#if they want to scam people [comma] they need to find more believable things to scam with

[stormypip7]

I get those scammers every now and then, but I have an ace up my sleeve! I do art *requests*, not commissions. I can't accept payment. I don't have any way to accept whatever "payments" people have. That's where these scammers fail on me, I know they're tryna scam me. But I also know that they can't do anything to someone who is... I suppose... immune to these scams. (And they're adamant that you do it digitally. I'm still new to doing digital art, so I'm not the best at it.)

So basically, I waste their time! I think I've had two of them so far? But the second one kinda broke character when I told em that I literally can't take payments (due to personal reasons, but I honestly don't mind it) and was desperate for me to make one for the occasion. A PayPal account, I mean.

🔎Scam Exam(ination)🔍

Seen as: I would like a commission of my son/pet... Scam Type: Commission Scam

Being open to commissions isn't uncommon if you're an artist.

You may often find yourself receiving messages from strangers looking to commission you for a picture of their OC or even their favorite ship.

But if you receive a message like this, you should be careful you don't fall into a scammers trap.

-----

How it starts:

it starts by receiving a message from another user requesting a commission. Again, typical common practice if you're an artist.

What they ask for at the start, is usually the first red flag.

Images provided by: (1)@neogandw, (2)@foggywiz4rd, (3-4)@maikaartwork

🚩Red flag's (part 1)🚩

I want you to draw my son/daughter.

I want you to draw my son/daughter's pet.

It's a blank blog with no posts/reblogs

It's a blog that's only a few days/week old.

While this request seems simple enough, this scam gets worse.

-----

An offer too good to refuse:

Now you may be thinking, 'surely this can't be bad or malicious, right?' They just want you to draw a picture of their child or their child's pet! And that's definitely what the scammer wants you to think. Which is what brings us to the next set of red flags:

Left image from @neogandw, right image from @maikaartwork

🚩Red flag's (part 2)🚩

'I will pay you $200-$500+' (an amount way way beyond your normal asking price.)

'I just want the best you can do.' (They don't know how to answer questions related to details such as pose, background, style, objects you want included, etc.)

'It's for their birthday/holiday' - ' I want it done as soon as possible.' (They will push that you do this with a sense of urgency so you don't ask questions.)

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The Catch:

Now, if you haven't reported and blocked them by now, and you agree to take this persons commission, this is where the catch to this scam comes into play.

If you tell the scammer to send you an invoice, they will refuse.

If you tell them to use your preferred method, they will refuse.

Those methods just 'wont/don't work', you see.

What they really want, is your PayPal email and your name.

From here they will say that they sent you payment, and that you should check your email. Or that 'they got an email and something went wrong' and that you should check your email.

And here is where the scam comes to ahead.

They will send you a fake email meant to look like it came from PayPal that looks like the ones shown below:

Second image provided by @badlibbing -----

What this means / How this works:

In the case of screenshot one (provided by @neogandw) the 'MONALISA' is the person who was trying to commission them.

The payment hasn't 'went through', and the e-mail (from 'fake PayPal') is saying that they, the artist, needs to send $200 to 'MONALISA' to 'expand the limit' of their account to get the $500 that is owed to them.

Think about this for a second.

If your account is limited, why would you need to send another PayPal user money to 'unlock' your account or 'expand it', and not just contact PayPal itself to try and resolve that issue...?

There are also a handful of red flags in this email alone.

🚩Red flag's (part 3)🚩

The sender address is not from an official paypal.com address, but instead a gmail.com address. This means that this came from a person, not a company.

The formatting. Let's be frank, no official email from PayPal will ever look like this.

The spelling/grammar issues are everywhere.

Weird url's at the bottom of the email. (I removed them for safety reasons)

Additionally: You may also find or see links in this emails instructing you to 'go here' to unlock your account. These are phishing (wikipedia) links that they will use to steal your PayPal login information. Never click links in emails asking you to 'fix an issue' with your account unless you can verify who the sender is.

