Scammer Targeting Tumblr Artists

Scammer Targeting Tumblr Artists

The title says it all really. So if nothing else, please share and reblog this post to raise awareness for those that might be caught out - both artists and followers. For a TL:DR, please look at the bottom of the post

What is happening?

Right now, there is at least one person actively impersonating multiple artists across tumblr in an effort to scam their followers into paying for fake ‘cheap commissions’. The scammer will clone a tumblr, usually using a slight change to the url/account name to look like the real deal. They will then message people directly through Tumblr with messages along the lines of “Hey, i’m doing cheap commissions right now. DM me to get one”. Naturally, this is ends up just being a way to take their money without giving anything back in return.

Who does this affect?

Everyone. Simple as that. As long as the scammer in question works unopposed, they are free to spread their influence and continue to scam more people. Even if you haven’t been targeted yet, it does not mean you are safe or immune. Several artists have already fallen victim to this scammer, and I encourage any artists that have to reblog this post with the details of their affected account(s) and the ones the scammer has set up.

How can we stop this?

Tumblr, like many other social media platforms, seems to care very little about ‘minor’ occurences like this one, and despite reaching out directly to them over a week ago through multiple avenues of contact - they have refused to comment on the situation, provide a recommended response for users, or take action on behalf of those already affected. Despite this, there are still tools at our disposal that we can use to make this scam more difficult, and to increase its visibility to those within Tumblr staff that are required by policy to take action. Tumblr has the following to say on the topic of impersonation: Confusion or Impersonation. Don’t do things that would cause confusion between you or your blog and a person or company, like registering a deliberately confusing URL. Don’t impersonate anyone. While you’re free to ridicule, parody, or marvel at the alien beauty of Benedict Cumberbatch, you can’t pretend to actually be Benedict Cumberbatch. They then provide a link to this online form that you can fill out if you suspect someone’s identity is being confused. Unfortunately, this can only be filled out if you are the victim of impersonation. In other words, only the artists can fill this out legitimately. So, what about the followers and users of tumblr whom aren’t being impersonated? Our most valuable tool in this online platform is the platform itself. It enables us to spread our word near-virally across all the many sub-communities on Tumblr with remarkable efficiency for a user-driven system. We can take advantage of that effect to increase awareness of the situation. Even if you - the one reading this right now - aren’t an artist or don’t know an artist, the act of reblogging this post or sharing it directly with friends improves it’s ‘ranking’ in popularity increasing its chances to be seen by more people. We don’t need everyone on Tumblr to see the post for it to be effective, just like we don’t need the entirety of the human population of the world to be immune to a disease for that disease to be rendered ineffective or eradicated. If enough people are aware, the likelihood of pulling off a successful scam increases dramatically reducing efficiency to a point that it no longer becomes profitable to continue.

Why should I care?

It disheartens me to say this, but of the many artists I contacted directly over the past week to warn about this issue many of them refused to listen or dodged the responsibility with lines like;

“I’m not being impersonated, so it doesn’t affect me”

“I’m just one person. I can’t make an impact”

“I need to take care of my community. Other people can look after theirs”

This is honestly disappointing that so many artists or art-rebloggers care so little as to intentionally wave the responsibility of keeping their followers and fellow artists safe from this, that they cannot spare 10 seconds of their time to share an informative post. I’m not here to bash artists, but it is time that everyone takes responsibility for their own communities, and of those around them. Artists: You have a responsibility to ensure that your followers and fans aren’t being abused by someone who may impersonate you. If they succeed, your reputation will be damaged, and your followers will resent you. Your followers are also almost guaranteed to be following other artists meaning your efforts can spread beyond your own circle of influence, so don’t be naive when you think you have little effect. Followers: You have just as much responsibility to be aware of those that might try to scam you or your fellow followers. Don’t just sit in silence when you see something wrong: Ignoring the issue only makes it more resilient to our efforts to stop it. You are the vocal majority if you just use your voices to be heard!

TL:DR

A scammer is impersonating artists and scamming money from their followers under the guise of ‘cheap commissions’. If we ignore the issue, it will get worse. Every single person that reads this can afford to spend just 10 seconds to reblog and share this post. Those 10 seconds can save others from being scammed for hundreds of dollars. Reblog & Share

More Posts from Squirrelhatesnuts and Others

6 years ago

I really want a science fiction story where aliens come to invade earth and effortlessly wipe out humanity, only to be fought off by the wildlife.

They were expecting military resistance. They weren’t counting on bears.

