Watch out for these scams that target artists
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Message to Josie@gmail.com.
From extice43002@edress.net
Hello There,
My name is Porter Gardner from Orlando Florida. I actually observed my wife has been storming your website works on my laptop and I guess she like your piece of work. I'm also impress and amazied to have see your various works to, You are doing great job. I would like to purcahse this pieces as a surprise my wfe on our anniversay. My budget is between 500 $ and 10,000 $. Please let me know if you accespet CHECK as payment.
Yours truly, Porter
Now, if you didn't guess already, this is an actual email that I received. And I can vouch for the fact that it is a scam. In fact, I have received some variation of the "storming your works" email almost weekly for 7 years.
Naturally, scammers are EVERYWHERE. They target the elderly, the sick, and the creatives, we're a gullible bunch. I see a lot of questionable "offers" come through email and DMs, and I thought I would cover a few of the ones that target artists and creatives in particular.
By the way, I believe that artists should get paid, and I also believe we’re in a moment in history when artists CAN get paid. If you want to know the basics, I just wrote an epic free report called The Ultimate Guide to Selling your Art Online. You can get it at josielewis.com/ultimate.
But now, there are 4 main scams I want to cover.
Solicitations to Purchase (Email or DM)
The common scam seems to be asking the artist to "overcharge" them a few hundred bucks to be wired to their art installer or mover or whatever, then they overpay your invoice with fraudulent credentials, which plays out weeks later. Then you'll be left without the money for your art, without the cash you forwarded and without the art. BUMMER.
Often, if it feels weird, it is. If the email is loaded with typos and odd syntax, it is likely a scam. If the budget is a very broad span, it is likely a scam. Do they want you to wire them $500 for a "mover" and then they'll pay you back via a paypal payment? Yeah, likely a scam.
Naturally, real people who are interested also send emails and DMs, and if you are in doubt, asking some clarifying questions will help matters. I don't conduct business in the DMs. I always ask people to follow up with an email. A serious inquiry will absolutely follow through. Then I ask what art in particular are they interested in? How do they propose paying for the art? A real person will show real knowledge of your work, ask normal questions, and not suggest anything weird around the payment.
Violation Warnings
Every day, multiple times a day, I get an email that says that my Facebook or Insatgram accounts has violated the terms of service or copyright or something or other, and that I my account is scheduled for deletion unless I immediately click this button and enter my credentials and save my account. This won't be for just creatives, but the bigger your social accounts are, the more of these you will likely to get. They're ALL Scams! Never never click a button because you will get hacked and that sucks. Oh by the way, have you turned on two factor yet? You want all the security layers you can get because getting hacked is not fun! Emails warning that your Facebook account, or bank account, or any other personal account is due to be deleted for violating policy is a tactic of scammers.
Advertising Offers
Another scam that I get all the time starts with an email from a super goofy email address, like boredpanda.offers.4372c@gmail.com and it goes something like this…
Dear friend,
we are collecting traffic for our site we will to advertise on your site with 1 ad in a day that you can post on the page. We will pay you $7000 per ad payment will be made in advance. We work with Nike, Prada, and Coca-Cola.
If you’re interested, Please response me as soon as possible.
Thank you, Morgan.
By responding to them, they get your page information, hack in, and hold it hostage. For this scam, the warning signs are the use of weird spelling, odd syntax, goofy email address that "almost" sounds official, unbelievable offers, and name dropping.
Vanity Galleries
The last scam I’m going to review is a little more sophisticated and involves "Galleries" that charge exorbitant fees to be exhibited. These are called "vanity galleries". These are often real gallery spaces in the world, but sometimes they are online. These organizations make their money from artists, not from art sales from which they derive a commission. They often have a very complex list of "fees" that you must pay to be displayed. Sometimes these galleries are frame shops that insist that you use their very expensive framing services to be displayed in their gallery. Often vanity galleries will send fishing emails, very similar to the first email I read, but they will be well written and convincing. The links in the email will lead to a professional website featuring a physical gallery.
This is different than a co-op where a number of artists will get together to pay a monthly fee to cover the overhead of a gallery space. This is also different than a fee to enter a open call exhibition in an established gallery that conducts a juried group show. And it is different than an art fair, where the organizing body will charge a booth fee to take part in their event, but will not take a commission from the art sold.
These 4 scams are the most common I see and I don’t want you to fall for them. As with most things, there are tons of grey areas, but by simply asking a few questions you can quickly identify those that are clearly scams. Hopefully this helps, and you won't be tempted to get sucked in to one of these shenanigans!
