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• Art Council Spam Scam
  by RedBubble

  Folks Sorry to say that some dastardly non-Easter bunny has been spamming some RedBubble users with something along the following line…

  Folks Sorry to say that some dastardly non-Easter bunny has been spamming some RedBubble users with something along the following lines. WINNING NOTIFICATION / We are pleased to inform you that your art works on exibition won you a prize credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.In the UK ART COUNCIL ONLINE PROM draws held this MARCH 2008. / etc …. This has nothing to do with RedBubble. Any communication from us will come from the RedBubble account. The spammer’s account has been deleted. It is important that you don’t respond to this bubblemail (both to protect your own privacy and so the spammer gets no joy and moves on). Please report any spam use of Bubblemail. It is ONLY to be used for personal, non-commercial purposes. Sorry about this. There are some rabid bunnies out there. Martin

• Photographers - What are you paying for? (Part One)
  by Jo O'Brien

  ^Disclaimer: This is not legal advice or even professional advice. This is some stuff I’ve learned along this funny little thing called l…

  Disclaimer: This is not legal advice or even professional advice. This is some stuff I’ve learned along this funny little thing called life and may not apply in any way to your current situation. At worst, it’s my opinion, at best it’s some ideas for you to think about. If you need real proper advice, go see your solicitor. I’m of the opinion that photography should make me money, not cost me money. So far, I have been successful is making more from a photograph than it took me to create. Here is my list of not so secret tips and advice on covering your arse and saving your cash. When To Pay There are times where spending your hard earned money is the right choice. For example to obtain goods or services you can not find for less (or free) elsewhere. Or when you have done all the maths yourself and you feel you are buying into a good deal. But there are also some pit falls to watch out for. Art Direction, Ideas and Intellectual Property My rule of thumb, if I am paying to shoot, I should have full rights to everything I take. No ifs buts or maybes about it. If you shoot a commercial, the art direction team put together a shoot and then hire a photographer to take photos of what they and the crew have created. They pay for lighting design, they pay the models, they pay the hair stylist, they pay the guy who makes the coffees- and they pay the photographer. Some businesses operate under a similar model but suck money out of photographers in the process. As part of a ‘workshop’ or ‘event’, several photographers rock up with their cameras and take photos of a scene. Often they have little or no control of the setup, can’t communicate properly with the models and will walk out of it with similar images to everyone else who attended! In the worst cases they have restricted rights regarding how they use their images. So is essence, they have paid for something that out in the real world, would be making them money. Sorry if it sounds confusing, the concept completely baffles me. When you are shooting someone else’s ideas and have restricted publishing rights or have little influence over the set up, posing, lighting or set design, (in my opinion) you should be getting paid by them. After all, you are doing them a favor by taking images of their creative work. Classes or Tuition Wanting to improve you skills and knowledge is a great thing. And there are numerous classes, mentors and workshops available for you to choose from. If you are going to pay to attend these, make sure you are getting what you pay for. Before you hand over any cash there are a few details that you should have to help make your decision. Class Size: The more people attending, the cheaper the class should be. If there is a practical component, I usually wont accept a class bigger than 10-12 / Location & Time: no point signing up for an ‘on location’ workshop only to find it is out of your way. Also as a safety issue, you should always be able to tell a trusted person exactly where and when you will be shooting. / The Teacher: You should be able to find and contact the person facilitating the class to verify their experience and ask questions. It not always convenient for a facilitator to take calls from a whole class, but you should be able to send them an email and get a reply without going through a middle man. / Contracts: Ask if you will need to sign any contracts and insist upon receiving them before paying. / What do you get: do you get class notes to take home? Exactly what does the course entail? What can you hope to know and have learned at the end of the course? Contracts These are a great way to waste your money. They also happen to be very important. First and foremost contracts exists to make people money or stop people from making money. So before signing anything, read it a few times and make sure you are aware of what your actions are costing you. If you need to get images approved before sale or publication, you could be agreeing to never publishing or selling any images taken if none are ‘approved.’ It is completely reasonable to request changes to a contract or write your own and offer it instead. Don’t sign away potential income! You should always be able to take a contract away and show it to other people for advice before signing it, and especially before paying for anything. If you are not given this opportunity, my advice is to avoid it with a ten foot pole. And then there are the bazillion poorly written contracts that mean very little or nothing at all. It’s actually quite funny to me sometimes, what people will put on paper. Useful Links Australian Competition & Consumer Commission / Scam Watch Photographers – What are you paying for (part 2).

• Possible Scammer?
  by MuscularTeeth

  Hiya Peeps ! / look what i got via bubblemail : —-—-—- XXX (ive removed their name) wrote you a BubbleMail 2 minutes ago: ...

  Hiya Peeps ! / look what i got via bubblemail : —-—-—- XXX (ive removed their name) wrote you a BubbleMail 2 minutes ago: / From RD. / Abidjan, Ivory Coast Dearest one , Permit me to inform you of my desire of going into business relationship with you. I got your name and contact from our country chambers of industry (internet department). I prayed over it and selected your name among other names due to its esteeming nature and the recommendations given to me as a reputable and trust worthy person that I can do business with and by the recommendation , I must not hesitate to confide in you for this simple and sincere business . I am Rita Daniel only Daughter of late Mr. and Mrs. Michael Daniel . My father was a very wealthy cocoa merchant in Abidjan , the economic capital of Ivory coast, my father was poisoned to death by his brother’s because of his wealth. / My mother died when I was a baby and since then my father took me so special. Before the death of my father on october 2007 in a private hospital here in Abidjan he secretly called me on his bed side and told me that he has the sum of Ten million,five hundred thousand United State Dollars. USD ($10,500,000.00) left in fixed suspense account in one of the prime bank here in Abidjan ,that he used my name as his only Daughter for the next of Kin in depositing of the fund. He also explained to me that it was because of this wealth that he was poisoned by his brother’s. He said that I should seek for a foreign partner in a country of my choice where i will transfer this money and use it for investment purpose. / Dear, I am honourably seeking your assistance in the following ways: / (1)To serve as a guardian of this fund. / (2) To make arrangement for me to come over to your country to further my education and to secure a resident permit in your country. Moreover, I am willing to offer you 15% of the total sum as compensation for your effort/ input after the successful transfer of this fund into your nominated account overseas. Furthermore, you indicate your options towards assisting me as I believe that this transaction would be concluded within fourteen (14) days you resignify interest to assist me. Anticipating to hear from you soon. This to inform you that i am now in the reffuge camp since my uncles wanted to kill me so i ran to stay in the camp and it is in the camp that i am contacting you from. Please your urgent reply to this mail will give me to full impetus to forward to you all the informations about this fund. Thanks and God bless. Best gards / Rita D(ive deleted her surname) / Please email me back with this email; rita_d02@(ive deleted thisguys) —-—-—-—-—-—- im curious if anyone else got something similar?

