Recently, I was approached by a follower on my CoffeeShop.AI Instagram page, asking me if I do commissions. It turned out to be a scam!
The guy asked if I accept commission work. I said it depends. He wanted me to draw his three kids in my cartoonist style. We agreed on a price of $300 for the three kids together, nothing fancy. I told him I charge half up front and half at the end of the project in order to send the digital files. All was hunky-dory.
I told him to pay via Venmo or CashApp. He said he only uses PayPal; not my favorite but I have an account. So I sent him the link.
I had a bad feeling in my gut. First, I couldn’t figure out why he approached me via my AI art page, not my other two profiles (JasonSalasCreative and OddballsZine). Both of those exhibit my drawing style. Secondly, I tried the link and it worked on my end. But I gave him the benefit of the doubt.
My email address is on my website (which I shared with him) so it’s no secret. And my PayPal is linked to it as well. I don’t use PayPal much so I don’t know how people search for users so I sent it.
That “Use Latest App” deal was weird. Apparently, it was three pics that were made to look like he initiated payment.
It was after that last message that the guy blocked me. This was the email sent to me, which was in the spam folder, of course. From Gmail??? Ha!
As you can see, this fraudulent email is telling me to “refund” money to this guy. The dead image links were probably meant for me to click on them to download photos. The whole thing is a scam. I already have a business account and I’ve done plenty of business with it, over $300.
That last part is funny, about PayPal being committed to preventing fraudulent emails and how it should only use my full name. Of course, he got all this from the link I sent to him.
These are the things that artists go through. We put our work out there and put ourselves out there for work. In doing so, we attract scammers. It’s a shame but it’s part of the job.
I’ve often said that, in the term “Art Business,” the word “business” is bigger for a reason. Anyone can do art, but not everyone can do the business end of it. I fail regularly. Luckily, I didn’t fail in this instance.
Jason Salas 