While the staff here try their best to be vigilant when it comes to scams, the best tool you have at preventing them is yourself. There are a lot of signs that can tip you off that a user is trying to scam you, and some are more obvious than others. This guide was created so that you can keep yourself safe before the scam happens.
While these are typical red flags of a possible scam, remember to look for multiples. Most thieves do most, if not all of these at once. If they're only ticking one thing off the list, it's probably nothing to worry about. Please remember to report anything you feel is suspicious. Do not take it upon yourself to confront a user under any circumstances.
Important Signs to Look Out For
1) Extremely High Quality Artwork With No/Low Quality Watermark
Artists should watermark their artwork, especially pieces they intend to sell. If you see a high quality piece with no watermark, it's a sure bet that they took it from another website and cropped it out, or took it from a resources site that's not intended to be distributed/sold. If it does show a watermark and the watermark is low quality (weird fonts, poorly placed, etc.), it's another sign that they probably took it from somewhere else and are trying to make it seem legit.
2) High Quality for a Low Price
If a piece looks like it's worth $100, but the user is only asking for $15, something's off. Most established artists with high quality work will refuse to undersell themselves. While this isn't listed at #1, this is one of the first things that are noticed when dealing with a scam situation.
3) Inconsistencies in Artwork Style
If a user posts a few pieces of work as examples and the style varies greatly between each, that's an incredibly obvious sign that the user is trying to sell artwork they might have traced, copied, or stolen elsewhere. This is especially so when dealing with artwork claimed to have been "from scratch". There's a common misconception that even if you trace/paint over an image, it's "from scratch" because technically you did the work yourself, however, that is a misuse of the term. Tracing is tracing, regardless of how much effort you put into it.
Note: If you'd like more information regarding tracing vs. from scratch, please view the following article: Click Here
4) Only Offering Premades
This is another major sign of a scammer when combined with some of the others. Users can't replicate the pieces they take, so they stick to selling stolen items as premades to try and make as much money as possible in the quickest way. One of the biggest areas hit hard for theft scams is the premade market itself. It's important that you pay attention and protect yourself when seeking art from the market.
5) Business Handled Exclusively via PMs
This is pretty much self-explanatory. They insist on handling business via PMs only, such as giving examples of their art, discussing details, and providing finished pieces. This allows the user to trace or steal other pieces to meet your needs out of the public eye to avoid getting caught.
Smaller Signs to Look Out For
Even though these are less significant, they're still things you should be aware of, as a combination of them can also mean a possible scam can occur between a transaction with the user. This does not mean that someone with a default photo is a scam artist. Like stated above, an actual scammer will have a mix of these, if not all at once.
1) Incorrectly Sized Avatar Image
While this isn't always true, such as with new members who haven't figured out the profile settings, a significant amount of users you see posting artwork for sale using a default photo (or a photo that isn't 160x220) are likely here for malicious purposes.
2) No Social Media Presence
Even though not having a social media presence isn't necessarily a bad thing, someone selling high quality art will usually have a presence somewhere, as networking is part of being a successful artist. It is extremely rare that an established artist would have absolutely no social media handles.
3) Low Post Count
Like stated previously, this isn't always true, but when combined with other aspects listed here, it's a good indication that the user is likely here for malicious purposes. This is easy to spot in the premade section. If you see a user with very little posts trying to sell premades, especially in the premade market, check to see if they match any of the other signs listed here. If they do, you should probably report it and avoid purchasing anything from them.
Let me reiterate this one last time. Please remember to report anything you feel is suspicious. Do not take it upon yourself to confront a user under any circumstances. Staff have a responsibility to provide a safe and reliable platform for artists and buyers, so please let us handle these users as you come across them.