• Have a look at this scam
  by Darren Sharp

  Just looked at my email and found this!!! Hello and Goodday, / My name is Bisi Akande, I work in a bank in Lagos-Nigeria and recently, ...

  Just looked at my email and found this!!! Hello and Goodday, / My name is Bisi Akande, I work in a bank in Lagos-Nigeria and recently, I discovered $11million USD in a Bank dormant account belonging to one late Mark Davidson from USA. This man was certified dead in a plane crash some 5years ago and till now no trace or information about his next of kin or relations. / I am looking for a trusted person who I can plan a deal with, I will present you to the bank as the Next of kin or relation to late Mark Davidson for the claim of this funds, so that we will share the money when it has been successfully transfered to you. I will like you to know that you are covered by every breach of the law.. I will also like you to know that all neccessary arrangement to get this funds transferred will be arrainged by the lawyer who will be standing on your behalf in the bank. Lastly, I will like you to get back to me via my email for more details if you know you are capable of handling this transaction. my email: missbisiakande@yahoo.com Your’s Sincerely, / Miss. Bisi Akande Not sure what i am going to do with it yet but geez i laughed, will probably let the police know!!!!

• Scammer! Beware of "linda001my"
  by Vestque

  I didn’t know this sort of thing happened on the bubble. I just received an email from a person named linda001my...

  I didn’t know this sort of thing happened on the bubble. I just received an email from a person named linda001my This is the Email: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3256/2603898427_718cd3df09_o.jpg Now for those that don’t know these sort of scams, their called 419, or Advance Fee scams. You can find out more about them here: http://www.419scam.org/emails/2006-07/08/610142.59.htm http://www.419scam.org/419scam.htm I don’t know if this is a normal occurrence at redbubble, but it certainly has never happened to me before here. I am infuriated that this sort of behavior exists on this fine website. Of course I immediately reported the email, but I knew I had to let everyone know. Even though this is a well known scam, for every few that know, there will be others that don’t know and can be fooled. These scams work, thats why people do them. So I thought you should all be informed of at least this one Scammer. Hopefully everyone can be educated about this sort of thing, and not fall for these lies. Thank you for your time. Vestque

• Scam Notice
  by George Lenz

  Hi all; Hi; I got a notification from a Man named Gregory Woods,saying i won a prize.for my art work,he wanted info from me of cour…

  Hi all; Hi; I got a notification from a Man named Gregory Woods,saying i won a prize.for my art work,he wanted info from me of course i was alittle unsure about it… who is this and how is he getting our Email addresses. I have had other RBlers report this to me as well. Here is the body of his message below: It come from the “ART COUNCIL VERIFICATION FORM” Good Day to you. / Congratulations once again from all the staffs of National Art lottery. I am in receipt of your mail and I must say that you should count yourself extremely lucky to have emerged as one of our lucky prize winners in this years lucky sweepstakes. you have been granted the sum of £200,000.00 (Two Hundred Thousand Pounds Sterling). As you already know, your art work was randomly selected along with others from over 125,000 websites on the internet of which your art work was attached to so you can get funding. / REFERENCE NUMBER:UK/839030X2/14, / BATCH NUMBER:065/088/XY24, / TICKET NUMBER:023-1111-790-458. / / And it was selected along with others as winners. All necessary procedures have been done so you can have your winnings and it matches exactly with what is present on our Database. To file your claim all you have to do is to fill the claims verification form below and send it back to me for documentation purposes.once again i say congratulations. / / Fill The Claims Verification Form. / / 1.Full Name:...................................... / 2.Full Address:.................................. / 3.Marital Status:................................. / 4.Occupation:...................................... / 5.Age:................................................ / 6.Sex:................................................. / 7.Nationality:....................................... / 8.Country of Residence:........................... / 9.Telephone Number:............................ Yours Truly, / Gregory Wood (SIR). / phone no: +44-7045736484.

