Recently I have been getting artscam emails, so I wanted to share and inform with some Do's and Don'ts.
The emails normally start off with a lovely emotional hook eg my wife loves your work, I want to buy my wife art for our anniversary, I want to send an art donation to an orphanage etc etc.
They normally go so far to mention specific artworks they have seen on your website etc.
They normally give a small bit of personal information, but it can tend to be quite random eg I work in Antarctica.
What they want to do is overpay you for your art and then get you to refund the excess, and then their check bounces.
By the second email they are very vague and won't say exactly where they live or answer specific questions, like what is the name of the orphanage and where is it.
Do's :
Remain polite and professional, they may be real customer.
If you do reply, ask personal questions in the first email.
Be confident about your work.
If unsure, Google their name, all their names came up for me in Google as art scammers.
Don'ts :
Don't buy into the negativity.
Don't take it personally, remember they are not personally targeting you.
Don't accept checks, with today's technology you don't need to.
If you have checked the name on google, and it's there, it's best to not even reply.
I must admit I played along with several for quite awhile, just to see what would happen. For $5000 worth of my art I received a check for $28000 ... 😂 it actually made my day 😂 ... I laughed every time I thought about it.
There are lots of great blogs out there on Art Scams ... Just Google, to get a more comprehensive take on it. Check out @artworkarchive for blogs on their website.
ArtBizTips is a new set of posts that I am starting, I hope you have enjoyed the first, I will continue to do a few each month ... feel free to suggest any ArtBiz topics that you might like.
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