ARTISTS BEWARE!
I just lost my time with a sophisticated art scam, scammer wants me to ship my paintings with a fake shipping company: https://www.costaexpressdelivery.com/about-us
Can you spot what looks wrong with this website?
If you'd like to know more about the fake shipping company scams, you can read some info here: https://glassmagazine.com/glassblog/warning-fake-shipping-company-scam ( I didn't took the time to read all the 61 pages of testimonies! )
If you'd like to know more about the fake shipping company scams, you can read some info here: https://glassmagazine.com/glassblog/warning-fake-shipping-company-scam ( I didn't took the time to read all the 61 pages of testimonies! )
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ARTISTES ATTENTION!
Je viens de perdre mon temps avec un scam sophistiqué, le scammer veut que j'expédie mes peintures avec une fausse compagnie de transport: https://www.costaexpressdelivery.com/about-us
Est ce que vous arrivez à voir ce qui fait faux dans ce site web?
16 comments:
You mean like the 2023 copyright at the bottom of the page? Maybe these are time travelers and they are delivering your painting to a buyer that bought it five years from now. ;)
I thought it couldn't be a time traveller's art scam, otherwise he would have known that I didn't fell into the trap. :)
I just received a request from someone in Hungary for the purchase of my art work. When I asked for a shipping address so I could quote a cost for handling and postage, I was told to use Costa Express Delivery. I went to their web site and it looked strange, so I did some Google searches and found your post. How does the scam work?
Please respond to me about how the scam works at cactusflats@gmail.com
I just received a request from someone in Hungary for the purchase of my art work. When I asked for a shipping address so I could quote a cost for handling and postage, I was told to use Costa Express Delivery. I went to their web site and it looked strange, so I did some Google searches and found your post. How does the scam work?
The scam probably works like one of these: https://glassmagazine.com/glassblog/warning-fake-shipping-company-scam
I also was contacted about buying my artwork with a request to use CostaExpress Delivery. It went pretty far until I was convinced it was a scam. I always had a sort of bad feeling about it but a friend helped me see all the signs in the end. Now I'm not sure if I should just walk away or interrogate this guy...a part of me was holding out hope for awhile that it is real. But he really insisted on using CostaExpress and is starting to seem angry at me for questioning him and suggesting a more common shipping method.
I'm not sure if it's the same person or if several people use the same fake shipping website, but it looks like the scammer was also following me on Facebook, and when I published about that fake shipping company, someone tried to influence me saying that the site looked ok, those small companies are reliable and cheaper than the big ones. When I pointed the different problems with the website, he and his comments disappeared. That made me wondering. As the scammer never contacted me again by email after, I suppose that it was the same guy.
Glad my post is helping others...
I recently got approached by Belinda Davis, she was interested in buying three of my art pieces and adviced me to use that same shipping company. I was a bit alarmed by that and it made me investigate more. and luckily I found your post. thank you for keeping us artist posted.
Regards,
Saskia Zimmerman
Hi Saskia, I'm glad you found my post. I always post this kind of info so people searching on Internet can find them. Artists are often the targets of many scammers, it's important to know how to identify them.
Best,
Marina.
Thank you so much for posting. I have also gotten this email and the costaexpress shipping demand from someone calling himself Michael Hoffman from Budapest. Was suspicious from the beginning but always hoping for a legit buyer!! Seems there actually is a real costa express, a courier service in Brazil. But this one is definitely a scam.
I have been approached by a Cheryl Langley from the Isle of Man wanting to purchase art glass from my website. I am an Australian Online gallery. It looked suspicious from the beginning but as it is hard to tell I sent brief non committal emails back. Now they also want me to use costaexpress to ship the goods as well. I decided to research scams using such a service and your message came up. Thank you so much for letting me know. Even though I was suspicious from the beginning I couldn't work out the scam. I guess it is coming so I will stop all communications.
Thank you again
Suzanne Brett
The Cheryl Langley/Isle of Man is a Scam, I am an Australian Sculptor who she has contacted directly through my website wanting to purchase a work. She tried to take me down the same path, using her preferred shipping company to purchase an artwork. With a bit of research have found this to be a Scam.
Good Luck
got a message from Cheryl Langley/Isle of Man/Costa Express. I had a bad feeling because 1. they just selected artwork - never said how they heard about work, or even that they liked paintings (they wanted to buy 4 paintings). The fact that the email exchanges seemed rational made me continue. Then the request for the Costa Express shipping company. The website looks really bad.
I did submit for a bid and they said that it would cost over 1000. to send a 3 lb box. Thats when I told them I would not continue if the shipping company overcharged. Havent heard back.
but I am concerned I could have opened myself up to more hacking by putting name and email in submission for a quote.
If they were purchasing from your website then they already had your name and email address so nothing you can do about that but we all need to be vigilant and make sure that none of us are affected further. I haven't heard back since I said I wouldn't use their shipper as they were unknown to me. I am wondering who to report it to as I wasn't affected but others undoubtedly will be . Any suggestions anyone?
Suzanne
Cheryl Langley contacted me last week and said she found my wife's artwork on her site - www.lisairgang.com - and wanted to order four pieces. She said she is located in the Isle of Man and had difficulty getting shipments from UPS, FedEx and all the major shippers. She suggested I use Costa Express Delivery. I got a quote from them that was almost double the sale price of the artwork. I emailed Cheryl the price of the artwork and associated shipping cost with Costa Express Delivery. She said it was fine.
We only accept PayPal. I sent her a PayPal invoice and she replied she had trouble paying it for some reason associated with her credit card company. She suggested I use PayPal's virtual terminal service. That is when I started to get suspicious and Googled her. Luckily I found your thread.
We would not have lost any money because I would not ship until funds hit my bank. I would have lost time and some packing materials. It seems that the scammers send out an email purportedly from PayPal stating funds have been received. If the artist pays the non-existent shipper at that point their money is lost. The scammer doesn't want the artwork nor do they ever receive it. The scam is to receive the shipping charges.
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