‘Relentless' scammers are trying to rip off people by asking to use their pictures for fake ‘art project' — here's how

New York Post

6 hours ago

It's the art of the steal.
The internet is flooded with inventive schemes, from AI-fueled romance scams to cybercriminals who pose as kidnapped loved ones to receive 'ransom' payments. Now, a woman is warning of a sneaky 'new scam' in which bad actors masquerade as artists so they can hijack people's personal information.
'Heads up guys, be careful,' warned TikTok user Jen — who goes by @jend961 — of the digital Trojan Horse.
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She explained that she'd received a message from 'some girl' who asked if she could use one of the TikTok user's pictures for an 'art project' she was working on.
3 'She says, 'All I need from you is your full name and your email so my client can send over an e-check,'' Jen recalled.
TikTok/jend961
Suspicious, Jen went to the sender's page to make sure the sender wasn't a scam artist. The profile surprisingly had 'tons of paintings and drawings,' which initially put her mind at ease.
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'I thought 'ok, maybe it is legit,'' recalled the recipient. 'So I wrote her back and I asked her what picture she was interested in. And she said my profile picture, and I said, 'Ok, that should be fine.''
Jen reportedly became further intrigued after the sender promised her a copy of the finished project, as well as a commission, per the clip.
3 Commenters also claimed they'd been targeted by the same scam.
ARAMYAN – stock.adobe.com
However, Jen realized something was awry when the woman requested some personal details. 'She says 'all I need from you is your full name and your email so my client can send over an e-check,'' she recalled.
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Despite not asking for her bank info, Jen said she knew it was 'phishy,' and accused the woman of trying to pull the wool over her eyes.
Her suspicions appeared to be confirmed when she checked the fraudster's profile again and saw that it had vanished.
This wasn't an isolated incident, either. 'Today I got two more messages from different people asking the same thing,' Jen said.
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The PSA created a stir among the TikTok commenters, who also claimed they'd been targeted by these wolves in artists' clothing.
'Same thing happened to me,' declared one viewer, while another wrote, 'I went through the exact same thing. These ppl are relentless.'
3 The sender claimed they needed Jen's profile pic for an art project they were working on.
Siphosethu Fanti/peopleimages.com – stock.adobe.com
'Same thing happened to me, and they sent me a copy of a check for my photo,' said a third. 'I took the check to the bank and had them check the check, and it was fraudulent. I immediately reported it.'
The Federal Trade Commission warns that fake check scams are exceedingly common.
The way it works is that fraudsters will message the mark promising them a work-from-home job, commission on a project like in the aforementioned scheme, or the cash prize from a sweepstakes they just 'won.'
But when they send the dupe a check, they'll include 'more than the amount owed to you and instruct you to wire the excess funds back to them before receiving your lump sum payment,' per the FTC.
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It's only after the person sends the money that they discover that the check is bogus.
Plus, now the scammer has the recipient's info and can use it for future fraud.
The FTC advised people to report these ploys to the Federal Trade Commission or the Better Business Bureau's Scam Tracker.
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This is one of many inventive online scams being used to hoodwink unsuspecting people.
In May, Long Island police warned that scammers are swindling elderly people out of millions of dollars by using AI to find their grandchildren's voices on TikTok and then utilizing the sound bytes to make phony phone calls designed to trick the seniors into sending them money.