Are we being set up?

LegacyUser

Got a visit today from a young Israeli Student selling paintings. Claimed to be from an organisation Art 4 all. The lady came into our house to show the painting on a wall. We bought a painting and paid by cheque. The lady took our details and said that her parent organisation will be in touch later to offer a framing service.

I felt a bit unsettled about the whole affair so I googled around. There's not much about Art4All ltd. but the following hits made me feel uneasy:

http://www.art4allhome.com/ (Apart from the amateurish nature of the page none of the links go anywhere)
http://www.jewishtelegraph.com/nat_6.html (Read to the end, Sounds to me like someone has been got at)

Also note the following disclaimer from a legitimate company of the same name:
http://www.art4all.co.uk/about.htm

Now I am very worried that all is not as it seems and that this lady may be working for some kind of Israeli Mafia. I couldn't care less about the money we paid for the painting but I am worrried that a dubious organisation has a lot of personal details about us including where we live, what our house is like inside plus all of the details you get on a cheque.

Has anyone dealt with this crowd before. What are the risks? What steps can we take now to protect ourselves?

Esel

I read all about this on the net some time ago. Google Israeli student art picture and you might find some good info.

A lot of this type of thing happened in the States. Travelling on false passports etc. Basically they were reckoned to be spies 'targeting' people with links to sensitive organisations, government departments etc. Does anyone in your house fit this description?

LundiMardi

Duped wrote:

Got a visit today from a young Israeli Student selling paintings. Claimed to be from an organisation Art 4 all. The lady came into our house to show the painting on a wall. We bought a painting and paid by cheque. The lady took our details and said that her parent organisation will be in touch later to offer a framing service.

I felt a bit unsettled about the whole affair so I googled around. There's not much about Art4All ltd. but the following hits made me feel uneasy:

http://www.art4allhome.com/ (Apart from the amateurish nature of the page none of the links go anywhere)
http://www.jewishtelegraph.com/nat_6.html (Read to the end, Sounds to me like someone has been got at)

Also note the following disclaimer from a legitimate company of the same name:
http://www.art4all.co.uk/about.htm

Now I am very worried that all is not as it seems and that this lady may be working for some kind of Israeli Mafia. I couldn't care less about the money we paid for the painting but I am worrried that a dubious organisation has a lot of personal details about us including where we live, what our house is like inside plus all of the details you get on a cheque.

Has anyone dealt with this crowd before. What are the risks? What steps can we take now to protect ourselves?

wtf? Who in gods name lets strangers in their house selling paintings, especially one that excepts cheques:rolleyes:

Esel

Check this link out. Hope you are not too paranoid.

http://cryptome.org/dea-il-spy.htm

If you think this scenario applies to you, let the 'authorities' know.

lostexpectation

the op is a c + p of a story going round the net at the mo

LegacyUser

Interesting link Esel and yes that is very like what happened to us. I guess I am paranoid - but then these days you have to be. The whole thing sounds like something out of a spy thriller. If it is actually a front for the Israelli intelligence I guess I am not overly worried - We aren't sensitive Government employees or anything like that. I do feel spooked though and I would love to hear if anyone else had any dealings with this Art4All crowd.

Blisterman

A polish girl came to our house a while ago selling drawings. Don't know if it's related. I didn't buy any. They were good drawings though.

Is1ldur

I had a Polish Guy yesterday call to the door with paintings. He was all smiles until I said No, then he suddenly looked all annoyed! I thought it was a bit strange. But I suppose it beats those people that knock on your door and just jold out a piece of card sayting that they can't speak English etc...

LegacyUser

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=13078

chump

Some girl called to us as well selling paintings. I wouldn't worry about it, fair play for buying one though...

nesf

*shrugs*

While Ireland has a notorious history haven of anti-semitism: (I'm not joking). I find the idea of Israeli spies calling door to door amusing.

Seriously, some people are just a tad on the paranoid side. And even if they are right, I don't see what the big deal is. What are they looking for? Hidden nazis? Adolf O'Flynn down the road might be in trouble, but it's hardly anything to get worked up about tbh.

trishw78

Is1ldur wrote:

I had a Polish Guy yesterday call to the door with paintings. He was all smiles until I said No, then he suddenly looked all annoyed! I thought it was a bit strange. But I suppose it beats those people that knock on your door and just jold out a piece of card sayting that they can't speak English etc...

