The title says it all really. So if nothing else, please share and reblog this post to raise awareness for those that might be caught out - both artists and followers.
For a TL:DR, please look at the bottom of the post
What is happening?
Right now, there is at least one person actively impersonating multiple artists across tumblr in an effort to scam their followers into paying for fake âcheap commissionsâ. The scammer will clone a tumblr, usually using a slight change to the url/account name to look like the real deal. They will then message people directly through Tumblr with messages along the lines of âHey, iâm doing cheap commissions right now. DM me to get oneâ. Naturally, this is ends up just being a way to take their money without giving anything back in return.
Who does this affect?
Everyone. Simple as that. As long as the scammer in question works unopposed, they are free to spread their influence and continue to scam more people. Even if you havenât been targeted yet, it does not mean you are safe or immune.
Several artists have already fallen victim to this scammer, and I encourage any artists that have to reblog this post with the details of their affected account(s) and the ones the scammer has set up.
How can we stop this?
Tumblr, like many other social media platforms, seems to care very little about âminorâ occurences like this one, and despite reaching out directly to them over a week ago through multiple avenues of contact - they have refused to comment on the situation, provide a recommended response for users, or take action on behalf of those already affected.
Despite this, there are still tools at our disposal that we can use to make this scam more difficult, and to increase its visibility to those within Tumblr staff that are required by policy to take action.
Tumblr has the following to say on the topic of impersonation: Confusion or Impersonation. Donât do things that would cause confusion between you or your blog and a person or company, like registering a deliberately confusing URL. Donât impersonate anyone. While youâre free to ridicule, parody, or marvel at the alien beauty of Benedict Cumberbatch, you canât pretend to actually be Benedict Cumberbatch. They then provide a link to this online form that you can fill out if you suspect someoneâs identity is being confused. Unfortunately, this can only be filled out if you are the victim of impersonation. In other words, only the artists can fill this out legitimately.
So, what about the followers and users of tumblr whom arenât being impersonated?
Our most valuable tool in this online platform is the platform itself. It enables us to spread our word near-virally across all the many sub-communities on Tumblr with remarkable efficiency for a user-driven system. We can take advantage of that effect to increase awareness of the situation. Even if you - the one reading this right now - arenât an artist or donât know an artist, the act of reblogging this post or sharing it directly with friends improves itâs 'rankingâ in popularity increasing its chances to be seen by more people.
We donât need everyone on Tumblr to see the post for it to be effective, just like we donât need the entirety of the human population of the world to be immune to a disease for that disease to be rendered ineffective or eradicated. If enough people are aware, the likelihood of pulling off a successful scam increases dramatically reducing efficiency to a point that it no longer becomes profitable to continue.
Why should I care?
It disheartens me to say this, but of the many artists I contacted directly over the past week to warn about this issue many of them refused to listen or dodged the responsibility with lines like;
âIâm not being impersonated, so it doesnât affect meâ
âIâm just one person. I canât make an impactâ
âI need to take care of my community. Other people can look after theirsâ
This is honestly disappointing that so many artists or art-rebloggers care so little as to intentionally wave the responsibility of keeping their followers and fellow artists safe from this, that they cannot spare 10 seconds of their time to share an informative post.
Iâm not here to bash artists, but it is time that everyone takes responsibility for their own communities, and of those around them.
Artists: You have a responsibility to ensure that your followers and fans arenât being abused by someone who may impersonate you. If they succeed, your reputation will be damaged, and your followers will resent you. Your followers are also almost guaranteed to be following other artists meaning your efforts can spread beyond your own circle of influence, so donât be naive when you think you have little effect.
Followers: You have just as much responsibility to be aware of those that might try to scam you or your fellow followers. Donât just sit in silence when you see something wrong: Ignoring the issue only makes it more resilient to our efforts to stop it. You are the vocal majority if you just use your voices to be heard!
TL:DR
A scammer is impersonating artists and scamming money from their followers under the guise of 'cheap commissionsâ. If we ignore the issue, it will get worse.
Every single person that reads this can afford to spend just 10 seconds to reblog and share this post. Those 10 seconds can save others from being scammed for hundreds of dollars.
Reblog & Share
Characters: All Ains
Summary: Lofty Wanderer and Apostasia basically fights for Arme. Hm.. That sums it up.
Gift for: the same people: @mintyer , @flow-ech and @random-elsword-stuff
Warning: bad writing from amethyse
âGuys, hurry up. Executor, Anpassen, and Mochi already left for the dungeon.â
Ignoring Arme, the Aingst duo continued fighting each other, pinching each otherâs cheeks.Â
Arme waited for a few seconds before he whacked the twoâs heads with his gloved hands, âStop fighting! We donât have time!â
Wanderer, who recovered faster, looked up at Arme with puppy eyes, âb-but... I want you do braid my hair...â
Arme sighed and sat down on the sofa, gesturing Wanderer over, âCome here.â
Wanderer smiled and slid over to sit on the floor in front of Arme. The teal haired Celestial started humming to himself as he combed through Wandererâs silky hair with his fingers.Â
Wanderer smirked at Apostasia in victory.Â
Apostasia pouted.Â
Arme took notice of this before he smiled at Apostasia, âIf you want, I can braid you hair like I did before real quickly.â
Apostasia froze for a second before smiling.
