Israeli art scam
The Kalgoorlie Miner this morning exposed a scam in which foreigners are selling “original” artworks door to door.
Young people, believed to be Israeli or Iraqi (odd mix), claim to be art students earning a living.
I’ve personally had two different sellers knock on my door in the past six months.
According to authorities, the young people are probably on visitors visas and operating illegally according to immigration laws and the Door-to-Door Sales Act.
The Act requires the presentation of ID and a 10-day cooling-off period.
I never got that far into the pitch to determine those questions, but a woman who spoke to the newspaper said no such bonafides were presented.
I’ve seen emails from police and government departments tonight which suggest the scammers are on the run to Esperance, which rather supports the theory they are acting illegally.
One suggestion is the paintings are mass produced in China for $5 each, sold to scammers for $75 each and sold to mug punters for about $200 each, unless “discounted”.
Quite a racket! More here.
I'm a 41-year-old father of four working as a newspaper editor at Mount Gambier in South Australia.
June 9th, 2008 at 10:22 am
This is really really nice to see that people are so active about the legal side of companies operations.
The sales person you see at your door is normally a traveler and he/she will make around 20$-50$ from the painting you buy from him.
The paintings are hand painted and are sold in gallery’s around the world for 600$-10,000$.
I guess in total people get a good deal, as every one knows nike make their shows in china and it cost them around 3$ but can you buy a real nike for less then 100$ ? and if you go to the mall you will pay for the same nike 200$ cuz of the rent.
In total it is up to you if you buy or not.
I saw paintings that where sold 30 years ago and they are still loved and look great.
In any case if you do not feel like helping a traveler make a $ I found this website www rtgallery com ,I think you will fined it has good prices and lots of paintings for your house.
August 19th, 2008 at 6:59 am
I had someone at my door yesterday afternoon claiming to be a student from the “university” in Israel with no ID claiming to be selling original art too. I don’t mind helping someone make a buck but when they are trying to make that buck by BLATANTLY LYING to me about what they are selling and who the represent then I do hold it against them. Thankfully I didn’t buy anything. The art wasn’t spectacular and the price was way too high. I could buy better art at Winners for less money. By the way, I’m in Alberta, Canada. Guess they’ve moved north to find more suckers.
September 1st, 2008 at 10:37 pm
I am from Australia in Darwin and I bought 2 paintings at a sum of $800, I am so up set about it. My partner knows that I love art and I am always trying to get him to help people in need more so as a surprise when the guy came to our door he asked him to come back when I was home so that I could choose something I really liked. He surprised me and we were really happy. We got receipts for the pieces a signature and everything and I was looking forward to receiving a certificate of thanks to hang in my office but after much hunting and searching for the paintings origins I found that I could not get hold of anyone even though I have a phone number which is 04345 12896 (if anyone out there can hunt it down) there is no response. I try and do so much to help others and always try to stop prejudice and all this does is make me angry and never trust to help people in need again. I hope they are happy with the reputation they have given their people and have realized how much damage they have done to the generosity of those that give to people in need in their own country. I will no longer be telling my partner to trust more, I should have listened to him from the beginning.
And im sorry Andera but how much money did you loose??? How would you feel if you lost $800 get off your high horse and realize that dishonesty is not right!!!
September 1st, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Woops sorry Andera i meant Adrian the first comment!
September 24th, 2008 at 10:34 am
We got scammed in Artarmon, (North) Sydney, Australia. We thought we were helping out students, they are very convincing and good con artists. We felt sorry for the guy, which is why we bought a painting for $150, to help struggling artists, little did we know you can buy the same painting off the internet from China for $5 after we did some research. They should be ashamed of themselves and giving Israeli people a bad name. If anyone tries to sell you art door to door, just say no thanks and close the door!
October 18th, 2008 at 6:15 am
I just hadan “israeli art student” knocking on my door about an hour ago. He was very friendly and the paintings he was trying to sell me were quite nice, but obviously there were copies. I was honest with him and told him, that I have only £10 cash on me so he offered to take a cheque or he could wait for me until I get some cash from the neighbours or from the cash machine. As soon as he said this I began to be suspicious, but I was nice to him all the way, as he wasn’t the usual salesmen type. At first he asked for £80, and said, that it sells for £280 in exhibitions. So I asked if he has got a card or a website and asked where the next exhibition is. He said that they will only be one in the UK and that is London. Funny enough my sister lives in London, so I asked where in London. As soon as I asked him, he forgot where the exhibition was and when because it is not him but his friend who is going to be there. Asked for his friend’s contact details..no comment.