If you send these people your money, you will get blocked and never see them again. That's just how this scam goes...

If you'd like another variation of this scam which talks about money wiring, you can check out @maikaartwork's version by clicking here!

-----

Final thoughts:

If you fall for a scam like this, thankfully there still might be hope.

Contact PayPal and explain what happened in detail. Show them every shred of evidence that you have showing that you were scammed including the name of who scammed you, and the email that sent you the scam, and who you wound up sending the money to.

If you use the messaging system that uses the AI chat bot, ask it repeatedly to 'speak to a real person' until you get sent to a live agent. (this is stupidly frustrating but sadly it's what you have to do.)

And remember, take screenshots and report these users to the websites they are running these scams on. If they DM you on tumblr? Report the DM. If they do it on insta, bsky, twitter or even discord?

Make sure you report them there too.

ALSO: Beware of recovery scammers. This is anyone coming into your DM's telling you they can 'help you get your money back' after you made a post talking about how you got scammed. These scammers are just looking for a quick buck.

Here's a post about ethical hackers (aka recovery scammers)

Other helpful guides on spotting scams. (by @kyra45)

[topbeautyguide]

Talika Lipocils: Expert’s N.1 Eyelash Care

I’ve always experienced positive results from French cosmetics. From makeup to shampoos, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by all of them. Recently I’ve discovered their Talika, the eyelash grower, and again France made a great impression, or should I say made my eyelashes appear again!

What Is Talika Lipocils?

This product is both an eyelash growth enhancer and lash conditioner. From what I’ve heard when asking people around, you can use it as an eyebrow grower and thickening agent too. But what I liked most about this product is that it isn’t only growing your eyelashes, but repairing them from the damage the makeup has caused them too. This is an extremely important feature of the product because if your eyelashes or brows aren’t strong from the inside out, you’ll end up with long thin lashes that will fall off quickly.

Talika Lipocils Ingredients and Side-Effects:

Talika Eyelash Lipocils is a combination of herbal extracts and synthetic compounds where the natural ones prevail; therefore it has no side-effects reported so far. The Talika gel doesn’t cause eye irritation even if a little bit of it gets into your eye by accident.

The mixture of Apple Extract, Witch Hazel Extract, Horse Chestnut Extract, Nettle Extract, Sodium Lactate, Lactic Acid, Water and Soy Lecithin Liposomes give your eyelashes all the needed minerals and proteins they need to grow thicker, longer, fuller and curvier.

How To Use Talika Eyelash Lipocils?

The Talika Serum is recommended for nighttime use. But from what I’ve seen, there isn’t any risk in using it in the morning as well. Make sure that your eyelids are rid of makeup, oil, and other impurities prior to application to ensure better absorption of the product. Apply right after you cleanse and tone, and before you layer your eye serums and moisturizing creams. The manufacturer says it is best if you use it twice a day, in the morning before you put makeup on and at night, for 28 days to ensure the best results. After the 28 days, you should continue using it once a day, preferably before going to bed.

Does Talika Lipocils Work?

Yes, it absolutely does work fantastically! Be patient and give it a try for at least three weeks, 28 days tops, and results will come your way. I’ve used it every night, and some days when I had no plans of going out I would put on in the morning and leave it while I’m at home.

If you don’t believe me see the before and after photos of the effects of Talika Lipocils and read the reviews below because this product really deserves a shot! You can see the photos that even after the third week, changes start to be noticed, which is faster than the most of the products out there.

Where to buy Talika Lipocils?

Talika is made available for purchase on Amazon, Sephora, Nordstrom, and on their official website too. As I’ve read, you can also find it in most of the pharmacies and stores so it’s totally accessible and available everywhere. The price is around $40, this is how much I’ve paid for mine, but I’d suggest being on the lookout for any store promotions and giveaways.

Talika Lipocils Reviews:

As always, I’ll finish with the reviews because it’s a great way to truly see what one product is really about.