5 years ago

not a dream, csa tw, sexual assault, rape, sexual violence, abuse tw

there is a really repulsive continuous gang rape of a minor case going on in Croatia right now and some time this week I might write a lengthy post about it and I will count on all of you to spread the information and share it because things are being covered up and the perps, sons of influential people, seem to be getting away with abusing a 15 year old child for over a year, there were tapes and evidence and all of it has disappeared now and their families are trying to frame it like the boys are the victims but the public isn’t having any of it

the court is though, the court is literally failing this young child

the victim’s ex boyfriend lured her into a house where a large number of his friends waited for them, she was then raped by a 19 year old and told that the whole thing was filmed and if she tried to tell anyone, the tape would be released and spread and everyone would know “what a sl*t she was”, then she was beaten, and over the course of a year she was beaten multiple times, raped repeatedly by at least 5, reportedly the number could be over 7 boys, some of them younger adults, some minors, she was threatened, filmed without her consent, psychologically abused, blackmailed, and finally a few weeks ago she opened up to a school counselor after she was sent there for what was cited as ‘deviant behavior’

some people are blaming her, saying she provoked them, or that she should have spoken up sooner, some people are saying the whole year only counts as one rape because she didn’t report it, some are saying she set the boys up in a trap, some are saying she is of loose morals, etc, but most people are horrified and most people want the boys and men to be held responsible for what they’ve done to her

not the judge in the case, he literally let them all go and said that he knows what he was doing

and then

and then, listen to this

when the whole thing got out because the police were fucking fed up and were trying to get the bastards but some more influential people were stopping the investigation from going further and evidence was starting to go missing and one of the police officers leaked it to a brave reporter (and now the two face bigger charges apparently than these rapists, and everyone who shared photos of the rapists could be jailed too), the judge got protection after he was threatened for setting the criminals free

not the girl, she didn’t get any kind of protection awarded to her despite living in a really small town with all of her abusers, just the judge

so

fuck them

fuck all of them

i want this story to blow up not just in croatia

i want foreign media to write about it

i want people to hear about it

i want the rapists’ faces plastered on every newspaper, every social media, i want them to be punished, i want their families who paid for the evidence to disappear to be punished, i want this judge punished, i want everyone who insulted and threatened and abused this girl to be punished

and i will do literally anything i can, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING, to see this story spread everywhere

because so far, no one got any justice for the young  victim and she deserves to feel safe and protected and accepted and loved again

5 years ago

Is this how it works? I'm assuming this is how it works.

archiveofourown.org
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Fandom: Video Blogging RPF/Markiplier Egos

Rating: General Audiences

Category: Gen

Characters: Dark, King of the Squirrels, Wilford Warfstache, The Author (mentioned)

Tags: Angst, Working things out, Vengeance, Pre-ADWM, Pre-AHWM

Words: 4k

Summary: Sometimes, the memories get a little louder, the pressure of the past pushes a little harder. Dark tries his best to distract himself from it all.

Maybe that was part of the problem.

if you like Dark being angsty and a confused doof with lots of repressed anger, give it a whirl????????? if you want to hahahah


Tags
5 years ago

tl;dr my country is literally on fire and the politicians refuse to help

I know there’s a lot going on in the world, but you probably haven’t heard about what’s happening in Australia.

we’re on fire.

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approximately ¼ of australia’s population is in catastrophic fire danger. A catastrophic fire level means your only chance of surviving is leaving before it’s too late.

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it’s Spring in Australia, and rainforests aren’t meant to be dry enough to burn, yet at the time of writing this (11/11/19) there are 71 active fires in NSW (43 out of control), and 51 active fires in Queensland - not including those that have already burned before now, and there are more in other states. Sydney is already rated “catastrophic”, the first time this rating has ever been used there since its creation in 2009. That’s right, we had to add yet another level of destructiveness, because “high”, “very high”, “severe”, and “extreme” were no longer adequate. To quote the Fire Danger Ratings, “for your survival, leaving early is the only option”. conditions tomorrow will be the worst they have been, and people are evacuating as we speak. the fire fighters are preparing as best they can.

image

This isn’t just about people losing their homes; people have died and will die, countless animals have already lost their lives and many more will still perish. our land, our lives, and our hope is up in flames and will soon be nothing but ash. the annual fire season has not even begun yet. this is only the beginning. my native land is burning, and there is nothing i can do to stop it.

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the government refuses to acknowledge that we are in a climate crisis. the fires have never been this bad. we have been in severe drought for more than a year which has only contributed to the force of these fires. the Prime Minister Scott Morrison has done nothing but send his “thoughts and prayers”. He will not accept aid from other countries because he is too egotistical to admit that we need it. All the while the people of this land are suffering. Climate change needs radical human change to be combated. we are already seeing the results of years of indifference, and this is barely the beginning of something that will only get worse the longer government’s and big companies refuse to act to counteract climate change.

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Our government has also cut funding to Fire and Rescue NSW by 35.4%, the Rural Fire Service by 75.2%, and QLD Rural Fire Service by 26.42%, resulting in closures of services; they don’t have the resources to cope. We are fighting a losing battle against the results of climate change.  and this is only the beginning.

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6 years ago

I Really Need Your Help...

