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The art student scam is a confidence trick in which young people pretend to be art students and try to sell overpriced artwork claimed to be of their own production. The scam is widespread in China. In 2001 a variant of the scam in which young Israelis posing as art students were selling art door-to-door hit numerous facilities and private homes of staff members of the American Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA); the pattern was noticed and initially an espionage program was suspected. Many of the Israelis were deported for immigration offenses. An internal DEA warning was leaked in 2002 in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, giving rise to a conspiracy theory. Similar scams, again involving ostensible Israeli art students, have since been reported in Canada and other English-speaking countries.

The scam

The "Israeli art student scam" is a well-known con in which scammers, claiming to be travelling Israeli art students, approach people in their homes or on the street and attempt to sell them oil paintings and frames for excessive prices. The paintings are represented as original and valuable art by up-and-coming talents but are in fact cheap, mass-produced works bought wholesale from China. The scammers explain that they are directly approaching people with offers because properly exhibiting the work in an art gallery would be prohibitively expensive. Framing is often provided at a later date by mobile vans in order to obtain the phone numbers of willing "marks" and extract as much money as possible.

The scam has been reported in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.

In Australia, the Northern Territory Police have released a warning about the scheme.

2001–2002 Israeli art student spying scandal

During the 2001–2002 period in the United States there were official reports of hundreds of young Israelis posing as art students spying on federal buildings and employees.

The first public report regarding a mass arrest of Israeli art students on suspicion of espionage aired on Fox News on December 12, 2001. It stated that around 60 Israelis, arrested for immigration violations, were also suspected of spying against the United States.

The story was headline news in Europe, the Arab world and Israel, but it was largely ignored by other media outlets in the United States. Carl Cameron, the author of the report, explained the lack of US media interest by pointing to its shortcomings, including the lack of on the record interviews and supporting documentation. He also said that just as federal agents were afraid to criticize Israel, as it was considered "career suicide", the same was true for journalists. Others at Fox News said the report resulted in intense pressure on the network from pro-Israeli lobbying groups, such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting (CAMERA). Fox removed the story from its Web site, only reposting it March 2002 after other media began showing interest.

In January 2001, reports from Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) field offices around the country wer being compiled which stated that "art students" had been attempting to penetrate DEA offices for over a year, as well as the offices of other law enforcement and Department of Defence agencies. They had also visited the homes of many DEA officers and senior federal officials attempting to sell art. Agents approached observed that when the "art students" departed their homes, they did not approach those of their neighbours. By this time, DEA agents reported 130 incidents involving "art students"; some "art students" were caught diagramming the architecture of federal buildings and some were found to have photographed federal officials. According to Insight on the News, "Unauthorized photographing of military sites and civilian industrial complexes, such as petroleum-storage facilities, also was reported to the DEA, the documents show and interviews confirm."

DEA reports confirm that the visits of these "art students" to the homes of federal employees of various law enforcement agencies began as early as January 2000 and continued until at least June 2001. One DEA report, "Suspicious Activities Involving Israeli Art Students at DEA Facilities," lists more than 180 documented incidents involving these "art students". The DEA's IS unit found "Israeli art students" had also gained unauthorized access to several military bases, including two bases from which Stealth aircraft and "other supersecret military units operate."

According to Jane's Intelligence Digest, in 2002 FBI officials claimed that the "art students" were "running a major eavesdropping operation that had penetrated into the highest echelons of the US administration". Commenting on the lack of US media coverage, the report said, "It is rather strange that the U.S. media with one notable exception seem to be ignoring what may well prove to be the most explosive story since the 11 September attack, the alleged breakup of a major Israeli espionage operation in the United States which aimed to infiltrate both the Justice and Defense departments and which may also have been tracking al-Qaida terrorists before the aircraft hijackings took place." A federal law-enforcement source told Insight on the News that, "The higher-ups don't want to deal with this and neither does the FBI because it involves Israel."

Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive warning

In March 2001, the US Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive (NCIX) issued a warning about people identifying themselves as "Israeli art students" attempting to bypass security and gain entry to federal buildings, and even to the private residences of senior federal officials under the guise of selling art. Subsequent to the NCIX bulletin, officials raised other red flags, including an Air Force alert, a Federal Protective Service alert, an Office of National Drug Control Policy security alert and a request that the Immigration and Naturalization Service investigate a specific case. The "art students" were subsequently treated with more caution by officials.

