Looking at the previous question in Emeritus' link, I'm reminded of the phantom artist 'Letterman', who also had paintings bought by people from all over the world, and they wanted to know more about the artist. (Google for 'letterman answerbank' and you'll see what I mean). Some of this work was being sold for ridiculous amounts. Suspicions arose when people found that identical paintings were being sold in different parts of the world. It turned out that the name was being used by an Indonesian art factory workshop, where 'Letterman' paintings were being churned out daily by the dozen. It only takes a quick glance at such paintings by any art dealer for these works to be identified straight away. Alas, many of the public remain gullible.