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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.
In a Chinese version of the scam, young Chinese people approach tourists at popular attractions such as Tiananmen Square. The scammer speaks English well enough to get into a conversation with the foreigner. The scammer claims to be an art student whose works are on display at a nearby exhibition which is part of the scam and sells mass-produced art reproductions at exorbitant prices. There are warnings about this scam in tourist guides.
A variant of this scam has been reported in various English-speaking countries since 2001. Here, the art is sold door-to-door, approaching the marks in their homes without the need for sham exhibition sites or art stores.
The scam was operated by Israelis in the United States beginning in summer 2000 or earlier. After it hit numerous facilities and private homes of staff members of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), a DEA officer noticed the pattern and suspected an espionage program. The Israelis' mandatory military service contributed to the initial confusion, but ultimately they were deported for immigration offenses only. An internal DEA, leaked in 2002 in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, gave rise to an urban myth that shaped much of the reporting about the scam, such as the idea that Israeli agents had been tracking the terrorists before the attacks. In any event the ongoing operation of the scam makes no sense as a spying program.
References
- "The famous art show ripoff in Tiananmen Square was recently cleaned up for the Olympics. This was a pretty funny one, where English-speaking 'art students' would strike up conversation with overseas visitors and tell them they happen to be in town for an art show across the street. The show was closing today when I first heard the spiel in 2006, it was closing today when I returned to Beijing in 2007, but the pre-Olympics cleanup really seems to have closed the collection of knockoff art." . See also .
- Frommer's China, Wiley, ISBN 978-0-470-52658-3, p. 140. "You should also be leery of any English-speaking youngsters who claim to be art students and offer to take you to a special exhibit of their work. The art, which you will be pressured to buy, almost always consists of assembly-line reproductions of famous (or not-so-famous) paintings offered at prices several dozen times higher than their actual value."
- Gandia, Renato (2009-08-19). ""Israeli art scam" preying on people's kindness". Calgary Sun.
- "Oil painting scam hits the Border". Border Mail. 2009-04-22.
- 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. - "Information On An Israeli Art Scam". Komo News. 2006-08-30.
- "Israeli student 'spy ring' revealed". The Guardian. March 6, 2002. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
- 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.
- Mintz, John (March 7, 2002). "U.S. officials dismiss report of Israeli spies". Seattle Times. Retrieved October 18, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ McGraw, Seamus. "Espionage Ruled Out in Case of Bad Art". Forward Magazine.
- "Tür an Tür mit Mohammed Atta". Die Zeit. October 2002.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)