🔎Scam Exam(ination)🔍
Seen as: I would like a commission of my son/pet... Scam Type: Commission Scam
Also: See this update on how scammers are changing the scam.
Accounts running this scam: @iloveartworks
Proof of this can be seen/found here and here.
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Being open to commissions isn't uncommon if you're an artist.
You may often find yourself receiving messages from strangers looking to commission you for a picture of their OC or even their favorite ship.
But if you receive a message like this, you should be careful you don't fall into a scammers trap.
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How it starts:
it starts by receiving a message from another user requesting a commission. Again, typical common practice if you're an artist.
What they ask for at the start, is usually the first red flag.
IMPORTANT 1/15/25: These scammers are now sending Asks and commenting on peoples posts asking 'are you open to commission? Send me a DM.' So please be aware of this as well!
Here are some images of how this scam conversation starts:
Images provided by: (1)@neogandw, (2)@foggywiz4rd, (3-4)@maikaartwork
🚩Red flag's (part 1)🚩
I want you to draw my son/daughter.
I want you to draw my son/daughter's pet.
It's a blank blog with no posts/reblogs
It's a blog that's only a few days/week old.
While this request seems simple enough, this scam gets worse.
Here are some recent examples of the dog they will request:
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An offer too good to refuse:
Now you may be thinking, 'surely this can't be bad or malicious, right?' They just want you to draw a picture of their child or their child's pet! And that's definitely what the scammer wants you to think. Which is what brings us to the next set of red flags:
Left image from @neogandw, right image from @maikaartwork
🚩Red flag's (part 2)🚩
'I will pay you $200-$500+' (an amount way way beyond your normal asking price.)
'I just want the best you can do.' (They don't know how to answer questions related to details such as pose, background, style, objects you want included, etc.)
'It's for their birthday/holiday' - ' I want it done as soon as possible.' (They will push that you do this with a sense of urgency so you don't ask questions.)
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The Catch:
Now, if you haven't reported and blocked them by now, and you agree to take this persons commission, this is where the catch to this scam comes into play.
If you tell the scammer to send you an invoice, they will refuse.
If you tell them to use your preferred method, they will refuse.
Those methods just 'wont/don't work', you see.
What they really want, is your PayPal email and your name.
From here they will say that they sent you payment, and that you should check your email. Or that 'they got an email and something went wrong' and that you should check your email.
And here is where the scam comes to ahead.
They will send you a fake email meant to look like it came from PayPal that looks like the ones shown below:
Second image provided by @badlibbing
Second set of images provided by @petxka, thank you!
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What this email means / How this scam works:
In the case of screenshot one (provided by @neogandw) the 'MONALISA' is the person who was trying to commission them.
The payment hasn't 'went through', and the e-mail (from 'fake PayPal') is saying that they, the artist, needs to send $200 to 'MONALISA' to 'expand the limit' of their account to get the $500 that is owed to them.
Read the e-mail and think about what you're being asked to do:
'You are to send (name) money to expand your account.' You are to send someone money, to get money.
If your account is limited, why would you need to send another PayPal user money to 'unlock' your account or 'expand it', and not just contact PayPal itself to try and resolve that issue...?
This is not how PayPal works, in any sense.
This is just a way for them to scam you.
There are also a handful of red flags in this email alone.
🚩Red flag's (part 3)🚩
The sender address is not from an official paypal.com address, but instead a gmail.com address. This means that this came from a person, not a company.
The formatting. Let's be frank, no official email from PayPal will ever look like this.
The spelling/grammar issues are everywhere.
Weird url's at the bottom of the email. (I removed them for safety reasons)
Additionally: You may also find or see links in this emails instructing you to 'go here' to unlock your account. These are phishing (wikipedia) links that they will use to steal your PayPal login information. Never click links in emails asking you to 'fix an issue' with your account unless you can verify who the sender is.
If you send these people your money, you will get blocked and never see them again. That's just how this scam goes...
If you'd like another variation of this scam which talks about money wiring, you can check out @maikaartwork's version by clicking here!
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Final thoughts:
If you fall for a scam like this, thankfully there still might be hope.
Contact PayPal and explain what happened in detail. Show them every shred of evidence that you have showing that you were scammed including the name of who scammed you, and the email that sent you the scam, and who you wound up sending the money to.
If you use the messaging system that uses the AI chat bot, ask it repeatedly to 'speak to a real person' until you get sent to a live agent. (this is stupidly frustrating but sadly it's what you have to do.)
And remember, take screenshots and report these users to the websites they are running these scams on. If they DM you on tumblr? Report the DM. If they do it on insta, bsky, twitter or even discord?
Make sure you report them there too.
ALSO: Beware of recovery scammers. This is anyone coming into your DM's telling you they can 'help you get your money back' after you made a post talking about how you got scammed. These scammers are just looking for a quick buck.
Here's a post about ethical hackers (aka recovery scammers)
Other helpful guides on spotting scams. (by @kyra45)
reblogging because I got my first (or second? But I sent them art for free unexpectedly so couldn't tell you if the other guy was a scam) scammer.
They requested their sister for their birthday
Here's a picture of them to spread awareness.