Post 153: Spammed as an Artist

Spammed as an Artist

To have an email account and be on the internet has been an extraordinarily speedy way to do so many things from communicating with family, friends, colleagues, to potential clients. Even as an artist, all those people are just an instant away, and it is so very darn convenient (along with text messages!). The issue is that along with the good things, comes the bad things.

Along Comes a Can of Spam

Spam, phishing, cyber security threats are all on the rise. Fact. It's in the news. It's in my inbox. I'm sure it's been in yours as well. And there has been a LOT more of it. Phishing and spam in all its forms, and potential criminal creep is something everyone including any artist online, needs to be on the alert from.

  

Photo by Hannes Johnson on Unsplash

Phishing 

"Phishing is a type of social engineering where an attacker sends a fraudulent (e.g., spoofed, fake, or otherwise deceptive) message designed to trick a person into revealing sensitive information to the attacker or to deploy malicious software on the victim's infrastructure like ransomware." - Wikipedia

Spam 

"irrelevant or inappropriate messages sent on the internet to a large number of recipients. (It is also a canned meat product made mainly from ham" - Oxford Dictionary

Read more about Cybersecurity and Phishing here. 

Is It Real?

This is an email I recently received. The alarm bells instantly went off because of several things in this email and I wonder if you can spot them? You WANT it to be real so you can make a sale but the little voice in your head is saying, "Uh oh, this sounds weird." (The names have been changed to protect the 'maybe' not so innocent.)

Hello There,

How are you doing? My name is Carol XXXXXX  from XXXXX TX. 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 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 works, with their respective prices and sizes(bearing in mind that my budget is within $500-$5000)which are ready for immediate sale.

I look forward to reading from you.

Best Regards,
Carol.

How to Spot Spam Scams and Shams

Typically, spotting a scam can be a bit obvious - because of YOUR instincts. If you have an initial suspicion about the email, trust your instincts. Proceed with caution!

• My name isn't "There" - the email is very generic
  
• Although it can happen (and nothing against those that are), the email is worded as my wife, yet refers to 'himself' with a female name as well.
  
• If the person is so taken with my artwork, why should I send him or her more pictures?
• They flamboyantly stroke the artist ego by trying very hard to butter me up.
• That is an awful large range of budget, wouldn't you say?
  
• Also be aware that often the phishing/spam email can be cluttered with misspells or miss-wordings, although the above was better than many I have seen, albeit rather wordy. Actually, WAY too much information. 
  

What to Do?

Yes, what to do is the question. You don't want to ignore a potential sale but you don't want to get taken in by ill intentions.

Remember - if it feels 'too good to be true' it probably is.

Never click a link in a mail unless you can completely verify that is from a known/trusted source. Hover over the link with you cursor to see on the lower left side of your screen, where that link address goes. 

Does the link URL begin with "https"? AND do you see the small closed lock next to the web address bar? Those are good security signs. A site's certificate is worth examining too.  

Regularly change your passwords - and consider passcodes instead. A passcode is several words or phrases with characters smooshed together. For example:

I@m@nArtistwith1000goals

Do NOT give out any personal information. As an artist, we probably do have an email address, possibly a phone number or more already out on the internet so that we can be contacted by legitimate potential clients. But be very careful when dealing with something "out of the blue".

Do NOT send out images without a watermark. In the above email, I was wondering what the person planned on doing with my images. Perhaps printing them out and selling them as his own?

•     Consider placing watermarks on your website gallery images, blog posts, etc.
•     If you are submitting artwork to a Call for Art, that would be the exception, but DO exam for legitimacy, especially if new.
  

You should NEVER incur paying for anything upfront. The potential client should be paying YOU a deposit of at least 1/3 to 1/2 UPFRONT for a commission which is stated on your contract and is non-refundable. Do not even buy or start a canvas until a payment has cleared. Don't even do any sketches - why waste your time until you get paid for the work?

Also, full payment should be received and cleared the bank, Paypal, Square, whatever your payment method is BEFORE shipping, pickup or delivery of artwork.

Often, it is obvious that you have a scam email. You should be able to "Report it as Phishing" in your inbox and it goes away from your email list. Sometimes you are best left to leave it at that and NOT respond at all. Blocking spam is a daily thing these days.

Side note: In Outlook, I have a preview pane open so that I can see what's in the email without clicking anything extra. That helps as well.

Now, What Did I Do?

Hello! I thank you for your interest. Might I ask what types of art you are interested in so that I can answer you better? And how did you find my art too?

This was my response to the email as they already had my email address. Was it the best response? I don't know, but it was an attempt to weed out the nonsense.

Have I heard back from "Carol"? It took several days but yes, I did. 

Dear Donna,

I appreciate your quick response. I may not be specific as to what kind of work but i saw that my wife was checking your work on my PC and i can tell you must be of Interest to her and that is why i decided to message, I'm an ocean engineer and i'll soon be on offshore to a training voyage, am contacting you as regards of getting my wife a surprise gift for our up coming anniversary.

It could be any color, but medium size or large.. However, I would greatly appreciate if you could possibly recommend a few completed piece within my budget $500- $5000 ready for immediate sale that is best suitable for a weeding anniversary gift, cause i will like to make this event different as we are marking 10th years marriage... Just need something within that price range for a surprise to my wife. I would appreciate if you can figure out a piece of work that would serve that purpose. Kindly email images and prices of any available works in that range. I hope to hearing from you soon, many thanks.

Again, an awful lot of information. And My Response to this:

Hello,

You are welcome to view my Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/DonnaLiguriaArt

And "Carol's" Response a short time later, and the Red Flags were waving full on at this point:

Hello Donna,

Thanks for the response. Having carefully looked through the pictures of your works and their prices. I had chosen three pieces which have attach below. 

Am presently working on my relocation to Quebec, thus, am doing all i could to make this event quite a memorable one.

In regards to payment, my reason for choosing check as a means of payment is owing to the fact that my wife handles the family bank cards and paypal transactions. So am choosing check to keep this a complete surprise as intended. Consequently, I would authorize a check to you for the payment of the chosen piece of work as soon as i have your full name and contact address (preferably for FedEx delivery no P.O box). As soon as you receive the check and it clears your bank, I will have my personal shipping agent (who is also moving my other properties) contact you to arrange shipping/pick up of the piece from you. This is to avoid my wife receiving it if been directly shipped to my address which would ruin the surprise for the wedding anniversary.

I will be looking forward to receiving your phone number, full name and physical address the check should be issued to, in your mail.

Best Regards,

Carol. 

Talk about the 'way too much detail', this is overloaded. And I this is the final Response (I think) that I gave "Carol" after that email. It's been a few weeks since this was sent:

Hello Carol.,

I appreciate your interest in my work. If you would please, I suggest to cash a check, go buy a Visa gift card, and buy it straight from Etsy. Figure an address for it to be shipped to and from that perspective we can move forward.

• Have you had a similar experience? 
• What do you think of how this was handled? 
• Have YOU been approached by a "Carol."?
• Do you have anything to add to this that would be helpful to other artists?  

By the way, if I hear from Carol., I'll update this post.

---

Local Art: Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5
Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

---

Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com & her Blog at https://donnascavepainting.blogspot.com/.