Attention Illustrators: Spammers & Scammers

We've all heard the old Nigerian money laundering scam about a bazillion kazillion times. It's as if the spammers believe that if you juuust manage to send someone the same e-mail for the two-hundredth time then they HAVE to believe you! Less well-known, but even more clever, is a scam being perpetuated on perfectly nice artists out there. Bruce Andrew McKay (BAM) has the skinny on his blog bigcatheads. He writes:

Here's how it works. It's a variation on the ol' Nigerian email scam. You will receive an email from out of country. The writer will be very complimentary of your work and will request prices for a multiple piece purchase. In my case it was for 4 paintings totaling $7000. They will often present themselves as successful business people who are looking to buy artwork for their new home.

He goes on to give, in detail, how the scammer sent him an International check for an amount higher than the one they spoke about. Then the weirdness began. It actually makes for fascinating reading, especially since McKay's no dummy and the scammer undoubtedly was. People who've been contacted by this guy have sometimes been featured on the Drawn blog, so bear all this in mind if your book or art has appeared there recently.

Many thanks to Drawn for the link. Also check out McKay's paintings which are, I have to admit, rather charming.