June 7, 2024: Scammer Safety Reminder
7 months ago
Whether you use FA, Discord, Bluesky, Reddit, Telegram or any other form of social media, furries by and large have been seeing a rise in attempts for commission and art scams. While our moderation team works behind the scenes to stop them, the only way to truly stop scammers is with the knowledge of their existence and their tactics. We’ve seen a very small, but persistent group continue to try to cause issues, and we want to remind our users of some best safety practices.
-- YCH Scams: One of the more common scams is the claim an older YCH has suddenly become available again after the original buyer backed out. They target previous highest bidders on YCHes in an attempt to dupe them into paying. Most of the time, they use new accounts with a name that mirrors the original artist, but the spelling/formatting is just slightly off.
-– Commission Scammers: If someone messages you first with a commission offer that’s a red flag. Scammers love to impersonate existing artists, or use stolen or AI generated work to lure people in with the promise of affordable, high-quality commissions. They then send out mass notices in an attempt to catch as many people as they can. If somebody messages first always be wary.
-- Invoice When Paying: Always ask for an invoice, and NEVER pay via friends and family. Doing so waives your rights to a refund and any money sent is considered a non-refundable gift. Again, always request an invoice. They come with buyer protections built in.
-- Double Check Their Profile: Take a moment to double check the person you’re messaging is who they saw they are. Ensure they’re not using a new account, and their profile takes you to a user page that’s been registered for a while and has an established gallery. Galleries without a visible history of completed works can be a red flag.
Stay safe, and happy FA-ing!
Common Examples of Scams
-- YCH Scams: One of the more common scams is the claim an older YCH has suddenly become available again after the original buyer backed out. They target previous highest bidders on YCHes in an attempt to dupe them into paying. Most of the time, they use new accounts with a name that mirrors the original artist, but the spelling/formatting is just slightly off.
-– Commission Scammers: If someone messages you first with a commission offer that’s a red flag. Scammers love to impersonate existing artists, or use stolen or AI generated work to lure people in with the promise of affordable, high-quality commissions. They then send out mass notices in an attempt to catch as many people as they can. If somebody messages first always be wary.
Protecting Yourself
-- Invoice When Paying: Always ask for an invoice, and NEVER pay via friends and family. Doing so waives your rights to a refund and any money sent is considered a non-refundable gift. Again, always request an invoice. They come with buyer protections built in.
-- Double Check Their Profile: Take a moment to double check the person you’re messaging is who they saw they are. Ensure they’re not using a new account, and their profile takes you to a user page that’s been registered for a while and has an established gallery. Galleries without a visible history of completed works can be a red flag.
Stay safe, and happy FA-ing!
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