Creatives are frequent targets of scammers who use the promise of publicity and attention as bait to take your money and/or your work while giving little or nothing of value in return. The insidious part of these scams is that many of them are entirely legal*.
Here’s a roundup of the most common ones (in no particular order).
Magazine Scams
The offer is that you can get your work in a magazine… if you pay. It’s always a magazine or publication you’ve never heard of. Just for fun, ask them where you can purchase a copy locally. Better yet, ask for audited figures of their print runs and distribution. You’ll get excuses or no reply at all.
An example of this one is 1340 Art Magazine
Sheeba Magazine runs an even more egregious version
Book Publishing Scams
You get an offer out of the blue from a publisher who’s interested in your work. What good news! Then a little reading reveals that it’s just a vanity press and you have to pay for everything. In reality, a publisher is someone who actually pays for publication. So if they’re asking for money they’re not the publisher, you are. I’ve had a few of these from dubious outfits like Dorrance Publishing and PublishWholesale.com.
Who’s Who Scams
Virtually all “Who’s Who” type publications are at least a bit dodgy. How insecure do you need to be to want to be included in one of these things? But some are definitely sleazier than others. The basic deal with all of them is that, even if they don’t admit it at first, you’re paying to be included — you have to at least agree to buy a copy of their overpriced book. Try asking which libraries in your area have copies of their book. None? That’s what I thought. I’ve received spam from Montclair “Who’s Who in Photography” and others of this type (Sutton Who’s Who, etc.).
A variation on this is a book project with a prestigious-sounding name like International Masters of Photography or International Contemporary Masters. For a price you get to be in their “prestigious” book, where your art will appear alongside… the work of others who were foolish enough to pay to be in a book. Not so prestigious, eh?
Contests
Many contests are nothing more than ways for the contest organizers to make money and/or steal copyrights. One man allegedly made a good living from setting up contests like International Photographer of the Year, the Monochrome Photography Awards and others. Be sure to read contest entry terms for attempted copyright grabs, too. Sometimes you’ll find you’re giving away extensive rights to your work. Which is what the contest organizer really wants. Here’s an example of a dodgy contest run by Hilton.
Gallery/Exhibit Scams
You’ve been selected to participate in an exhibit! You’ve probably guessed the punchline already: You have to pay to play. A current, depressing, example of this approach is the Raw Artists (AKA Natural Born Artists) outfit. They hold parties in cities around the U.S. and con bands into playing (for free) and artists into showing their work (for free). Actually, it’s less than free: participants have to sell a number of tickets to this event to participate — and pay for any unsold tickets out of their own pocket. The hosting venue makes money. The Raw Artists company makes money. The participating artists? Guess. A writer at Tucson Weekly noted that “the business model is more like Herbalife than an arts organization“. Ouch!
Vanity Galleries prey on artists who don’t know any better. If you pay to get your work shown in a vanity gallery it’s a scam: Those who know the art business are familiar with these galleries and having your work appear there will harm your reputation, not help it. ArtEmerging has a good article on this.
I’ve also had spam for an outfit called Artavita that bills itself as a contest but looks more like a thinly-disguised pay-to-play exhibit scheme to me.
Fake Credential Scams
An outfit called Camerapixo.com will give you a “Freelance Journalist” press card. It costs $99.00 to “apply”. Can you guess how many “applicants” are turned down? Did you guess zero? Coincidentally, “Zero” is also the approximate value of a “Freelance Journalist” press card, from Camerapixo or anywhere else.
Photoshop Editing/Retouching or Printing Scams
If you send photos out for printing or Photoshop work make it somewhere local; at the very least someone you know or who is endorsed by people you trust. When you send out an image for printing or retouching you’re giving someone a full resolution file. Can you imagine trying to pursue copyright infringement overseas — possibly in Europe, India, China or wherever your image went? I’ve had pitches for this kind of thing from spammers Zarih’s Retouching, Thomas Scott Editing, Picto Online (who were sorry their spam was “mistaken” for spam!), Images-Editing.com, RSK Technologies and others along these lines. Might one or two of these outfits be legitimate? Possibly — this category may have a better legit-to-scam ratio than the others I’ve listed. But if you trust a spammer in Switzerland with your hi-res image files you’re playing a potentially risky game. The risks far outweigh the benefits: Better off safe than sorry.
