Author Topic: Image theft not limited to micro-stock (Read 3831 times)

louoates · « **on:** July 20, 2010, 11:51 »

Us micro-stock folks aren't the only photographers being scammed.

A friend of mine sent me this link to his site that deals with how thieves are stealing from other photographers via email. Nice outline of danger signs:

http://bobestrin.com/artscam.html

cathyslife · « **Reply #1 on:** July 20, 2010, 12:10 »

Wow, very enlightening. I have gotten some of those Nigeria scam emails (not for photography, though). Bob is right, they all follow the same pattern. The drive of the email is usually about YOU giving THEM information or money. They hardly ever give YOU the information you need, like where they are, phone numbers, bank accounts they will be using to pay for the order, etc.

epantha · « **Reply #2 on:** July 20, 2010, 12:24 »

There is no way I would have even replied to the first email.

Why waste your time?

donding · « **Reply #3 on:** July 20, 2010, 12:38 »

Very interesting read. Not that I've ever gotten one about art, but if I ever do I will know what to look for.

cthoman · « **Reply #4 on:** July 20, 2010, 12:54 »

Quote from: epantha on July 20, 2010, 12:24

Why waste your time?

You could probably say that about most queries for artwork or freelance, but you still have to answer them to find the occasional good client mixed in.

louoates · « **Reply #5 on:** July 20, 2010, 13:42 »

Since I started this thread Bob added yet another scam to the above link. He just received it today.

lisafx · « **Reply #6 on:** July 20, 2010, 13:51 »

At the rate he's getting them it seems like he will have to stop producing art just to keep up with answering the scams

I am wondering if because he is actually bothering to reply to these guys, maybe he has gotten on some list of potential victims. Maybe it's better just to delete these types of mails when they have enough red flags, rather than replying.

louoates · « **Reply #7 on:** July 20, 2010, 14:02 »

Bob does instructional classes for beginning photographers and is a member of several art groups in Arizona. Maybe he's "ripe" for * via one of their contact email lists.

At any rate, I'm insulted that I haven't been asked to ship any of my work to Nigeria!

cathyslife · « **Reply #8 on:** July 20, 2010, 15:24 »

Quote from: epantha on July 20, 2010, 12:24

There is no way I would have even replied to the first email. Why waste your time?

Because until you do a lot of research, the inquiry could possibly be legit. I think I might have taken the first step as Bob did. After that, I would have bailed, too.