• All Writers Take Heed
  by WanderingAuthor

  I have looked over a number of writing sites, or sites that offer some accommodation for writers, on the Internet. I don’t claim to have …

  I have looked over a number of writing sites, or sites that offer some accommodation for writers, on the Internet. I don’t claim to have an exhaustive list, but I have (private) bookmarks to over a hundred, with notes. Of those, nearly every one is exploitative of writers and destructive to members’ hopes of a career. Of all those sites, there are only three I would personally consider having anything to do with. What is my problem with the others? I am not a lawyer, but I have worked in areas where I needed the ability to correctly interpret legal documents, and I have read a good deal of advice for authors on the legal matters that affect them. Nearly every site on the Internet has Terms of Service that are legally binding contracts, and that are disastrous for anyone agreeing to them. Certain clauses should be a “red flag” to any serious writer to avoid any site including them. Most notably, look for any of the words perpetual, irrevocable, or world-wide; if you see any of these, you’re on very thin ice, and I suggest you ask a lawyer to evaluate the entire agreement before you consent to it. If you see all those words in one agreement, unless you’re being offered many times your most optimistic estimate of what the work may be worth, run. Why? Because any agreement with that clause effectively prevents you from ever selling that work again in any market. You’ve given up so much, the work has no practical value to anyone else. Even the relatively honest sites fail to tell you one brutal fact of publishing: the moment you post a work to any site on the Internet (with the possible exception of your own blog, if it has few readers), you can only “resell” it. To offer any work you have previously posted as unpublished is technically fraud, and will get you blacklisted if you get caught. Considering Google caches, the Wayback Machine, and similar tools, which some publishers check, your risk of getting caught is high; too high to be worth it. So be very careful what sites you join, and post only work you don’t intend to sell (exception: you can, of course, self-publish anything of yours you haven’t sold exclusive rights to). Consider the loss of payment for publication as an investment in publicity instead. I know some of you don’t want to become professional authors. That’s fine; there’s no reason you should have to do so. I still advise you to use caution, in case you later change your mind, but I do agree all writers have the right to do as they please. However, please do not be irresponsible and recommend sites when you have not read or are not capable of understanding the Terms of Service. This is harmful to other writers, and unfair to them if they rely on your recommendation. There are sites which pay, or claim to pay, writers based on the number of readers of their work. Some of these are set up so, in practice, no writer will ever be paid. The others may pay writers, but most writers will only see a few cents a month. Such sites keep such a huge percentage of what you, as a writer, earn for them that you will normally get only a pittance. If you are one of the very few lucky ones, the ones such sites advertise as success stories, then your writing is so good you could make more on the “real” market. I have stated there are only three sites I consider a serious writer can safely join. One of those three sites is RedBubble – yes, despite my unhappiness with how writers are treated here, their legal agreement is much more reasonable than most sites, so it is at least possible to belong without active harm. Also, my vocal unhappiness with RedBubble despite the fact it is one of only three sites I’d consider joining should point up just how awful I have found the other sites to be when I looked into them. It should also make plain just how dire I believe the need is for a real writer’s haven on the Web. For the curious, those three sites are: / ForwardMotion / RedBubble / Elfwood (Disclaimer: I haven’t visited or checked out Elfwood in quite some time. It may or may not still be a fit site to join.) These comments, of course, exclude sites for writers that are not in any sense writing communities. Preditors and Editors, for example, is an excellent site for locating the publishers and editors most likely to scam you, but it is not a community for writers.

• on the subject of art theft.
  by Leah Highland

  This article was brought to my attention through another art site. / Please have a look…...... http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=Co…

  This article was brought to my attention through another art site. / Please have a look…...... http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=Columns&article_no=3605&%3E%3Cimg%20src= It sounds as if our images will not be safe even if we do pay a fee to register our works.

• The Lens That Got Away... Again
  by SofaKingWeird

  MUST READ – eBay international scam warning Well I got home yesterday only to find out an item that was sold on eBay, turns out it was…

  MUST READ – eBay international scam warning Well I got home yesterday only to find out an item that was sold on eBay, turns out it was part of an international scam. The story goes like this. A friend of my daughter has an eBay account where he sells things regularly. So he has an established seller rating and a Pay-Pal account already set up. So he offered to put a couple of items up for bid for me for a percentage of the money made. I decided to make Him a better offer. I told him I only wanted $300 for the item so anything above that would be split 3 ways. One third to my daughter one third to my daughter’s boyfriend and the final 33% to my daughters friend for posting the item and getting all the online stuff taken care of. This is where the story goes south. Turns out the guy who posted the item, got a buyer from Nigeria who wanted to buy the item for $500. So greed and stupidity set in. He thought this was great so he got the address for my daughter so she could box and mail out the items. Well the deal between the three of them was that my daughter would pay for shipping and that amount would be subtracted from the $200 then split three ways. It was going to be a nice little payday for such a minimal amount of effort. Well it cost my daughter about $80 to ship it internationally to Nigeria. AFTER the item had already shipped we found out the email he got from Pay-Pal was where the scam started. He got a threatening email from what he thought was Pay-Pal. It said if the item didn’t ship that day they were going to freeze his Pay-Pal account. Without his Pay-Pal account it would be difficult for him to sell his other items. The Pay-Pal email was a fake email. How did he find this out? He wondered why the money wasn’t in is account yet so on Friday he decided to call Pay-Pal. This is when we learned about the scam, they said they never sent the threatening email. So my daughter did a search online and found a blog where other eBay sellers had shipped items to the exact same address in Nigeria. Those people got the exact same threatening email from Pay-Pal. Everything about the scam looked exactly the same. Another huge lesson here, if it seems too good to be real then it just might be. Why am I telling you this? It’s just a warning to other eBay sellers out there, there is a well documented international scam going on. So be careful. I still get a lump in my throat over this one. You see I was going to buy a Tamron 90mm macro lens with that money. I found it online for $399 with free shipping. So close and yet so far looks like the lens has passed through my fingers again. Last time I was so close to getting it I dropped my iPhone and shattered the screen and had to buy a new one. It wasn’t covered by a warranty so I was out the money for a new phone. Someday I will get my lens just not today.

