FA doesn't allow call-out posts so tho i have substantial evidence on one particular user here, i cannot mention them by name. however, that doesn't mean i can't make a post about the scam they are pulling, that many others are likely also using or will be using, so you can look out for it.

first, a little background. there is a massive difference in the value of american currency, the dollar, and russian currency, the rubel. this means that many russian artists will charge what to us americans, is a super cheap price, for art that is worth far more to us. that's not the scam, that's just how things go with an insane exchange rate. (1 USD is roughly 74 RUB- i've also learned that it's pretty high for AUD as well, 1 AUD to about 57 RUB, so watch out for that)

the scam is that there are people here, posing as artists and offering commissions, who charge you the american price (say, 100$ for a nice full-rendered fullbody), then throw your order description into google translate, and commission a russian artist off-site for your picture but at the much cheaper russian price (say, 20$), and then give you the other artist's work, claiming they made it, while pocketing the 80$ difference.

it is very important to note that at no point does this person tell you they are doing this. It is theft and scalping, not brokering. the scammer will avidly claim to have drawn the work themself, and will cut contact if you show them evidence to the contrary. the artists they are commissioning on your behalf are NOT giving permission for their work to be re-sold like this, and in fact have no idea that the scammer is profiting from it at all, or that the characters they are drawing belong to someone else.

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what to look out for;

-leaves generic 'i love your gallery' shouts on your and many many others' pages (often has an INSANE ratio of comments, like 10x as many given as received, in their stats. the one example i know of, when discussing the commission over discord and asked what they liked about the target's gallery, requested a link to it, since they didn't actually care enough to keep track of which person they were talking to and had to find something relevant to comment on)

-comes to you offering to sell, rather than posting a public price sheet/examples of their work (not publicly posting means they can charge different people different prices for the same amount of work, AND means they can commission any artist for your order without worrying that it won't match "their" style)

-either has no public gallery at all or has a very young one (all artists have to start sometime, but you should always be cautious of new accounts, ESPECIALLY if they come to YOU with an offer)

-has nothing they will not draw, and has no preference on content (since they are not the one drawing and can easily find AN artist who's willing to do what you ask for)

-doesn't link their various accounts to eachother (no way to find them on other sites than the one they contact you from) or has zero consistency in their usernames (to evade bans)

-has very inconsistent art style (art in their gallery may even still have obvious watermarks/signatures that do not match) if you suspect someone of stealing other's art, try putting multiple pieces of "theirs" into a reverse-image search site, and contacting the artists of the oldest posts.

-gets extremely defensive/rude if you question their process, style, or watermark/signature (or just suddenly drops the whole thing, or claims to be busy, after pestering you with almost no breaks)

-is pushy and impatient (since they don't want to give you time to reconsider, and have to get back to the real artist with what you say)

-insists on talking outside of furaffinity, such as discord, instead of through notes (this is not just for faster interaction, putting you under pressure so you are less likely to properly analyze the situation, but also so that the conversation cannot be used against them ON furaffinity)

-speaks really bad english(tho there are plenty of trustworthy russian artists on here and the scam could be operated by someone fluent in english, so don't rely on this trait alone. it is merely more efficient for a native russian speaker to scam other russians)

-has inconsistent pricing or tries to raise the price after you agree to one (they will be open to haggling, since even if it's a lower price they still make a considerable profit for no effort on their part)

-does not use invoices, and/or tries to convince you to pay them 'as a friend' to avoid paypal's protection fees. (when in reality it is so you cannot get a refund) DO NOT USE BOOSTY UNLESS YOU KNOW AND TRUST THE ARTIST. it is just like 'pay as friend' with paypal, in that you CANNOT dispute a transaction/ask for a refund.

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please stay safe and spread this warning around!

not only is this horrible for the customers getting scammed out of big bucks, but for the artists who are being abused and not receiving their due payment and exposure/credit.

and artists; PLEASE WRITE YOUR FULL USERNAME ON ALL OF YOUR WORK.

if you just use a cute symbol or initials, nobody can find you to contact/credit you if your work is stolen! also do not put it on an outer edge, as it can easily be cropped out. see this piece of mine for multiple examples of how to place your signature in a way that is both legible and hard to crop out, without being obtrusive.