Leaked Drug Enforcement Agency report

A leaked 60-page DEA report in 2002 revealed that up to 200 young Israelis had been arrested in America in the past year, of which about 140 were arrested before the September 11 attacks. The other 60 were arrested on October 31, 2002 by the FBI and Immigration and Naturalization Service in San Diego, Kansas City, Cleveland, Houston and St. Louis. Rather than selling art, these Israelis were working in kiosks in shopping centres across America selling toys. The FBI was investigating the kiosks as a front operation for espionage activities. The report said that most of the Israelis interrogated by Americans reported having served in the IDF in military intelligence, electronic signals interception and explosive ordnance units. One of the detainees was an Israeli general's son, another was a former bodyguard to the chief of the IDF, and another had operated Patriot missiles. In 2002 several officials dismissed reports of a spy ring and said the allegations were made by a Drug Enforcement Agency who was angry his theories had been dismissed.

The DEA report also claims that Israeli companies that had provided telephony services for U.S. businesses and U.S. federal organizations were connected to the "art students" and advised that Israeli telephony companies should be investigated. It raised the possibility that "back doors" had been installed in communications equipment to assist Israeli espionage.

Canadian espionage rumors

In August 2004, a number of Israeli "art students" in Calgary, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Toronto and Ottawa were deported from Canada for working in the country illegally. The Calgary Herald wrote that the deportations "raised the specter of international espionage". However, claims that a spy ring was operating in Canada that were raised by newspapers were dismissed by Canadian officials. Officials noted that the Canadian art scammers did not target government officials or offices but instead focused on wealthy neighbourhoods

Denial of spy ring by officials

In 2002 several officials dismissed reports of a spy ring and said the allegations were made by a Drug Enforcement Agency who was angry his theories had been dismissed. Justice Department spokeswoman Susan Dryden describe the claims as an "urban myth"

Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz also published an article on the spying allegations, noting that most of the allegations were based upon a single internal report from the DEA. It also noted that the U.S. administration was "desperate to keep the affair quiet" .

Official Israeli response

The Israeli government has denied the espionage allegations, calling them nonsense.

References

1. Frommer's China, Wiley, ISBN 978-0-470-52658-3, p. 140.
2. "Israeli student 'spy ring' revealed". The Guardian. March 6, 2002. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
3. ^ Paul M. Rodriguez (April 1, 2002). "Intelligence agents or art students? The DEA and Justice Department believe there was something sinister behind unusual visits Israeli 'art students' paid to employees of law-enforcement agencies". Insight on the News. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
4. ^ Guttman, Nathan (2002-05-07). "Spies, or students? Were the Israelis just trying to sell their paintings, or agents in a massive espionage ring?". Haaretz.
5. ^ Gandia, Renato (2009-08-19). ""Israeli art scam" preying on people's kindness". Calgary Sun.
6. ^ "Oil painting scam hits the Border". Border Mail. 2009-04-22.
7. ^ Dye, Stuart (2004-02-04). "Brush with law reveals art scam". NZ Herald.
   Coulter, Narelle (2006-01-18). "Door slammed on 'original' art scam". Star News Group.
   Feek, Belinda (2010-01-19). "Warnings out over art scam". Waikato Times.
8. ^ "Information On An Israeli Art Scam". Komo News. 2006-08-30.
9. "Police warn against art scam". Northern Territory Police. 2006-11-22.
10. ^ John F. Sugg (March 20, 2002). "The Spies Who Came in From the Art Sale". Creative Loafing (originally published in Tampa Bay's The Weekly Planet. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
11. ^ Ketcham, Christopher (2002-05-07). "The Israeli "art student" mystery". Salon.com.
12. "Allies and Espionage". Jane's. 2002-03-15.
13. "Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive: Suspicious Visitors to Federal Facilities (archived at Internet Archive".
14. "Telegraph.co.uk: US arrests 200 young Israelis in spying investigation".
15. "Sunday Herald (UK) via Internet Archive: Were they part of a massive spy ring which shadowed the 9/11 hijackers and knew that al-Qaeda planned a devastating terrorist attack on the USA?".
16. ^ Mintz, John (March 7, 2002). "U.S. officials dismiss report of Israeli spies". Washington Post. Retrieved October 18, 2008. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
17. McGraw, Seamus. "Espionage Ruled Out in Case of Bad Art". Forward Magazine.

• Confidence tricks
• Deception
• Fraud