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Did you get a message on social from an “artist” asking to pay you for permission to paint your photo? It’s a scam. They don’t want to pay you — they want to take your money.

Young adults report this scam begins with a direct message on social media from someone who says they like your photo and want to pay you thousands of dollars to use it. Next, they’ll send you a check. They’ll tell you to deposit it, take some money out to send to the artist for supplies, and keep the rest. They may promise to reimburse any money you send back. (But they never will because it's a scam.)

While the check may look real and the funds may initially show up in your bank account, the check’s fake. By the time the bank realizes it, you’ll be out the money you sent the scammer and owe the bank any money you withdrew.

How do you spot this scam? Here’s the takeaway: If someone you don’t know sends you a check and asks you to send money back to them or to someone else, it’s a scam. It’s best to only deposit checks from people you know and trust.

Learn more about how to spot fake check scams.

If you spot a scam, report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. And if you think you’ve paid a scammer, here's what to do.

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picture of check and money

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The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

  • We won’t post off-topic comments, repeated identical comments, or comments that include sales pitches or promotions.
  • We won’t post comments that include vulgar messages, personal attacks by name, or offensive terms that target specific people or groups.
  • We won’t post threats, defamatory statements, or suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity.
  • We won’t post comments that include personal information, like Social Security numbers, account numbers, home addresses, and email addresses. To file a detailed report about a scam, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

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