Julie Cooney Gemologist juliecooney.com / Date of posting: May 6, 2023

by Samantha B.G.

Phony gemologist / Jewellery and gemstone appraiser scam

Name / Alias: Julie Cooney
Supposed Credentials:
* On her phony website, it is noted: 'Julie Cooney is a G.I.A. Graduate Gemologist and Jewelry appraiser professional with over twenty years as a fine jewellery and gemstone appraiser. She is an Accredited Senior Appraiser member of the American Society of Appraisers.

* Her website also notes, at the bottom of the homepage: 'Julie Cooney is a GIA certified independent gemologist and jewellery appraiser with out 20 years of experience in gemstones identifications and jewellery appraisal.

(Hence, some ambiguity about whether this fraudster is with or without 20 years of experience. Maybe that depends on whether it's experience in jewellery appraisal or experience in fraud.)

Website: https://juliecooney.com

Where one can find the facial image? Homepage of Julie Cooney website

Date that website was first registered: 2022-11-09

Website domain registrar: NameCheap

Website hosting provider: NameCheap

Physical address cited on website:

US address -- 607 S Hill St Suite 240, Los Angeles, CA 90014 United States
Canada address -- 546 Parliament St, Toronto, ON M4X 1P8, Canada

Phone numbers cited on website:
+12533916712
+1 669-842-0669
1 905-919-1666

Do the area codes of the phone numbers correspond to physical address?: Yes and no. The 253 area code is for Washington state. This does not align with either of the addresses. However, the 669 area code is for California, which aligns with the U.S. address. The 905 area code is for Ontario, Canada, which does align with the Canadian address.

Email address cited on website: info@juliecooney.com

Also to note:
* The +12533916712 was a phone number used by a Gabby Gems website -- another fake jewellery appraisal site. That site is no longer up, but a copy of it can be found at: https://web.archive.org/web/20220621033756/gabbygems.com

* The Julie Cooney website appears to be of a lineage from a now-defunct Kochell Gems site. A copy of this site can be found at:
https://web.archive.org/web/20220507194046/https://kochellgems.com/

Content served up by Amazon AWS?: No
While some related websites featuring the image of the same woman's face have content served up by Amazon AWS or have had content served up by Amazon AWS in the past, this website does not appear to do likewise.

This woman may attempt to reach out to men on dating / social networking sites, under whichever alias.

After having supposedly busted her laptop, she may attempt to get someone to send her a replacement laptop to her, in Turkey, where she claims to be working temporarily. Given the high number of websites in question, it's hard to say how many angles there could be for different targets and how many people may be working behind the websites and their presumably related profiles on various dating / social networking sites. However, one possibility is that a proverbial schmuck is being recruited, via a romance scam, as a conduit to ship other people's jewellery from the U.S. or Canada off to Africa and/or the Middle East.

It's possible that people may send their jewellery for appraisal, possibly to a home address listed on a jewellery appraisal website. The 'jewellery appraiser' may have an address located close to the person who wants an appraisal. The schmuck, netted via the romance scam, may then, in turn, ship that jewellery off to their loved one, under the context of doing her a service, as she is temporarily traveling abroad.

In doing so, the individual shipping jewellery out-of-continent may be an unwitting accessory to a crime. Once the jewellery reaches Africa or the Middle East, it won't be coming back.

Other related scam sites, which feature the photo of the SAME WOMAN'S FACE, but each under a different alias, including some sites with corresponding Watch for Scams report pages, are as follows:

Allure Gems Lab alluregemslab.com
* New site, registered via NameCheap on March 17/23

Lauren Angelo laurenangelogems.com
* New site, registered via NameCheap on March 18/23

Reenie Hanson reeniehansongems.com

* New site, registered via NameCheap on April 19/23

Stacey Lambert staceylambertgems.com

* New site, registered via NameCheap on April 21/23

Cornelia Williams corneliawilliamsgems.com

* New site, registered via NameCheap on April 21/23

Emily Layla exquisitegemslabs.com -- see https://www.watchforscams.com/emily-layla-gemologist-exquisitegemslabscom-date-of-posting-jan-21-2023.html

* Exquisite Gems Lab site still online, as of May 6, 2023.

