Fortunately I managed to come away without getting my limbs blown off. Although ending up poorer by $100, I'm writing this off as payment for a very important lesson.
Here's how I walked right into a trap even though all the signs screamed at me "ALERT!!! IT'S A SCAM!!! GET OUT!!!".
No way. I've posted my paintings online for all these years and here's the first time someone is interested in my art enough to want to pay good money for it. I was blinded.
With warning lights a-flashing, bells a-ringing, whistles
a-blowing, buzzers going full blast, I still fell for it, all because my defenses went down too fast before reinforcements could come in. There were too many glaring errors and signs that made me highly suspicious and I contacted PayPal to get them to clarify some of the emails I received, all I got were standard items and tick boxes to choose from. I couldn't write in my questions because there was no blank box for me to write in. I hate using the phones because I knew I'd only get to talk to machines.
I tried asking my circle of friends but they're all online 'buyers', not 'sellers'. I even cancelled the invoice that initiated the sale. But somehow, I was like a proverbial deer being caught in the glare of a cyber-driver's headlights, knowing the danger but unable to run from it.
Finally when my mind was already busted due to doubts and worries and lack of sleep, (being a chronic worrier didn't help) I caved in because I'm too humanly decent. I couldn't live with the idea that the other person (who hinted of being wheel-chair-bound, and who may be a genuine art buyer and perhaps turn out to be a potential long-term customer) 'loos' his money because I didn't keep up my end of the deal.
I tried asking my circle of friends but they're all online 'buyers', not 'sellers'. I even cancelled the invoice that initiated the sale. But somehow, I was like a proverbial deer being caught in the glare of a cyber-driver's headlights, knowing the danger but unable to run from it.
Finally when my mind was already busted due to doubts and worries and lack of sleep, (being a chronic worrier didn't help) I caved in because I'm too humanly decent. I couldn't live with the idea that the other person (who hinted of being wheel-chair-bound, and who may be a genuine art buyer and perhaps turn out to be a potential long-term customer) 'loos' his money because I didn't keep up my end of the deal.
My reinforcement troops
from PayPal arrived 20 hours too late.
Fortunately Paypal volunteered to compensate me for half my losses.
I'm now writing this so that all fellow artists and crafts-people trying to sell their products online (who may be as dumb as me) can learn something from this and WALK away from a deal if it smells too good to be true.
And please just keep walking and don't look back like what I did!!!
And please just keep walking and don't look back like what I did!!!
So, here's the anatomy report.... with myself as the pathologist.
It started off with an email from www.Artbreak.com, the website where I post all my artworks up for sale.
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Artbreak Mailer Jul 15
Congratulations! Someone expressed interest in buying your work, Dance Series 5, at the url:
http://www.artbreak.com/work/show/727883
The intested party listed their name and email address as:
James (james.william220@outlook.com)
Message from buyer:
I'm interested in your Painting(Dance Series 5),How long have you owned it and how much are you asking for it?please i can only pay using Paypal.email me pictures. james.william220@outlook.com
Artbreak takes no commission from artists and charges no commission to buyers. The buyer purchases the work directly from the artist.
After a sale is initiated through Artbreak, it's up to you and the buyer to complete the transaction. Make sure that shipping arrangements and payment details have been agreed to by both parties before finalizing the sale.
Artbreak takes no commission and can take no responsibility for transactions. We recommend using PayPal, which offers free purchase protection up to $2000.
If you have received this email in error, please contact support@artbreak.com.
Thanks,
Artbreak Staff
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Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2015 15:54:20 +0000
From: lianchyeteh@yahoo.com
To: james.william220@outlook.com
Subject: Dance Series #5
Hi Mr William,
Thanks for your interest in my painting. I painted it recently (7th May 2015) and it's still unframed.
Size: 42cm X 29.5cm
Medium: Color pencils & ink on cartridge paper.
Medium: Color pencils & ink on cartridge paper.
I'm offering it for sale at USD$300 (mailing costs excluded).
Let me know of other details you need from me.
Please advice what country you're residing in.
regards,
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To TLC
Thanks for your respond,can you framed it for me and get back to me with the final asking price after the frame and including your pay invoice or paypal email so i can make the payment once..I have a private courier agent that will come for the pickup after payment has been made, so no shipping included. I'll need your name, the pickup address or location for the pick up.
Thanks
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Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2015 09:40:19 +0100
From: lianchyeteh@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Dance Series #5
To: james.william220@outlook.com
Hi,
l am out of state this week. I will take care of this when I get back next week. Will contact you again with details. Thanks.
