It has become very common for some people to try to scam artists.
It is very easy to identify them:
1. They always have a story ("my wife was looking at your website and I want to surprise her...")
2. They want the artist to pick a work for them (they don't want to waste time choosing a painting they are not even buying)
3. They have their own payment method and shipping company. They will try to send you a fake check and they will have this complicated story as to why they can't pay you directly using paypal or a credit card. They will ask you to reimburse them excess payment for shipping and my guess is that it takes some time for your bank to find out that the check is bad and in the meantime the fake buyer pressures you to send him money.
4. They request to purchase artwork as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT). Since you probably don't have your art as NFTs. They will send you a link to a fake website that will "turn your art into NFTs." You will be asked not only your personal information but a payment for the "service." After they take your money you will never hear from the fake buyer again.
5. If you are selling your art through the popular online galleries, they will send you an email pretending to be "technical support" from the online gallery. They will tell you that your account needs to be "verified" or that you account has been "blocked" and therefore you need to click on the link in order to verify or unblock. NEVER click on the link! If you look closely, that email never came from the gallery and the link has nothing to do with the gallery's website. The link will take you to a bad website which will try to steal your information and money. When in doubt, contact the gallery directly.
6. Their messages often have spelling or grammar mistakes and a lot of times they use the word "kindly," lol, I know, this may not be a clear sign that it's a scammer but everytime I see the word "kindly" I smell something fishy.
I usually ignore this type of people or sometimes I reply with a few words just for fun. It is very sad that these people spend their time finding artists and sending tons of emails hoping that someone might fall for their tricks. Wouldn't it be more profitable to have a normal job? How many people nowadays fall for this? I hope nobody falls for this anymore.
In hopes to put an end to this I decided to start copying the emails I get to make people aware. I will keep adding more if I get more.
Request to purchase artwork as Non-Fungible Tokens
From: Benjamin Wyatt <wyattbenjamin326@gmail.com>
Hello! i find your art interesting and amazing and having checked your portfolio i can say that I'm a big fan of your work now. i have been looking for a good and genuine collaboration with an artist in any category or field of artistic work for my first art project/exhibition that's coming up soon.
i would like to know details and specifications behind your desings and also if they are available for purchase. hoping to hear from you soon
UPDATE!! On 10/19/24 I received a message from a scammer via Artfinder, one of the galleries that sells my work. Apparently this scammer created an account on Artfinder as if he was a customer (super easy to do) then started sending messages to as many artists as he could using the internal messaging system in Artfinder. He was pretending to be from the Art Finder support team and even used the Artfinder logo in his profile. He was instructing artists to follow a link to validate their account in which I assume he would ask for money. I obviously didn't click on the link. I believe he was able to scam a few artists but most people suspected this was not legit. It is very disgusting to see that they think they are being more sophisticated and sad to know that a few people fell for this new modality.
Here's a screenshot of the message that I received from that loser:
On November 4, 2024, another scammer tried again inside of Art Finder!!! I decided to copy paste the text so that if someones does a search they can find my blog. I am also posting an image. BEWARE!!!! It is not from Art Finder. They are pretending to be technical support but they are NOT and there is nothing wrong with your account!!! DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK THAT THEY SEND!!!!!! THEY JUST WANT TO STEAL YOUR INFORMATION!!! ARTFINDER WILL NEVER ASK YOU TO GO TO ANOTHER WEBSITE!!
"Subject: A message from ArtFinder Technical Support.
Dear Marlene Llanes, Hello!
We have temporarily blocked your store due to the inability to verify your personal information. Please confirm your personal information to avoid account blocking and unlock your account within 24 hours. Otherwise, we will be forced to suspend the activity of your account. Sorry, please follow the instructions below. We apologize for the inconvenience. The verification process will take only 10 minutes. (if your browser do not support secure links and it is not supported, please copy and paste it into your browser and remove extra spaces).
⇨Link: artfinder. click-select689. com/receive/order/IRw7Bt"
From: albertcarlos9611@gmail.com
Greetings! Your page's concept truly resonates with me, and I'd love to support it by purchasing some of your artworks. Looking forward to your response. Thank you!
If you google "albertcarlos9611@gmail.com" you will find this weird website that seems to be a place for scammers:
From: Trent Harrison, trenthaqrrison6777@gmail.com
My name is Trent Harrison from California. I have been on the lookout for some artworks lately in regards to I and my wife's anniversary, which is just around the corner.
