Stay Safe from Art Scams!

I fell victim to an art commission scam where I paid a scammer, who was pretending to be an artist, at the start of 2024. So I wanted to write this quick blog about it to prevent other people falling for it.

As AI art has become so popular, scammers have found new and inventive ways to catch new victims.

One of the scammers I came across was called Ava. "WondersByAva" on Twitter, and "yourava1" on Discord. Who later threatened to sue me after I discovered the scam. (Which was funny, because they were claiming to be a struggling artist with no money just a few messages prior)

I will also point out that this is strictly from the perspective of a customer. This is for people who are paying someone to draw for them. Not artists. And all of this applies to overlays, graphics, thumbnails, and v-tuber models as well.

There are a few tell-tale signs that someone is scamming you.

1. They come to you.

   1. Legitimate artists almost never approach the customer. If you have Tweeted out that you need some art created and artists come to you, you shouldn't consider any of them. They're all most likely scammers. Real artists might say in their bio that they are an artist and that they are taking commissions, but they never approach you asking you to commission them. If you're being pestered to commission someone, they are partaking in a very invasive form of self-promotion and should be disregarded.

2. They rush you for payment or seem slightly desperate/excited to work for you.

   1. Real artists never do this as they know it looks bad. If you're being pushed into paying someone, exit that conversation and never look back.

3. You run their example art through a reverse image search (like Google Images or TinEye) and several other examples come up.

   1. This is an obvious sign that something is wrong. While you could argue that it's from the artist's public portfolio, it's more likely that they've stolen it from someone else. Feel free to check it, but if it appears on someone elses twitter or under another artist claiming to have drawn it, that's a scam and you should avoid it.

4. Their PayPal is under a strange name.

   1. While not conclusive, this is another sign that the independent artist you're talking to is likely working under an agency which may or may not be legitimate. Especially if you paste the name into Google and can't find anything about it. Proceed with caution.

   2. If you're paying in two goes (50% up front and 50% after sketch) and the PayPal name changes all of a sudden, you should ask why. If they say that their old account got terminated, this is a sign that it was a scam that got caught and they're trying to downplay it. I have been a PayPal customer for all of my adult life and a large part of my teenage years as well, and never had a false termination. This is a huge red flag.

5. They want you to pay in cryptocurrency.

   1. I've not observed this one, but no doubt some have tried it. It goes without saying, but cryptocurrency is untraceable and cannot be recovered under any circumstances. Never pay using cryptocurrency. Very obvious scam.

6. They have no website.

   1. Again, not conclusive. Many people don't have a website. But a website is a very clear sign that they are dedicated to their art. Carrd and LinkTree pages are okay, but they can be created for free and hold no real value. Not definitively a scam, but could be a contributing factor.

7. There is no information about them on a web search.

   1. Another that isn't a conclusive giveaway, but is a clear sign that they haven't got much of a social presence and likely ran a scam previously that got exposed, and they just rebranded.

8. They joined social platforms only a year or two ago.

   1. The newer their accounts are, the more likely it's a scam. Artists know their reputations are important and most will have a history of other content. YouTube channels, DeviantArt pages, etc. If the one you're talking to has popped up out of nowhere in the last two years, you're probably not talking to a legitimate artist.

9. Their Twitter account is a bot.

   1. A common technique for scammers is to employ a bot to constantly search Twitter for any Tweets containing specific keywords. Words like "commission", "art", "artists", "banner", "pfp", "thumbnail", and any variations of those words. If the person you're talking to has a Twitter account and they seem to reply to any and all Tweets containing those kinds of keywords, it's a scam. Real artists never do that.

10. They come across as very pushy.

    1. Similar to my first point, they may try to rush you into doing something you don't know about yet. They'll be overly friendly with you to lull you into a false sense of security. Real artists will remain professional and try to use proper English while speaking to you. If someone seems to have bad grammar, it doesn't mean they're scamming you. But you should be aware.

11. Their art style isn't consistent.

    1. This is a big one. Real artists will have one art style they do really well with. Artists asking you what art style you prefer are either extremely talented, or extremely deceptive. Scammers are able to offer lots of different art styles by simple acting as a middleman and will take your money, pay a real artists to draw for you (if they're not using AI) but take a large cut of the money for themselves for doing nothing. And depending on what art style you want, they will just ask a different artist to draw.

    2. If you're speaking to someone who has no consistent art style, assume it's a scam.

12. They don't set a price and instead ask what your budget is.

    1. This is another technique used to make sure they don't scare you away with a high price. If you ask them how much your piece would cost, and they ask what your budget is, you're most likely being scammed. Genuine artists have a price list already, with predetermined prices for different types of art. (Full body, shoulders-up, portrait) and will of course charge extra for extra characters, backgrounds, or detailed colour. This isn't determined at the checkout. All they're doing by asking what your budget is, is ensuring they milk you for every penny they can.

13. They send you example art but can't provide the sketch version of it.

    1. If they are a real artist, they will have the sketch, lineart, and flat versions of their example pieces and will show you them. Anyone who is unable to provide that is scamming you.

14. You're unable to commission them on a trusted platform.

    1. I would say as a rule of thumb that you shouldn't commission anyone unless they do it via Fiverr or Vgen or a similar platform with protection for both the buyer and the seller. By commissioning someone outside of these platforms, you are running a serious risk of being scammed.

15. The price seems really high or really low.

    1. This is a huge red flag. Even more so if it happens to be close to your budget. You should know value when you see it. $30-40 for a full body character is about average, I would say. If you're paying a little more than that, it may be the artist ensuring they get the right amount of orders for their capacity. If you're paying twice that, you're being ripped off.

Side note: always set a completion date. Even if you're not pressed for time, always set a due date of some sort. Otherwise they are free to take years (and some will take this opportunity) by which point, your refund window will be closed and you'll be unable to get your money back. When it doubt, say a month. That's plenty of time.

I will continue adding to this list when more things come to mind, but if you follow these tricks, you can ensure you're supporting legitimate artists and not fraudsters. Use your common sense, of course.