Awareness of artist scams: my experience XD

[twilightsparklerulez 36]

On 2023-08-15 at 12:09 PM, Evil Pink One said:

LOL!!! if the person keeps on saying the word dear its a chinese scammer! Hahaha no kidding! They always start with that... Or is it the new international pick up line of scammers? I dont notice indian scammers starting that line though...

Wait u r Indian? 

[twilightsparklerulez 36]

On 2023-08-13 at 11:21 PM, Ice Princess Silky <3 said:

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. 

I don't even do art THAT much but thanks anyway for the awareness  . 

[sebrosills 88]

On 2023-08-13 at 12:51 PM, Ice Princess Silky <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: 
 

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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 

Oh man, that really sucks that people would be trying to scam. Ugh. Commission scams are the worst, especially when they steal from other artists to put as their own and make money off of.

[Iforgotmybrain 6,960]

I got a message from a random who said they added me from here, didn’t recognize the name at all so I asked them what their username was on here and never got a response. Very sus 😳. I assume they were probably a scam artist or some other sort of scammer and decided I was asking too many questions off the bat 

Spoiler

 

[Ice Princess Silky <3 17,941]

6 hours ago, Iforgotmybrain said:

I got a message from a random who said they added me from here, didn’t recognize the name at all so I asked them what their username was on here and never got a response. Very sus 😳. I assume they were probably a scam artist or some other sort of scammer and decided I was asking too many questions off the bat 

  Hide contents

 

Silky obliterates the scammers and the fake friendship mimics!  Send them my way! 

Btw the pfp does seem rather ai. So that is interesting to note.

[Crypty Scribbles 6,406]

@Iforgotmybrain @Ice Princess Silky <3 I dunno, they look nice and polite ^•^

[Ice Princess Silky <3 17,941]

5 minutes ago, Crypty Scribbles said:

@Iforgotmybrain @Ice Princess Silky <3 I dunno, they look nice and polite ^•^

*facepalm* Crypty… see? This is why you are a darling. Here I am ready to eat them whole and you just wanna make friends. WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS IS SOME KIND OF FRIENDSHIP PONY SITE?? — o. 

[Crypty Scribbles 6,406]

12 minutes ago, Ice Princess Silky <3 said:

WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS IS SOME KIND OF FRIENDSHIP PONY SITE?? — o. 

OMGLOL! Isn't it? I'm afraid a huge misunderstanding happened.  (And was happening many years)

What is it then I'm afraid to ask?  

Some kind of fake sites which are being used by CIA to contact informants?

Spoiler

OOC Ahaha! You made my day! 

 

Edited July 9 by Crypty Scribbles

[Ice Princess Silky <3 17,941]

On 2025-07-09 at 11:44 AM, Crypty Scribbles said:

Some kind of fake sites which are being used by CIA to contact informants?

O calm down. You don’t need to exaggerate. CIA? FBI. That’s just ridiculous nonsense…

*notices there is a user called @THE FBI* 

wait. What.

On 2025-07-09 at 11:44 AM, Crypty Scribbles said:

OOC Ahaha! You made my day! 

But yeah. Good keeping a lookout @Iforgotmybrain always nice to keep us posted for potentiality. 

[age3rcm 112]

((taking notes of what not to do when directly messaging people for work...)))

[Ice Princess Silky <3 17,941]

On 2025-07-10 at 10:21 PM, age3rcm said:

((taking notes of what not to do when directly messaging people for work...)))

You work as a part time scammer?  

[age3rcm 112]

sometimes, when i have no clients and need that money, i ask people directly, so this topic helps me not sound like a scammer, i am the real deal

Edited July 14 by age3rcm
context

[Ice Princess Silky <3 17,941]

Quote

((taking notes of what not to do when directly messaging people for work...)))

You work as a part time scammer?  

36 minutes ago, age3rcm said:

sometimes, when i have no clients and need that money, i ask people directly, so this topic helps me not sound like a scammer, i am for realsies

My response is based on a misunderstanding but I hate to delete or edit things out so I will just put in a spoiler:

Spoiler

inb4 a moderator bans and users here get to hear about this scammer complaining to them in 1 on 1 DMs about how evil staffers are for "banning people unfairly" after revealing something malicious like this. I am for realsies, btw...

On a serious note, if you hear from anyone who has been banned before, claiming staff is "evil" or "unfair" for the ban, I implore you to please ask staff about their ban or the millions of evidence behind whatever crime they've committed. Usually, users like that talk garbage about staff to avoid you being protected from them after they isolate you from us.

Whether mods will ban this user or not is unknown to me. I let the mods do their own thing.

But I just thought I would take the opportunity to make some kind of PSA. This kind of stuff is not funny and it's what makes scammers run to sensitive and kind people to act like "victims" after being banned. But it's usually for abusing the rules or enhancing some malicious purpose. The purpose of this thread is not to assist scammers, but to increase awareness of them. Since this might actually borderline towards misconduct, I am wondering if mods will do something about it or not. Either way, I hope you have a nice pony day. 

It looked like you were responding to this with a "yes, sometimes." :v

Spoiler

 

Quote

sometimes, when i have no clients and need that money, i ask people directly, so this topic helps me not sound like a scammer, i am the real deal

 

Ah, you changed it. I may have misread what you said. My apologies. I've been handling some shady situations and think my mind just got tired of all the blatant nonsense. I'm sorry. 

[age3rcm 112]

glad i did catch that 1 word which changed all the context
i am not a native speaker

[Ice Princess Silky <3 17,941]

35 minutes ago, age3rcm said:

glad i did catch that 1 word which changed all the context
i am not a native speaker

It is okay. You seem like a sweet person, so I'm glad it wasn't the case. It also does not help that English is a funny language. 

One little change makes a different.  

Also, I love how your pfp matches the expression. XD 

[Retro*Derpy 3,328]

I just wanted to contribute, that I get messages/follows all the time on Twitter about wanting to order a "commission" from someone I never heard of before. As you stated, they usually have no art on their profile, or they use AI art without mentioning it. I've seen a few sneaky scammers try to make one art piece in MS paint and say that's their entire track record. If I'm going to get an art piece, I'll follow the artist for awhile and see how they handle their work loads. I know some artists who are legit but can't handle multiple commissions, making months or even years before you get it. It's just like everything else on the internet, you have to be thorough with investigating information; and be careful with your money. I'll admit I learnt my first lesson with counter strike scammers.

[Pandora 38,547]

Wanted to give a headsup for users who know about vgen, please be careful with artists there. Check if their verified, got a waitlist and a decent portfolio/ some sort of a following.

theres people portraying as artists who aren’t hence the headsup