I stormed on to some of your works which I found quite impressive and intriguing. I must admit you're doing quite an impressive job. You are undoubtedly good at what you do.
With that being said, I would like to purchase a surprise gift to my wife in honor of our upcoming wedding anniversary.
It would be of help if you could send some pictures of your piece of work, with their respective prices and sizes, which are ready for immediate (or close to immediate) sales. My budget for this is within the price range of $500 to $8,000.
I look forward to reading from you in order to know more about your pieces of inventory.
Regards,
From: Eric Schultz, ericshultz674@gmail.com
Hello There,
How are you doing? My name is Eric Shultz from Devon Philadelphia , I have been on the lookout for some artworks lately in regards to I and my wife's anniversary which is just around the corner. I stormed on to some of your works which I found quite impressive and intriguing,I must admit you're doing quite an impressive job. You are undoubtedly good at what you do.
With that being said, I would like to purchase some of your works as a surprise gift to my wife in honor of our upcoming wedding anniversary. It would be of help if you could send some pictures of your piece of work, with their respective prices and sizes(bearing it in mind that my budget is within $500-$5000)which are ready for immediate sale.
I look forward to reading from you.
Best Regards,
Eric.
From: Mike Owen, mikeowen806@gmail.com
Hello, My name is Mike. I noticed my wife looked into your website and i think she might be interested in your piece of your work so i will like to buy the piece attached as a surprise for her on our first wedding anniversary, and i hope you still have it and what's your final price.
Thank you i will look forward to hear back from you
Subject: artwork urgently needed
Hello,
How are you doing? So i came across your page while searching for art
pieces online. I am interested in purchasing a piece as a SURPRISE
GIFT for my wife, she seems fond of your designs. I'd love to receive
further information if you would confirm the art pieces available for
sale on my mail - tuckerjohn004@gmail.com
Best regards.
Tucker John
From: Thomas Chris
To: arte@marlenellanes.com
Reply-to: Thomaschris021@gmail.com
Greetings,
My name is Thomas Chris from Sc, USA. my wife has been on the lookout for some artwork lately viewing your website on my laptop and i guess she really likes what you do, I'm also impressed and I like the contrast of your colors , : ) You are doing a great job. I would like to receive further information about your piece of work and what inspires you. I would greatly appreciate if you could
possibly recommend a few completed original piece, Kindly confirm the availability for immediate sales .
Thanks and best regards ,
Thomas.
My response (eventhough I knew he was a scammer):
Hi Thomas
Thank you for your comments.
Please visit my store https://artbymarlenellanes.mysupadupa.com/ and you
can purchase art directly from there.
Marlene
His response:
Dear Marlene,
Thanks for the message, I must tell you I intend to give my wife a
surprise with the immediate purchase of the piece NEW HARVEST NEW HAPPINESS (ORIGINAL, 40X30 IN) of $2800 . If you'd like to know, I’m relocating to the Philippines soon and our wedding anniversary is fast
approaching. So I'm trying to gather some good stuff to make this event a surprise. As regarding payment, I would like to inform you, that my wife handles the family
credit card and paypal Bank transaction. So i would authorize a check to you for the payment as soon as i have your full name and contact address (preferably for FedEx delivery no P.O box). Also, as soon as you receive the check and it clears your bank, my shipping
agent who is also moving my personal effect will contact you to arrange shipping/pick up of the piece from you (this is to avoid my wife receiving it, if been shipped directly to my address which would ruin the surprise for this event). You both have to sign a proof of pick up at the most.
I would have handled this much differently if I'd been at home but I am actually going offshore and won't be back for another couple of weeks, and do not have access to a lot of cash over here to expedite this transaction... trying to kill two birds with a stone. :-)
Have a Positive Day!
Thomas .
PS: In the meantime, kindly get back to me with your cell phone no. so i can try and call you later as the phones may be working better when this storm passes through.
Richard Mills
Hello, I am Richard Mills from Virginia. I was looking for some artwork online and I found your contact while surfing and I must tell you, You are doing a great job, I would really love to purchase some of your works for my wife as a surprise present regarding our forthcoming 30th anniversary, I would like to receive further information about your piece of work and what inspires you. Also, kindly email me back with some images and price list of your artworks that is ready for immediate sales within my price range ($1,000- $15,000). Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks and best regards.
