Types of Art ScamsĪlthough the most common intention behind an art scam is money, there are other components, like your personal information and artwork images, that a scammer can take advantage of. Be aware of the possibility, be skeptical – be careful.
You want to make sure that you don’t fall into that category. They’re invested in their creations, so they’re susceptible to the charm of the idea that a stranger fell in love with their work on sight.Īnd scammers may believe that artists are less likely to be aware of the dangers presented by the sorts of art scams they depend on. Well, why not? Artists are good targets – they are familiar with the need to ship their work, sometimes to collectors who might be anywhere in the world. These things do happen – and you certainly don’t want to repulse a genuine expression of interest. Or you were giving a demonstration of live painting at an art auction and one of the people you got chatting to during the process turned into a collector of your work and an advocate for your creations. Perhaps a collector you have never had contact with before happened to attend the opening reception of an exhibition of your art, and instantly decided that he had found what he was looking for and bought four pieces.
The advice that is often given is simply to remember that ‘if it looks too good to be true, it usually is.’ But while that is a good rule of thumb, it’s not enough to protect you if you’re an artist – because, after all, there are times when something that seems too good to be true really does happen to an artist, and you may well have experienced this yourself. By the time you’ve exchanged a few emails, you feel as if you know the ‘person’ you’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 trouble with art scams that begin like this is that they are based on something you would like to believe. Have you recently received an email from someone who says that their wife saw your artwork online and fell in love with it instantly? Or someone who would like to purchase your artwork immediately? Or maybe an artist’s agent wants to show your work at a prestigious art fair? Feels great, right? Of course, but how do you tell if it’s real or an art scam?
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