Awareness of artist scams: my experience XD

[Rethajni 2,657]

I mean... I do ask to use the OCs of people that I found cute, but more as permission than an offer, I am perhaps the worst scammer because I never ask for money or such, just smiles, I make gif to bring smiles to people and for friends, money is never brought in conversation.  

I been also into some twisted sick moves, I was planning to make a short animations of talking cats but back on the days of Skype a group of people add copyright to my characters so I cannot use them, only to screw me up, thats why I trust my works to my inner circle. 

I never had experiences like that, people asking to draw my OCs out of the blue

[Azure Dawn 195]

I've encountered these both on discord and twitter... funny enough, the last one was just last week, someone who was in a minecraft mod server of all places! I simply confirm their intention and immediately ping admins in general when this happens now, usually confirms that they dmed EVERYONE for the same thing.

[Ice Princess Silky <3 13,860]

1 minute ago, Azuredown said:

I've encountered these both on discord and twitter... funny enough, the last one was just last week, someone who was in a minecraft mod server of all places! I simply confirm their intention and immediately ping admins in general when this happens now, usually confirms that they dmed EVERYONE for the same thing.

It’s noble of you to report them rather than remain silent. Abusers tend to thrive on the silence of their victims. Always speak up. 

[Azure Dawn 195]

I always speak up as soon as something odd happens. Worst case they get to clear things up with staff and never act suspicious again.

[Livealarm 474]

On 2023-08-13 at 1:51 PM, Ice Princess Silky &lt;3 said:

Hello, lovelies! 

There's a rampant amount of art scammers reaching out to people and I just wanted to make you all aware of this so that you know that 1. you're not alone, 2. please do not feel bad either reporting or removing these people from your messages.

With the new digital age of AI - a lot of incredible things can be observed from these advanced forms of technology. Sadly, as above, so below... in this context meaning, with the good there is also a wiggle room for the bad. So, scammers are getting "creative" with using A.I to try to rob users of their money.

I repeatedly get random messages from strangers. Some of them have a sob story that makes you want to rush to assist them. Others simply seem like really chill people you wish to get to know or support as an artist.

But they all tend to have something in common. Apart from the weird moments of calling you "dear" without knowing who you are, the consistent patterns tend to be:

1. They do not have their own steady artist portfolio online. No DeviantArt, no consistency. The reason being that their art would be reported as either AI or stolen if they did show you a consistent portfolio. 

2. They tend to reach out to you because they noticed you have an OC. Scammers are aware of how sentimental we can be about our own OCs and they try to play on that.

3. It's always a random message from a stranger who has EXTRA confidence in offering their artistic services and that you will be pleased. This is not how clients work. Even the most amazingly talented artists are aware that not everyone is going to like their style, even if they have a confident raving review of the majority.

Either way, I decided to test one of these many random people and the results were... oddly hilarious. (posted screenshots in spoiler below).

While I am usually very protective of private conversations with users, friends, etc, in this case, it is simply a scammer and I have no qualm with revealing these to inform anyone who needs to know: 
 

  Reveal hidden contents

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That image is literally an old art that I myself made of my own OC and he simply put a black and white filter over it - claiming it was a "sketch." lol
I was literally speechless... this is what he was asking $50 for. I guess it's time for me to pay someone else for art that I made. 

But in all seriousness, I just wanted to raise awareness. Regardless of any messaging platform that you use, any artist insisting to draw your OC for a "cheap and reasonable price" (without a set portfolio that a real community can backup and confirm is legit) is to be seen as a potential red flag or suspicion. 

Don't feel guilty or shy about removing them or asserting your firm boundaries. 

Stay lovely 

Thanks for good advice Silky 

[Dior 183]

It's sad we still have to deal with Scammers sigh...

[Azure Dawn 195]

2 hours ago, Dior said:

It's sad we still have to deal with Scammers sigh...

Don't worry, they're not leaving us anytime soon! It's just too easy!