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Found out I got Scammed for 165 Dollars
a year ago
General
-- DEVIANTART -- WEASYL -- SOFURRY -- TWITTER -- BLUESKY --Never thought I would have this happen to me, but apparently even with my due diligence, it still happened.
The gist of it is, first time bidding on an artists YCH. I got contacted via Telegram from an account with said artists Username, didn't think much of it, cause it doesn't show the handle just the name unless you click in for more details. Artist had listed an alternative payment to PP, but the scammer said they were able to set one up. Again, nothing of a red flag considering the state of the world and the languages the artist speaks. So there was no red flag when it could only be sent via Friends and Family, I had to do this with artists who I have previously worked with, so I already had their contact. Because I also have friends in other parts of the world who can only send as Friends and Family because of restrictions for their country. I also forgot I took out my Telegram handle listing here on FA, so when I was suddenly contacted, it didn't raise any concerns.
So now I am likely up shit creek without a paddle. Oh well, at least it was only a relatively small amount. But it seems like a group of people is going around posing as Eastern EU block artists to take advantage of inconsistent payment methods to either scam people by offering services or simply by acting as if they are contacting you when you are a first time buyer of them.
Consumer Recommendations:
1. check the detailed info of someone contacting you via Telegram because it is so easy to just erase information. There is a means to recover deleted conversations from Discord, or their used to be. But Telegram it is too easy to just in and out without much issue.
2. Maybe use two methods of communication to start before settling into one, so that you can verify who you are talking to. Like, using FA notes and being like, did you contact me via insert method of contact. Which is why I am huge believer in people trying to keep FA notes open, cause then you just click the username and verify the user page.
3. The only possible red flag in hindsight would have been not sticking to the outlined payment method on the auction post. I guess be strict and stick to it even if the artist insists otherwise. Or at the very least, try it first and then move on to a secondary payment method if it absolutely needed.
Outside of this, I am not really sure what else there is I could have done. I am a very wary person, but in this case, there was no outline for how I would have been contact if I had won. I had not previously worked with this artist, so I had not knowledge of how they manage their end of it. If anyone has further recommendations for the consumer, please share additional steps to hopefully prevent this in the future.
Artist/Seller Recommendations
1. Have CLEAR instructions for how the winner of an auction or potential client will be contacted and by what method they will be contacted initially and then if a secondary means of communication is needed, discuss how that account will appear to each other. E.g. that the winner or client will be responded to via comment and then FA notes, or that an email will be sent to the client with a set of identifying information to confirm.
2. Have two methods of contact, again, use FA notes to confirm that another account is the same person, or etc.
3. If you can only accept 1 specific payment method, stick to it. Don't suddenly change it on your client unless you absolutely must.
4. I know some people like to do 48 hours after last bid type auctions. But I think this should have been the other red flag for my case, is that I didn't notice it had not been 48 hours since my bid. So maybe use a set time and date with time zone style end point. (e.g. November 18th @ 9PM Mountain Time)
I think the biggest reason I didn't catch it was in part, first time doing business with this artist and lack of how communication would occur when completing the transaction. In this day in age, it seems like it would be better to be overly specific with more details than to have very few details. And now I know why some artists have very long TOS agreements.
The gist of it is, first time bidding on an artists YCH. I got contacted via Telegram from an account with said artists Username, didn't think much of it, cause it doesn't show the handle just the name unless you click in for more details. Artist had listed an alternative payment to PP, but the scammer said they were able to set one up. Again, nothing of a red flag considering the state of the world and the languages the artist speaks. So there was no red flag when it could only be sent via Friends and Family, I had to do this with artists who I have previously worked with, so I already had their contact. Because I also have friends in other parts of the world who can only send as Friends and Family because of restrictions for their country. I also forgot I took out my Telegram handle listing here on FA, so when I was suddenly contacted, it didn't raise any concerns.
So now I am likely up shit creek without a paddle. Oh well, at least it was only a relatively small amount. But it seems like a group of people is going around posing as Eastern EU block artists to take advantage of inconsistent payment methods to either scam people by offering services or simply by acting as if they are contacting you when you are a first time buyer of them.
Consumer Recommendations:
1. check the detailed info of someone contacting you via Telegram because it is so easy to just erase information. There is a means to recover deleted conversations from Discord, or their used to be. But Telegram it is too easy to just in and out without much issue.
2. Maybe use two methods of communication to start before settling into one, so that you can verify who you are talking to. Like, using FA notes and being like, did you contact me via insert method of contact. Which is why I am huge believer in people trying to keep FA notes open, cause then you just click the username and verify the user page.
3. The only possible red flag in hindsight would have been not sticking to the outlined payment method on the auction post. I guess be strict and stick to it even if the artist insists otherwise. Or at the very least, try it first and then move on to a secondary payment method if it absolutely needed.
Outside of this, I am not really sure what else there is I could have done. I am a very wary person, but in this case, there was no outline for how I would have been contact if I had won. I had not previously worked with this artist, so I had not knowledge of how they manage their end of it. If anyone has further recommendations for the consumer, please share additional steps to hopefully prevent this in the future.
Artist/Seller Recommendations
1. Have CLEAR instructions for how the winner of an auction or potential client will be contacted and by what method they will be contacted initially and then if a secondary means of communication is needed, discuss how that account will appear to each other. E.g. that the winner or client will be responded to via comment and then FA notes, or that an email will be sent to the client with a set of identifying information to confirm.
2. Have two methods of contact, again, use FA notes to confirm that another account is the same person, or etc.
3. If you can only accept 1 specific payment method, stick to it. Don't suddenly change it on your client unless you absolutely must.
4. I know some people like to do 48 hours after last bid type auctions. But I think this should have been the other red flag for my case, is that I didn't notice it had not been 48 hours since my bid. So maybe use a set time and date with time zone style end point. (e.g. November 18th @ 9PM Mountain Time)
I think the biggest reason I didn't catch it was in part, first time doing business with this artist and lack of how communication would occur when completing the transaction. In this day in age, it seems like it would be better to be overly specific with more details than to have very few details. And now I know why some artists have very long TOS agreements.
But yeah, for all the artists who have a laundry list of 'terms' for their YCH, I have an even greater appreciation for the strict procedures they set out going into it.
It's occurring with a lot of artists right now, though. scammers will contact people saying "hey you won a YCH because x backed out" on all kinds of platforms, usually with some level of impersonation going on. If you look at their previous icons often they will have other artists in there as well.
Like, I know a friend in Singapore can only send as Friends and Family, they might still be able to get invoices, but they can't use the direct pay links and etc. I know other artists whose country is locked into receiving only via Friends and Family.
This case was a matter just not enough information upfront and then just not enough weirdness to trigger any sort of issues.