#thoughtfulgraze

Seen as: 'I'm feeling so inspired by your picture/art!' Scam Type: Muse Scam

1 - Description of this scam:

The muse scam is a variant of the fake check scam in which the scammer will contact the victim over social media and claim to want to use their image for an art project. The scammer will often use a stolen social media account to increase their credibility. They will offer a generous sum of money and offer to pay via check, and the victim is instructed to send money to the scammer for “materials” via an irreversible method. The victim is under the illusion that the funds cleared when the bank makes the money available thanks to current regulations. Usually the fake check deposit will be reversed in a few weeks, but it can also take several months. If you do not have the funds to cover the amount, your balance will go negative. Your bank will usually charge a fee for depositing a bad check, and your account may be closed depending on the severity of the scam. source (reddit)

Additional info about the muse scam. (from malwarebytes)

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Example account shown here: @muralmagicsworld (banned)

Accounts also running this scam: @craftpatch, @shadyduckgladiator emilyartlana emilyfanartist thoughtfulgraze rogerwil01

(Note: There are probably a lot of scammers running this scam. This post is mainly talking about the blog that I managed to find or were made aware of.)

2 - What this scam looks like.

Part 1: The request. (on a post made by a bot no less... lol)

A secondary (more recent) example of this request can be seen here:

The source of this is from this post by @blankwisher64 who gave me permission to use it. Thank you!

A third example can be seen here - Given by anonymous:

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Part 2: The blog an their posts.

The blog's earliest post was made on November 11th 2024

Using google lense (the photo icon you can use to look up an image on the internet) I was able to find these images linked to a youtube channel and an instagram account made by an artist known as Andreas Liss.

The woman in the first instagram post's name is credited, by the original artist, to be the lovely Anastasia Dmitrieva.

Where as the scammer... well.. They decided to call her... Jennifer.

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Final words: The muse scam is quite common and it's recently migrated from instagram to tumblr. If you are someone who posts pictures of yourself or your animals, always remember this: If someone tells you they're feeling 'inspired' and they'll draw you or your pet but you have to 'pay for art supplies' and they're willing to send you a $1000+ 'check/money order' and 'you can keep the rest' because they're feeling 'oh so generous'?

It is and always will be a scam.

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

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Hello! Yes, they are. Unfortunately, there were just too many spam accounts contacting me via DMs, so I just turned off DMs. If you still need to contact me, I can just answer privately if you would like.