Sculptor warns of money scam (From Gazette & Herald)

Sculptor warns of money scam

A SCULPTOR in a remote North Yorkshire village believes she was the target of an attempted cash scam, and wants to warn other small businesses to be on their guard.

Inspired by the glorious surroundings of the North York Moors, professional artist Jennifer Tetlow, who moved to Lastingham six years ago, sculpts birds and animals, ornaments and sculpture, from Yorkshire sandstone.

Ms Tetlow sells her work through galleries and at exhibitions, and also creates interest in her work via her website, www.jennifertetlow.co.uk, which she set up herself with help from a Whitby-based business development association. She believes that she was targeted by scamsters trying to trick her to pay out cash. A man posing as a buyer emailed Ms Tetlow via her website and asked her for details of work she had available. The sculptor emailed him pictures and prices and a sale was agreed.

"I was so excited because I thought I was going to get an early Christmas present by making a sale," said Ms Tetlow. "I expected him to contact me to arrange a viewing, but he just emailed me to say he would be shipping to Bulgaria, which I was wary of, although I've shipped work to America, Canada and France. Bulgaria seemed a funny place, but at the time I was thinking of 'world domination'."

The pair agreed a price of about £3,250, but in an email the buyer said he would be sending a cheque for £6,000. Ms Tetlow was surprised and repeated the quoted price and asked him if he expected her to pay the carrier fees.

The scamster replied by simply asking her where to send the money. When the cheque arrived during the Christmas Bank Holiday Ms Tetlow was suspicious because it was to be drawn from a London solicitors' client account. The buyer asked her to then send him a personal cheque for the £1,000 that he had overpaid her.

Ms Tetlow said that on investigation the cheque turned out to be bogus and she alerted North Yorkshire Police. Had she not been so vigilant she could have been conned out of £1,000.

"I'm staggered that they would pick me. I'm a one-man band in a little rural village.

"They may be trying to prey on people who are in need of business. It would've been a big sale for me, a nice Christmas present," she said.

She warned other businesses to be on their guard, and asked for anyone who had been tricked in a similar way to contact the police and trading standards.

David Sayer, principal trading standards officer at North Yorkshire County Council, said: "Every year we hear of dozens of scams that are being practised against business. They come in all shapes and sizes.

"People have to be incredibly aware that there's no such thing as a free lunch and they really have to be careful."

Updated: 11:14 Monday, January 24, 2005