Fake Check Scams
Unlike the other scams listed here, this is definitely not legal! Someone offers to buy one or more examples of your work and pays in advance by check. The check is often for more than the price of the work. This may be to pay the “shipping company” (which is actually not a real shipping company) but there may be some other odd reason provided. You eventually — sometimes as much as 30 days later — find out the check is a forgery, but by then your work is gone, along with any extra money you “refunded” the buyer or paid to his “shipping company”. Often the scammer will claim to be living in one place and want the work shipped to a friend or relative somewhere else. Another warning sign is if the “buyer” insists on sending the check by FedEx rather than the Postal Service (it’s because using the U.S. Postal Service would turn this minor scam into a Federal crime). A certified check or bank check is a big red flag. Why? Legitimate businesses will always want to pay with a business check, for their records and bookkeeping. “Certified” check sounds less risky — but it isn’t. It’s just a way to hide the sender’s identity (or the fact that their “business” doesn’t have a business bank account).
- Linnea Hoover caught on to one of these scammers.
- This one was posted on Clients From Hell.
- Lori Corbett went above and beyond the call of duty by baiting one of these scammers for weeks.
- Here’s an example posted on Reddit; the potential victim didn’t fall for it but the intention was to insist on a particular “printer” for the job, send a (fake) check to the artist and have him pay the “printer” (who was really just the scammer) before the check bounced.
The Famous Photographer Scam
This one can be targeted at either photographers or models. You get an email, text or social media message from a famous photographer who offers you work. The pay is great and they’re offering a big check in advance! But it turns out that part of that advance check is for you to hire hairstylists, make-up or wardrobe people before the shoot. In short, it’s a variation on the fake check scam above. They convince you to pay the “stylists” or whoever before the check has fully cleared your bank. The check bounces later and you realize you really sent money back to the original scammer. PetaPixel has a good article on this scam, as does Photography News World. Jill Greenberg was the first photographer known to have to be impersonated but I’ve heard scammers have also been posing as Cindy Sherman and others.
Top 10 Warning Signs of a Scam
Here are some common warning signs that you’re dealing with a scam, in increasing order of suspiciousness from #1 (slight whiff of smoke) to #10 (3-alarm fire):
1 – They contact you out of the blue
Getting recognition is hard. It takes work. When someone you’ve never heard of contacts you out of the blue with an offer you should be suspicious. Be on guard and look for other items on this list.
2 – The offer comes in a spam email
Spam, also known as UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email) or UBE (Unsolicited Bulk Email) is how you get offers for fake Viagra and schemes to share the inheritance of Nigerian princes. You’ll rarely get unsolicited commercial email from a legitimate business (and I refuse to have dealings with them when it happens).
3 – They don’t know you — or your work
Do they address you by name or by your email address? Or just “Dear Photography (or whatever) Professional”? Or no salutation at all? Do they offer to buy your work without knowing anything about it? These are signs that they don’t know who you are or what your work is. Because that’s not what they’re after.
4 – Their only payment is in “Exposure”
Real payment is money. If all you’re getting is exposure you should decline. The fact that they found you and contacted you is evidence that you’re already getting exposure; what you need is payment. Don’t fall for flattery: If they think your work’s not good enough to pay for that’s an insult, not a compliment.
5 – Copyright grabs
Sometimes what they’re really after is the right to use and/or sell your work themselves. Photography and art contests are where this is most common. Read the terms spelled out in their contract carefully. (If there is no contract see warning sign #6…)
6 – No written contract
As King Arthur said in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, “RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!” Any person or organization who doesn’t put their terms and your rights/obligations into a WRITTEN CONTRACT (to be signed by both parties) is up to no good.
7 – No physical address
When evaluating a web site, look at their contact information. A street address is best. A USPS Post Office box is OK. A private box/suite (UPS, Mailboxes, Etc.) is a little suspicious. Lack of a physical address is a red flag. Lack of a phone number is a big red flag. (Lack of all these and just a web contact form… is a red flag on fire with alarm bells and sirens.) You might also do a Whois lookup on the domain name of the site. Anonymized or private registration is a warning sign on a business site.