• SCAM TARGETTING ARTISTS
  by PhotogeniquE IPA

  /> / There is a particularly wicked scam currently targetting…

  /> / There is a particularly wicked scam currently targetting artists, so far only in the UK as far as I am aware. / / you get an email with a heart-rending story asking to sponsor a young Ugandan person’s fees to St. Paul’s Nursing Training School in Uganda. There is no request for bank details (the usual modus operandi), just a request for a very specific gift in the form of a cheque, for an amount like £385. / / You will even get a thank you letter, and a couple of months later, a progress report about how well the young person is doing. / / BEWARE – IT IS ALL A SCAM / / The British High Commission in Kampala, Uganda confirms that the St. Paul’s Nursing Training School does not exist. / / The scammers are targetting artists and other ‘sensitive’ and ‘compassionate’ people (church of england ministers etc). / / FULL STORY HERE / / Please pass this around RB as you are able

• THE TRUTH ABOUT THE BAIL OUT SCAM Copied from Bill Stephens
  by Elaine Farmer

  NOW TOO LATE FOR US…. JUST TOO LATE!!!! Tell Congress Call Washington and tell them NO BAILOUT, WE THE PEOPLE will take care of ou…

  NOW TOO LATE FOR US…. JUST TOO LATE!!!! Tell Congress Call Washington and tell them NO BAILOUT, WE THE PEOPLE will take care of ourselves. FAXDC.com wants to send this urgent and personalized Blast Fax message to all 535 members of the House and Senate for YOU. Alert: Golden parachute clause, the bailout of foreign banks and the sellout of the American people are just some of the provisions of the bank bailout. Faxdc has secured the Congressional bailout proposal and is a FREE download for you, read it for yourself at: www.faxdc.com. Does Washington think we are that stupid? Are the American people suppose to bailout the very scoundrels that have turned good families into homeless mortgage victims? Wall Street, fat cat money banks, predatory lenders and the mortgage moguls are quick to foreclose on Mom and Pop, but when the market forecloses on them they cry uncle! Whatever happened to a free economy? Isn’t it the survival of the fittest? Obviously not if Uncle Sam can bail you out! BAILOUT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FIRST! SAVE THE CITIZENS NOT THE SCROUNDELS. / WE WERE TOLD: Illegal aliens come here to do the work American’s won’t do. We didn’t’ believe it. Guns are bad, they must be regulated. We refused to comply. America is safe; we have nothing to worry about. We were sacrificed on 911. America is ready for any emergency. We suffered in New Orleans. NOW, WE ARE BEING TOLD: “I’M FROM THE GOVERNMENT; I’M HERE TO HELP YOU!” “GIVE ME $ 700,000,000,000.00” The original problem was the failure of government to protect WE THE PEOPLE. How can the solution be MORE GOVERNMENT PROTECTION! Can more poison be the antidote? America must have 100 billion dollars infused into new jobs. With new jobs come new opportunities, new industries and an increased tax base without raising taxes or assuming any one else’s liability. WE THE PEOPLE must have the opportunity to recoup, rebuild and be restored! The American people must be bailed out, not the fat cat mortgage moguls. When the government replaces the ingenuity of WE THE PEOPLE with social band-aids the results are always devastating. The government must stay out of the bank bailout business at all costs. There is NO guarantee that the bank bailout scheme will fix the bank failure problem. The American people do not deserve to be enslaved for generations to come. We have paid our taxes, built this nation, sacrificed our young in wars, hoped to build a world where we can live in peace. After all that, we are expected to simply watch our hard earned money bailout fat cat failures. Washington is trying to saddle WE THE PEOPLE with a so called bank bailout scheme. A plan that is no more than hollow promises and empty dreams spun by the Washington spin-masters. We must re-reestablish our labor force. Bring jobs back home and rebuild our American dollar. There are some in Washington that are screaming that Wall Street shouldn’t be held to the same standards as the American people have been held to by Wall Street. Clearly a double-standard! Now they are demanding they can fix the problem they created. That same bunch is telling us they will get it right this time! NOT IN A MILLION YEARS! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! You have stopped Amnesty, Mexican trucks, gun control, and just forced Congress to refuse to ratify a bailout package! It is not over yet! International globalists are massing their forces. They are desperately trying to persuade the American people that the world will end without YOU giving them $ 700,000,000,000.00 of golden parachutes, foreign bank bailouts and off the books cash transfers. Bail Out The American People First! Fellow citizens; it is now time to step up and be counted. Our forefathers laid down their lives for a time like this. It is our turn to take up the mantle and stand for America. COME HELL OR HIGH WATER, WE THE PEOPLE WILL MAKE IT THROUGH. We don’t need to have the same failures that dealt us this financial debacle try to bail us out with their lame ideas! United we shall stand! But what can one person do? Forward this e-mail to your friends. Call your Senators and Congressmen now: 1-866-220-0044 or try 1-877-851-6437, for a toll call please dial: 1-202-225-3121. PRESIDENT BUSH, 202-456-1414 and 202-456-1111 SEND A BLISTERING FAX FROM FAXDC NOW! – On Saturday the 27th we sent over 60,000 of your faxes and it stopped the vote dead in its tracks! It is now time to make your fax voice heard! WE THE PEOPLE will survive and thrive! DO NOT BE SILENCED BY ANYONE STAND UP! MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! TAKE ACTION: Send YOUR blast FAX to ALL 535 Congressman NOW! To visit FAXDC.com, click here: http://faxdc.com/ To view Your Fax Message, click here: http://www.faxdc.com/protect_america.htm To Fax Blast Capitol Hill, click here: http://www.faxdc.com/protect_order.htm Thank You Patriot! Your friends at FAXDC.com NOTE: Be sure to send this Alert to EVERYONE you know who supports saving America and Protecting our Middle Class. Thank you!

