A scammer posed as a potential client…here’s what happened (and what to watch out for!)

Last week, I received an inquiry through my website’s contact form from someone who was posing as a potential illustration client. I had just pushed some site updates live a day prior, including posting some new illustrations, so receiving an inquiry for an illustration job felt validating of all the work I had just put in. While most contact form submissions are typically spam, my filters historically have done a great job of separating out the human submissions from the spambot ones and I have gotten serious client requests through my contact form in the past. Something definitely felt off from the beginning though, here’s the initial comment:

HELLO,

Good day, Hope you’re doing well?

My name is [REDACTED], I am an academic event organizer (FYI) & also handicapped, I hope you treat me like any of your other customers and my disability doesn’t affect our dealings. I got your contact details online while researching online and came across some art pages, I must confess your works are not just innovative but also creative. I need the service of an artist or illustrator to work on a project for an upcoming workshop, I’ll explain the concept of what I need to be illustrated/drawn and you can get back to me with the price to get it done, I’ll pay your fees up front if you want. Kindly get back to me for more details.

It obviously comes across as sus but I’m not someone who would turn away a potential client, especially a handicapped one at that (part of the scam). I responded curious to know more about the project, asking to schedule a phone call to chat more about the project. The response included a creative brief with specs, a licensing request, and a (well-paying, but within reason) budget. This made it feel more legit. I also looked up the supposed person on social media and found a LinkedIn profile matching the name, gmail picture, and stated profession (I’m sure the scammer was posing as them however). Here’s a screenshot of the brief I was sent:

There’s a number of red flags here, let’s break them down:

1. The different fonts: notice how in the response to my request to schedule a phone call the font is in sans serif, and the rest of the message (copy and pasted from a script) is in serif.
2. Broken English: this shouldn’t be a red flag but unfortunately is. I assumed it was related to his stated handicap, a typo, or he was not quite fluent in English, however this is typical of scam messages.
3. The project is a bit dated: This would make more sense if we were in the height of the pandemic where masks, social distancing, and vaccinations were more top of mind. It definitely stuck me as odd for a request in 2023.
4. Requesting to pay in full up front: Definitely odd! Most projects are split into a 50% deposit up front and balance paid at the completion of the project, or payments made at certain milestones in the project.
5. Cashier’s check request: When it comes to these scams this is the bread and butter of it. As someone not familiar with this type of scam I thought the request was odd so googled ‘cashier’s check’ and found that it’s one of the most safe forms of receiving payment since the check is guaranteed by the bank. However, in this type of scam the check that you receive will most definitely be fake (it will look real but rest assured it will be fake).

Let’s be real, I’m not naive and the level of sus was growing and I refused to give this guy any information. I really wanted to schedule a phone call so I could talk to a human and feel more comfortable about moving forward with this potential project and ask a number of questions. I asked yet again if we could schedule a phone call and gave him a few times that I was available. He didn’t respond for a week.

Eventually I got a message saying he was “totally available today” so I gave him a time I was available. He ghosted me. I should have stopped there. However, my trusted business advisor (my husband lol) was encouraging me to (safely) keep pressing on in case it was a legit client, while also (wisely) suggesting I reach out to one of my online illustrators’ groups asking if they’ve ever experienced fraud and/or have tips for remaining safe from potential fraud. This was the best advice.

I sent the scammer a message asking if he was still interested in moving forward with the project as its been difficult to connect via phone and sent him my questions in an email, going on to say that I can send a proposal/contract with pricing once I get this information. Meanwhile, I posted about my experience in one of my illustrator’s social media groups and learned that there are scams going around similar to what I was experiencing. I was advised to get a contract and a deposit up front before doing any work (obvs) and do not accept a check.

I got a response from the scammer yet again with different fonts, and doubling down on requesting personal information, including my bank’s name so he could pay me up front. This was too fishy. I started googling and found many scams that are used on artists/illustrators/designers going around. Things sounded similar but not quit the same as what I was experiencing until I googled the name of the workshop from the creative brief “precaution and prevention illustration scam”. That’s when I knew beyond a shadow of doubt that this was in fact a scam:

Here’s how the scam ultimately works (if you unfortunately fall for it):

Note that this is not limited to the artist community, I’ve heard about this happening on Facebook marketplace, with social workers, etc. It can happen in any industry or platform. Basically, someone contacts you wanting whatever services/goods you’re providing. They want to pay you up front with a check or cashier’s check. The check comes and—whoops—the bank messed up and wrote the check out for too much money. Suddenly the scammer wants you to send the difference. You deposit the check, it looks real, the bank accepts it and you see it as pending in your bank account. You Venmo, send a check back etc. for whatever the difference is. Before you know it, the bank is calling saying the check you deposited is a bad check, and now the scammers have your money.

Luckily for me, in the end I didn’t get that far down the rabbit hole with this scam, didn’t give out any personal information, and didn’t receive or send any money. However, I did waste a lot of time and energy in my interactions with this person, thinking about the project, and overall it just feels creepy knowing I was interacting with a scammer. In that way, I felt preyed upon.

Moving forward, I have a few takeaways:

1. Don’t accept checks as payment (especially cashier’s checks) unless from established trusted clients.
2. Know the red flags to look for in your messages (see above).
3. Never perform any work without a signed contract.
4. You have the right to not respond! I should have stopped interacting when I got ghosted, as this clearly was not a serious client.
5. Community is important. I feel so lucky that I had a trusted community of illustrators to reach out to when I suspected something was off.
6. Above all else, trust your gut! My spidey-senses were going off all over the place with this guy. That means something. My only regrets in life have come from when I acted against my gut telling me that something was off. Trust yourself and your intuition, only you know best what is best for you and your business.

Unfortunately in this digital environment and all of the rapid advancements being made in AI, all of these scams are going to get increasingly more advanced and harder to detect. Trust your gut, and be careful who you interact with, give information to, and who you exchange money with. I’m sharing this experience as I was blown away when my illustration community informed me of all the scams going on out there as I’ve not heard about any of them. Of course I’m a little bit embarrassed that I got as far as I did with a scammer but sharing is caring and if my experience can help someone else avoid a similar or worse one, its 100% worth putting my story out there. Stay safe all!