ART SCAM! How artists can avoid being scammed
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Uh oh, I hated to be the one to burst his bubble...
I have been hearing about different versions of the "Nigerian scam" and "advance payment scam" that target artists.
Today, I heard from an aspiring artist friend who was very excited that someone had seen his artwork online and wanted to buy it! This would be wonderful, except - yes, you guessed it - it was a scam. I hated to be the one to tell him. These scammers do more than steal artist's money - they also cause artists wrongly to lose confidence in themselves.
I already have several art-related pages on this site, and decided that a page with information for artists to be able to protect themselves from these e-mail scams would be a good idea.
Students doing a "report" on an artist
I've since learned that sometimes these might not really really students, but that it could be a phishing scam (they want to get your inside information, like where you were born, your mother's maiden name, your birth date, pet's names, etc) - because these are the things often used as security questions.
So, if you get questions from a "student," either do your research into their school, make sure it really exists, talk to their teacher, etc (even then, be wary)...but be careful of giving out any precise information. It could really be a student, but on the other hand, we have to be careful. It bears some hallmarks of a possible scam, because it is flattering to have a student want to do a report on you.
A good response is to ask for more information on the report. Where they go to school, and/or the email address of their teacher. In short, check it out.
Awards and Grants that you didn't request
Normally, an artist needs to research grants and awards opportunities for himself.
Think about their motivation: people don't go to the work and effort of emailing all the artists they can, to let them know they could win an award or grant.
Wait and do your own research on the offer before you get excited and act on the offer. Don't even click any links in the email, because there could be malicious code. Type in the website address yourself. Do a web search, find out if any art friends have ever heard of the organization.
Some are valid, but require an "application fee" for your grant. Is it really an application fee, or is this just some kind of artist's lottery, masquerading as a fine art grant?
Art Business Books
Scams Targeting Artist Links
- Max Magnus Norman's Email Fraud Experience
- Examples on E-mail Fraud attempts against particularly art dealers, artists and other dealers. Mugu and Nigeria letters.
- Art Scams: How to Avoid Becoming a Victim
- Art Scams: How Scam Artists Work, Tips to Protect Yourself, How to Stop Them.
- Artist Portfolio Fraud Alert - absolutearts.com
- A sign of a growing concern for artists - AbsoluteArts.com has found it necessary to create a long page about scams targeting artists to protect their website members.
- Handling overseas art sales - Art Biz Blog
- How do you handle overseas orders? Michael Lynn Adams asks:
I have a buyer who lives in South Africa (actually London, moving to South Africa) - Art Scams: Resources to help you protect yourself
- Art Scams: How Scams Work, Tips to Protect Yourself, Actions You Can Take to Stop Them.
- Things people attempt to extract money from artists
- Things that people do to extract money from artists.
- BogusArtFair.Info | Protecting visual artists from online scams and fraud
- BogusArtFair.Info
Protecting visual artists from online scams and fraud
Scammers still at it! shipping/cheque scam It's been quiet here for a while, but I got another tip that the shipping scams are still alive and"
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Lyne Marshall
Jun 29, 2011 @ 9:12 am | delete
- Hi Darla
I am wondering what you would think about a website which offers to shocase artists and has a facility to upload photos, but offers no password, and asks for personal information. Next they e-mail you for for more info, ask for a personal photo and send more requests such as connect on LinkedIn etc..The web site has no address etc except for a gmail account...even the domain owner information was hidden when I did a search. It looks a great website and they do have genuine artists onboard, I checked, but not a lot, however this could be to make to them look authentic? When I asked on their Facebook page why they give no personal information and said I though artists should be wary, they deleted my post and e-mailed me [ with a gmail address] so say that I am being unfairly critical. They said nothing to ally my concerns, and still remain anonymous and just signed it Web Staff.
My concern is how many artist are giving them personal information without any security..
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ddixonart
Jun 29, 2011 @ 2:12 pm | delete
- That does seem somewhat questionable, but it depends. What kind of information are they asking for? If they are only asking for information that is readily available from Google, I don't think it's a big deal. If they aren't asking for payment of any kind or a Social Security number, it might be okay. They might be taking names and addresses in order to sell them to people who want a targeted mailing address. You can look up the site on www.Alexa.com to see its page rank. If it has a low page rank then it's not worth having your information/link listed anyway.
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Lyne Marshall
Jun 29, 2011 @ 6:49 pm | delete
- Many thanks for the reply. Others say this also however the artists they list have info on where they were born, what year, what education etc..I think you can get a a lot of personal information on someone if you ask the right questions. These guys are persistant, a little here and a little there, especially if they get on your social networks. They contacted me by email and my concern is that the owner of the domain is hidden when you do a domain search. I wonder why are they so secretive when they ask such personal questions of the artists? I dont want to be listed with them as I have my own websites... I just want to warn others to be careful.
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Otto Rapp
Jun 30, 2011 @ 1:30 am | delete
- Q for ddixonart: What would you consider a low rank on Alexa? (it all depends on the target audience. Irrelevant web traffic might get you a good ranking on Alexa, but is meaningless).
Q's for Lynn: What is "personal" information? What is known about you from other web sites (such as facebook) and are they asking for more info than what you are already revealing on various websites and social networks? For others to properly evaluate and comment on the original question, links would be helpful, such as their facebook page and website.
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Lyne Marshall
Jul 1, 2011 @ 12:04 am | delete
- Hi Otto Good questions..
My concern is this website is so secretive..like who are they? While they have a privacy policy etc, does it means anything if they are not accountable. Please do go for a look at them at shocaseme. com and do tell me if you think i am just being pedantic. They have answered my queries by e-mail telling me I am being unfair to question them but yet still stay concealed. Wouldn't you think they would want to account for themselves if being questioned. I am web aware and therefore don't put my full birth date, legal name, maiden name etc on my web pages or Facebook or LinkedIn although as an artist and especially an author I need to offer enough information for people to want to buy my books online. Questions about influences, where you were born etc done in several different ways and then the social media info give out a lot of personal info and I am not adverse to this as I have written two art books, one on the personal creative journey. Call it a gut feeling with this lot. As they don't post what you upload who knows how many have given them their data.
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by ddixonart
My name is Darla Dixon. I am a . My artwork has been published several times and has sold internationally. more »
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