TIDEMANIS PAINTINGS FROM BULGARIA BUYER BEWARE

[m.rbell]

Recently made a few purchases of oil paintings from Bulgaria from several different sellers.  All were advertised as being by J.F. Tidemanis (Janis Ferdinands Tidemanis 1897-1964). All have had Mr. Tidemanis' signature added to these paintings.

JUST TO BE CLEAR, THERE ARE CURRENTLY 2 TIDEMANIS PAINTINGS ON EBAY AT OVER $12K EACH. FROM CANADA.  THESE ARE LEGITIMATE TIDEMANIS PAINTINGS (PLUS 2 THAT WERE LISTED/SOLD RECENTLY).

Any painting listed as a Tidemanis from sellers in Bulgaria have forged signatures of J.F. Tidemanis.

On all the paintings I have received, one of these three things have been done:

1. Original artist's name has been very obviously painted over and replaced with Tidemanis.

2. Previously unsigned paintings that have not sold on ebay now miraculously appear with Tidemanis.

3. The bottom of the canvas has been trimmed off that showed the original artist's name, and signature of Tidemanis added.

I have found some of my purchases traded between different sellers in Bulgaria that have not sold. There were some that were listed as "unsigned" in a previous listing, under a different item number and usually under a different seller name, that now miraculously appears with the Tidemanis signature.

If you have been a victim of this scam by purchasing a Tidemanis painting from a seller in Bulgaria, you have two options:

If the purchase was less than 30 days ago, you can file an "Item Not As Described" through ebay.

If the purchase is over 30 days and within 6 months, you can file a dispute through Paypal.

But you cannot do both.

I hope this helps stop anyone else from falling for this scam.  "If it doesn't sell the first time, add the name Tidemanis and watch the bidding frenzy begin"!

[7606dennis]

I believe this would be a law enforcement matter since, if memory serves, art theft and fraud are highly policed throughout most of world. 

[m.rbell]

I have reported this to EBay’s fraud squad and they say they are investigating. I will leave it to them and their extensive resources and experience to deal with international art fraud. This has been reported beyond the front line Customer Reps. 

This is a case for the FBI and Interpol. 

The only way I can get my money back was to file Significantly Not As Described and initiate returns to the sellers. 

[marjen7102]

eBays fraud department is a joke. They don't actually act on tips for the most part and I can guarantee they didn't contact anyone.

Try contacting Interpol yourself
https://www.interpol.int/Contact-INTERPOL

[m.rbell]

It may take some time, given the seriousness of this situation, but will keep doing follow-ups with EBay.  It may need someone else to take the investigation over or escalate to a different agency, but eBay is a start since this is the original source. 

[mudshark61369]

@m.rbell,

  "but will keep doing follow-ups with EBay.  It may need someone else to take the investigation over or escalate to a different agency, but eBay is a start since this is the original source".

You are placing entirely too much faith in eBay to follow through with an investigation. They will likely not forward a complaint to an appropriate agency either.

While you are waiting for them to take action, the countdown clock is ticking down that allows you to take action and get a refund of your money.

   My advice would be to get a licenced professional to authenticate the fraud in writing, and present that info to either ebay or PayPal depending on how long it has been since you received the paintings. Both companies will usually require an item to be returned, in order to receive a refund, but not if it is proven to be counterfeit.  You might start by filing with Interpol or the FBI's IC3 department. They too may require outside verification of the paintings.

https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

[marjen7102]

basically what they want is to be able to track growing trends in fraud but they don't act on this fraud unless it's something major

[monster-deals]

Why would you buy $40, paintings without provenance, from Bulgaria and expect them to be real $12,000 ones?

[m.rbell]

I didn’t buy them for that reason. I have been collecting for decades and was hoping for some additions. For my own personal enjoyment. First, and last, time buying “art” on eBay from Bulgaria. 

[monster-deals]

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@m.rbell wrote:

“art” on eBay from Bulgaria. 

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That should have been a big red flag.

[m.rbell]

No kidding...

Google search about problems with “art” from Bulgaria was quite revealing, especially if you add the the words “fake” or “forgery” to the search bar.