Khipuz -Article
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was wet that morning when Jose set off to his studio in Barranco. This is not as unusual as you might think for Lima in the winter. It is the world’s second-largest desert-city after Cairo in Egypt, it borders the ocean and is grey and dismal from June to November. The ride on the Metropolitano was uneventful and Jose disembarked at Bulevar. He almost missed the stop because he was distracted by resent events.
On June 15th 2016, Jose received an email from a potential customer interested in purchasing four which he had seen on Jose´s website. The name of the interested party was Ken Ferguson, and he wanted to buy four works, but Jose only had two of them available. He replied with this information and told Mr. Ferguson the price of both works. Both together would be 40,000 CAD (Canadian Dollars).
Jose completed his Master’s degree at the University of Alberta in Canada and he still had works in storage there including the two other works Mr. Ferguson was interested in. He had sold works via his website in the past and even had shipped some to Turkey and Greece, having made the transaction via wire with the customer, so this was not new territory to Jose. So when, on the 15th of June he got this email he was more pleased than surprised, because there had been no negotiation and the customer had settled on the price suggested.
Hi Jose,
Thanks for your email. I will purchase both of the artworks for $40,000. I prefer to have my shipper handle the shipping as they can have it packaged securely against damage. Secondly, they have other artworks to pick up and deliver to me as I purchased other works from different artists and would prefer to have them all delivered at once. You can simply email me an invoice.
My address is: 14 Ingleton Blvd Toronto, ON, M1V 3M1
My shipper will come for pick up after payment has been finalized. Do send me your mailing address so I can mail a cheque or send me your bank information for a transfer.
Thanks,
Kenneth.
Jose then sent Mr. Ferguson the deposit information for his bank account at the Bank of Montreal, Alberta after having informed him that he required half the payment before he would release any works to his shipper, and that his agent in Alberta (the location of the stored work) would facilitate the transfer of the work to Mr. Ferguson's shipper.
On June 19th, having not seen any transfer to his account, Jose contacted Mr. Ferguson again. On the 20th of June Mr. Ferguson informed Jose that he had been travelling and had not initiated the process but that the money would be placed in the account within the next couple of days.
On the 27th of June Jose was contacted by Mr. Ferguson once again who informed him he had once again been travelling for business but
would take care of things in short order.
On July 7th he wrote and told Jose that his assistant who was supposed to take care of the transfer had confused it with another transaction and apologized for the delay.
Jose contacted him a few more times because his agent in Alberta was waiting to hear from him about taking these works out of storage and preparing them for shipping. Finally, Mr. Ferguson replied again on August 3rd.
preparing them for shipping. Finally, Mr. Ferguson replied again on August 3rd.
Subject:
Re: Sculptural Art purchase
Date:
Wed, 3 Aug 2016 17:49:21 +0000
From:
Kenneth Ferguson <[email protected]>
To:
Jose <[email protected]>
Hi Jose,
Sorry for the delay in getting this transaction taken care of. I just lost my son to oesophagus cancer and it has been very hard taking care of business. The payment has been mailed to your bank from Glenknoes Bakery Supplies and should get there anytime soon. Do let me know when the payment has been posted to your account so we can proceed with other arrangements.
Thanks,
Kenneth.
By now Jose was sure something was up and it was not the misspelling of esophagus that had set off his spider senses. Jose had determined that this drawn out procedure was indicative of a failed sale. On Monday, August 8 of 2016, Jose woke to a ringing phone but did not get to it in time. After his shower he listened to the recorded voice of his Bank Manager in Edmonton asking me to contact them asap as a large sum of money had been sent via cheque for deposit into his account. He had, of course been expecting this money to arrive and so he contacted the bank, who informed him that the amount that was sent was 58,000 CAD. There was an over-payment of 18,000CAD, and the cheque had not been issued by Glenknoes Bakery Supplies in Smalltown, Ontario; it was fraudulent! Now, Jose realized what the scam was!
Jose had received an email from Mr. Ferguson asking me to let him know when the check cleared. The bank had not been much help when Jose had expressed his fears. He was determined however to catch Ferguson in his own web of greed and misinformation. Jose wrote Ferguson back and told him there was an over-payment and that he required contact info so he could Western Union the over-payment back. Ferguson must have been drooling as he laughed and emailed Jose back. He supplied Jose with the name, address and phone number of his “shipper” in Alberta.
Jose, send the payment by cash deposit or wire to my shipper:
Cibs bank.
Kandace Kummings
transit 00049
acct 6141890
branch address- 60102 jasper ave edmonton ab t5j 1w5
home 770-12063 king st west hamilton on l8s 4s3.
Send me a confirmation when done and let me know your proposed time for pickup.
Thanks,
Kenneth.
Jose then quickly passed all this info onto the Bank of Montreal as well. He also contacted the RCMP, and the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre, Turns out it was enough info to catch and jail the criminal Ferguson and Kummings! Unfortunately, like most Canadian stories, this one is anti-climactic; nothing seems to have happened.
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