News
Wednesday 8 August 2007
Internet scammers find themselves the subject of art
A woman who turned the tables on internet dating scammers who tried to con her out of her cash and identity has transformed her experience into a university fine art project. Nottingham Trent University Masters student Sandrea Simons decided to play the conmen at their own game after almost becoming a victim through an online dating website.
Her experiences were featured as part of MAzing, an exhibition of Masters students’ work in Nottingham. Items stolen by the conmen using fake credit card details in Sandrea’s name – including an MP3 player, ten bottles of aftershave, designer shirts, cufflinks and shoes – also formed part of the exhibition.
"The aim was to research the cyber-relationship by means of communication, mediation and interaction. My work covers a variety of subject matter including love, loneliness, communication, colonialism, poverty, power, fantasy, identity and exploitation," said Sandrea.
She added: “When I met my first scammer online I had a compulsion to produce a piece of work about it. I wanted to pursue these relationships and persuade them to reveal their scam, thereby having an ‘honest’ relationship with me. Although these relationships were fake and these people only wanted money, at the same time they were relationships – I was relating to them and they were relating to me.”
Sandrea’s experience began as a legitimate visitor to an online dating website when she met a man who claimed to be in his 40s and from the US, but had been living in the UK since his wife and child had died in car accident. Even though they had not yet met, he seemed like the perfect match – he emailed regularly, was very attentive, and even sent flowers.
However, gaps started to emerge in his story and Sandrea became suspicious of the huge number of basic grammatical errors in his emails. Her fears were confirmed when he emailed to tell her he’d been mugged while on business in Africa and needed her to post money for his return flight. When she checked the postal address, it was not a hotel as he had claimed, but an underground internet café in Nigeria, notorious for internet scammers.
It was at this point that Sandrea decided to take on the role of a scam victim and use the findings for the basis of her MA in Fine Art in Nottingham Trent University’s School of Art and Design.
She began to lure more and more scammers who tried every trick in the book to con her out of not only her money, but her identity too. Many had expensive gifts delivered to her home address which they then asked to be forwarded on to Africa – but it transpired they had been purchased using fake credit card details under her name. Another sent a cheque for almost £3,000 asking if she could pay it in to her bank but send the cash immediately.
The project came to an end when Sandrea informed all the scammers that she was aware of their intentions and had been for some time. Most reacted angrily, but one still claimed to have fallen in love with her during the time they had been in contact. She persuaded him to show his face, and even undress for the webcam as a final sign that she had succeeded in switching the power from them to her.
Sandrea said: “I really enjoyed the MA in Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University, it has given me the freedom and opportunity to explore this issue in just the way I wanted. My awareness, integrity and emotional involvement were greatly challenged along the way, allowing me to form a barrier between me and the work, whilst developing a more objective viewpoint.”
ENDS
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