LC Teh
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:"william james"
Date:Thu, 16 Jul, 2015 at 19:34
Subject:Dance Series #5
Alright..email me back once you are around i will be waiting for your respond,Your Name?Date:Thu, 16 Jul, 2015 at 19:34
Subject:Dance Series #5
Able God
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Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2015 00:39:01 +0100
From: lianchyeteh@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Dance Series #5
To: james.william220@outlook.com
I am Teh Lian Chye, residing in Kedah, Malaysia. Where is your location?
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July 24, 2015 - Friday. I had the painting framed and packed it ready for shipment. Then I created an invoice in my PayPal account. What happened next, I let the correspondence tell the story....
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You've sent an invoice
Dear Lian-chye Teh,
Your invoice (0001) has just
been sent to james.william220@outlook.com. Please note that it may take a
few moments for this transaction to appear in your account.
Summary of your invoice
| Sent to | james.william220@outlook.com |
| Sent from | Lian-chye Teh |
| lianchyeteh@yahoo.com | |
| Invoice number | 0001 |
| Date payment is due | Jul 24, 2015 |
| Amount | $338.00 USD |
Yours sincerely,
PayPal
PayPal
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
william james Jul 24 at 4:13 PM
Cheers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Lian-chye Teh ,
You have received a PayPal Payment of $590.00 USD from James William ( james.william220@outlook.com)
A temporary hold has been placed on this transaction!
As
mentioned in the receipt of Payment and as per New PayPal Payment
policy, we have fully debited the total amount (above) from the buyer's
account which includes the buyer's shipper's pick up fees.
In order to complete this transaction and get the funds approved in your account. We advice you go to nearest Western Union Office, and send the $152.00 USD to the Agent and send us a Scanned Copy/Photograph of your Money Transfer Control Number Receipt (in .JPG Format) with the Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN) in details.
NOTE: This is important as a security measure to ensure safety of this transaction.
Please, find below the name and address of the Transport Agent where the Funds would be sent via Money Transfer Control Number.
AGENT INFO :
 | |||
| Address: | | Name; Bryan James Sullivan State: Orange California Zip code:92867 United State. | |
| |||
| Address Status: | | Confirmed | |
Your Account will be credited accordingly upon the receipt of details requested. It should either be sent in JPG format or send type details as:
Sender's Name; Receiver's Name; MTCN; Amount Sent;
============================== ============================== ============================== ============================== ====
This administrative email was sent to lianchyeteh@yahoo.com from Paypal.com S.à r.l.. Your account is registered on www.paypal.com As outlined in our User Agreement, PayPal will periodically send you information about site changes and enhancements. If you would like to receive this email in text format, change your notification preferences.
See our Privacy Policy and User Agreement if you have questions about PayPal communication policies.
Copyright © 2009-2015 PayPal Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.
PayPal and the PayPal logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of PayPal
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Lian-chye Teh,
Please be assured that you have a fund of $590.00 USD
This fund has already been deducted from the buyer' account. We Request
that you wire the excess fee TODAY to the agent's address since he/she
has made payment to your PayPal account otherwise the payment will not
be credited to the account specified (lianchyeteh@yahoo.com)
We need the wiring information (MTCN) For verification before the money could finally show in your account.
At
the same time, we want to let you know that your transaction was done
via our e-mail payments service, any inquiries and necessary information
should be sent to us by directly reply to this message, because of the
status of this transaction, it has not been passed on to our customer
care phone service section,and all inquiries should be directed to this
e-mail address as it is the one monitored for your transaction.
This is to reduce the high rate of fraudulent act and ensure that both buyers and sellers are satisfied, because it is all about our services to serve the worldwide, for the two parties. Please follow the protocol of the payment so that the money will be credited straight away into your account.
E-mail the MTCN to us as soon as possible.
Wiring information:
Name:Bryan James Sullivan
Orange California
Zip code:92867
UNITED STATE.
Stephanie TileniusThis is to reduce the high rate of fraudulent act and ensure that both buyers and sellers are satisfied, because it is all about our services to serve the worldwide, for the two parties. Please follow the protocol of the payment so that the money will be credited straight away into your account.
E-mail the MTCN to us as soon as possible.
Wiring information:
Name:Bryan James Sullivan
Orange California
Zip code:92867
UNITED STATE.
We hope to serving you better.
Vice President & General Manager
PayPal Merchant Services
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2015 11:24:33 +0000
From: lianchyeteh@yahoo.com
To: james.william220@outlook.com
Subject: Re: ABOUT TO MAKE THE PAYMENT ??
I just found out our govt levies a 6% GST (General services tax) on all money transfers thru Western Union.
I just made the payments of $590.00 USD into your account and Pay-pal emailed me confirming this. So please check your PayPal email address (lianchyeteh@yahoo.com) inbox,spam mail for the Pay Pal confirmation email. Pay-pal said that they would be holding the money i sent because of the excess payments that i made which was the money for pick up, i will need you to proceed and Wire the excess which is $152.00 USD to my pick up agent to enable them make a booking for the picked up of the item.Remember that you will wire the agent fee to them via Western Union Money transfer as that is there method of payment.So please do send the $152.00 USD through western union money transfer and use the remaining change of $50.00 USD as Western Union charges.You can easily Walk to the local post office or any outlet around you.After you have sent the money please get back to me asap with the western union details, the MTCN number which you will be given by western union after you have sent the money as well as the sender's name and address so i can forward it back to PayPal for your money to be put through or you can email it to PayPal directly,that is alright as well.
Here is my pick up agent's info that you will need to send the money to through western union money transfer:
Name:Bryan James Sullivan
Orange California
Zip code:92867
UNITED STATE.
I will need the address where the item will be picked up,as my pick up agent will contact you to book a pick up time after they have received payments but they will have to book a time that is convenient for you. Is really nice doing business with you
Best Regard...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2015 15:36:33 +0000
From: lianchyeteh@yahoo.com
To: james.william220@outlook.com
Subject: Re: PAYMENT MADE ???
I
will do as required as soon as the banks open on Monday. It's Friday
night over here right now. But can you please instruct Pay-pal to
release the $152 for the Western Union charges, otherwise I would be
cashing out of my own pocket. With our currency at it's lowest level,
this calculates out to a big sum for me. I don't mind paying for the
GST charges first. Thanks.
regards,
LC Teh----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the money has been send please get
MTCN number:
Sender's Name :
Sender's address:
Amount Send After western union charges
waiting for your fast respond...
Thanks..
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PayPal Jul 25 at 8:17 PM
Dear Lian-chye Teh,
Congratulation our Valued Customer, your fund will be in your account as soon as you got the courier agent fee send and get back to us with the information given to you by western union and we are very sorry for what this might cause you and we hereby to let you know that our customer is important to us so make sure you get the money sent and get back to us so that we can credit your account with the sum of $590.00 USD immediately..
Respond immediately
Thanks
|
Thank you for using PayPal ® online Payments. We look forward to serving
your online payment needs in the future.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2015 05:23:39 +0000
From: lianchyeteh@yahoo.com
To: james.william220@outlook.com
Subject: Re: READ AND UNDERSTAND!!!!!!!!
Sir,
I
do understand about scams. I'm only a retired part-timer trying to
moonlight as an artist. $152 (excluding GST) is more than my half
month's pay. I promised to do all it takes to get you that painting but
that means only the leg work, not the financial risks.
I haven't seen any money in my account yet. This seems like Paypal is only protecting the buyer.
Much
as I'd love to close this deal, I can't afford to risk that kind of
money. If we can't work out a better way to finalize this, let's just
write this off as experience and list ourselves as unwitting victims of
online scams. Maybe only the big corporations like E-Bay and Amazon can
do this business with success.
Sorry it doesn't work out. Thanks anyway.
regards,
LC Teh
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regards
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear:Colin Smith ,
We are the pick-up agent that will be picking the item bought from you by our client (James William) all information are tallied, and we have received a back-up message from our client as well Authorizing to
pick your (Dance Series.).We are planning to come to your location according to our client For the picked up to be met as schedule, you are to fill the form below.
1. Your Full Name:
2, Address/ Location of the item:
3. A valid phone number (Mobile) :
4. Condition of the item:
5. Weight Of The Item:
We employ you to carefully fill the above form and get back to us.
Regards,
We are the pick-up agent that will be picking the item bought from you by our client (James William) all information are tallied, and we have received a back-up message from our client as well Authorizing to
pick your (Dance Series.).We are planning to come to your location according to our client For the picked up to be met as schedule, you are to fill the form below.
1. Your Full Name:
2, Address/ Location of the item:
3. A valid phone number (Mobile) :
4. Condition of the item:
5. Weight Of The Item:
We employ you to carefully fill the above form and get back to us.
Regards,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear: Lian-chye Teh ,
We've start preparing the necessary document needed for the pick-up because your buyer said he has made the payment. The pick up date will be tomorrow or you get to us the date and time for the pick up. You will have to send Payment to us via Western Union today and email the details to us.
Below is the courier agent information
Name:Bryan James Sullivan
Orange California
Zip code:92867
UNITED STATE.
Amount: $152.00
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: william james
To: TLC
Sent: Saturday, 25 July 2015, 20:23
Subject: READ AND UNDERSTAND!!!!!!!!
Hello i have already made the payment and the money has been deducted from my account,i think you receive an email from PayPal customer care that i have already made the payment,they said you have to follow there new rules before the money can be clear to your account,due to scam activities going on with PayPal,that is why they introduce this new way of making payment,they want to protect both buyer and the seller,that is the reason,or if you need any question more on that you can email there customer care email address which you got the respond of the transaction from.
Regards
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2015 02:44:40 +0000
From: lianchyeteh@yahoo.com
To: james.william220@outlook.com
Subject: Re: READ AND UNDERSTAND!!!!!!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello
you can not cancel this transaction at the time,Because the money have
been deducted from my account and is pending and been hold in your
PayPal account i can not afford to loos my money just like that,because
you havent completed the transaction at your end, You need to go send
the fee and then forward the details of the money once you have sent the
fee,And get back to me and paypal email address which you got the
respond of the transaction from,This is the new method i got as an email
alert after making the payment at my end for PayPal to track this
transaction,Because i made the payment on PayPal email address transfer,
So you have to complete yours at your end.before the money can be
credit to your account.
Thanks
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for contacting us. Based on the categories you've selected, the following FAQs may assist you faster than we can.
Note: If these FAQs don't answer your question, please reply to this email with as much information as possible to help us assist you better.
A) How do I send payments?
B) What fees does PayPal charge?
C) What does "Sending Limit" and "Withdrawal limit" mean?
D) I want to get verified. How do I link and confirm my credit card?
E) Can I top-up my PayPal account?
Don't worry. These links won't redirect you to another webpage.
Yours sincerely,
PayPal
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Lian-chye Teh
You can not cancel this transaction because the money has already been deducted from my account and its pending and been hold in your PayPal account.you have to get the courier agent fee sent and get back to me and PayPal for them to be able to released the fund into your account immediately.And moreover i have already contact the pick up agent to schedule a time for the pick up at your location,so how did you want me to loos my money just like that.Complete yours at your end and get back to me now
Regards
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We've start preparing the necessary document needed for the pick-up because your buyer said he has made the payment. The pick up date will be tomorrow or you get to us the date and time for the pick up. You will have to send Payment to us via Western Union today and email the details to us.
Below is the courier agent information
Name:Bryan James Sullivan
Orange California
Zip code:92867
UNITED STATE.
Amount: $152.00
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lian-chye Teh canceled this invoice
Hello james.william220@outlook.com,
This invoice was canceled.
Summary of this invoice
| Sent to | james.william220@outlook.com |
| Sent from | Lian-chye Teh |
| lianchyeteh@yahoo.com | |
| Invoice number | 0001 |
| Date payment is due | Jul 24, 2015 |
| Amount | $338.00 USD |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: william james
To: TLC
Sent: Saturday, 25 July 2015, 20:23
Subject: READ AND UNDERSTAND!!!!!!!!
Hello i have already made the payment and the money has been deducted from my account,i think you receive an email from PayPal customer care that i have already made the payment,they said you have to follow there new rules before the money can be clear to your account,due to scam activities going on with PayPal,that is why they introduce this new way of making payment,they want to protect both buyer and the seller,that is the reason,or if you need any question more on that you can email there customer care email address which you got the respond of the transaction from.
Regards
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2015 02:44:40 +0000
From: lianchyeteh@yahoo.com
To: james.william220@outlook.com
Subject: Re: READ AND UNDERSTAND!!!!!!!!
I'm
sorry. I can't handle this. It caused me sleepless nights. I've
cancelled the Paypal invoice. If you're still interested in buying the
painting, it's still available, but you'll have to think of other means
for the pick up without putting the liability on me. This cyber jungle
scares me. I'll get back to try selling my artworks directly to
physical customers.
regards,
LC Teh--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for contacting us. Based on the categories you've selected, the following FAQs may assist you faster than we can.
Note: If these FAQs don't answer your question, please reply to this email with as much information as possible to help us assist you better.
A) How do I send payments?
B) What fees does PayPal charge?
C) What does "Sending Limit" and "Withdrawal limit" mean?
D) I want to get verified. How do I link and confirm my credit card?
E) Can I top-up my PayPal account?
Don't worry. These links won't redirect you to another webpage.
Yours sincerely,
PayPal
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can not cancel this transaction because the money has already been deducted from my account and its pending and been hold in your PayPal account.you have to get the courier agent fee sent and get back to me and PayPal for them to be able to released the fund into your account immediately.And moreover i have already contact the pick up agent to schedule a time for the pick up at your location,so how did you want me to loos my money just like that.Complete yours at your end and get back to me now
Regards
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