Someone did that to me a while ago & I handed them back the paper & told them I couldn't read... They were pretty quick to tell me where to go & jump in English

Zapho

I don't see the harm in buying the paintings but infairness, don't give strangers personal details and always pay for things like that with cash.

trishw78 wrote:

Someone did that to me a while ago & I handed them back the paper & told them I couldn't read...

Quality response!

Victor

Not a PI.

MorningStar

Zapho wrote:

I don't see the harm in buying the paintings but infairness, don't give strangers personal details and always pay for things like that with cash.

Not really you can say what you like but this is illegal. You need a permit to sell door to door for a reason. I have elderly relatives that live on their own and they are commonly targeted by such door to door sales and intimidation. There is little difference between this and begging plus the risks. I call the police the minute they leave my drive. I welcome any imigrant coming to work here but if they are here without language skills and start begging/selling illegally they can go home.

daniem

Hallo,

I am very sorry to hear some of our customers have the feeling that they have been misled. I can assure you that we are doing everything we can in order to present to each of our customers all the information about the company and about the paintings they buy.

I invite each one of you to send me an e-mail directly in case you still feel that way. I will make sure that in case we did something wrong as a company to you as consumers, you will be compensated.

We are aware of the fact that many other people who are selling art door to door present themself as our representatives. Those people sometimes tell wrong stories about what they sell (Even that they actually are the artist!!). That's why I recommend you to buy only from people who can show you an employee tag (yes, all our employees have it as well as a work permit...), a business card or any other printed document with the company details, a refund voucher (by law you are antitled to get a 7 days cancellation form!!!) and an I.d.

I Invite you to visit our company at any time. We will be more than happy to show you what we are doing because we are proud of our business.

Our website is www.art4allhome.com and my email is danielmoshe@art4allhome.com


Moshe Daniel
Director

Sponge Bob

daniem wrote:

That's why I recommend you to buy only from people who can show you an employee tag (yes, all our employees have it as well as a work permit...),

You lot are not entitled to work permits so thats BS anyway and this is a very old thread.

maireadmarie

Something about this was on Joe Duffy some time ago, or some similar kind of business.

Saruman

I have had this happen about 3 times. Not from any particular company though. One was about a local exhibition but they did not mention where or when. All paintings etc were good. Actually a really beautiful girl who was possibly French knocked once but did not try and sell me anything... I told her i cant afford a painting right now but she smiled and said thats ok i just want you to look. She went through them and said thank you and then she left.

Anyway my advice would have been... Buy it sure but take the painting there and then and tell them you will frame it yourself. If they object.. then send them away without your money
While it may be legit in this case... its more likely a scam.

Cabaal

wow this is a old thread, is their really a need to drag up old threads like this?

Saruman

lol just noticed that its from 2005? Jaysus!! looks like it was brought back to life by the rep from said company!

boredsenseless

Saruman wrote:

lol just noticed that its from 2005? Jaysus!! looks like it was brought back to life by the rep from said company!

It appears this thread was brought back to life coz they're back in Dublin. I had a visit from one of the "art4allhome" reps in the last few days, and...Yes...I did buy a painting. However, I'm now wondering if I've been had, should I be worried as the rep was inside my house with my family, and I didn't take the cash option?..

griffdaddy

have one of you walls painted with big PLO murals and propaganda, see how they react to that:D
(Although that would be a fairly elaborate insult!)

knighted

keep people informed what area they are currently operating in -if u have old or infirm relatives in a particular area it might be usefull to know -

looksee

Those packets of drawings (usually of sentimental subjects, puppies and kittens) that people produce at the door, usually with a sad tale of being or wanting to be an art student, are PRINTS. If you want to buy a sentimental print then fine, but don't get the idea that they are original drawings.

mir2001

Hi I've seen these paintings and they are definitely NOT prints. However I was very unsure about their origins although they were presented as originals. I was reading a BBC article on how chinese art students are churning out copies a & saw one of the paintings hanging on the studio wall of a copier. The seller presented this painting as an original. Also, if you look at the website and look at the names of the artists you will realise all the surnames are actually firstnames.
Their paintings look good but the problem is that they are represented as originals when they are probably copies created by artists who receive very little of the sale price

bullrunner

I cant believe some people...

