Ballsy?

FAKE was reviewed in last week's issue of PLAY, a weekly entertainment newspaper in Philadelphia. The critic called called the book a "true-crime page-turner" and described it as "irresistable and cautionary."

The review also characterizes me as "ballsy." I believe this is the only time a critic has used this adjective to describe my behavior. "Reckless" or "moronic" might have been more accurate, but I'm not going to complain.

FAKE, the motion picture?

A lot of people who've read FAKE have suggested that it would make a good movie, and in the past year I've received at least six inquiries from American and British producers who've wanted to turn the story into some sort of documentary project or dramatic feature. I've actually been surprised at the amount of interest in the book among filmmakers, considering that it hasn't appeared on any best-seller lists or achieved any widespread noteriety.

Recently, after months of negotiation, I jumped the first hurdle on the path to turning FAKE into a film when I closed a deal to sell the film rights to an L.A.-based producer/director.

Of course, selling the film rights doesn't mean a film will be made. Most books that are optioned never turn into movies.

Then again, most books never get optioned at all, so it's exciting, and very flattering, to know that FAKE is among those that have a chance of being taken to the next level.

The best part is that the filmmaker who purchased the option is someone whose work I admire, and who works with a team of producers who've made some of my favorite films. If he's able to turn the book into a film, it's very likely to be a good film. I couldn't have asked for much more than this.

FAKE 2.0: Paperback available now

The US/Canada version of FAKE is now available in trade paperback. FAKE is now thinner, lighter, more flexible, and less expensive, and I like to think of this edition as the "new and improved" version. Look for it anywhere books are sold.

The paperback cover is essentially the same as the one on the hardback, with the addition of this blurb on the back:

"FAKE is the real deal--a vivid and illuminating sprint through the murky waters of online auctions, greed, and the makings of a con. Kenneth Walton's story is a rapid-fire read for all, and a compelling primer for anyone thinking of buying or selling something valuable over the Internet."
-- Franz Wisner, New York Times bestselling author of Honeymoon with My Brother.

I met Franz (who coincidentally once lived in my neighborhood) and his brother Kurt at the Book Group Expo in San Jose last summer, and he later (very generously) offered to read my book and offer his opinion. His book, by the way, is a great read, and was a big hit after he was interviewed on Oprah and the Today Show. At the very least, it's an entertaining and inspiring story of a life transformed, and if you're lucky, it may prompt you to re-evaluate your own life and make some big changes. Check it out.

The version of FAKE I'm really looking forward to is the Japanese hardcover, which should be out soon. It is, at this point, the only foreign-language edition of the book, and I'm strangly enchanted by the idea of gazing at 90,000 words I wrote translated into a language I can't read. I have no idea how it will look -- I've heard very little from the publisher -- but I'll post photos as soon as I have one in my hands.

Good things happen.

I've been a little quiet on this blog lately, and this is due to one reason:

I got engaged.

And it's pretty much all I've been able to think about for the last few weeks.

I can hardly believe it myself, but it's true.

I asked. Courtenay said yes. And I feel like the luckiest man in the state.

I'm not a man who believes in fate, but I can't help but be awed and humbled by the fact that she came into my life when she did, and wants to share her life with me. Good things happen.

My journey has been twisted by some bad decisions, and if my mistakes have left me with anything, it is a visceral sense of when I'm making a good decision.

And this, dear reader, is a very good decision.

A no-brainer, if you will.

Here are some pictures of the moment I'll always remember (atop Mt. Tamalpais):

Article about FAKE in Avantoure Magazine

I was recently interviewed for an article about eBay fraud in the UK magazine Avantoure. You can read it here.

The article focuses on eBay's new policy of hiding the identity of bidders who are bidding on auctions with prices higher than $200. eBay made the change to combat scammers who troll the site and make fraudulent offers to people bidding on high-dollar items. I'm sure this has been a very real problem on the site.

While most casual eBay users probably didn't even notice this change, a vocal minority of avid eBayers believe it will make shill bidding easier. I have to admit that this may be true. I was caught for shill bidding not by eBay, but by skeptical eBay users who took a close look at who was bidding on my auctions and found suspicious patterns. When a New York Times reporter followed up on this research and published a report on it, the world took notice.

