Social Media Scams

🚨 Scam Alert 🚨

I’ve noticed recently a huge rise in the number of messages sliding into my DMs that at first look like genuine buyers looking for new artwork, but soon takes a turn into the ‘it seems too good to be true’ arena, and I want to share them with you so you don’t get caught out and end up at a loss.

Scams are so sophisticated these days and prey on artists or business owners who are hoping to make sales through their social media (scumbags) 😡

#1 - NFT scam

NFT’s can be a genuine avenue of income for some artists, especially those in a digital medium, but there are people out there who offer to purchase your work (usually way above the asking price of the original piece) as an NFT. Now this isn’t a problem if you’re using a reputable minting platform, but they link you to a website which isn’t legit and you pay a gas fee (common practice for NFTs) but instead of minting your work you just plug real life money into a scam website. Then on top of that they claim that to receive the money they have ‘paid’ for your artwork, you need to pay even more money.

If someone is genuinely asking for an NFT, go through an established marketplace of YOUR CHOICE and tell them to make an offer. You can mint for free using Polygon, and if the offer is too good to be true, ask to see their current collection or other artists they are purchasing from. Always do your research before putting your hard earned cash into the digital sphere!

#2 - PayPal Scam

This one is a little harder to spot. The buyer will message asking about artworks or commissions. You’ll get a story behind the purchase, usually a wedding anniversary gift or pet portrait and it will seem like a pretty standard conversation, until they ask if they can pay via PayPal. PayPal itself isn’t an issue, but if they send the money via your email address they can do a chargeback, which means once you’ve posted your hard work off, they will reverse the payment. As the money was a ‘gift’, you’re not covered! They will sometimes offer a large budget for the artwork or product to entice you to risk it, but don’t be fooled.

To avoid this, use the invoicing feature on PayPal or link through your website. If it’s a genuine buyer this won’t be an issue! This gives you seller protection and if they try and chargeback the payment, they will just ask for evidence that you provided a service or product (keep evidence anyway when sending any work) and you won’t be out of pocket.

Long story short, have a procedure for providing artwork that protects you, the small business, first. Any collector who wants to support you will understand the process and won’t want you to be at risk!

Tell me, have you noticed these scammers becoming more and more sneaky? 👇🏼