New Face, old scam

My wife, Jiab, was cautiously excited when she told me she received a strange message from a fellow member of her group-messaging app. Containing over 200 members, the group is dedicated to discussing the where and when of pickle ball in Dallas. It has members of all adult ages.

The person contacting my wife called herself Lissa. She said she was an artist and her profile pic showed a woman in her thirties in an art studio. She said she was doing a series of portraits and was struck by Jiab’s profile pic: might she use Jiab’s image to create a portrait for a series, giving Jiab co-credit?

Jiab being an artist herself, was intrigued. The message coming from within a group she had long been a member of and trusted made her interested. Still, she asked me what I thought.

Now, I think Jiab is gorgeous and has a face that is striking. Still, I have written several books on media, social media, and the dangers, including scammers, lurking there. I had a couple of questions.

Jiab said she did not know Lissa. Lissa had told Jiab she was an “emerging artist” based out of New York, so I found it odd she belonged to a Dallas group. Lissa was asking for nothing in return, but I asked Jiab if there were any constraints she wanted on her portrait, such as not being portrayed in alternate clothing or doing unsavory activities. Jiab said she hadn’t thought of that and started to craft an “OK but with limits” response.

I still wasn’t sure. Once an image is out there, ANYTHING can be done to it, with or without permission.

Jiab sent me Lissa’s profile pic. Google image-searching it, we came up as the Instagram pic for an artist…not named Lissa…in Nashville.

“Honey, someone lifted a pic off of Insta and is now using it to scam,” I told her.

“But she hasn’t asked for money or anything?” Jiab asked.

“First, it probably isn’t a ‘she’ and may not be in the US,” I cautioned, trying to help separate the scammer from the friendly image and text in Jiab’s mind.

I then explained some of the various hooks that can follow:

– The portrait is a big seller, and so “Lissa” wants to share the profits, if only Jiab will send her full name, banking info, etc.

– There is a buyer, but Lissa, a poor artist, needs to be fronted the shipping cost, with a huge payout later.

– The portrait sells and money, say $500, is deposited in an account for Jiab. Unfortunately, the account only allows withdrawals in units of $1000, so if Jiab puts $500 in, she can then withdraw the entire $1000.

There are others, but you get the idea.

I asked Jiab if others in the group had been approached. Jiab didn’t know, so I asked her to text and ask, also informing the group’s admin of the situation.

It turned out several others had been approached but never came forward to the group. The admin admitted Lissa had asked him for admission to the group, telling him she was new to Dallas and looking for pickle ball connection. He was busy with his regular job, caught in a momentary lapse, so he just ok’d her into the group.

The entire episode is over, no harm done, but serves as a warning to everyone:

– Profit and attention/flattery remain the key vulnerabilities for people. If it’s out of nowhere, it probably is going nowhere except to gouge your pocket.

– Silence is a scammer’s abettor. If you see something odd, especially in a group, tell others.

– Unfortunately, seniors are more susceptible, and therefore more often targeted by scammers.

A moment’s inattention is all a scammer needs to get in. They are playing a numbers game. To borrow a saying about terrorists, scammers only need to be lucky once; we need to be lucky – and vigilant – every time.