If no one had been able to see who'd been bidding on my auctions, I may never have been caught.

Obviously, things have changed a lot since then, and I'm sure eBay is much better at detecting shill bidding than it was back in 2000. But I'm just as sure that shill bidding still exists, and crafty sellers who are determined to do it have found ways to do it that escape the auction site's detection mechanisms. eBay users who scan the site looking for it claim they still find evidence of it on a regular basis. One of the biggest sellers on eBay UK admitted to it on tape.

I will never join the ranks of those who think eBay doesn't care about shill bidding because it contributes to the company's bottom line. eBay doesn't want its site to be thought of as a haven for trickery, and it relies on its reputation as a safe place to trade. This latest move was a difficult trade-off, an attempt to quell one type of fraud by limiting the ability of users to spot another type of fraud. A victim of shill bidding may end up paying more for an item than he should, but he isn't being coaxed into sending money for an item that will never arrive.

Ultimately, users need to protect themselves. If you don't want to be a victim of shill bidding, determine how much you're willing to pay for an item and then place a single bid for that amount near the end of the auction. Following this simple rule will prevent sellers from bidding against you with artificial bids.

New review of FAKE in Soteria Magazine

FAKE was just reviewed in the latest issue of Soteria, a UK lifestyle magazine. The reviewer described it as "a fascinating and totally enjoyable read," and seemed to have enjoyed it.

This magazine employs a star-based rating system, and awarded FAKE 7.8 stars. This specificiy is due to the fact that each book is rated on several different criteria, such as "writing," "interest," etc. FAKE might have received a higher rating except for the fact that Soteria, which is targeted at the youth market, evaluates books on whether they contain a positive role model. In this category, my book scored very poorly: 1/2 Star.

I can't say I disagree. The book wasn't meant to encourage anyone to follow my example. At least they liked the writing.

Speaking at the 2007 International Appraisal Conference

I recently accepted an invitation to speak in July at the American Society of Appraisers 2007 International Appraisal Conference in Hollywood. The topic of my book FAKE fits in well with this year's theme, which centers around fakes and forgeries. It should be interesting.

Appraising is not an easy job. Art appraisers are often hired to do insurance appraisals, and I imagine that an appraiser facing a faked painting finds himself in a difficult situation. The client, who assumes the artwork is real, is paying the appraiser to attest to the art's value in case it is ever lost or damaged. The appraiser is then professionally obligated to shatter the client's expectations by relaying bad news.

The woman who booked me for this event, who is also a full-time appraiser, told me this sort of thing happens all the time, and is becoming increasingly common. Reputable appraisers will never sign off on things that aren't real, and they're often hired to make their clients unhappy.

I don't think many appraisers are speculating on unvetted art on eBay, but I'm sure some of their clients are. I'm hoping to shed a little light on what goes in in the online world, and provide some advice for how to avoid being taken.

My prosecutor is now a criminal defense attorney

As I describe in FAKE, my eBay fraud case was prosecuted by a team led by two Assistant US Attorneys in Sacramento: Michael Malacek and Christopher Sonderby. Because my plea agreement was contingent on my testifying against my accomplices, and one of them went on the lam and evaded arrest for over two years, it took several years for me to be sentenced after I pled guilty. This was a period of great uncertainty for me -- I'd taken responsibility for what I did and had tried to move on with my life, but my ultimate fate shrouded by uncertainty. Although the prosecutors had agreed to recommend to the judge that I be sentenced to a term of probation (and give up my law license, and pay $75,000 in restitution), the final decision was not theirs to make. The judge would be free to sentence me however he saw fit, and judges are under no obligation to follow prosecutors recommendations.

While I endured this lengthy wait for my sentencing hearing, Malacek and Sonderby both moved on in their careers. Malacek now works as in-house counsel for a biotechnology firm in the Bay Area, and Sonderby transferred to the San Jose office of the US Attorney, and was eventually appointed by President Bush to head a DOJ intellectual property enforcement unit in Thailand. They're both very good attorneys and I'm sure they're doing well in their new positions.

