How to find out if a ‘client’ email is a scam

Getting an email from a potential new client in your inbox is exciting – but before you respond, it’s a good idea to read over the email carefully and take a moment to research thoroughly.

This is good practice with all clients. Understanding your client, their needs and the scale of their business is important to your negotiations with them. But not all ‘client’ enquiries are legitimate, and doing your research also makes it easier to catch scams.

You may have received an email recently that looks something like this:

Good day, My name is Nicholas Wood, I am an academic event organizer and l’m hearing impaired, i hope you treat me like any of your other customers and my disability doesn’t affect our dealings. I got your contact details online and i’m based in US california and kindly tell me where you’re located, I need the service of an artist or illustrator cartoonist to work on a project for an upcoming workshop, I’ll give the idea of what I need to be illustrated/drawn and you can get back to me with the price to get it done, l’ll pay your fees up front if you want.

Please get back to me for more details.

Warm regards.

Nicholas Wood

Or maybe:

Good day, My name is Wrenley, I’m an academic event organizer and I’m hearing impaired, i hope you treat me like any of your other customers and my disability doesn’t affect our dealings.

I got your contact details online, I need the service of an artist or illustrator/cartoonist to work on a project for an upcoming workshop, I’ll give the idea of what I need to be illustrated/drawn and you can get back to me with the price to get it done. I’ll pay your fees up front if you want. Please get back to me for more details.

Warm regards.

This approach tends to involve a client who is hearing impaired, perhaps a problematic appeal to sympathy, but also possibly to offer a false reason as to why you won’t be able to speak to this client over the phone or via a video call.

This appears to be an overpayment scam, though there may be other end results. An overpayment scam is where a fraudster poses as a client, and makes payment for goods or services, usually by cheque, draft or credit card (though there are versions of this that involve PayPal). After making payment, the fraudster gets in touch with you, to tell you there has been an error and they have overpaid, before requesting an urgent refund. After the refund has been issued, the original payment does not arrive or is removed from your account – the cheque or draft will bounce, the credit card payment was fraudulent, or the PayPal payment receipt is a fake.

This is not the only scam out there targeting illustrators – some scams involve NFTs, some will seek payment from you for ‘promotion’. It’s a good idea to consider email, or social media enquiries carefully.

10 Red flags to look out for

Seeing one or two of these does not necessarily mean the email is a scam – but you should be cautious if you notice any of these red flags.

  1. A lack of information about the client online, or email addresses that are incorrect (not using the company’s real URL)
  2. Very recently created social media accounts, perhaps with an unusually high number of followers, but very few posts.
  3. Poor grammar, or use of language that does not obviously pertain to illustration.
  4. Appeals to sympathy, or ‘guilt trips’ – a professional client should not do this.
  5. Generic requests – does the commission clearly relate to your portfolio, or does it feel irrelevant to your work?
  6. Up-front payments – of course you might agree a payment schedule with a client, but if a client is insisting on sending you money before you begin work, this can be a warning sign. Payment for illustration is typically made after invoicing, when the work is complete.
  7. Lack of negotiation or discussion of licence and fee – is the client too good to be true?
  8. Refusal to adhere to your payment method, or requests for refunds to be paid to different accounts.
  9. Galleries or annuals where you are charged a large fee to be included.
  10. Promises to split income with you “when the project is successful”.

Remember, AOI members can always email or call our helpdesk if you are unsure or suspicious of an enquiry. The helpdesk is open Monday to Friday, 10am-4pm.


Back to News Page
Share