This is the first review I have EVER written! I was told about this product from my eyebrow lady. She told me she uses it for her eyebrows and eyelashes to enhance them and to help them grow. I ordered two……I have been using it for about 2 weeks now and HOLY MOLY! Not only are my eyelashes longer, fuller and darker but more defined!!!!!!! I don’t even use mascara anymore! Just a coat of this in the morning and at night. I apply it to my eyebrows…..I am seeing new growth. IT WORKS. Thumbs up.

Jennifer A.

Since it’s a conditioner, I feel I’m doing some good for my natural lashes while beating them up with lash extensions. I just think this is the best if you are looking for something to use with lash extensions. I don’t use this every day however. I use it when I want a more dramatic look with my lashes or don’t want to fuss with having to brush them for an extended period.

Molly

I want to preface this with… it does not give Latisse type results, but it gives very good results in my opinion. Also, in my experience, it takes a full 2 months to get optimal results, not the 28 days they suggest – that’s when you really start noticing results. This product keeps my lashline full. I lost a lot of lashes from using a lash curler and this restored them. I also use it on my brows and it thickens them up as well. I think the brow and the lash formula are the same so I just buy this one and use it on both.I hope they never stop making this original version. I have tried the newer Lash Expert and it did not work as well for me. Between This and lash blast and I get a lot of compliments on my lashes.

BUYER BEWARE!! If you have never purchased Talika before and are not familiar with the smell, consistency, etc., please order from a reputable seller (Dermstore, Norstrom.com, etc.) for at least your first purchase – even if you have to pay full price!!!I have received fake products from sellers on both eBay AND Amazon (trying to get a deal). Fortunately, because I was familiar with the real thing the fake was easy to spot. I wonder how many of the bad reviews on this product are because someone received a fake product… just saying.

The boxes are very similar but there are a few of the things I have noticed about the fake product vs. the real: the size of the Talika is not on the bottom of the front and back of the box under “specific eyes” as it is on the authentic. The real box does not say “derived from reconstructive surgery” on the front. On the real thing, it says “legendary eyelash conditioning gel” and the fake box just say’s “eyelash conditioning gel.” On the fake box, everything but the ingredients on the sides of the box is in French, on the real box it’s all in English. Lastly, the tube. On the fake, it says “0.35 FL.oz” on the real it shows “0,35 Fl.oz” (notice the real uses a comma after the zero and it also uses a lower case L in the fluid abbreviation vs a capitol L). Besides these things, the fake has next to no scent and is watery, the real has a distinct scent and is not watery.

I hope this helps at least one person from getting scammed.

Lilly

from Top Beauty Guide http://topbeautyguide.com/talika-lipocils-experts-n-1-eyelash-care/

[fanfictionreviews-blog1]

Fan Fiction Review - Dan Howell x Reader ~ It Doesn’t Have A Title What  A Great Way To Start This Off ~

Before I start this off I’d like to issue a disclaimer:

If you wrote this fanfiction, or you know who did or whatever, I don’t hate you, and this isn’t made to bully people who write fanfiction, I’m just having some fun, you know? Don’t get butt hurt, essentially. Also, I’m no grammar-Stephan Hawking, so don’t be surprised if I make a few mistakes myself, I am human after all, but as I say - this is just for fun.

This fanfiction can be found here.

Right then, let’s get started. *Purposely avoids making a Keemstar joke.*

~Analysis:

I walk around he cold streets of London. I am wearing my leather jacket a llama shirt and skinny jeans. I walk down the streets listening to alphabet boy.

So we’re four words in and we can already see that this author evidently doesn’t proof-read their work. Also, just in case you didn’t pick it up, they’re walking down the streets, alright?

I mumble the song. “My alphabet boy..Alphabet boy..” I then walk into a anime store where I see a tall man looking at the death note things.

