Scams

THE Swiss authorities have launched a criminal investigation into scam guide firms and their associated debt recovery agencies.

A SINGLE vendor has been trying to sell very convincing fake silver smallwork through auction rooms in central and southwest England.

NO issue has caused more reader complaints to ATG in the past decade than scam guides targeting the trade. Now there is a chance to put a stop to them by signing up to a Europe-wide campaign.

Dealers are being warned to be vigilant following a suspected cheque fraud at the Summer Olympia Fine Art and Antiques Fair.

ONE of the most active scam guide firms, who con the antiques trade into taking out unwanted advertising, are on the march again, despite two court rulings against them.

A LONDON dealer has exposed the latest scam attempting to trick the trade out of thousands of pounds. And, in doing so, he has discovered a quick and simple way of checking whether others have already been defrauded: using the internet.

THE trade are being warned of a new internet scam that risks involving innocent dealers in money laundering – and can leave them with large bills to pay.

EBAY users are being warned to look out for the Second Chance Offer scam that is among the latest frauds to hit the online marketplace. In this ruse, scammers impersonating eBay sellers target disappointed underbidders of high-price lots claiming to offer them the ‘second chance’ to buy the lot.

AS certain as Autumn’s falling leaves, the scam fair guides have come out of the woodwork once more to trap dealers in the run-up to the Winter Olympia fair.

IN the past week dealers have been bombarded by letters ordering them to register and send off payments linked to anti-money laundering measures.

FRAUDSTERS are targeting internet bidders once more with the ‘stolen picture’ and ‘stolen identity’ scams on eBay.

AUCTIONEERS and dealers in the south east are being warned by police to be alert to a man who has bounced cheques in a succession of salerooms in East Anglia.

LIKE the proverbial bad penny, scam advertising company European City Guide have struck again, targeting antiques dealers in London and the South East.

DEALERS should be aware of a stolen cheque scam that targets regular Internet bankers.

FIRST dealers were subjected to the data protection scam – now the trade are being alerted to a health and safety con.

THE importance of exercising due diligence has been driven home in the most painful way for a dealer, whose oversight has cost them £12,000.

AVON and Somerset Police are currently investigating a series of cheque deceptions committed against antique shops and dealers throughout the UK and Europe over the last two years.

The antiques trade are being alerted to a new online fraud after at least three dealers were targeted last week. Overpayment fraud, as it is known, is the latest in a series of Internet-based payment frauds aimed at retailers with a website presence.

New company threatens duped dealers: The many victims of the misleading fair guides that landed dealers and auctioneers with bills for hundreds of pounds are being contacted again by an aggressive overseas debt collection company.

Ebay are warning their users to be vigilant after users of PayPal fell victim to a hi-tech scam in November and December. Many received a replicating virus that, camouflaged as an email from the online payment provider, tried to trick the recipient into sending sensitive information.