• suspicious email from paypal
  by ginnymac

  I I know everybody is alert and won’t fall for this but…..just in case anybody is not I received an email from ‘paypal ’ to upgrade…

  I I know everybody is alert and won’t fall for this but…..just in case anybody is not I received an email from ‘paypal ’ to upgrade my account , all details of bank, credit card etc sent early January 1/ 2008 .. must be done now other wise we ….....etc etrc…. so I sent it to paypal at the below email address. paypal replied thanking me . [copied and pasted below] I thank them.! Easy to get trapped half awake new years day! they had the proper paypal form included too. What is a phishing email? / —-—-—-—-—- / Phishing emails attempt to steal your identity and will often ask you to / reveal your password or other personal or financial information. PayPal / will never ask for your password over the phone or in an email and will / always address you by your first and last name. Every email counts. By forwarding a suspicious-looking email to / spoof@paypal.com, you’ve helped keep yourself and others safe from / identity theft. Thanks, The PayPal Team

• Email Scams
  by Aloramyst

  This morning I woke up to an interesting email. Now I tend to be targetted it seems for email scams as my email is readily available on t…

  This morning I woke up to an interesting email. Now I tend to be targetted it seems for email scams as my email is readily available on the net to those who wish to contact me. I thought I would start this journal to place some of them as I receive them so you all can be aware of them, if you would like to add those that you have recieved, feel free to do so. In this particular email scam, I contacted the Ford foundation directly and notified them of what is occuring, and they confirmed that this is an email scam, please dont respond to this if you should recieve it. The Ford foundation is an actual foundation that does give out grants/loans however you must apply for them and be approved, they dont just give it away there is a process that is followed. congratulations(Donations/Grants Award)‏ From: THE FORD FOUNDATION (info@fordfound.org) Sent: July 31, 2008 2:54:55 AM To: (Unknown) THE FORD FOUNDATION / http://www.fordfound.org / United Kingdom Regional Office,11 DustableNW1 7NL,London. The Ford Foundation would like to notify you that you have been chosen by theboard of trustees as one of the final recipients of a cash Grant/Donation forour own personal, educational, and business development. The Ford Foundation,established Since 1953, the Ford Foundation has made its headquarters in NewYork. Nearly half of our staff works in our regional offices and the rest arein New York.By the Multi-Million groups and now supported by the EconomicCommunity for West African States (ECOWAS), United Nations Organization (UNO)and the European Union (EU) was conceived with the objective of humangrowth,educational, and community development. In conjunction with the ECOWAS, UNO and the EU, We are giving out a yearlydonation of £500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Great British Pound Sterlings)each to 100 lucky recipients. These specific Donations/Grants will be awarded to 100 lucky internationalrecipients worldwide; in different categories for their personal businessdevelopment and enhancement of their educational plans. This is a yearlyprogram, which is a measure of universal development strategy. You are herebyadvise to get back to us, for claim of your prize. Contact Executive Sec. Mr. Harrison Davies Email:thefordfoundation.dept02@yahoo.com.hk / On behalf of the Board kindly, accept our warmest congratulations. / Regards.Mrs. Claudia Lauren So you are warned! This is a scam! : )

• 

  If It Sounds Too Good to Be True
  by David Stuart

  US$3.42–US$91.20

• The Sloth Diaries: The Nigerian Lottery Scam
  by Rusty Woodward Gladdish

  The terrible traumas of the last few weeks are already becoming a distant memory and have been consigned to the brimming recycle bin of…