I have an announcement that is….honestly difficult to talk about. You never really want to bring up things like this, especially when you are the kind of person to never ask your friends to pay for you for lunch or buy you something because you’re poor. I do commissions yeah, and wanted to raise money for my family to fix the roof, so I’m sure you’re all already tired of hearing from me, but this time, this is bigger than before. If you aren’t interested in hearing what I have to say, go on and scroll down and ignore me, but if you are interested, please continue reading. 

Keep reading

5 years ago

Does anyone else feel, like, a weird inhibition against starting new TV shows?  Like, there are shows I want to watch but when I think about sitting down to start it something in me goes “no you can’t just do that.”  What am i waiting for?  I feel like I need to prepare?  Brain:  You have to wait.  Me:  Wait for what???  Brain:  WAIT

6 years ago

Keep bumping into me and standing too close because I refuse to crowd the person ordering at Starbucks? Enjoy my farts.

So, the title really says it all. Here I am trying to be polite to the person ahead of me who is ordering at Starbucks when I feel that ominous “someone is way to close” twinge. I look over my shoulder and this woman is almost literally pelvis to butt cheeks and glaring at me like I’m personally preventing the life-saving coffee from being express-injected into her otherwise mind-numbing existence.

When I look away, I feel it. You know what I’m about to say… you know she “accidentally” bumped into me just enough to get me to step forward, and then the twinge comes back. This woman, after her little victory, is smugly trying to use personal space to get that microsecond of saved time so she can have her coffee.

I stand firm. I Ignore the inevitable second bump.

Now you may be asking, how far was he from the register? Ten feet? Twenty? No, my lurking friends, I was probably two standard average human paces from the guy ordering at the register. I always do this. If I get peeved at some jackass standing over my shoulder as I try to order, I’m certainly not doing it to someone else. Even if he is ordering every conceivable add-on to a Frappuccino his adolescent girlfriend sent him to get.

But not Miss Needs-a-Fix… oh no! She must be CLOSER! When her second bump failed to get results she tries huffing repeatedly. When her obvious frustration at my inability to acquiesce doesn’t work she begins to pretend to search the cold case hoping that’ll get me to move. Look lady, we ain’t stupid… you’re not interested in some cold chicken wrap, and I’m not moving.

Then the third bump hits, but I saw it coming. I am not ashamed of my genetic disposition to being a gassier human then your normal butt-trumpeter, but I try to not let fly in public queues. I made an exception and released my tenuous grip on a gut-gurgler I felt coming on at the start of this line-jockeying ordeal.

She bumps and I farts. I even let out a decidedly dramatic “Oh! Excuse me!” with as much feigned sincerity as possible…

You better believe my personal space was no longer invaded.

Relish that one, lady. I brewed it just for you.

TL;DR: impatient coffee queen wants me to move forward, bumps me intentionally three times, and gets a dose of “surprise” fart for her rudeness.

Source: reddit.com/r/pettyrevenge

1 year ago

It has been hard for me to talk about how what is going on with Israel and Palestine is affecting me personally, but I grew up in Gaza and most of my family still lives there. My father did not survive the bombings last week and I have not been able to contact my younger sister in days. I am try to being understanding that most people do not have personal connections to what is happening and therefore are justifying their silence, but is heartbreaking to see this misinformation being spread. What’s happening there is a genocide, not a war. It is not antisemitic to support Palestine, it’s not even antiemetic to criticise Israel. There is no grey area or neutrality regarding this, and it is so easy to find resources that will educate you on the subject. It is my people and my home being destroyed so I will never be silent about this, but I please urge everyone to get informed and start speaking up and finding ways they can help.

decolonizepalestine has tons of information on Palestine’s history/propaganda that has been spread throughout the years

UK citizens can email their MP asking for a ceasefire

US citizens can call/email their local government officials asking for a ceasefire

Jewish Voice for Peace also has many resources for ways for US citizens to get involved, including protests

Donate to Palestine Children’s Relief Fund

Donate to Medical Aid for Palestine

Donate to help get food and hygiene kits to Gaza

6 years ago

thinkin'

The blogs here - or the ones that I follow/see anyway - usually have a lot of art on them, or make GIFs or write stories and whatnot. They're basically active with stuff, though they're usually popular bc they're part of a fandom or smtg.

Uh. I guess I wouldn't mind writing? Though I usually put them on FFN (and was planning on AO3 if I ever continued fanfiction). I haven't written fanfiction in a super long time, tho...

I wouldn't want to do fandom stuff for the sake of garnering attention though. It's nothing like that - I just don't have anything to post here, I guess. Except my thoughts apparently, hOh. Guess that's good enough for now.

4 years ago
Found This On Facebook! BOOST!

Found this on Facebook! BOOST!

Tell Etsy that #ThisIsNotNative

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squirrelhatesnuts - Spewing Words
Spewing Words

Stani, Squirrel, call me whatever. She/her. I write stuff and sometimes throw them out into the sunlight. PP by my brother!

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