8 – They’re in a big hurry
Scammers always want you to act fast, to impart a sense of urgency and snare you before you have time to think their offer through or do any research. Considering carefully, asking around and doing web research (be sure to include the word “scam” in your search terms) is exactly what you should do.
9 – Overpayment
If someone overpays you should suspect a scam. If they want you to refund the overpayment it’s definitely a scam. If they’re away — for their job or for “military deployment” — and need to get third parties involved (like a shipping company you’ve never heard of) that’s another huge warning. If Western Union or any other kind of wire transfer is involved it’s guaranteed scam. Don’t deposit any suspicious check! Get your bank to examine it and determine if it’s a fake.
10 – They don’t pay you, you pay them
This is the biggest red flag. It includes any outfit that wants payment when you submit work or when they agree to use your work, like Sheeba Magazine, 1340 Art Magazine and Artavita.
Look out for tricky ways of hiding or disguising this ploy, like the way Raw Artists doesn’t ask for money directly, but wants you sell a number of tickets to their event. Who’s getting the money from those ticket sales? Not you! It’s the event promoter and venue. (In my opinion, this tactic is worse than asking you for money directly because they’re basically asking you to take advantage of your own friends by selling them tickets — essentially getting them to pay for you.)
A final note of warning…
You’d think a web search might help you separate the scammers from the legitimate operators. Yes and no. You can uncover information this way, but often not as much, nor as easily, as you would expect. Many of these outfits are adept at seeding the web with favorable notices about their schemes. They have people posting on Reddit and web discussion boards with favorable comments and arguing with anyone saying anything negative. They constantly post on Facebook and Instagram. Some may even set up multiple web sites that appear to be independent but in reality only exist to give an illusory sense of legitimacy to their main site and boost its rankings in search engines. YouTube can be seeded with videos. This is all to make their site come out at the top of search results and bury legitimate criticism deep in the lower pages, because most people only look at the first page of results in any web search. (The Pakistan-based diploma mill Axact Corporation is an absolute master of these techniques.)
But there’s another, sadder, effect that helps the scammers and that’s the reluctance of many people to admit, even to themselves, that they were scammed. A few years back the Australian police made an effort to attack stereotypical “Nigerian Prince” email scams by warning their victims. They found an alarming number of victims kept sending the scammers money even after the police notified them that it was a scam.
One of the most dangerous and powerful tools the scammer has at his disposal is the victim who wants to convince himself he wasn’t victimized. I’ve found posts on Yelp, Reddit and other sites extolling the virtues of some blatant scams; insisting they’re not scams — and many were clearly from genuine victims of the scammers, not fake accounts set up by the scammers (though those are plentiful, too). The tendency to rationalize that you really got a good deal, even when evidence points to the contrary, is very powerful. The various self-publishing scams seem to tap into this tendency very effectively. Raw Artists has a 4-out-of-five-star rating on Yelp! and at least some of those reviews are probably genuine. Persuading others to join helps the people who fell for the pitch convince themselves they weren’t really scammed. Be aware and be skeptical.
Standard Disclaimer: Can it be a “scam” if it’s legal?
The answer is Yes, in my opinion. And in the opinion of the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. 1st Circuit Court.
Here’s a good example of a legal scam:
It’s the “free” home alarm system. The target (customer) is first regaled with horror stories of break-ins and “home invasions”. Then they’re offered an alarm system for free. What’s not free, of course, is the mandatory monthly monitoring fee, which may be much higher than the going rate. And the length of the agreement can be longer than usual. Perhaps with a heavy penalty for early termination. There may also be a hefty fee for removal of the alarm system upon discontinuing service (part of the reason the system and installation were free in the first place may be because the alarm company retains ownership of the hardware). But that’s all in the fine print and if the customer is frightened enough they won’t notice it.
All perfectly legal, but no reasonable person would not call it a scam. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission explicitly uses the word “scam” to describe the above scenario.
The U.S. 1st Circuit court has found that the word “scam” does not necessarily imply anything illegal:
Beginning with the statement itself, we observe that the word “scam” does not have a precise meaning. As the district judge said in his bench ruling, “it means different things to different people … and there is not a single usage in common phraseology. While some connotations of the word may encompass criminal behavior, others do not.”
— McCabe vs Rattiner
Addendum
Some other good articles on scams targeting artists:
