I hope this never happens to you.
As part of my business practice I have an accountability partner and we talk every week about our businesses. Part of our discussion this last week was on the rotten buggers out there that are making it their business to SCAM artists.
The scam she received was a brazen one. One that could have cost her $90,000. That’s right, 90K. Wowza.
As if selling art wasn’t challenging enough, we have to be on guard of scammers too. As I thought about writing this article I did a quick Google search and came across Agora Gallery’s blog post on the topic. It’s an excellent read. If you are selling art, it’s one you must read.
The first time I received one of these emails I knew it didn’t sound right, but wanted to figure out the scam. A cashier’s check is pretty fool proof, right? I called my bank and to my surprise discovered that cashiers checks are not nearly as secure as I thought. They can easily be counterfeit and the even years later if detected, the bank could debit my account for the value of the check.
I also knew from my having a previous merchant account, that unless you have a credit card in hand, swipe the card, and get a signature that a customer can dispute the charge up to 60 days from their statement date, and will likely win.
So now what?
I called PayPal and discovered that they offer a Seller Protection policy with my transactions. It was amazing how quickly my scammer stopped communicating with me when I responded that the only form of payment I would accept was PayPal! They knew it was the safest way for me to protect myself and were no longer interested in me.
Trust your gut. You’ve heard it before, but I’ll say it again. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. All you have to do is to Google the email senders name along with the word ‘scam’ and see what comes up. It’s your responsibility to do your ‘due diligence’ and know who you are in business with.
And please, please, please…….NEVER ever take an overpayment and pay any of your money out, no matter how secure you think the transaction is.
These scammers continue because they are successful in their pursuits. Don’t get caught up in a sale. Leave your ego out of it. Be smart!
What do you think? What scams have you run across? The more we expose the scammers the safer we will all be.
Be well….be creative,
Is Payoal all that great? I’ve read a lot of accounts on FB about photogs using PayPal to accept payment then losing their money when a client disputes. It seems PayPal generally sided with your client, no matter if the disputes is covered by a well written contract or not.
Your thoughts?
I’ve never had any problem with Paypal Al. The few disputes that occurred went in my favor. You have to know what PayPal requires of you for protection. If you follow those rules there shouldn’t be a problem.