How To Recognize An Art Scam

Art scams are becoming more and more sophisticated past the day and information technology is very important for you, as an creative person, to protect your art besides equally your hard earned money.

art scam

Have y'all recently received an email from someone who says that their wife saw your artwork online and barbarous in beloved with it instantly? Or someone who would like to purchase your artwork immediately? Or maybe an artist's amanuensis wants to show your work at a prestigious art fair? Feels great, right? Of course, just how practise you lot tell if information technology's real or an art scam?

The trouble with fine art scams that begin like this is that they are based on something you would like to believe. By the time you've exchanged a few emails, you lot feel as if you know the 'person' you lot're communicating with – they will often include personal details about themselves or their families – and naturally, you are inclined to respond positively to someone who is praising your work.

The advice that is oftentimes given is but to remember that 'if it looks too practiced to be true, it usually is.' But while that is a good rule of thumb, it's not enough to protect you lot if you lot're an artist – considering, after all, there are times when something that seems as well good to exist true really does happen to an artist, and you lot may well have experienced this yourself.

Perhaps a collector y'all have never had contact with before happened to nourish the opening reception of an exhibition of your fine art, and instantly decided that he had establish what he was looking for and bought iv pieces. Or y'all were giving a sit-in of live painting at an fine art sale and one of the people yous got chatting to during the procedure turned into a collector of your work and an abet for your creations. These things do happen – and you lot certainly don't want to repulse a 18-carat expression of interest. So, what can you do?

art scams

Why Do Scammers Target Artists at All?

Well, why non? Artists are good targets – they are familiar with the demand to ship their piece of work, sometimes to collectors who might be anywhere in the world. They're invested in their creations, and then they're susceptible to the charm of the idea that a stranger fell in dearest with their work on sight.

And scammers may believe that artists are less likely to be aware of the dangers presented by the sorts of art scams they depend on. Yous desire to make sure that you don't fall into that category. Exist aware of the possibility, be skeptical – be conscientious.

Types of Art Scams

Although the most common intention behind an art scam is coin, there are other components, like your personal information and artwork images, that a scammer tin can take advantage of. Hither is a list of the types of scams that have come to our attention.

Pay Shipping Payment Upfront

Sometimes, fine art scammers that testify a keen involvement in your works may ask you to transfer them the shipping cost first before they can transact the full amount to yous. They may even ask yous to ship the artwork before making whatsoever payment. Never give in to such requests. If the person is genuinely interested in purchasing your work, he or she will well-nigh probable know how to go about it and will never make such an unreasonable request.

If y'all all the same think that the person might exist 18-carat, consider asking for a partial payment at to the lowest degree before aircraft your artwork. However, if the person asks you lot to pay the shipping price upfront, do not that it could not be anything other than a scam to extort money from you.

Overpayment by the Scammer

A very mutual example is when the 'client' overpays and asks y'all to send the extra amount to their shipping company, using the details they have sent you. You ship the money on – from your own banking company account – and only observe a week or ii subsequently that the cashier's cheque you had received from the 'customer' is not genuine.

How can this happen? Won't the bank protect you from this art scam? Probably not. About banks are willing to go along with checks provided that the customer has a rest in their account that is able to cover the cheque. If the check bounces, they just reverse the transaction – leaving the client responsible for any negative balance. It can take upward to three weeks to articulate a cashier's check, which the scammer is betting will exist long enough for them to persuade you to send them the 'aircraft' coin they 'overpaid'.

Be aware to never have overpayments. Request the person to carry out the transaction themselves or look for the payment to be cleared.

Phishing Scams / Art Fair Participation and Promotion Scam

Equally an artist, yous are always looking for a new, sometimes original identify to evidence your piece of work. This is why you should always search for options and keep an middle on opportunities. When an invitation to participate in an art fair or in a group exhibition knocks on your door, you should always make sure it is legit and makes sense. Participation in any of the major art fairs usually costs thousands of dollars and requires an awarding procedure. If you are approached by someone who is offering this to you for very low fees and immediately tells you that yous have been accepted, it should raise a ruddy flag!

Earlier accepting an offer, brand sure to do a thorough research near the organisation. Your checklist should at least include the post-obit basic information:

  • Condone any email that comes from private email accounts such equally Yahoo or Gmail. Professional companies must have their ain domain names.
  • Bank check the domain registration by doing a WHOIS Search – if the owner of the domain is subconscious and there is no clear contact information that is a clear sign of alert
  • Inquiry the web and social media for reviews from other users
  • Make sure the company has a physical address and a contact person
  • Search for the contact person'southward name and see what you tin can notice about that person

art scams

How to Recognize An Art Scam?

Scamming emails in the past would often be vague or become important details wrong, thereby making them easily recognizable. The thought was to be able to ship the aforementioned e-mail to thousands of artists – so a lensman might be approached about a painting or a sculptor baffled past references to their canvases. But the emails have become more sophisticated over time, and at present information technology is common for the scammer to chop-chop fill up in the 'gaps' in his email with accurate information about your website or your artworks. However, don't permit these details fool y'all – it takes very picayune time to fill out these details, and it does not mean the email or the person is genuine. If your instincts are screaming, pay attending to them, even if the email did get your medium and the title of your artworks correct. Of form, if they're incorrect – exist very suspicious indeed!

