I posted a few days ago about an attempt made by a scammer to purchase a painting I have shown on the internet. Since then, things have progressed to the point where he actually sent me a check!

I was offering my painting to him for $500 and he sent me a check for $2,300 which should be PLENTY to cover shipping. Of course he wants me to deposit the check right away and I'm sure he'll be asking me to send the remaining funds back to him.

There's only one problem.

The check is a bogus check issued on the legitimate account of a legitimate business. I contacted the business and they have had no less than 50 of these fraudulent checks turn up in the past week or so. Chances are slim they will catch anyone for this because they cover their tracks so well. So I figured trying to string the scammer along for a while might be fun.

The entire transcript of our back-and-forth e-mails to each other are below.

From: morris whiye [mailto:m_white112@yahoo.com]
Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2008 8:48 AM
To: mark……@mywdo.com
Subject: INTERESTED IN PURCHASING YOUR "Elemental 1" Rust and beeswax on canvas over wood panel

Hello,
I'm Mr. Morris residing at 24307 SE 41st Pl. Issaquah, WA 98029 USA, i saw your item posted for sell,and i am willing to purchase it, so i will kindly want you to get back to me with its present status of condition, your last price offer that you are willing to let it go

Elemental 1" Rust and beeswax on canvas over wood panel

I will be happy to see more pictures of it ? I will appreciate an earlier reply and pls let me know if you are the real owner
Regards, And awaiting for your response

(Morris)
********************

Thank you for your interest in my painting. The painting is hanging in my home and still available for sale. It is priced at $500 plus the cost of shipping. If you are interested, before you commit to purchase, we should discuss the delicate nature of the beeswax that covers the canvas and possible effects of shipping the painting during warm weather.

Mark Cotton

******************

From: morris whiye [mailto:m_white112@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 3:28 AM
To: Mark Cotton
Subject: PICKUP METHOD OF THE "Elemental 1" Rust and beeswax on canvas over wood panel

Thnaks for the prompt reply and how are you and how is the family and i really appreciate your interest in selling the( "Elemental 1" Rust and beeswax on canvas over wood panel $500 )am ok with the price,but i will like to inform you that right now am in UNITED KINGDOM for MY HONEYMOON

I will have to instruct my CLIENT to send you a check or a money order, since that is the only means of payment I can offer now due to my present conditions
Please provide me the following information so that my wife can send you the payment asap

Full Name To Be Written On The Check................
Full Contact Address,City,State And Code.................
Home Or Mobile Phone #..................
Permanent Email Address..................

So that I can instruct my CLIENT to send you the payment

NOTE: Never bother about the shipping I will handle it myself. I look forward to hear from you as soon as possible and also i was advice by the shipping agent to include the shipping charges in the same check
You can call me on my private number +447031983979

Many Thanks

(Morris)

********************

Mr. Whiye (May I call you Morris?)

The family is fine, but thank you for asking. Mama’s leg is much better once we got her to quick sticking that yardstick down in the cast to deal with all the itching. I told her she should have never been up on the roof trying to fix the Dish antenna anyway, but she just told me what she always does: “Children are meant to be seen and not heard.”

I’m thrilled that you like my painting so much that you contacted me and really want to pay that much money for it. I’ve got to talk to Jolena (my wife) to make sure it’s OK to sell it first. She really likes the painting because the little wire snake I used to make it is the same one we used to unclog the drain when she cooked her first meal from me after getting out of jail that time. (She was in for intentional bodily harm for an incident with a curling iron at The Cue-Tee-Py School of Beauty)

What’s your new bride’s name? And, how old a fella are you? I need to know for a sort of demographical study I’m doing of those who appreciate my art. When we have the art show down at the Mini-Mall and I show my best work, I usually leave some recipe cards there for people to write down their name and age. Some people write other things, but I just ignore them. A real artist has to learn that it takes all kinds.

How long will you be in the United Kingdom? Is that close to England?

I also think I have some good news about the shipping. I talked to a friend of mine who lives in Seattle and he will be making a trip out here in a few days. He will be able to deliver the painting right to you instead of worrying about how the shipper will treat it. Isn’t that great news?

Your friend,

Mark Cotton

*************

Morris,

I’m sorry to bother you on your honeymoon like this, but I wanted to update you on the situation here.

I talked to my buddy Delbert, who lives in Seattle, Washington and he won’t be able to come down here to pick up the painting after all. He thought he could come for a visit for a few days, but the ankle bracelet he has to wear won’t let him get past the driveway without going off, and he says the little shock it gives you is something he just couldn’t tolerate for more than an hour or two.

And, I talked to Jolena about selling the painting and she insists that I’ve got to make sure you send me the money before I can send you the painting. I was going to let Delbert just leave the painting and pick up the money at your house, but with Delbert out of the picture it’s probably better for you to send me the money first anyway.

