New Scam!
Members are advised to beware of the scam described below
The following message was sent from LAPADA to their members recently
“This week, two men, one of whom spoke with a foreign accent, either Arab or African, telephoned a number of galleries on Portobello Road and Kensington Church Street wishing to purchase an item they claimed to have either seen in the window, or in the gallery on a previous occasion. They offered payment by Amex and said they would send a third party to collect the item. One gallery fell foul of the scam, whereupon the Amex transaction was cancelled immediately following collection of a valuable item.”
Today, 1 May, 2008, WEADA member Chris Oxley from P A Oxley contacted the WEADA office with the follow up information
“We have been contacted today by someone on the phone who wanted to buy our £29,000 marquetry longcase clock. They asked for the best price which I gave them and then said they would have it and would like to pay by AMEX and have it collected within the hour by a carrier. I then said no and that payment had to be by cheque and that we would need the amount to clear in our account before they could collect the clock. He then backed down and said he would try and organise a bank transfer. I think this has to be the same person, you just don’t get phone calls like that.”