Carola Kemp carolakempgems.com

* Carola Kemp site still online, as of May 6, 2023.

Cynthia Lewis, Royal Glamour Gems royalglamourgems.com

* The Royal Glamour site still online, as of May 6, 2023.

Andreea Sasser andreeasasser.com -- see https://www.watchforscams.com/andreea-sasser-gemologist-andreeasassercom-date-of-posting-june-27-2022.html

* Andreea Sasser site still online, as of May 6, 2023.

Suzanne Sasser suzannesasser.com

* Somewhat new site, registered via NameCheap on Nov 11/22

Sandra Smith sandrasmithgems.com

Sandra Smith Gems site still online, as of May 6, 2023.

Claudia Denise Wallace claudiadenisewallace.com

* Claudia Denise Wallace site still online, as of May 6, 2023.

Naomi Pat Collins naomipatcollins.com -- see https://www.watchforscams.com/naomi-pat-collins-gemologist-naomipatcollinscom-date-of-posting-aug-14-2022.html

Site appears to be down, as of May 6, 2023. All the same, you can find an archived copy of the homepage of this scam site (which includes the image of the same woman) via the Internet Archive at:

https://web.archive.org/web/20230123033833/https://naomipatcollins.com/

Julia Dimaggio juliadimaggio.co -- see https://www.watchforscams.com/julia-dimaggio-gemologist-juliadimaggioco-date-of-posting-june-20-2022.html

* Julia Dimaggio scam site appears to have been down as of Jan 21, 2023 and is still down as of May 6/23. Archived version of site available at:

https://web.archive.org/web/20220620091102/https://juliadimaggio.co/

Sandra Hall sandrahall.co -- see https://www.watchforscams.com/sandra-hall-gemologist-sandrahallco-date-of-posting-may-19-2022.html

* The Sandra Hall scam site appears to have been down as of Jan 21, 2023. As of May 6/23, the homepage now just offers links to searches. Archived version of site available at:

https://web.archive.org/web/20220517041420/https://sandrahall.co/about/

Zaee Harris zaeeharris.com -- see https://www.watchforscams.com/zaee-harris-gemologist-zaeeharriscom-date-of-posting-may-19-2022.html

* The Zaee Harris scam site appears to have been down as of Jan 21, 2023 and is still down as of May 6/23. Archived version of site available at:

https://web.archive.org/web/20220628010826/https://zaeeharris.com/

Carola Johnson carolajohnson.co -- see https://www.watchforscams.com/carola-johnson-gemologist-carolajohnsonco-date-of-posting-may-19-2022.html

* Site appears to be down, as of May 6, 2023. Archived version of site available at:

https://web.archive.org/web/20230123034251/https://carolajohnson.co/

Martina Paugh, Universal Gems Diamonds Experts -- see https://www.watchforscams.com/martina-paugh-projectconsultant-manager-universalgemsdiamondexpertscom-date-of-posting-may-20-2022.html

* The Universal Gems Diamonds Experts scam site appears to have been down as of Jan 21, 2023 and is still down as of May 6/23. Archived version of site available at:

https://web.archive.org/web/20220517224028/https://universalgemsdiamondexperts.com/

Another recently-created jewellery scam site, which does not presently appear to feature a photo of the supposed jewellery appraiser, is Gem Pro Lab -- gemprolab.com . (Registered via NameCheap on March 24/23.)

For more discussion of this romance scam interfacing with a jewellery appraisal scam, please go to the aforementioned Watch for Scams page for the now-defunct Sandra Hall site:

https://www.watchforscams.com/sandra-hall-gemologist-sandrahallco-date-of-posting-may-19-2022.html