I hope you’re still interested. I like the idea of one of my paintings hanging in a fancy house in Washington.

Your friend,

Mark Cotton
LEAA
P O Box 5636
Hobbs, NM 88241

******************

Dear Mark Cotton

Compliments and a top of the day to you over there, So really sorry for the delay of payment and finally i want to let you know that the payment will delivered to you by the ups courier service and here is the tracking number you can confirm it ( J2187748341 )

Please you are to take the check straigth ahead to your bank to get it deposited so that your bank can notify you when to come for the payment and email me back as soon as you have deposited the check to know when the check will clear your bank so that i can contact my shipping agent to get ready for the pickup as soon as he get the shipping charges ,cos right now am in united kingdom for my honeymoon

Many thanks

(Morris)

**************

Morris,

I am so excited! I spent all morning getting the tire on the pickup changed so Jolena can go to town to pick up the check at the post office. That truck has just been sitting there since Jolena lost her license in that New Years Eve incident out at the Twilight Lounge. But, Jolena just completed the Road Rage 101 course that the judge make her take, and she past the test with flying colors, mostly (if you don’t count her colorful language).

I’m expecting Jolena back at any time, she usually drives pretty fast when she’s got somewhere to get to. Should I start boxing the painting up and getting it ready to ship? Where did you say I should ship it too?

I hope your honeymoon is going nicely. I asked Jolena recon you got to meet the king, but she said just because they call it the United Kingdom doesn’t necessarily mean they have a king over there. (Jolena’s always real good about letting me know when I don’t have a clue about something) I hope you’ll send me a picture of you and your blushing bride.

Mark Cotton

************

Thanks for the prompt reply and how are you and how is the family and i really appreciate your mail for letting me knows that you have the payment,pls kindly proceed to the bank and get the check deposited while i contact my shipping agent to get ready for the pickup as soon as the check clear,like i said in my last mail that i have some outstanding items that are awaiting for shippment that will be both shipp together with your artwork am buying from you

Pls email me back as soon as you have deposited the check to know when the funds will clear your bank and You can call me on my private number +447031983979

(Morris)
*************

Morris,

Something has gone terribly wrong here. Jolena left yesterday morning to go pick up the check and I haven’t seen her since. And, not only that, but her clothes and all her stuff is gone. And, so is the painting. I went to get the painting to start packaging it up and there was just a note tacked to the wall that said: “I’m out of here”

I am so upset I can barely type this. That woman is the sunshine of my life and now she’s done gone, gone, gone. There ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone. Only darkness every day.

What do I do now? I would call you but I’ve been deaf and unable to work since that fireworks accident last 4th of July and besides that we don’t even have a telephone.

I can’t believe Jolena would do me like this. Maybe you should write to her and ask her to come back to me and bring the check and the painting so we can complete this transaction. Her e-mail address is jolenayomama@gmail.com

Earl Cotton

*************

from Jolena Yomama
to m_white112@yahoo.com
date May 24, 2008 6:31 AM
subject Painting
mailed-by gmail.com

Dear Mr. White,

You have been trying to buy a painting from my husband, Earl Cotton for the past few days. Earl doesn't know his @$$ from a hole in the ground most of the time, so I have to watch out for him, or he'd get taken by the first lowlife to come along from from Nigeria. There's lots of creepy so-and-so's on the internet, so THANK GOD for honest people like you who will actually send the money like you did.

There's just one thing though. The painting Earl was trying to sell you is worth a whole lot more than $500 and I'm not about to let you have it for that. My family left me that painting along with a little money, so I have a little more brains than Earl when it comes to money.

I took the check for $2,300 you sent and put it in the bank along with the money my family left me. I will consider it a down payment for now. The painting is easily worth $10,000, but I will agree to sell it to you for $7,500 (plus shipping of course) if you will help me with a favor. Earl don't know about the money my family left, so please don't mention it to him. He would want to move out of the Relaxation Acres Trailer Park and get a fancy house somewhere that don't have wheels. But, the fact that he stays with me regardless of how poor we may appear proves to me every day that he loves me for who I am, not how much money I have stashed away.

And, speaking of true love, I sure hope you are enjoying your HONEYMOON in the United Kingdom. Earl is such a doofus, thinking there was a real king just cause they call it the United Kingdom. He didn't have a television when he was growing up, so he never got to watch MARLIN PERKIN'S MUTUAL OF OMAHA UNITED KINGDOM SHOW like I did. Now you be careful with all them tigers and lions and such. That younger guy on the show was always getting bit and stuff, while that old fella just sat back and sort of laughed at him.

Like Monty Hall always used to say: Let's make a deal!!

Jolena Yomama