Gordon Mark Inc, Václavkova 169/1, Praha 6
Czech Republic
Concerning the shipment, the likes of UPS, DHL and others always don't take care of the charges down here. Charges like handling, customs and duties etc. We have experienced such situation before and we don't want to experience such a thing again. We will be glad if you contact this shipper Air Shell Freight for the shipping quote. Here is there email address( AIR.SHELL@AOL.COM ), Note that we can't deal with the shipper but they always deal with the company where they will be doing the pick up in other to reduce the customs duties and other charges down here in Czech Republic. By indicating in the paper works that the payment was received by the shipper from the point of purchase, it will reduce the charges and if we(owner of the goods) wanted to pay for the custom duties and other charges, at times it is more than the whole package amount. We do trust ASF and if we didn't wouldn't have ask you to contact them in the first place. They are very reliable and fast. They will take care of everything including handling, customs and duties,Tax, insurance etc. . Always send us the copy of email you send to them.
I contacted them and they replied with a freight charge and then also to pay ONLY by Western Union and that I must pay the charges, not them. I refused to pay the charges and advised them that they could pay directly and he was very upset that I do not trust the freight company and that he used them for 10 years!
I am worried now for my money and all of the stock we have spent hours making for this order, it is terrible!!
Anyone had the same trouble from this company???
December 8, 2013 and I’ve just had this experience with my jewellery business, except the name seems to have changed. I was contacted by a Tonia Smith – and her contact info traces back to a small leather-goods store. Except for the name, and perhaps the phone number, the e-mail was exactly the same!! *smh*
Scam still going on. Got a purchase request from Tonia Smith. toniasmith9056@gmail.com:
Hello,
I want to place an order from you. I know the difficulties encountered when
shipping internationally, But that will not be a problem because i am
registered with a shipping company whom i have used severally without any
delay nor problems with my goods. Before i place this order, i want you to
notify me if i am able to place the order and most important: If i can make
payment with my credit cards Visa/Mc (Issued in the United States) because
that is the only way we are set for payment now without no delay. I don’t
place online orders ,I can e-mail my ORDER then you can give me a quote here
and make charges to my cards manually on your end ? Pls Clarify. Looking
forward to your swift response then we can proceed further as soon as
possible.
Regards.
Tonia Smith
(Owner)
Hi to all,
this is new name that they are using:
Tani Smith
Quebec Store
Unit 1, 86-92 Milperra Road
REVESBY NSW 2212
AUSTRALIA
Phone: 612 9498 6830
Tax ID# 18156283
Do this on time so that i can be able to give you my credit card information and complete my order ASAP.
Best Regards
Tonia Smith.
e-mail that I have received after sending pro forma:
Hello Goran,
Thanks for the total quote of my order.The total cost of my order is quite correct and okay by me and I’m ready to pay the bills . Also want you to help me Charge another $1550 to a shipping agent who is going to pick up my ordered items from you. The $1550 that will be sent to the shipping agent is for the shipping of my order plus other items i ordered from different countries which will be deduct from my credit card.Also, I have set aside $250 for the transfer fee and for your efforts.
Please note that i should have given the shipping agency my credit card for him to deduct the shipping funds but he told me that he doesn’t have the facilities to charge or debit credit card , so that’s why i bring my vote of confidence in you and i don’t want you to betray the vote of confidence i put in you, so i want you to transfer the funds to him after you have make the charges and the money charged from my credit card is in your account,then you can now make the transfer to the agent via Bank Wire Transfer or western union.i will have love to do this my self but there’s no way i can get my hand on this at this moment,So the charges you’ll make on my credit card will be:
Order Fee ($2,370.00)
Agent fee with shipping fare ($1550 )
Transfer Fee plus Your Compensation $250)
Total:($4170)
Note that my credit card will be charged for the amounts above . Please do get back to me if you are in the office right now so that i can forward my credit card details to you , then you can charge full amount and transfer the agent funds to him Via Bank Wire Transfer or western union.
Warmest Regards
Tonia Smith.
I have reported this to FBI site, it is funny how they are all from Australia and targeting business all over the world.
https://tips.fbi.gov/
Total waste of time, someone should lock these people.
The scam still lives, or quite likely selling the information on how to do this is a pyramid scheme in itself? I’ve read of variations in Sweden, Malta, etc….
Hello Jeffrey
How are you doing today, i will like order for some items in your store, here are the items and quantities required, kindly get back to me with the quote as soon as possible today:
1) NOKEY SMALL
$400.00
Order Unit:…………. 03 Qty
2) NOKEY MEDIUM
$425.00
Order Unit:…………. 02 Qty
SHIPPING ADDRESS:
NELSON’S SHOPS LIMITED.
Plt 346 Sukhbaatar district,
Peace Avenue, Ulaanbaatar
Mongolia
Tel.:976 11 231 560
Fax: 976 11 324 678
Concerning the shipping, the likes of UPS, DHL and others always don’t take care of the charges down here.Charges like handling, customs and duties etc. We have experienced such situation before and i don’t want to experience such thing again,you do not need to worry about the stress involve and all documentations because i have a shipping company that have delivered to me in the past, i really like their services so i will like you contact them about the shipping, i will be glad if you contact this shipper (SHIPPING AND CARGO LTD) for the shipping quote.
Here is there email address (info.shippingcargolimited@qualityservice.com) They will take care of everything including handling, customs and duties,Tax, insurance etc, also you will be responsible for payment to SHIPPING AND CARGO LTD then all costs as far as shipping, taxes, duties, and insurance in addition to the costs of the product should be sent to me in a proforma invoice to be paid in advance of shipment. Always send me the copy of email you send to them, Kindly email them with details below,
Your Company Name and Pick Address:
Time the package will be ready for pick up with your convenience time and date:
Contact Person for the pickup arrangement:
Telephone Number:
Weight of the package and how many boxes are they:
cost of items……….
shipping cost via (SHIPPING AND CARGO LTD……..
all additional cost (transfer fee to (SHIPPING AND CARGO LTD)…………………
total cost (cost of items+shipping cost via (SHIPPING AND CARGO LTD agent + transfer fee to (SHIPPING AND CARGO LTD)……….
So i can send you my credit card details for you to charge the total cost from it and get the shipping fees settled, then my order can be shipped out asap.
Best Regards,
Mark Nelson
NELSON’S SHOPS LIMITED.
Plt 346 Sukhbaatar district,
Peace Avenue, Ulaanbaatar
Mongolia
Tel.:976 11 231 560
Fax: 976 11 324 678
Do anyone receive a email from a John artwork??
Did anyone receive a email from a John artwork? Looks like a scam he wants me to be his assistant he suppose to be a painter. My job is to set up payments but he wants me to receive customers checks if they decided to go with that pay method the deposit them in my bank account and wait to the check clear then send a payment to his printer then hold the rest till the in of the month then send it the art gallery account doesn’t make scene!!!!!