I Am OBSESSED With The Coloring And Art Style Of This One Best Artwork I've Seen All Day

rb to explode a terf ^_^ nonrefundable ^_^

OH YEAH I FORGOT TO POST MY VAMPIRE PLAGUE DOCTOR HERE I now yeet my OC Y E E T

Artists, let’s talk about Instagram commission scammers

There’s been a huge rise in commission scammers recently, mostly on Instagram. A lot of new artists don’t know what to look out for, so I figured this might help people.

How they begin

Usually the scammer will write to you asking about a commission. Something deceptively cute - mostly I encounter asks about pet portraits, with one or two photos sent. They’ll probably try to sell you a sweet little story, like “It’s for my son’s birthday”. They will insist that they love your artwork and style, even though they don’t follow you or never liked a single piece of your art.

What to look out for:

Their profiles will either be private, empty, or filled with very generic stuff, dating at most a few years back.

Their language will be very simple, rushed or downright bad. They might use weird emojis that nobody ever uses. They will probably send impatient “??” when you don’t answer immediately. They’re in a crunch - lots of people to scam, you know. 

They’ll give you absolutely no guidelines. No hints on style, contents aside from (usually) the pet and often a name written on the artwork, no theme. Anything you draw will be perfect. Full artistic freedom. In reality they don’t really care for this part.

They’ll offer you a ridiculous amount of money. Usually 100 or 300 USD. They’ll often put in a phrase like “I am willing to compensate you financially” and “I want the best you can draw”, peppered with vague praise. It will most likely sound way too good to be true. That’s because it is.

Where the scam actually happens

If you agree, they will ask you for a payment method. They’ll try to get to this part as soon as possible. 

Usually, they’ll insist on PayPal. And not just any PayPal. They’ll always insist on sending you a transfer immediately. None of that PayPal Invoice stuff (although some do have methods for that, too). They’ll really, REALLY want to get your PayPal email address and name for the transfer - that’s what they’re after. If you insist on any other method, they’ll just circle back to the transfer “for easiest method”. If you do provide them with the info, most likely you’ll soon get a scam email. It most likely be a message with a link that will ultimately lead to bleeding you dry. Never, and I mean NEVER click on any emails or links you get from them. It’s like with any other scam emails you can ever get.

A few things can happen here:

They overpay you and ask for the difference to be wired back. Usually it will go to a different account and you’ll never see that money again. 

They’ll overpay you “for shipping costs” and ask you to forward the difference to their shipping company. Just like before, you’ll never see that money again.

The actual owner of the account (yes, they most likely use stolen accounts to wire from) will realize there’s been something sketchy going on and request a refund via official channels. Your account will be charged with fees and/or you get in trouble for fraudulent transactions. 

You will transfer the money from your PayPal credit to your bank account and they will make a shitstorm when they want their money back, making your life a living hell. They will call you a scammer, a thief, make wild claims, wearing you down and forcing you into wiring money “back” - aka to their final destination account. 

Never, EVER wire money to anyone. This is not how it’s supposed to go. Use PayPal Invoice for secure exchanges where the client needs to provide you with their email, not the other way around.

You can find more info on that method HERE.

What to do when you encounter a scammer:

Ask the right questions: inquire about the style, which artwork of yours they like, as much details as you can. They won’t supply you with any good answers.

Don’t let the rush of the exchange, their praise and the promise of insanely good money to get to you. That’s how they operate, that’s how they make you lose vigilance. 

Don’t engage them. As soon as you realize it might be a scam, block them. The sense of urgency they create with their rushed exchange, and pressure they put on you will sooner or later get to you and you might do something that you’ll regret later.

Never wire money to anyone. Never give out your personal data. Never provide your email, name, address or credit card info. 

Don’t be deceived by receiving a payment, if you somehow agree to go along with it. Just because it’s there now doesn’t mean it can’t be withdrawn. 

Here is a very standard example of such an exchange. I realized it’s a scam pretty fast and went along with it, because I wanted good screenshots for you guys, so I tried going very “by the book” with it. 

Please share this post, make it reach as many artists as possible. Let young or inexperienced artists know that this is going on. So many people have no idea that this is a thing. Let’s help each other out. If you think I missed any relevant info, do add it as an rb!

Also, if you know other scam methods that you think should be shared, consider rb-ing this post with them below. Having a master post of scam protection would AWESOME to have in the art community.

I'M HOSTING AN ART RAFFLE ON TOYHOUSE!