Meanwhile, back in Sacramento, my case was assigned to a new prosecutor, Patrick Hanly, a man I'd never met. Hanly assured us that our deal was intact and my attorney told me I had nothing to worry about, but it still made me nervous that my case had been assigned to someone different. I'd spent many hours in meetings with Sonderby and Malacek, and I didn't have any sort of feel for Hanly's opinion of me or my plea agreement. He told my attorney that I'd "gotten a very good deal."

When I finally stood in court on my day of reckoning, over three years after I'd pled guilty, I became terrified when the judge expressed skepticism about whether I deserved the terms of my plea bargain. For a moment, I thought he was going to reject the prosecution's recommendation and send me to prison.

But Hanly came through, and assured the judge that my cooperation had been valuable enough to warrant the lenience the government had requested. The judge honored the terms of my plea bargain and I walked out of court that day very thankful for the way Hanly had stepped up to the plate on my behalf.

I recently learned that Hanly has moved on from the US Attorney's office, and charted a course that is rather unusual for a former federal prosecutor: He's become a criminal defense attorney specializing in white collar crimes. It's a bold move. Criminal defense attorneys are not generally held in high esteem, and advocating for the accused is often an unpleasant task. But the job of defense attorneys is every bit as important, and sometimes even as heroic, as that of the prosecutors they face in court. We live in a nation governed by laws, and it takes both sides to achieve justice. When the federal government decides to prosecute someone, it has unlimited resources at its disposal, and the person who has been accused deserves good legal representation. Although I don't anticipate ever again needing the services of a criminal defense attorney, if I did, I would want someone like Hanly in my corner. I'm sure he'll do well in his new role.

Grandma's old painting sells for $600,000

I love stories like this. A woman hoping to raise a little money to pay her daughter's college tuition decided to sell a few things she'd inherited from her Italian grandmother. One of these items, a painting the woman had been storing in her garage, sold for over $600,000 due to speculation that it might have been done by the Italian old master Pier Francesco Mola.

The woman had no idea. For her, it was like winning the lottery.

Aside from the heartwarming story of a regular person striking it rich unexpectedly, a couple of things are interesting about this. First, the auction house the woman used, Harvey Clars in Oakland, California, is not the sort of place one would expect an item like this to be sold. It's a reputable and well-established house but it doesn't typically have the privilege of offering six-figure paintings. In fact, the piece was the most valuable thing Clars had ever sold. It was as much a windfall for the auction house as it was for the owner.

More shocking is the fact that the sale price was fueled entirely by speculation. The auction house employees figured the unsigned painting might have been done by one of the Italian old masters, but they didn't guess it was by Mola. They didn't make any claims or give any hints about its authorship and started the bidding at $5,000. When the price was driven up to the six-figure range by telephone bids from bidders in France and New York, the auctioneer was as surprised as everyone else. The painting has not been authenticated or even inspected by Mola experts, and no one can be sure whether it is really by the artist. The anonymous New York-based buyer is taking a big chance, especially considering that no bona fide painting by Mola has ever sold for more than $2.8 million.

One can only wonder what might have happened if the woman had taken the painting to Christies or Sotheby's and someone had identified it as a possible Mola before putting it on the block. Would it have attracted higher bids? Who can say?

The whole thing unfolded in a very similar way to my own ill-fated and regrettable eBay auction for the infamous fake Diebenkorn. I put the painting up for auction, showed some pictures of it, and made no claims about who may have painted it. Diebenkorn aficionados spotted it and decided to speculate. In my case, of course, I knew the painting was fake and I was hoping to attract speculation by playing dumb. But the mechanics of auction house art speculation work the same way on eBay as they do in the real world, and the end result of my auction was similar to that of the Mola: A very high bid was placed on a painting that carried no guarantee of authenticity. Sometimes bidding wars can be fueled by the naiveté - or perceived naiveté - of the seller, as much or more so than rock-solid assurances.

Fetterman still selling art?

Regina Hackett, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer art critic who wrote and interesting article about my book FAKE and its unusual connection to her city and newspaper, has posted an equally fascinating blog entry about my former partner-in-crime Ken Fetterman, and what he may be up to these days.

It seems he may still be selling art, at least on the side. This doesn't surprise me.

I can only say this: Caveat Emptor.

As an aside, if you're ever interested in what's been written about FAKE in blogs, or seeing an archive of coverage in the mainstream media, I try to keep track of it on the media page, which you're free to peruse at any time.