Giving out private information about themselves to some randomer who calls to their door selling stuff?? And letting them into the house? Have ya no cop on at all?

If anybody comes to my door selling paintings or any other crap i move them along asap...i dont invite them in. Has there not been enough tv/radio shows like watchdog/ Gerry Ryan etc warning people about this kinda thing??

Sully

Ah they called to my house and I just said the owners were away and I was looking after it. She didnt seem to bothered by that.

Another fella called up to a friends house. Her ma invited him in for a cup of coffee and he told his life story. The eejit told him that they were going of on a family holiday (and she even gave the date!) and stuff. She didnt buy a painting, but I wouldnt be supprised if he raided the house when they were gone.

Btw, I dont think they are spys. Seriously. Have some cop!

beanflick

People,
It happened to me tonight big long spiel painting were class.bought 4 of them 400 euro,a friend who happened to be a cop called round and filled me in on the scam i also googled door to door painting scams and came across the real story on that letstalk money site........
The painting are from china and while they are oil paintings they cost 5 dollars each....
I managed to find the girl and get my money back but please beware people!!!!!
Hope this help someone
http://www.canvaz.com/

Kattyboy25

Hi guys,

An Isreali girl came to my door selling paintings, and saw 2 i liked and I bought them. She asked could she come inside and show me the paints, the idiot that I am, I let her in. I bought the paintings, and to be quite honest, she seemed to know little about painting, and she had a great sales pitch about her.
I didn't pay cash, I paid my cheque.

I have a bad feeling about this, should I freeze my cheque until I know something else, should I call Gardai and ask them about it?
Let me know what you think.

faceman

Jaysus, the paintings must be good if so many of you bought them!

Kattyboy25

Just phoned Gardai, they haven't heard anything about it, but recommended I cancel my cheque. I just looked at the signatures on the paints, very generic names and signed in generic way. Boys and girls me thinks I have been had.

looksee

The paintings scam is a different one to the one I came across. Polish/Lithuanian/Czech random east european people (well I've had 2 call) claiming to be art students offering their own work were selling what looked like pencil drawings, but were in fact prints.

Kattyboy25

Well these are lovely oil paintings, really really nice, but they aren't genuine pieces of art. Cheap copies from China. Ah well!

Dr. Seuss

Duped wrote:

Got a visit today from a young Israeli Student selling paintings. Claimed to be from an organisation Art 4 all. The lady came into our house to show the painting on a wall. We bought a painting and paid by cheque. The lady took our details and said that her parent organisation will be in touch later to offer a framing service.

I felt a bit unsettled about the whole affair so I googled around. There's not much about Art4All ltd. but the following hits made me feel uneasy:

http://www.art4allhome.com/ (Apart from the amateurish nature of the page none of the links go anywhere)
http://www.jewishtelegraph.com/nat_6.html (Read to the end, Sounds to me like someone has been got at)

Also note the following disclaimer from a legitimate company of the same name:
http://www.art4all.co.uk/about.htm

Now I am very worried that all is not as it seems and that this lady may be working for some kind of Israeli Mafia. I couldn't care less about the money we paid for the painting but I am worrried that a dubious organisation has a lot of personal details about us including where we live, what our house is like inside plus all of the details you get on a cheque.

Has anyone dealt with this crowd before. What are the risks? What steps can we take now to protect ourselves?

I don't understand the problem - you got a painting - you paid for it. And? How were you "duped" exactly? And what does it matter now if they were Israeli spies or not - you got what you paid for.

Sponge Bob

its a painting

its painted

you liked it ...even if you paid over the odds

so its not _really_ a scam .

Lithuanian 'Charity' clothes collection where no charity ever benefits. Thats a scam.

sticker

A foreign guy called to the house a few weeks back selling paintings - only my wife there at the time, he was extremely pleasant until she said quite graciously 'No thank you' - He was ignorant as hell - just stormed off...

Saying that (on a kinda related issue) we had a young girl call to our house a couple of times inside a few months collecting for Gorta - with the dodgyest id I've ever seen - She was a Dub - had that Trinity look to her - well dressed, heavy scarf and well spoken... She was collecting cash and the wife gave her a fiver - I had a bad feeling about it and rang Gorta - they didn't have anyone collecting in the area!

