Travelling door-to-door salesmen were hawking fake art as real at the weekend but a Dunedin woman was not fooled.
Sergeant Ed Baker, of Dunedin, said two Middle Eastern men were trying to scam Dunedin residents by selling prints of ‘‘masterpieces'' as original artworks.
A print was sold to a Dunedin woman for about $200 and the sellers left her with a contact phone number, he said.
When she realised she had been swindled, she rang the men, asking them to return so she could buy another painting, Sgt Baker said.
When the men returned, she asked for her cheque back, to double the payable amount, but instead ripped it up, he said.
The men were travelling around New Zealand, Sgt Baker said.