Do you like free art of your OC?

Do you like supporting an aspiring actor so they can pay for their trade school class by you interacting with a post and making it more visible to other people so THEY can help this aspiring actor (who by the way is also queer & trans living in a location where it's becoming illegal [yeehaw])?

But more importantly...

Do you like free art of your OC?

Well, if you do, then check out my art raffle! There's going to be three (3) winners; each winner gets a different type of art prize, so it's a gamble! FOR FREE! The raffle is open to ANY OC type (feral, anthro, humanoid, mecha, etc.), just as long as it's SFW!

Link to my ToyHouse is here!

Link to the raffle is here!

Hello! I'm new to Mystic Messenger, i just want to say I like your Mixed AU! The idea MC and Rika switch roles is something I didn't expect. I do expect others to switch roles but not MC and Rika!

Thank you! I wanted to commit to the swapping of everyone, so I swapped EVERYONE, including the protag and antag lol Plus, it makes the antagonist motivations different... :) Also, Rika is an awful person in canon, so I wanted to give her a chance at being a good or at least better person in my AU lol (I'd draw more of the designs rn, but art block smh, I'll get to it eventually lol)

Y'all ever just... eat oxygen?

Yeah, me too

UPDATE: Commissions are open again! Happy late holidays!

HELLO, HUMANS AND NONHUMANS. I am here to declare that I have $0.08 USD to my name, and I am now asking nicely for sacrifices--I mean commissions.

Please, humans (and nonhumans), I will draw your scrunklies and your mortal enemies, fandom or OC. Pride chibis are also an option, and are available all-year-round in case you miss this month.

LET ME DRAW YOUR WAIFUS, HUSBANDOS, ETC. I WILL DRAW YOUR SPARKLE DOG. PLEASE. I BEG OF THEE.

Cheapest thing is $10 if you're curious, and I take PayPal and CashApp!

Lol, thank you for your time - the Void Lord whom has zero dollars and eight cents https://the-void-lord.carrd.co

The cats hunger for money pls send them money guys

(they need the money)

NEED HELP, URGENT

and now that i have your attention, i need your help!

my old employer screwed me over and did not pay out any of my remaining vacation time, and i am now $400 in the negatives.

anything you can spare is appreciated! i can also send proof if needed.

we have 4 cats we need to take care of as well as rent and groceries

rent is due next week, and i'm honestly quite terrified!

i am the sole income of my household as my partner is disabled

if you send me proof of help, i will draw something of your choice as thank you! examples are on my art blog @wrenchdogs

pal

vend

ca$happ - $wrenchdogs

if you cant spare anything, please share this post.

thank you

Commissions no longer emergency-ish! YAY!!

I got my class paid off! YIPPEE!! I WON'T BE GOING IN DEBT! HECK YEAH!

I feel so blessed right now, oh my gosh.

Thank you to the few who did commission me during the scariness of it, though. It's greatly appreciated! I loved drawing your characters!

But, yeah, my commissions are now just normal commissions, so yay!   

EMERGENCY COMMISSIONS!!

Hi!! I am in desperate need of money right now so I don't go in debt (gotta raise $76 USD a week until my course is paid off [$2600 total]) So my commissions are open!! Tell your friends and tell your enemies! https://the-void-lord.carrd.co/ Also ignore if it says PayPal is an option; I need to get a state ID to fix my PayPal So CashApp only Also the "flag chibis" is now just "chibis" so dw about it only being for pride art; silly goober art is also acceptable from this category But yeah!!

I also do animations!

+$10 for simple animation +$20 for complex animation [gif format only] I can send more examples if needed

2024 Art Fight attacks I did using my lineless chibi style!

All of these feature one character belonging to @angelic-pudding-art (1. angelic character; 2. yellow breezy/changeling hybrid; 3. alien; 4. dog in blue dress) Second and fourth include one character belonging to @sleepybunnyboyo (2. purple unicorn [I designed this pony for him during Art Fight!]; 4. bunny in black/grey hoodie) Second image contains one character belonging to @yourfriendphoenix (2. pink pegasus making epic yarn creation) Second image also has one character belonging to @ Avvy_The_Bee [Art Fight] (2. white/red/black longma) First, second, and fourth images feature at least one character of my own (1. pink plague doctor; 2. green/grey griffon, pink bunny; 4. cat with purple glasses)

OH!! AND JUST FOR FUN!! Under the cut is the background I drew for the MLP one! (This background is free to use with credit!)

Yee