âAre you seeing what Iâm seeing?â Anpassen asked, âWhereâs my camera?â
Executor facepalmed, âThis might explain why they took so long...â
Mochi smiled, his Eids spinning around almost in happiness, âI think itâs cute.â
Apostasia clung to Armeâs right arm while Wanderer clung on Armeâs left arm, so Arme basically had to drag them to the dungeon. Not to mention the fact that the Aingst duo looks nearly identical due to their braids.
Arme glared at Mochi as if he was the one at fault, âTell a soul about this and Iâll Erst de Lezt you entire existence.â
Mochi held up his hands, âY-yeah.. Of course.â
Apostasia hugged Armeâs arm tighter as he glared at Wanderer from behind Armeâs back. Wanderer glared back, doing the same action as Apostasia; hugging Arme tighter.
Arme looked at them, smiling sheepishly, âUh, itâs not like Celestial needs it or anything, but I would prefer if you guys wouldnât cut off my blood circulation.â
The two let go of Armeâs arms and looked away in embarrassment. Arme stretched before taking out his pendulum, ready to start the dungeon.
Apostasia stood in front of Arme and Executorâs bedroom door.Â
It had been hours since they have completed the dungeon, but not without a cost. Arme had been slashed by a sword when he tried to push Apostasia out of danger.Â
Apostasia still remembers Armeâs blood splattering onto his face. He had yelled out in anger, it taking over his mind. He had summoned his scythe in anger, slicing the demon in cleanly in half.Â
Wanderer had insisted to bring Arme to the hospital after Apostasia calmed down, but Mochi explained that a Celestialâs wounds cannot be healed by human medicine.Â
Celestials can only heal unless their deity wishes so.
But otherwise...
They are left for dead.
Arme saw a light in the darkness that he was in. The darkness was unfamiliar, but as soon as the light embraced him, he felt comforted again.
âAin..â Said the voice of his goddess, âAinchase...â
Arme blinked as he looked up toward the light, âGoddess Ishmael...â
A chuckle, âAh, Ainchase. Look at the trouble you got into...â
Silence followed.Â
âIs.. Is something the matter my goddess?â Arme asked.
âIâm so sorry Ainchase...â
Arme was confused. Why did the Goddess, the Creator of El, sound so defeated?
âI cannot heal you,â Ishmael said, sounding as if she was going to cry, âDue to your connection with the other Ain who bears the power of Henir, I can no longer help you... Only Henir can now...â
Pairing: Time Tracer x Lofty: Executor
Summary: Ain underestimated how truly painful the corruption is. The Time Tracer who was slowly becoming the Diabolic Esper ends up helping.Â
He had ran away from the inn where the rest of the El Gang were due to his corrupted eye. It had started to hurt when he nodded to Elswordâs words, but he didnât think much of it. However, as time went by, the pain slowly grew unbearable.Â
Ain had thought that the night breeze would help a bit with the pain, but it only had numbed his senses.Â
Now, he sat next to a tree, panting as he clutched his bandages.Â
âYo Celestial,â Ain heard a voice say next to him, although it sounded distant, âWhy are you all the way out here?â
âMind your own business,â Ain retorted, âMr. Ancient.â
âAccording to the way you act, I believe that youâre about just as old as me.â the Tracer replied, his Dynamos cracking with energy loud enough for Ain to hear.
There was a moment of silence as if Add was waiting for Ain to insult him back or something.
âCelestial...? Oh crap.â
Add lit up his Dynamos to see that Ain had passed out. He sighed before commanding his Dynamos to pick up Ain and bring him back to his room at the inn.
âI told him, but he didnât listen did he?â
Ain blinked as the purple light got shone onto his face.Â
He saw that the purple light came from the other side of the unfamiliar room. The Celestial assumed that this place is Mr. Ancientâs room due to the amount of purple and darkness in here.Â
He stood up and headed over to the light.
âSo youâre awake now Celestial?â Add spoke, his back facing Ain, âAbout time.â
âWhy didnât you just leave?â Ain asked.
Add turned to face Ain, âShow me your eye.â
âAnswer my question.â
Addâs one visible eye narrowed, âThat was the past, unless you want me to turn back time. But then again, Iâll probably just mess everything up with my current knowledge.â
Ain stood in front of Add for another few seconds before he decided to trust Add for now and sat in the chair stationed in front of Add. He started to his bandages, careful to not trigger the pain again.Â
Once the bandages were off, Ain blinked a few times before focusing his sight on Add. He expected Add to grimace in disgust and terror but Add remained silent.Â
âArenât you disgusted?â
Add raised his eyebrow, âWhy would I be? Iâm basically in the same boat as you.âÂ
Upon saying that, Add removed his eye patch and showed Ain his âtaintedâ eye.Â
â... Why would you show me that?â Ain questioned, âWhat are you going to do?â
âTeach you,â Add replied, taking Ainâs corrupted hand into his his and tracing the blue lines engraved into Ainâs skin with his thumb, âhow to deal with this corrupted pain before I, myself, goes insane.â
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