Here are a few important clues that can indicate that an email you've received is an art scam –

The subject of the email will be something that screams for attention

Remember, the scammer tin can only be successful if the e-mail reaches you, which is why most of them would include words similar 'Important' or 'ATTN' to catch your attending. A genuine person, nevertheless, would not have that goal in listen while sending yous an inquiry.

The email is in your spam folder

This is peradventure the most obvious red flag. If the email ended up in your spam folder, at that place is definitely a reason for it.

The person will have a fictitious name or the email address and name will not be consistent

From the examples shared with usa below in the comments, this seems to be a common element in scamming emails. Art scammers sometimes employ made upwards names like John Cena or Terry Flowers and information technology can exist a very like shooting fish in a barrel clue to resolve any suspicions yous might have. In addition to that, sometimes, in that location are discrepancies in the writer'south name and email address. Always, check the author'due south name and electronic mail address outset!

The person volition often sound similar they are in a hurry or insist on an immediate buy

This is partly to fluster you and give you less time to think, only mainly because if they know the check they're sending you is going to bounciness, or the credit bill of fare is stolen, they demand the transaction completed before the depository financial institution catches on and you lot discover out.

At that place will frequently be some circuitous story near why y'all need to send money over again

Sometimes involving the individual or their family moving to some other country correct at the fourth dimension they desire to purchase the artwork, necessitating the sum you're going to be sending to cover the shipping. Yes, this does happen sometimes to honest people in real life, merely it'due south not that common.

In that location are too many grammatical errors

If the person mentions being from the United States just their English is extremely poor, it is definitely a ruby-red flag. However, practice note hither to not dismiss everything because it has a few grammatical errors. The person might actually be genuine, and English might not be their native natural language.

They desire to arrange the shipping themselves

Nigh genuine clients are only too grateful to have you have the brunt of shipping from them if shipping is necessary. And if they do want to take care of it themselves, real collectors will most likely use a major company they've had positive experiences inside the past – a visitor whose name you will know.

art scams

Of course, none of these things are sure-fire ways to tell that you're being approached past someone who is trying to steal your money or art. Merely if yous come across them in an email, you should commencement to become suspicious, and more wary of the communication. If the conversation develops in a way that matches the sort of pattern we've been talking about, then you tin feel confident that at that place's something wrong.

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How To Avoid Art Scams?

Well, you can look out for the clues mentioned to a higher place, which will alert you to the possibility that something might exist wrong and be careful rather than gullible in your approach. Be witting that scamming is a possibility, and aware that information technology might attack you. If you first to worry near a detail case, don't let your prejudice in favor of people who claim to admire your work make it the way of your caution.

You can also exist firm about post-obit your usual method of payment; explain politely that you're not willing to take payment through cashier'south checks or postal money orders, which are more open to this sort of art scam. Ofttimes the nature of the art scam volition center on the method of payment suggested past the scammer – if you stick to your normal method, something you lot know to be condom, they may exist forced to surrender.

As well, make sure to never accept overpayments. This is non a common way of doing business, and you probably haven't come across it before in genuine transactions. You're selling, they're buying – no money should be leaving your account. Make it your policy non to work this way.

If y'all're suspicious for any reason, try googling the email accost of the contact you're corresponding with. Because scammers send and then many fine art scam emails, their address gets to be known as ane associated with the fine art scam they're running. Information technology might well exist that the person contacting you is already on a 'blacklist' which you can find online. In situations like this, being represented by a gallery can also prove to exist beneficial.

For one thing, you tin rely on the gallery staff, who will probably have had more experience with art scam attempts than yous take had, to make sure that everything is as information technology should be and protect yous as necessary.

Useful Article: 8 Benefits Of Gallery Representation

Another important thing to make notation of is to never ship your work before the payment has been cleared. This seems so simple that you read it and wonder how anyone ever gets caught acting differently – but when you're in the middle of a series of emails going back and forth, and you lot've built upwardly a picture of your correspondent's life in your head, and yous're pleased that they appreciate your art. It tin can be hard to remember.

Make it a rule of how you do business, and if you're e'er asked to make an exception, call back very seriously about whether it seems like a good gamble to exist taking (if y'all know the buyer personally, for case, information technology might exist a reasonable decision).

Art scams are condign more and more sophisticated by the twenty-four hour period and it is very important for you as an creative person to protect your art too every bit your hard-earned money. Following the advice in this article volition help you to avoid art scams when selling your art. But what you really need to practise is take the messages hither to heart. Remember when you are selling your art on the cyberspace, yous need to know and trust your potential clients.

As a promotional gallery, nosotros accept pride in the diverse grouping of artists from across the globe represented by us. Desire to give your fine art more time, and exit the marketing and promotional hassles to someone else? Visit our Gallery Representation And Artist Promotion page for more information.

Take you received an email from a potential buyer that looks like an fine art scam? Recently, a group of artists has informed our Agora Gallery staff that a so-called Catherine Nipps who pretends to be a gallery representative, is offering representation with our Gallery. Agora Gallery's representation process is transparent and information technology starts with our dedicated page. Our representatives are presented on the website. If y'all are contacted by someone offering representation on behalf of the gallery, please attain out to u.s.a. at info@agora-gallery.com

In the comments beneath, share your stories with our community, offer your advice, and keep information technology a safe place from scammers.