Awareness of artist scams: my experience XD

[Yakamaru 3,127]

 

As someone who commissions art(perhaps a little too much ^^'') and have a good amount of experience on this front there's always something at the back of my head that gnaws ever so gently when an artist, or supposed artist approaches me for commission work. The initial interactions is rather vital for me to indicate whether or not this is a legitimate artist contacting me or if it's a bot/AI or someone trying to scam me. 

• First point to look out for is a gallery. Does this artist, or supposed artist, have a gallery? Granted, not all artists have one but it's a good way to show someone's portfolio and increases the chance of someone being a legit artist. This art gallery can be on FurAffinity, deviantArt or what have you. 
• Second point is speech patterns and general language use. Some scams are literal bots/AI, and as such are easy enough to distinguish through some clever wording and sentence structuring. In the case it's a real person trying to scam this can be detected through a bit of inquiring about their supposed.. "work", although I really don't recommend treating every potential artist as a scammer. That's rather backwards.
• Pattern recognition, although this one may be a bit more on the Autistic side of things. There is more often than not patterns in things, especially speech, so keep an eye out for various patterns that may indicate whether this artist is legit or not.
• Art consistency. Consistent art is important especially if the artist, or supposed artist, have a gallery. You should be able to verify this rather easily even for artists with a mid level of skills. Some artists however have several styles that they draw, one such prime example is feve who does different styles depending on what's been commissioned.

In the case of you having posted an advert (example below. The finished piece ended up as a Japanese Oni samurai which were a bit of a deviation from the original ad, but it came out pretty nicely regardless :>. It's in the spoiler just below for anyone curious) where you are looking for an artist to do a specific pose, scene or what have you, a scammer could use this as a potential venue of getting money from people. That chance is low however as you're the one putting out an ad and get to see various artists with their portfolios, which is where scammers tend to end up being discouraged as portfolios and even publically available galleries is a huge boon for genuine artists. 

Spoiler

 

 

I could write half a novel on interactions alone when it comes to trying to figure out whether this artist is legit or not, but I will refrain from doing so and save people from reading Autistic drivel.

In general just use your intuition and feeling on the front, and be aware of scammers, but don't let it stop you from normal interactions and making a potential genuine artist happeh with a commission.

[Valynne 2,682]

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 207]

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 14,172]

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 207]

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 508]

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 197]

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

[Azure Dawn 207]

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!

[Wizard 1,481]

Old thread, don't care, that was hilarious!

Remember kids, don't just block them, waste their time, the longer they are talking to you, the less time they have to scam someone else! Also take screenshots and send them to me!

I've had SO many scammers try to mess with me, I was getting one a week, so I started making a game out of it and uploading screenshots after it was over. They usually use throw away accounts, so sadly they rarely face any kind of justice, but mocking them feels good

[Ice Princess Silky <3 14,172]

1 minute ago, Wizard said:

Remember kids, don't just block them, waste their time, the longer they are talking to you, the less time they have to scam someone else!

This is so funny! I was literally saying today to Events Team that I realize how evil I actually am since I tend to play the stupid character scammers take me for just to see how far down the rabbit hole goes.  

Funny stuff! 

[Wizard 1,481]

8 minutes ago, Ice Princess Silky &lt;3 said:

This is so funny! I was literally saying today to Events Team that I realize how evil I actually am since I tend to play the stupid character scammers take me for just to see how far down the rabbit hole goes.  

Funny stuff! 

Hehehe I like your style! Here's a couple screenshots of how I deal with scammers:
They even admitted to it!

[Felis Amafeles 1,064]

I had a happy scammer recently as well

[Ice Princess Silky <3 14,172]

12 hours ago, Wizard said:

Hehehe I like your style! Here's a couple screenshots of how I deal with scammers:
They even admitted to it!

That last part had me rolling! I love your level of wit in handling that.

Not only are you offering solid advice in not using a sob story to inflict more sob stories and pain upon innocent people but you add some flavor to the conversation by throwing in that last, savage bit ahaha. He wanted to you as a victim and instead he got some golden advice. XD  

2 hours ago, Felis Amafeles said:

I had a happy scammer recently as well

Ooof he pulled the ol’ switcharoo. Please never oblige them and show them your work. You ask the questions. They are the ones asking you for money. So they are the ones who are to owe you any evidence or proof.

Should you oblige their request, you may risk exposing yourself as their new art victim to claim the credit of your art for. 
 

Otherwise, good job in not falling for their tactics.
 

I would rather exhaust them with my endless stupidity just so that the next victim seems less appealing. xD 

[Felis Amafeles 1,064]

1 hour ago, Ice Princess Silky &lt;3 said:

Ooof he pulled the ol’ switcharoo. Please never oblige them and show them your work. You ask the questions. They are the ones asking you for money. So they are the ones who are to owe you any evidence or proof.

Should you oblige their request, you may risk exposing yourself as their new art victim to claim the credit of your art for. 
 

Otherwise, good job in not falling for their tactics.
 

I would rather exhaust them with my endless stupidity just so that the next victim seems less appealing. xD 

Thank you Silky !

[Azure Dawn 207]

As much as I love the idea of wasting time... Sometimes the urge to send thanos twerking is too great.

[Wizard 1,481]

1 hour ago, Azure Dawn said:

As much as I love the idea of wasting time... Sometimes the urge to send thanos twerking is too great.

Hahahaha I condone this as well! If you're tired, or don't have time, or just don't want to deal with them... Confusion can be a great weapon.
I once sent a scammer a picture of the mona lisa and said it was my work. They somehow didn't recognise it and said they could do better, so I waited for them to find examples of something better. A few minutes later I messaged them again, asking if they found any artwork, and they got very angry lol

13 hours ago, Ice Princess Silky &lt;3 said:

That last part had me rolling! I love your level of wit in handling that.

Not only are you offering solid advice in not using a sob story to inflict more sob stories and pain upon innocent people but you add some flavor to the conversation by throwing in that last, savage bit ahaha. He wanted to you as a victim and instead he got some golden advice. XD  

 

 

Kitty got claws