I have found out by a pure chance that few scam sites have appeared recently online in 2022 (of course there could be more and older sites!).
They propose illegally the prints or originals of your art for sale online. It is almost clear that the buyer would never receive the art, your name will be involved into this fraud and someone will make money using your artworks.
Those sites are stealing your intellectual property and doing scam and illegal sales fooling the buyers and using your name.
In my case those sites were even using my original description from my official Etsy shop and the reviews my clients left in my Etsy shop after the purchase.
Here is what you can do to protect your buyers, your name and your art from being proposed for sale illegally by certain scam sites.
STEP 1. DO THE SEARCH.
Google search your artist name and see, if it appears on some suspicious sites where you have never published it and never given the right to anybody to publish it.
Also search separately in Google Images, which could give you a different result.
My art appered on the following sites:
www.brainchild.net
www.lifepharmafze.com
www.jan-takayama.com
Which led me to the sites proposing for sale illlegally my original art or prints of my painting and drawings:
www.swaggonsh.com
www.libyamarkd.com
www.ziasniti.com
www.letsshop.asia
STEP 2. Report to Google the URL's of the links, where your site appears in the google search. The google will investigate your case and remove the links from the Google Search.
Here is the link, just follow the steps to make your report.
STEP 3. The Google will remove those sites links from Google search, but your art will stay on the sites. The next thing to do is to contact the site directly and ask them to remove your art and your name. But in my case the site could be contacted only through registration leaving your address, name, telephone etc. I was not eager to do it on a scam site. The other way is to try to contact the owner of the domain where the site is hosted.
Here is how you can find the site's webmaster.
I hope this information was useful for you. If you know other tips and what an artist could do in case when her/his art is proposed illegally for sale on scam site, I would love to hear from you and also add it to this article!
STEP 4. Finally as a buyer please take caution and double check the site from which you are making a purchase.
Suspitious scam sites could propose better price, but they will probably never send you the item your purchased and you will just loose your money!
Buy from verified sites with solid reviews.
You can also Google for the site and see, if there is some report about scam already.
You can check the website for scam on the sites like ITSREVIEWED or KEFHALA or similar sites giving reviews of the websites. You can find buyers reviews there.
Be careful, make your research before buying and enjoy secure purchases!!!
