Scammer Alert!

A scamming trend seems to have grown prolifically in the art world in recent years, likely due to the increasing number of artists sharing
their work on social media platforms.

I’ve been approached numerous times, primarily on Instagram by
individuals who first compliment me on my art and then claim they want to make a purchase. There are essentially two kinds of approaches that I’ve noted, one being in the form of purchasing pieces or commissioning an artwork; the other concerning NFTs.

Some will take a direct approach, asking to purchase your artwork(s) and offering to pay X amount of money in USD or (in the case of NFTs) cryptocurrency, whilst others will first attempt to butter you up with compliments before making some kind of an offer.

Here are a few red-flag approaches I’ve come to observe:
■ The offer is either too random or too good to be true — they
try and wow you with $$$.
■ They will never be specific in what they enjoy about your work,
not referring to technique, style, colour palette etc.
■ For commissions, no preferences are offered (unless prompted,
and even then they appear very vague) in terms of size or medium,
framing and the like, and the language always seems far too nebulous for someone genuinely interested in your art.
■ They NEVER refer to you by name (always the first red flag of
disrespect for me) and all responses, if you choose to engage with them, seem copy-and-paste; not following any particular flow of conversation.

NFT scammers will attempt to get you to sign up on a particular NFT platform (of their choosing, and, I can only assume, set up for the purposes of scamming) where gas fees are paid in order for you to join the platform, whereupon they vanish, along with your gas-fee monies. The regular scammers (assuming they’ve got you hooked) will send you a “proof of payment” that exceeds the amount agreed upon, then asking you to reimburse them the difference (for what wasn’t paid to you in the first place).

The first port of call, with any request, should be to check out their
social media profile(s). One can normally ascertain their validity this
way, and I always avoid profiles mentioning NFTs, cryptocurrency, or investments. Also ensure that your contact details are not displayed (even for friends) on social media — if they want your details, they can message you with a request and reasons why. Never give out your personal contact information in comments on posts.

Attached is a standard response I send to the potential scammer once they’ve made an offer on a commission of some sort, which definitively separates them from a genuine request:

Thank you for your interest in my work! In order for me to provide you with an accurate quotation, I would require the following information from you:
■ The subject matter and, if relevant, predominant colours. If
it’s a particular scene you’d like depicting, or a portrait perhaps,
then I’ll need quality reference imagery. _
■ Your choice of medium and materials. _
■ The size you’d like your artwork to be._
■ A physical address where the artwork will be sent once completed, to calculate courier fees applicable._
Once you have signed off on the quotation, I will require a 50% deposit (via PayPal) into my bank account with confirmation, before I begin with your commission. The balance of payment will be required on completion (again with confirmation) prior to the artwork being sent to you.
These payment criteria are standard practice worldwide, made necessary by the profusion of scammers out there.
I trust this meets with your satisfaction!

As artists who are passionate about our work, we are often gullible when it comes to the overtures of potential scammers — naturally we want to sell our artworks and some of these people are more adept in their approaches than others. Just be vigilant, folks, and if you’re uncertain, then do feel free to contact us on the WASA group. Good luck!

Guy McGowan
WASA representative in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.