  The terrible traumas of the last few weeks are already becoming a distant memory and have been consigned to the brimming recycle bin of life. The sloth appears to have recovered from his duel with the dentist and seems none the worse for his experience. The intensity of summer is at an end and the days are becoming shorter. The garden is being romanced by vibrant Dhalias, dazzling us with the colours of their Mexican heritage. Burnt orange, Fuschia pinks, Marigold yellows, brilliant scarlet and pure, creamy white. They grow in profusion, crowding the borders and competing aggressively with the purple and pink Michaelmas daisies. The feathery leaves on the Sumach ( Japanese Maple) that grows at the foot of the rockery are turning a delicate yellow gold with the occasional vermillion leaf in between. Even the weather has become conveniently autumnal with the mist rolling down the mountain and spreading its moist mantle over the valley below. But the garden heaves a great sigh of relief and welcomes the the torrential downpours that soak the grateful roots of the old apple trees. However, the peace and quiet of this sunny monday morning was shattered by a triumphant yell from the the study. When I went in to investigate this unruly outburst, I was confronted by the rare sight of the Sloth jumping up and down, waving a letter excitedly in the air. (a rather risky activitiy as he suffers from Angina!!!). ‘We’ve won! We’ve won! Here, look at this!’ He held the letter under my nose with trembling hands. ‘We’ve won the bloody Spanish lottery. We’re rich!’ I snatched the letter from his shaking hand and scanned a smudgy photocopy informing the Sloth that he’d been entered in the Spanish lottery via the internet and his numbers had come up. It stated that he was the lucky winner of 800,815 euros ( roughly £500, 600 ). To collect his winnings he had been given an email address and several phone numbers to contact someone called Steve Gomez. Poor old Sloth! Anyone with half a brain could see that it had SCAM, written all over it. But he desperately wanted to think it was true, as much as he wants to be rich and famous. He has a certain child like innocence that believes the little old ladies who come to our door and con him out of his cash. He’s a sucker for a hard luck story. This is a man who has an unshakeable belief in God and probably believes in Father Christmas too!! Both concepts seem synonymous as we are conditioned from childhood to believe in them. We never actually see them in the flesh though. ‘Look!’, I say. ‘It’s just a trick. They’ve got your name and address from the internet. You’re always buying things online’’. Sloth sighed heavily. He doesn’t do patience. He began to speak very slowly and loudly as though he was talking to a simpleton or someone who was profoundly deaf. ‘It doesn’t matter where they got my name from does it? I’ve obviously won something and I’m going to ring the number and check it right now. OK?’ ‘Ok! But it’s a Spanish number. It’ll cost a fortune on a Monday morning. Why don’t we wait until after six o’clock?’ His shoulders began to shake. The volcano was rumbling. ‘This is irrelevant in the scheme of things. The cost of a couple of phone calls is small beer when it looks like we’ve won half a million!’ Well, there’s no answer to that! There were three phone numbers. He rang the first number but slammed down the receiver after dialling it several times. ‘It’s giving the unused line signal. I’ll try the other one.’ This time there was an answer. ‘Hola! Buenas dias! Puedo hablar con senor Steve Gomez por favor?’ Sloth said breezily. ‘Quien?’ a female voice crackled down the line. ‘Steve Gomez. G- O- M- E- Z ’ Sloth spelled the name (using the Spanish alphabet) helpfully. There was a long pause, then, ‘No hay Steve Gomez aqui senor.’ The Sloth stiffened and grapsed the receiver firmly as though it was the arm of the Spanish speaker on the other end and tried again. ‘Mirar! Tengo una ficha sobre la lotteria….........’ ‘Senor!’ the voice interrupted. ‘No hay Steve Gomez. No existe’ ‘What do you mean? ‘Doesn’t exist’ ?’ Suddenly English had become the lingua franca, born out of sheer desperation. ‘Hello...’ Sloth tapped the phone frantically but was rewarded for his trouble with the irritating purr of the dialing tone. ‘See! I told you it was just a scam! The man doesn’t even exist….’ ‘Of course he exists! ’ exploded the Sloth and pounded up the stairs two at a time to send the non exisitent person an email. The next morning the Sloth was up bright and early checking his emails. He came into the kitchen excitedly brandishing a sheet of paper. ‘I told you it was genuine’ he said self righteously. ’ Take a look at this’. I read the email and saw that it was indeed from someone calling himself Steve Gomez and informing the Sloth that he would be ringing from Spain that very morning. His smugness was unbearable as he began humming a tune from his latest Roy Orbison CD and stiring his capuccino noisily. At eleven am the phone rang and the Sloth went into a frantic pantomime of manic handsignals worthy of a bookie ’s tic tac signalling the odds on the racecourse! I took this to mean that I was to answer it as the Sloth hates speaking on the phone. Expecting a conversation in Spanish I began by greeting the caller in what I believed was his native tongue. There was a brief silence from the other end, then ‘Er….can you speak English?’ ‘Yes of course. Sorry! I thought you were Spanish. You have a spanish name so I thought….........’ I trailed off. ‘You have an African accent’ I ventured. A loud chuckle exploded in my ear.’Well that’s because I was born in South Africa, you see!’ Somehow, I couldn’t make out the clipped , adenoidal vowels of South Africa in his speech. By now I was bristling with suspicion but to prove my point to the gullible Sloth, I continued. The deep, dark African voice identified himself as Steve Gomez and asked to speak to the Sloth. I explained that he had a cold and had lost his voice, so I was handling things for him. He seemed completely unfazed and told me cheerfully in a lilting African accent that Sloth had won some money in the Spanish lottery. He needed to know if he wanted to be paid by cheque or have the money transferred into his bank account by electronic transfer. ‘Of course we would need your bank details for this operation’ he crooned smoothly. I decided to play the shark a little longer and said ‘It would be better if you sent a cheuque’, I said breezily and gave a false address. ‘Steve’ seemed very happy with this. So much so that he then dropped the (the terribly predictable) bombshell. ‘Well that’s good! Now there’s only one more thing you must do to guarantee payment of the cheque’ he giggled. ‘What’s that exactly’ I said slowly. ‘Well!’ he paused ‘The Spanish bank charges £l,OOO’ ‘What for?’ I said my voice beginning to rise. ‘Its the handling fee ma’m’ ‘A £l,OOO handling fee’ I repeated. I looked over at the Sloth who looked so woeful as he gave me the thumbs down. Dreams of a life of Riley fading into the ether. I quietly put down the receiver and switched on the answerphone.

• I feel like such an idiot!
  by Leoni Venter

  Got an email a while ago inviting me to register at Madison’s Who’s Who. They made it sound terribly cool and important. It looked like a…

  Got an email a while ago inviting me to register at Madison’s Who’s Who. They made it sound terribly cool and important. It looked like another networking site and I’m on a few so I figured why not this one. Filled in the form, got told they will contact me. So this evening they CALLED me, from New York. That’s kind of mind-boggling for a small-town kid from South Africa, let me tell you. And I suppose they employ the very best in tele-salespeople because the guy talked me into a year membership for $59. At least I put a foot down and flatly refused the lifetime membership of $700 or the 5-year membership for $400. But even $59 (and that’s the very special price just for me) is really too much. But there you have it, the sucker (me!) fell for it. You might ask why did they have my phone number? Well, because it’s a business listing, that’s why. And my home number and business number happens to be the same. Afterwards (having fallen down the stairs on the way to get my credit card – still alive, darn it) I checked the internet and got way too many google results naming this company and site as a rip-off, a scam, etc etc. Yeah, that’s what I thought. I just didn’t think it quite fast enough. Stupid stupid! I’ll see if I can get my bank to reverse the charges, but I suppose this is a lesson paid for and hopefully learned. If someone calls with a list of wonderful services that you can get for just $59 (or whatever) say NOT INTERESTED! I hope I can remember that next time. This is really going to spoil my night’s sleep tonight. Sigh.

