Beware of this Scam

"Good day to you,the great painter,

I am full of enthusiasm with your work ,I am interested in purchasing these creative artworks from you...
kindly tell me their various last asking prices.I will be happy to have these selected artworks hanged in our new home. As well, I want you to take out the shipping cost because I have contacted with a shipping company that will be shipping other house decoratives. We will be moving to our new apartment as soon as possible.On Paying for the artworks,I will be glad to pay you with a Bank check in US Funds and you can cash at your local bank,please let me know on how to procced for the payment of the creative artworks. I will await your response on how to proceed.

Have a blessed day."

The above email was recently received by one of my galleries about some of my works. I have been sent many a similar email over the past few years. If you have also received correspondance like this, beware. It starts innocently enough with broken english and need for a lot of art. Generally, the way these inquiries go, the buyer is in England (though can't communicate in good english) and is moving into a new house. They desperately need your art as soon as possible. They have already made arrangements with their shippers and are ready to pay you in "US Funds" (who talks like that?!?) There is a back and forth email correspondance of details, then, for some reason, they want to send you MORE money than you quoted, all the while, they are reitterating how the check they are sending is certified and the funds are readily available. If you end up following this crazy train to the last stop, you are FedEx-ed a bogus Certified Check from some small, independent bank in whatever far corner of the country you are not in. If you get to this point in the transaction, you NEED to call the bank to verify funds. Luckily, when I got to this point, I was well aware of the scam being perpitrated upon me and was always one step ahead of the bad-guys. The bank in question did actually exist and they verified that the check was indeed fraudulent. Upon my verifying to the "client" that the check was received, the perpetrator of the scam immediately fell upon an emergency and demanded all of their funds returned. There is the 'rub'. They want you to cut them a check immediately (before you realize that the check that they just sent you and you deposited is fake. Of course, when I alerted them that the funds were not available and to please send alternate payment, They disappeared and I never heard from them again.
This current saga is still in process. The gallery owner who received this message and I are cautiously continuing down this path just incase. You never know... maybe, just maybe, there is a woman in England , who speaks in broken english, and who desperately needs my art for her new house, and will pay "with a Bank check in US Funds". We don't want to walk away from a potentially real sale, but we are always mindful that this is just another scam.