Aside from the speech, every sentence has started with ‘I’. How captivating. We can also see that the author doesn’t like to capitalize names, apart from one occasion, but that was almost definitely due to the two full-stops placed directly before the letter A. That’s another thing. An ellipsis has three full stops in it, like this:

...

No more, no less. Three. So when you use two, it just looks like you had a second long stroke when you were pressing the period key and only managed two full stops before passing out.

~~~~ This means I skipped a paragraph or two by the way. 

I saw him on a book. The Amazing book is not on fire. I looked at one page of the book. (And only one.) His name is Daniel. He likes the color black and also llamas are his animal of choice.

Back at it again with the lack of capitalization! Is that a stale meme yet? Anyway, on this occasion, we got the first word of the sentence AND the next word capitalized in ‘The Amazing book is not on fire’. This is, truly, random capitalization. Author, do you know what sentence variation is? Please use it, because, correct me if I'm wrong but, I haven’t seen one comma so far.

~~~~

“Yeah me and my best friend are sorta like the people who made ‘PROTIP’ and ‘don’t cry.. Craft’ I’m the comments on every YouTube video..” He laughed.

 So they’re ‘sorta like’ the people who made ‘PROTIP’ and ‘don’t cry... Craft.’ Some say that Pyrocynical is ‘sorta like’ leafyishere. See what I mean?

It seems to be a reoccurring theme in Dan Howell fanfictions to often refer to Phil as his ‘best friend’ and not just Phil and vice versa... Why? And I’m pretty sure Dan isn’t the comments on every YouTube video, as he probably would have killed himself by now.

“So that’s why ok pewdiepies beard video people commented PROTIP.. Thank god you told me! I was worried a tip was taking over the world!” (Woah you’re so funny.) I say in a sarcastic voice. “to be honest it sorta has” he puts down something he picked up.

Guys, today we don’t even get capital letters at the beginning of a sentence. 

Thanks for more evidence to support the fact that you don’t proof-read your work.

You know, the rule ‘new speaker, new line’ is a very useful one, as it allows the reader to distinguish which character is talking without having to read the passage seventeen times, but it is also a rule that many fanfiction writers don’t use. Shame. 

“Want to go get some coffee or something?” He asked. “If not I can give-” I cut him off. “Sure we can get some coffee. Do you want to buy anything first?” I asked him. He nodded and grabbed a L plush. I went with him when he got it and we walked out together.

I don’t know Dan aside from watching a few of his videos, but I’m pretty sure if he just met a fan, he wouldn’t ask them on a date straight away. Have you ever seen Evan Edinger’s video on dating a YouTuber with Ash Hardell? Watch it. 

Grammar lesson time! When addressing an object that begins with a vowel, (in this case, the name ‘L’.)  you would USUALLY use ‘an’ instead of ‘a’, if you don’t it just kind of sounds bad.

As we walked down the side walk we talked about movies, songs, bands.. At coffee we honestly most likely won’t have anything to talk about.

I had to include this because, guys, WE GOT OUR FIRST FUCKING COMMA. Hell yeah, it’s not like we’re halfway through the narrative or anything! They don’t even use the commas in a correct way to form a list, like you’re meant to have ‘and’ before the last item in the list.

Who refers to a coffee shop/cafe as just ‘coffee’? Actually, that whole sentence sounds like a seven-year-old wrote it - I think it’s descriptive enough to use one adverb. Look:

‘we honestly most likely won’t have anything to talk about.’

Or

‘we honestly won’t have anything to talk about.’

Which sounds better? I think the only time you would use more than one adverb in this particular context would be to add emphasis, but there is no evidence in this passage to suggest that that’s what the author was trying to do.

We walk into scooter (no Starbucks) and get our drinks. (Damn you’re so original and unique, yeah, Starbucks is for trashy white girls and basic bitches.) Once we sit down Dan puts his phone on the table. “Wanna like.. Swap numbers?” He asked in a shy tone. “Yeah! Sure.” I handed him my phone and he handed me his. I went to the contacts and added a new one. I put my number and the name as ‘weird anime girl’ (weeaboo) and handed it back in him.