• World Art Media .... a scam?
  by Leoni Venter

  Just got the following very flattering e-mail: —- / Hello Leoni Venter, I just finished reviewing your work online, and I must s…

  Just got the following very flattering e-mail: —- / Hello Leoni Venter, I just finished reviewing your work online, and I must say I was impressed. I wanted to find out more about your working styles and process, especially those relating to “UniQ”, which happens to be my favorite out of your collection. World Art Media is a dynamic public relations company working exclusively to promote artists. WAM is international, operating in NYC, for over 10 years. We deal with Visual Artists, much like yourself and work one-on-one with our clients, our international art partners, and exhibitors in US, Germany, Spain, and China just to name a few. I am in the process of selecting artist for an online/print project at a Arts Publication. NY Arts Magazine, (www.nyartsmagazine.com) has a section called Tips & Picks and I would love to get you featured. NY Arts reserves a limited amount of space exclusively for WAM clients for a discounted price. This is an Advertorial, and would include a 1/3 page, 1 color image, artist statement and your web address. This is an excellent opportunity to get exposure, have your work published in a beautiful magazine, and document your work. I also feel that this would be a key stepping stone towards gaining recognition for your artistic career. If you have any questions or would like more information about our fees and other publicity services, I will be happy to discuss this further with you. I look forward to hearing from you so we can immediately establish our working relationship and get your name out there where it belongs. Warmest Regards, — / Aislynne Clement / Publicist Assistant World Art Media / www.worldartmedia.com / 473 Broadway, 7th Floor / New York, NY 10013 ——- I went to the trouble of Googling “World Art Media” scam and I got enough hits to make me very sceptical about this … having had my brush with NYC scam guys earlier this year already, I’m not about to walk into this little trap. Just thought I’d post this here in case someone else gets contacted by them…

• Short story comp
  by paulrocksyoursox

  Hey guys, / / I just have a couple of questions re. the short story comp. / / I’ve been reading through and there’s a lot of great ent…

  Hey guys, / / I just have a couple of questions re. the short story comp. / / I’ve been reading through and there’s a lot of great entries. Is voting still open? It’d be great if someone could let me know cos I’d love to cast a few more votes. / / Also, I noticed a certain entrant has a lot of votes and comments from people who have no portfolio of their own and no journal entries. A lot of them don’t even have any other favorites. Is this allowed? I mean, you could sign up under 20 different names and game the system. Or you could get all your friends to sign up and do it that way. Just wondering if there was anyone checking up on stuff like that. / Cheers, / Paul

• Preservation
  by Sande Elkins

  Ok, the not so good news first, Mouse’s leg does not seem to be getting any better. True, it isn’t getting worse really and she is trotti…

  Ok, the not so good news first, Mouse’s leg does not seem to be getting any better. True, it isn’t getting worse really and she is trotting around occasionally and only shows a limp if you look closely. But it does seem a bit more swollen this morning and the vet is coming back this afternoon to check it out. / Good news on another front, the Store Front photo. Many of you expressed concerned over the fact that old architecture like that is just allowed to decay and take so much history with it. I spoke with a neighbor this morning, who’d actually seen the photos I’d taken of the building on my website and been spurred to action, that the mayor’s mother is starting a preservation committee and attempting to get a grant for the building’s restoration. I’ve offered to supply any photos that might be needed to aid in obtaining the grant. / Good news also on my new career doing equine portraiture, the requests and interest continues to grow among local horse and barn owners. They like the fact that I’m offering something different than the usual. / I’ve ordered my Nikon D300 but a word to the wise on that: there are scams galore out there. I found an offer for a camera at half the normal price. I should have known that was too good to be true but I also thought every penny saved on the camera is one more I have to spend on good lenses. I feel I need the D300 because it is the fastest on the market with a reasonable price-as if any of them are actually reasonable. Soooo, I order my camera at the discount and I’m so excited-and a bit full of myself, too because I got such a good deal. After a horrible stormy morning and an upset Mouse who was understandably difficult to treat- she’s started locking her knee to keep me from bending her leg. Again, can’t say that I blame her because shooting that betadine into the wound has to be uncomfortable if not down right painful. So, anyway, the day had not started off well and what am I greeted with when I return to the house but an email from the company that I purchased the camera from asking me to call them. The fellow said that they needed the security code from my credit card. Well, that alone set off a few alarms because I knew that there was no way my online order would have gone through if I had missed including important information like that. While I was retrieving my card, the salesman goes into this spiel about, “Oh, I see you got the discounted, plastic cased, made in China D300.” I asked what he was talking about because nothing was mentioned on the website about this not being a legitimate D300. He said, “Oh no, this one is cheaply made and will only shoot 2 frames per second where the titanium body shoots 6. I can sell you the better one for 1799.” Which is the average price on the market. I told him, no, thanks and I wish I’d told him there was no way I’d buy anything from him since he’d tried “bait and switch” on me. I was so angry but I learned a lesson as well. I turned around and purchase the camera that I wanted from a legitimate dealer and I called them just to make certain that I WAS getting what I paid for. Live and learn and turn those @#$!! into the Better Business Bureau!! / Please keep sending the good thoughts to Mousie. I’m still so concerned about the girl. And if you’ve made it this far into this very whiny and self indulgent tirade, thanks for that as well:-)~Sande

• Scum of the earth!
  by James Potter

  Four days ago I received a scam email. This guy wanted to buy two pieces of my work. I almost fell for this type of thing about 2 years a…

  Four days ago I received a scam email. This guy wanted to buy two pieces of my work. I almost fell for this type of thing about 2 years ago so I wrote him back. I was just playing along with this guy. I ask him which two pieces of my work he wanted to buy. He wrote me back and said he had a client that wanted to buy some artwork for his new home in Nigeria or somewhere. So I wrote him back and I told him that I do landscapes and portraits. Take your pick!. He wrote me back and said he wanted a landscape and a portrait and to go ahead and paint them. OK, a portrait of what? does this guy want a portrait of my cat? Or maybe a portrait of my sons pet lizard. So I wrote him back again and ask him to be more specific about what he wants me to paint. So he just said it doesn’t matter, Just a portrait and a landscape. He also gave me instructions on how to handle the big money for the paintings exchange. He was to send me a cashiers check for a big big sum of money and I was to cash it , take my part and give the rest to his special shipping agent who was to come to my home and pick up the goods. He ask me to write him back with a price for the landscape and the portrait of of my sons pet lizard. So I wrote him back with a price. / I told him my landscapes start at $40,000.00 and my portraits start at $60,000.00 (Yeah, in my dreams) and I only except pay pal and I only ship through UPS. I’m still waiting but he hasn’t replied back yet. If anybody is reading this don’t fall for one of these scams like I almost did 2 years ago. The cashiers checks are stolen and you get stuck with paying back the money.

