Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The End of the Scam

The check came!  On Friday
It looked perfect.  Cashiers check written on Wells Fargo Bank for 5 times as much as it should have been. 

I took it to Wachovia Bank and asked if they would cash a Wells Fargo check and they would.  I went to the teller and presented it with my ID.  Everything was going fine, much to my surprise.....  then they scanned it. ooops...  then they manually entered the numbers, oops again.  With great apologies they said they had to call the central registry.  They did and with great concern they came over to me giving me a copy of the check and said,  " We are so sorry to tell you this isn't a good check."  I asked if I could have it back and they said no they had to keep it because it was counterfeit.  

This relieved me of feeling any responsibility to report it to the authorities, as I was sure they would.  I didn't email Kathy back until Sunday, when I told her the Royalpost envelope had come and I would deal with the
bank on Monday.   She (?) emailed me about it several times before then.   On Monday, the 31st, I decided I'd had enough fun.  I emailed her that the check was for too much money so I sent back to her N.J.
address.  If she wanted the paintings to let me know as I had instructed the framer, Joe Vaccaro, not to proceed until I heard.    Not  word so far.

What has been really nice, is all the friends and followers that expressed concern over this for both me and other  artists.  That is heartwarming. The only thing I know to do is be very public about it so as many
people as possible get the message.

Funnily enough, I received an email from a friend who was caught in a hotel in London with no money and only his passport, please send money fast.   Right on!!!  I'd send him that cashier's check if only I still had it.