What, you just put his phone in his mouth or something? At least I hope that’s what you meant by ‘in him’. God, I’ve got no one to blame but myself for that one.

The fact that you felt the need to clarify that you’re not going to Starbucks made me laugh and cringe at the same time. Thanks.

This would be the perfect moment for a crazy-stalker-fangirl to steal Dan’s phone and make a run for it, so I think the chances of this happening in real life is slim to none. Sorry guys.

~~~~

A bunch of basic white girls look at us like we are crazy. (Most likely cause we are) and we but out lip trying not to laugh.

I’m full on fucking cringing now.

Damn, those pesky basic white girls we so much better than them because we’re crazy!

I guess the basic white girls found your even-more-hipster coffee shop, better go to the strange man in the dark alleyway who sells ‘human poop’ coffee beans, I’m sure they won’t find you there.

What the hell does ‘but out lip’ mean? I honestly don’t know what they were trying to say either. I have no fucking idea.

~~~~ Dan invites Reader to go to Dan’s flat. Reader accepts the invite.

I looked at Dan again. (Why did we just switch tenses?) His eyes where (ugh) on phils computer. Looking at what Phil was scrolling though. I bit my lip. Not on purpose I just.. Did it.

I was thinking about what I could compliment about this fanfiction, and I thought that I should mention the author’s ability to stay in the same tense. But no, you blew it. Sorry.

This is where Reader gets really dreamy about Dan, by the way.

Dans perfect his hair.. (Makes perfect sense.) His eyes. His eyes are not even blue they are just so beautiful. His everything. Then his personality. It’s perfect. It’s a mix of so many wonderful things. He is just so..

Great.

Perfect.

I can relate to him too.

I feel in love at first site.

Oh, fuck, just that last line with the janky English and the wrong use of ‘site.’ That’s it, this can’t get any worse from now on. 

No, it can. It definitely can.

When I read this, all I can hear is James Veitch reading it to me, like he does with the scam emails and the broken English. If you have no idea what I am talking about, click here.

There’s a three years time skip into the future from now on by the way.

Mentally prepare yourself for this next part. 

I think. That’s how I met my boyfriend. “You know.. I feel in love with you at first sight.” I turned over to him. “I did too. And that’s why” he got down on a knee and took something out.

“Will you merry me?” He asked opening the box up to showed a wonderful ring. “Y-yes!” I managed to say and he stood up and kissed me. I kissed him back.

I can’t believe it.

WILL YOU MERRY ME? FUCK. The ‘a’ key isn’t really near the ‘e’ key on a keyboard so I have no idea how you fucked that one up. 

The sentence ‘I feel in love with you at first sight.’ makes you sound like English isn’t your mother tongue. And to be honest, it’s fucking hilarious.

That’s the end of it by the way.

~Conclusion:

That was painful.

I'll give credit when it’s due, at least this isn’t the Hat Fic. Who the fuck actually wrote that anyway?  

Right.

I suppose it wasn’t the worst, but it was also nowhere near the best. Author, you still need to make some improvements. I give this one shot three Casey Neistat Okay-Hand-Signals out of ten.

On a serious note, I think it’s definitely worth proof-reading, as when you make grammar mistakes it just makes your work look half-arsed.

Try not to use scenarios that wouldn’t happen in real life, otherwise, you might just become the early Review Movie World of fanfiction. (Can you tell I watch Pyro?) I suppose this includes writing about dating and sex if you’ve never dated or had sex before because that can definitely lead to some inaccurate scenes. Not all sex is like porn, horny fourteen-year-olds.

Thanks for reading guys, do feel free to leave me some constructive criticism. (That’s not gonna fucking happen, is it?) 

One like = One kid who identifies as an attack helicopter, sent straight to your door.

And yeah, I’ll see you in the next review!

-Pluto