• Mexico City
  by Skip Hunt

  Then his hand was on my leg and started to caress it as he suggested we take a walk to my hotel for a complimentary suck.

  A day in the life of Mexico City.

• Scam Alert
  by Murray Swift

  Beware of email messages where the sender requests a print/s then goes on to say they will deposit a cheque in your bank which will b…

  Beware of email messages where the sender requests a print/s then goes on to say they will deposit a cheque in your bank which will be released on delivery. Sometimes they will deposit a cheque made out to double the required amount, then they will ask you to send them the overstated amount because their accounts dept made a mistake. These scammers choose any service or product offered on-line. They will be from another country and the cheque will come from a small unheard of bank. This type of scam is pretty obvious, but people have been taken in! if you receive this sort of message trash it or proceed with caution, if your bank is on the ball they will alert you if an unusually large cheque arrives from an obscure overseas bank.

• Well, last night I unmasked a scam artist.
  by DLKeur

  So this dude shows up on another art website, launching a new book about that website. And what’s he doing? He’s researching on that we…

  So this dude shows up on another art website, launching a new book about that website. And what’s he doing? He’s researching on that website’s forum. Hmmm. Owning several forums myself, running dozens more, and owning an ISSN to boot, I’m rather familiar with the DMCA, its addendums, and US Copyright laws, including the all-but-defunct “Fair Use” clause. So I mentioned this to this individual in a private PM, avoiding his method which was to challenge me on the forum proper about the FCC, FTC, and major SE rules about advertising on websites, something I’m also rather familiar with because of the coding team’s work. (That wound up with me asking HIM why that information was so critical to him since his book isn’t about that at all. His reply was interesting. The truth is, he’s using the exact techniques on his websites that these rules are designed to forfeit.) So this guy gets all flustered and indignant when I do mention the copyright laws concerning content not expressly released by its author/owner to Public Domain. What does that tell you? It tells me that, were he ignorant, he would have thanked me; were he savvy, he would have agreed and moaned about the work involved with securing the permissions. Instead, he showed true colors. Only those guilty of purloining (or who are planning on it) get hostile and defensive. TaDAAAAAA! Bingo! Gotcha! Yep, our “Success with CP_” boy thought he’d just lift the whole kit and kaboodle right out of the forum, slam his copyright on it, and there ya go. Not. At least not if you and the company who owns the forum don’t want some litigation in your lap. But then, look at the source: He wears a black beret, dark glasses that hide his eyes, is a self-pronounced “entrepreneur,” and is a WarCraft junky. Speaks for itself, don’t you think? Crocodiles….

• BEWARE Scam Mail
  by margo

  Not for quite some time have I submitted images to BetterPhoto but this morning I received the following message via my email. Subject wa…

  Not for quite some time have I submitted images to BetterPhoto but this morning I received the following message via my email. Subject was simply ‘hi’ and the sender was ‘a BetterPhoto visitor’. I considered whether or not to open the email from an unknown sender and then took the risk and opened it – stupido!! Shown below is the email I received. jameskomo4u@yahoo.com / From James Komo. / Dearest one, / Abidjan,Cote d` Ivoire, West Africa. / It is my pleasure to write you after much consideration, since I can not be able to see you face to face at first, please I need your help. / I am the James Komo the only son of late Chief Joseph Komo, from Cote d’Ivoire (I am 21years of age. / My father was a liability Cocoa and Gold merchant in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire before his untimely death.After his business trip to Tunisia,to nagociate on a cocoa and gold business he wanted to invest in Tunisia, a week after he came back from Tunisia, he got an accident with my mother of which my mother died instantly but my father died five days after in a private hospital. On that faithful afternoon, I didn´t know that my father was going to leave me after I had earlier lost my mother, but before he gave up the ghost, it was as if he knew he was going to die. He my father, (MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PERFECT PEACE) called me to his bed side and told me that he deposited the sum of ($10.5m) Ten Million five Hundred Thousand US Dollars in a bank here in Cote D’ Ivoire.That the money was meant for his cocoa and Gold business he wanted to establish in Tunisia, according to my father he deposited the money in a fixed suspense account using my name as the next of kin, He instructed me to seek for a reliable and trust worthy business partner for my life time investment abroad. / Now I have succeeded in locating the deposit documents and the bank where this money is here in Abidjan,Cote d`Ivoire. Due to war in my country Cote d’Ivoire, I am now seeking for your assistance to help me transfer this money out from my country Côte d´Ivoire to your account abroad so that we should invest it in any meaningful and lucrative business in your country because this is my only hope in life. I am willing to offer you 15% of the total fund if only you can help me out of my present predicament. / The worst part of it is that my uncle is trying to kill me over this money because i refused to hand him over the documents covering this money, He has sold all my father’s landed properties including his cars which rightful belong to me and now he want me to hanh over the banking document of my father in my possesion which i refused.Now he said that he will have this money by all means even if it means killing me, so because of this I ran away from home and hide in a hotel,pending when this money will be transfered so that i can leave the country for my safty. / I await your immediate response coupled with your direct telephone and fax numbers for easy communications. / please reply me to my private box at (jameskomo4u@yahoo.com ) . / Please call me for more details ok 00225 078 501 58 / thank’s and God bless. / Yours sincerely, / James Komo. / This message has been sent from a BetterPhoto.com visitor who saw your Premium BetterPholio™