Sunday Times of London discovers shill bidding

Last weekend The Sunday Times of London reported that shill bidding is widespread on eBay. This really isn't breaking news -- the New York Times revealed shill bidding to the world when it delved into my eBay activities back in 2000.

In fact, shill bidding is probably less of a problem now than it was then. eBay has developed new techniques to combat it, and increased penalties for those caught.

But obviously, it still happens. What's most interesting about this story is that an undercover Times reporter got one of eBay UK's biggest sellers to admit to it on tape. There are links to the recordings on the Times website above the story.

If you never want to be a victim of online auction bid rigging, follow these simple rules: Decide how much you're willing to pay for an item and then place a single bid for that amount (don't get into bidding wars). If you can, bid on an auction at the last possible moment, so no one can react to your bid. If you do these things, you'll never pay more than you should.

Speaking/reading/signing books tonight (Sat 1/27) in Marin

Tonight (Sat 1/27) I'll be reading from and signing copies of my book FAKE at Book Passage in Corte Madera, California. (I'll also be answering questions and blabbing and going off on all sorts of tangents. And giving something away.) It's just a few minutes north of San Francisco, right across the Golden Gate Bridge and close to the 101. This place is one of the best independent bookstores in the country (and one of the top spots on any book tour), and I'm honored to have been invited.

I'd be equally honored if you'd stop by and say hello.

Where: Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd, Corte Madera, CA
When: Saturday, January 27, 7:00 PM
Directions
Google Map

I hope to see at least a few of you there.

Video of appearance on Evening Magazine (KING5 Seattle)

Here's a clip of a piece that aired several weeks ago in Seattle on a show called Evening Magazine. We filmed it last summer in an art gallery using one camera, so the shots of the reporter asking the questions and me answering them were filmed in two separate takes. First they recorded me answering all the questions, and then they moved the camera behind me and taped the reporter asked some of the questions a second time. I imagine this technique, combined with clever editing, is how The Daily Show makes its interview subjects look ridiculous. Lucky for me (and unlucky for you), I was spared the Daily Show treatment.

This is the first and only time a TV show has used special effects to morph my 38-year-old face into my 19-year-old face.

Will eBay's new policy make shill bidding easier?

Auctionbytes interviewed me yesterday for an article about a new eBay policy that may make shill bidding easier.

As I explain in FAKE, my cohorts and I used to bid on our own and each other's auctions using fake eBay user IDs. This practice, which is known as shill bidding, is against eBay rules. Our shill bidding was uncovered by a New York Times reporter who carefully researched our auctions and found patterns, and this discovery is what ultimately attracted the attention of the FBI.

Although eBay has adopted many new measures to combat shill bidding since then, a lot of eBay users claim it still goes on. Some, in an effort to make sure the price of an item they want is not being driven up by shills, like to research the bidding activity of competing bidders.

Until now. eBay recently starting hiding the identy of anyone bidding on an item going for more than $200. The company adopted this new rule to prevent scammers from being able to send off-eBay offers to people who bid on, but didn't win, high-dollar items. But users who like to watch out for shill bidding fear the new policy will make it easier for sellers to bid on their own items with alternative IDs. eBay is confident it can catch shill bidding itself.

All I can say is this: If this policy had been in place when I was on eBay, I might never have been caught.

Norman Rockwell painting found hidden inside wall

Here's something: A Norman Rockwell painting called "Breaking Home Ties," which, like most of Rockwell's work, once appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, and was on display at the Norman Rockwell Museum, has turned out to be fake.

This fact only came to light when the original version of the painting was found buried inside the wall of the studio of a friend of Rockwell. For some reason, when Rockwell gave the painting to his friend as a gift, the friend created a copy of it and hid the original. The fake version went on to be displayed, while the original remained encased behind plaster.

If it was properly stored, I'll bet the original is in excellent condition.

This illustrates two things that I point out in my book: Plenty of paintings hanging on museum walls are not authentic, and valuable paintings fall through the cracks, and are sometimes unearthed in the most unlikely places.

The latter fact is what fuels so much speculation on the fringes of the art market. A lot of people spend their lives looking for a Rockwell hidden inside a wall (or a Diebenkorn stored in a garage).