Well as he was a nice guy and he had nice paintings, I offered him £10 for the one I really liked but it wasn’t enough. After he left, I google’d “israeli art student scam” and bingo, thousands of sites found. Mainly american ones, scared of spyes and such which I really don’t believe in. But anyway, cause I don’t like liars on a Friday night asking for my money, I phoned the local police… Hope they will find him. Loser.
October 18th, 2008 at 6:16 am
By the way, this was in the UK… o if it is the same group (probably not) then they must earn well to travel around the world.. jealous
October 18th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Brigitta, it’s hard not to like these scammers in a strange sort of way. They’re clever polite young people who present well. They sell goods which are pleasing to look at.
Their lifestyle is enviable.
But at the end of the day they’re liars and con artists.
October 21st, 2008 at 3:06 pm
The funny thing about these types, Michael, is that they’re capable of succeeding honestly if they would just bother. I think a lot of con-men are a variant on thrill-seekers who do extreme sports. Of course, the base-jumpers and so on (usually) only wreck themselves. If those paintings are actually oil or acrylic on canvas, rather than prints on textured paper, it’s not really a complete scam. You do get a painting; it’s just not unique or reasonably priced. The top-grade scam delivers nothing but a hole in your wallet (and possibly a real one to your head as well).
I’ve recently been doing my bit as a world citizen by engaging in email correspondence with a persistent West African spam-scammer who purports to operate from Dakar, Senegal and uses the handle “Edith Zakary”. “Edith” (who is 99.99% probably male, of course) is trapped in a refugee camp and needs my help to escape with her millions that are holed up in the “Royal Bank of Scotland”…
I agree with a comment I read on Digg that, as long as you don’t use means traceable to you, everyone who receives these emails should reply to them and spin them out as long as possible. It only takes a couple of minutes a day to keep ‘em on the hook and wastes time they might spend on victimising the less savvy.
October 22nd, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Retarius, I love the idea of stringing along a West African scammer. I read a great story about that once. Take care of personal security though.
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:24 pm
If you have a look at my post “West African Scam ‘Babes’”, you’ll find a link to a great site called 419 Eater that gives a “how-to” guide on this. It’s named for Section 4-1-9 of the Nigerian penal code that covers these offences. There’s also an excellent site called Quatloos that covers a lot of Internet scams and how to fight them.
The great thing about this is that it actually does something useful, unlike a lot of internet role-playing sites where people are engaging in futile pursuits.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
I live in Campbell, 2km from the centre of Canberra and had an “Israeli art student” named “Ben” call out to me as I was in the driveway earlier this evening. He was carrying a portfolio of art with about 20 artworks painted by “a group of his friends”. They were mostly colourful although there were 2-3 black and white oil works, all on canvas. He was very pleasant and polite and I let him show me all of the artwork. He asked me which one I liked best and I said one that was an abstact of the Tour de France by “Liroy”. He said I could have it for $A160. I said that I didn’t have that sort of cash and he said he would take a cheque. I told him that I had enough artwork. He left and went to sit at a bus stop a couple of doors down. The bus came and went, he continued to sit at the bus stop. A little later, I looked over and he had gone - I suppose someone had come by and picked him up. Pictures include one that he said that he had done, signed “Jacob”; he said this was his middle name. It was colourful and depicted a snowcapped mountain that he said was in Israel. There was also a similar one in black and white. There were a couple of Paris, featuring the Eiffel Tower; one of 19th Century Paris depicting people in period clothing. There was one of Venice, one of Nova Scotia, one of Madrid, a couple of absracts, including one of 5 colourful human forms that represented the five continents. There was one of 3 trees and one divided vertically into three, depicting summer, spring and autumn. Hope this description helps someone in identifying a scammer.
November 9th, 2008 at 3:49 am
They’ve hit Johannesburg in South Africa too!
November 9th, 2008 at 3:54 am
I also encountered these Israeli’s in our home in Pretoria, South Africa. They operate under an apparent ‘manager’ called Dror. Their paintings include works of a certain C.Penn.
I’ve heard the artists go by the names of Noah, Aliad etc.
Apparently they come into your house and while one asks to use the bathroom, instead he/she goes and snoops around the house, stealing small items and money.
November 9th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Sounds like they have moved from Australia to South Africa.