Fake: Forgery, Lies, & eBay

A behind-the-scenes account of an art scam through which con artists used eBay's then-unpoliced auction system to manipulate bidders out of large quantities of money traces the author's transformation from an art trader to an Internet fraudster, shares the stories of high-profile scammers and victims, and describes how their activities changed eBay policies. 50,000 first printing.

Kenneth Walton was a lawyer when he began selling art on eBay in 1999. Over time his online sales tactics grew increasingly fraudulent, culminating in the $135,805 sale of a forged Richard Diebenkorn painting in May 2000. The story of this infamous auction, first broken by an investigative report published in the New York Times, ultimately resulted in his prosecution by the federal government for placing shill bids. He was sentenced in June 2004, is no longer a lawyer, and lives in Northern California. This is his first book. You can visit his website at www.kennethwalton.com.