Added to the fact, they told me most Charities DON'T seek cash on a doorstep, they actually avoid looking for door-to-door contributions.

Sceitimini

Well, did anyone get broken into afterwards?
Glad to see I'm not the only feckin eejit to let a complete stranger into my house. I didn't buy a painting but she asked if I had a television which i found a bit weird so I'm hoping she wasn't casing the place. She's bound to have been sorely disappointed if she was but still, ........

belfastlass

hi i just had a visit last night from an israeli guy selling oil painting,i did purchase 4 all i would like to know is did they call back for them to be framed .
I cannot complain about the paintings as i was happy with my choice and did not expect originals for the price i paid i bought them simply because i liked them and i paid cash so not to give out personal information..

joey17

hi,

has anyone had any bad experiences after having any of these people visit? I stupidly let someone in and now I am really worried about who the hell I have let in, and if I am about to be burgled....

joey17

hi,

has anyone had any bad experiences after having any of these people visit? I stupidly let someone in and now I am really worried about who the hell I have let in, and if I am about to be burgled....

Esel

joey17 wrote: »

hi,

has anyone had any bad experiences after having any of these people visit? I stupidly let someone in and now I am really worried about who the hell I have let in, and if I am about to be burgled....

You've no reason to be worried - afaik there have been no reports of anything like that!

GigaByte

I bought 1 painting last year and 3 only just last week. They said they would call out this week to frame them.

Before they called out to frame the pictures I logged onto their website to check out and pick what frames I'd like.

They arrived out last night, I told them what frames I'd like, they brought them in from the van with some other frames they said would look good with each picture.

They framed all my pictures and I couldn't be happier with the results!

I really don't know how some of the previous posters sleep at night, spies! lol!

sticker

GigaByte wrote: »

I bought 1 painting last year and 3 only just last week. They said they would call out this week to frame them.

Before they called out to frame the pictures I logged onto their website to check out and pick what frames I'd like.

They arrived out last night, I told them what frames I'd like, they brought them in from the van with some other frames they said would look good with each picture.

They framed all my pictures and I couldn't be happier with the results!

I really don't know how some of the previous posters sleep at night, spies! lol!

On two occasions in the past month I've had people arrive on my doorstep selling paintings. I politely said I wasn't interested and both times, they shot me the darkest look, and buggered off muttering profanity.

I wouldn't buy from these idiots if my life depended on it. It's not a scam but the few I've encountered are ignorant as hell...

Tristram

lol

weird to stumble across this thread. met some folk from this bunch a while back. must say the girl was smoking hot. told em i didnt wanna buy ne paintings but they were more than welcome to come in and have a cup of tea. had a pleasant chat about israel and then they left. now i find out they were spies! dammit to hell

JoeySully

Tristram wrote: »

lol

must say the girl was smoking hot. told em i didnt wanna buy ne paintings but they were more than welcome to come in and have a cup of tea. had a pleasant chat about israel and then they left. now i find out they were spies! dammit to hell

haha mee too had her talking for about half an hour and didn't buy any

GigaByte

Tristram wrote: »

lol

weird to stumble across this thread. met some folk from this bunch a while back. must say the girl was smoking hot. told em i didnt wanna buy ne paintings but they were more than welcome to come in and have a cup of tea. had a pleasant chat about israel and then they left. now i find out they were spies! dammit to hell

Yeah the girl who called to my house was very hot too!!

Tristram

Something must be done to stop these hot Israeli female spies from calling to our homes! I'll get on to Joe Duffy tomorrow. Support be brothers!

Dia dhuit

My very non-streetwise Dad recently purchased a painting from the aforementioned "smoking-hot israeli girl". A week later he gets a call from her associate talking about framing the picture. We were all in shock when he told us that he paid up front for the framing which the guy would come back to do in a few days when he gets the frame.

My Dad let the guy into his house so now he knows the contents and i when i asked him did he let it slip that they were going on holidays soon, he said he thinks he might have. :eek::eek::eek:

I know, it was painful to hear.....

The guy said he would return today to frame my Dad, i mean the painting.

After googling some conspiracy theory stuff on this art4all crowd, i am cautiously concerned. Has anyone else recently done something as similarly daft as my naive old man? And if so , (a) did the guy come back , and (b) should i be worried that he will come back again and take the painting along with some household valuables?