meadowclarks

[meadowclarks]

I tested out communicating with a commission scammer so you don’t have to.

(A warning guide for other newer artists!)

Yesterday, I got a comment on a recent post of mine asking if I took commissions. At first, I was excited! Commissions are few and far between for me, but I enjoy doing them (and I could use the money, as most artists could).

I began corresponding with this person over DM, and at first all seemed well—while the “pet portrait” scam thing is known in some circles, the post this person had commented on was legitimately a series of pet portraits. If someone was going to seek out an actual pet portrait, contacting through a post tagged “pet portrait” doesn’t seem unreasonable.

The first red flag came when this person offered me what was way, way more money than the price point I set out for the commissions. I was suspicious—but admittedly hopeful. There are cases where commissioners want to pay an artist more than their set rate if they think an artist is undervaluing their work (I’ve been one of those commissioners myself in better financial times!), and while this is extreme… that money would be huge for me right now, especially as I don’t live in the USA and the currency conversion would almost double the dollar amount I’d receive in my own country’s currency. That’s a week’s rent for me. I was also, admittedly, flattered by this person’s compliments of my art—like many newer artists I don’t have a foothold on social media yet, and the validation of compliments is easily seductive (Of course, that’s the point).

I pressed on, cautious but optimistic. If this was a real commission, that money would help me out a lot.

I’ve heard of commission scams where a commissioner offers to pay by (phony) check. Like many artists, I prefer PayPal. When this commissioner suggested PayPal, and was open to going through invoices (the best way to protect yourself in the event of a PayPal dispute as you have strict evidence of the terms of the transaction, in my opinion!), I retained my cautious optimism. What the hell, I thought. If this is real, they’ll pay. If it’s fake, they won’t.

Of course, this person did a good job setting things up to look legitimate. They sent convincing-looking screenshots showing they’d paid my invoice. Great, I thought! This is a real commission, how lucky am I!

Of course, that’s when things quickly took a turn. They immediately started harping on about the money already being deducted from their account before I’d received anything (which, yes, that’s how PayPal works).

They commented twice on the money being already deducted, and the repetitive language is when I was finally like “yeah, okay, definitely probably a scam, huh?” Until now, this person had done a good job seeming normal—they’d sent relatively plausible messages, hadn’t spammed me even if I took a while to reply, and of course had provided reference photos and screenshots of their “payment.”

When I checked my email spam folder, though, the game was then predictably obvious—

This email is obviously spam. The language, odd spacing and grammar, and general tone are clear indicators. So is the email address it came from—I know what the actual PayPal contact email addresses are, and this one was obviously fake (for one, it came from an @gmail account, rather than an @paypal account).

I put my foot down when the “commissioner” next emailed me. They, of course, went silent after this.

I looked at their profile after, which provided more clues to their being bullshit in hindsight. They didn’t have a profile picture, and all their reblogs were generic photo sets. These aren’t necessarily indicators an account isn’t real—some people like the default profile pic and photo sets!—but they are things I think I’ll definitely be looking out for with future commissioners.

The real thing I noticed, though, was when I went through this person’s (unlocked) likes. Small art post after small art post—all with the exact same comment I received. Dozens in a single day.

So, uh, if you receive a commission inquiry that seems a bit sketchy, maybe check their likes haha.

So what did I learn here? Maybe it’s obvious, but to be cautious lol. I took a gamble engaging with this person from the start, and I probably should have broken off contact the second that impossible amount of money was set down. The seductive quality of compliments, and how much that money would do for me as a young person struggling to pay my bills each month (like many others!), overrided my suspicions temporarily. But I still took precautions I’m glad for—using an invoice, monitoring through PayPal itself for a payment, and, obviously, not engaging with a spam email. In the end, no damage done other than someone having my dump email account… and like, I get so much spam to that account already haha, because I’ve been using that email for over a decade since I was a kid and that’s just what happens.

But I wanted to write this post because I thought others might benefit. There’s stuff out there about commission scams, but a lot of it can feel abstract—or you can think “well this person talks more organically than that example description, so maybe this is real”. For newer, younger, or hungrier artists the gamble can feel worth it, but take precautions—and know when to pull the plug!

(Oh, and go ahead and block @optimisticdefendorluminary —who is still active, but unsurprisingly quickly blocked me when I called them on the scam—just to be safe).

[meadowclarks]

[meadowclarks]

Sketch practices to figure out Jinx’s face…during my long hiatus I also became obsessed with Arcane lol (like every other person).

[meadowclarks]

When you return to your art blog after a year+ long bought of major depression just to post…

cats✨

[meadowclarks]

hi it’s me I’m making a tamagotchi filled with meat

[meadowclarks]

🌾すすき🌾

[meadowclarks]

reject booktok culture. go to the library and get a weird little novel you’ve never heard of in your life and read it all in 2 days like god intended.

[meadowclarks]

Not to BG3 on main but whoever wrote that Wyll scene in act 2 I need to shake their hand bc I have never in my life been the “guy looking at the other girl” meme but Wyll pulled out his dumbass dance moves and my head turned SO FAST.

[meadowclarks]

yee haw bang bang

[meadowclarks]

Pixel art by Romain Courtois

[meadowclarks]

Robert & The Doodler

[meadowclarks]

Etsy Shop updated w/preorders & restocks, and Black Friday sale is live through to Monday night! ~💕✨

meadowclarks.etsy.com.

[meadowclarks]

Tea

Playing with washi tape I got in Uji. (Ito Kyuemon shop) I had some green tea soba in that shop. It tasted like regular soba.

Watercolour, ink, gouache, fountain pen ink, washi

[meadowclarks]

[meadowclarks]

#3 Komorebi

I like it comic series

[meadowclarks]

Death's Head Hawkmoth Fairy enamel pins are up for preorder on Etsy! Super pleased with how she turned out. 🧚🏻‍♀️💕

[meadowclarks]

Witch cat