Happy Halloween to All!

Another Art Scam

If you have any type of an online profile, you will receive a lot of email scams ranging from lottery wins to multimillion dollar inheritances from people to whom you are not even related.  If you are an artist, you will receive even more email scams (see prior posts on the topic).

These scams are always easy to spot and while the atrocious spelling has improved in some of them, it should take you no more than a minute or two of internet research to identify these scams.

Here is one I received today and my response. And how did I analyze this email?

1.) There is no business in Seattle called Neptune Green Light Store.
2.) There is no one named Linda Kurtz who works in this field.
3.) The email address does not turn up in any web searches.
4.) They do not identify the art works they want and refer to them as "products."
5.) They want you to ship to some unidentified customer in another country.
6.) They want you to work with their unidentified "personal" shipping agent.
7.) The phone number is not connected to a business.

-----Original Message-----
From: Linda Kurtz. <lkoffice@ureach.com>
Sent: Sat, Oct 20, 2012 2:59 pm
Subject: Inquiry.

Hi! Sales,

How are you doing today! I'm interested in purchasing some of your
products but firstly i want to
make an inquiry if you can ship directly to Australia,

1. Do you accept credit card      Yes / No   ( Answer )
2. What type of card do you accept
3. Do you ship to New Zealand      Yes / No  ( Answer )

3) Can you work hand in hand with my client freight personal shipping
agent? so they can Pickup the
products directly from your location down to my client address in
Australia  Yes / No   ( Answer )

I will await your reply,

Thank you.

Linda Kurtz.

Neptune Green Light Store.
532 First Avenue South,
Seattle, WA 98104. USA
Phone # (425) 606-5459
Fax # (425) 606-7581
tommminc@blumail.org

------------------
Hi Linda:

Thanks for your inquiry. Can you tell me why there is no listing for
your store in Seattle? And according to my research in the Better
Business Bureau database, there is no listing for you or your business.
Also, your email does not exist.

Perhaps you need to try the scam somewhere else.

Cordially,

Anna Maria, Sales Dept.

How Capitalism Can Save Art

The Wall Street Journal has a great article by Camille Paglia.

"Does art have a future? Performance genres like opera, theater, music and dance are thriving all over the world, but the visual arts have been in slow decline for nearly 40 years. No major figure of profound influence has emerged in painting or sculpture since the waning of Pop Art and the birth of Minimalism in the early 1970s."

Click here to read the full article.