Artist Scam Exposed: Full Breakdown & Transcript

[00:01] unfortunate situation and therefore being unable to deliver commissions or is this something more? Let's delve into the situation of this artist Dear Sage in the bookish space. And again, before we get into it, please be respectful and

[00:15] So, this kicked off essentially on threads with a bunch of discourse between artists kind of hinting, "Hey, you know, there's this artist that I blah blah blah blah blah." People started convening a little bit more. So,

[00:27] there is this author Abigail Schmit writing, "Authors, I need advice. An taking a while on my art. So, I was checking in recently. She was already paid but has now deleted her entire accounts. This wasn't an overnight

[00:41] she's been communicating back and forth for a while. I'm just worried that I'm out of what I paid now. Help." So, somebody asked, "Do you have a way to the author says it was all through Instagram, so no. Another person says,

[00:55] and dispute the payment as you never receive what you paid. If they sent you an invoice, there should be terms on the invoice which you can also use as proof. Did you pay the full amount or half?" And the author says, "Full." That to me

[01:08] is already a bit of a red flag. Whenever you're asked to pay up front in full for a service, I think it's a bit of a red flag. Now again, I do think that artists should be paid somewhat before, you know, a project has been worked on

[01:22] people cancel midway and then you spent time working on this project and you should get paid fairly for it. So, what people will do is like a half up front and then half finished etc. like that. But when an artist asks for full payment

[01:35] up front, sometimes it can lead to a situation where whether intentionally or commission but then they spent the money. So, now they will be unable to spent. It just leads to a really tricky situation all around. Typically, it's a

[01:49] again, I'm not blaming the author at all because like paying a full up front, you artist. This is just to protect you. But another person in the comments said, "Hi, as far as I know, Sage's account was suspended and she's trying to reach

[02:02] everyone now through emails." So, the author says, "Thank you." And it kind of days ago, another person made a post. This person's name is Marie, and they write, "I never thought I would post this one day, but I just got scammed by

[02:15] an artist. She took my deposit and disappeared. She was supposed to work on deactivated her account. Messages aren't available anymore, but if anybody recognizes her or her work, please help. I don't know what to do. I included her

[02:28] Philippines and she was always posting about needing help to pay for her cat's her artwork, and these are some messages. So, this artist sells also like pre-mades. So, OP writes, "I'm so jealous of the person that got her and

[02:42] sent a pre-made. I wanted this art so much, haha. I hope you make more Some of the messages from Sage we can't see because the account is gone, but they're messaging back and forth, and then Sage says, "I will think you love."

[02:55] talking about a commission that's due. Then in June, OP writes, "Hello, I hope going through and I feel for you. Heartbreak is difficult. I hope you're bit behind on clients, too. Please let me know if you don't think you'll be

[03:09] able to make it on the date we set so I can prepare and find somebody else so I can publish my book on time." And Sage says, "No worries, love. I will start our project on June 11th." And OP says, "Great. Thank you for the update." And

[03:21] they had paid 150 USD. They also add, "Her at was dearest Sage." Another what I've seen, there are mentions of their account getting suspended so they to get word around, but I don't know what came about it." And OP says, "Yes,

[03:35] account was suspended, she could have still reached out another way. It still sounds a bit dodgy. I'm so sad. I really trusted her." And the commenter says, guessing she was doing business through Instagram DMs so she can't email

[03:48] clients. A lot of people posted about her, and another artist said it was her doesn't know how to reach out. And OP says, "No worries, thank you. As far as transaction and see where the investigation will lead. This is not

[04:01] easily on Instagram. Thank you very frustrating if you have a commission in the works and the artist's account just disappears out of nowhere. I mean, random suspensions can happen. It's not

[04:14] artists specifically. From what I see, it happens a lot more to people who do like cosplay or like OF content because Instagram is a very restrictive in those regards. Can randomly happen to artists though, but still, if you have like

[04:27] hundreds of dollars tied up in multiple commissions because this is the cheapest in the upper hundreds, closer to like 7-800. I would maybe hope you would put some enthusiasm in reaching out to

[04:39] communicate cuz that's a lot of money up in the air. But we also don't know about circumstances, and from what it looks like that the artist was in some situations where they had close relative pass away alongside their cat being ill.

[04:52] There are also situations where there have been cases, I'm not saying in this case, but there have been cases where artists have made up situations to make excuses for why they're late on things, right? But sometimes life is weird, and

[05:05] personally, my cats recently got sick, and I have a close family member that's had two strokes. So, when it rains, it pours. Sometimes it happens. But more stuff came out. We have another user, a user on Threads named the 336 Writer,

[05:20] by email as of recent and you can't answer my email about my over $900 worth be pissed off. I'm going to be extra pissed off because you may be sympathetic with you while you probably weren't planning on finishing the work I

[05:35] and less sympathetic, Sage, and I'm off because I'm going to get my money back. This is about dearest Sage." And Philippines, the bank transfers happen through Wise. Wise will most likely deny

[05:49] have to dispute it with your bank. I'm seeing other authors looking for their than that. You can't give me my commission, nor can you actually give me the poses and the structures of your pre-mades by tracing other people's

[06:04] artwork, which interesting. You don't answer emails from people who paid you money, but you can send me messages to try to hurry me because you haven't you weren't going to do anyway. You have people sign up for a platform to send

[06:16] you money. The platform was Wise because your PayPal was most likely, to my knowledge, flagged as fraudulent. You were so quick to add up what I will have to pay you with commercial fees, but you weren't ever going to do it, were you?

[06:28] Okay, I'm actually ticked off. So, their commission actually started in January, enthusiastic, you know, "Hey, still haven't received the payment, love." And let me read you. Hey, I sent it. It's under my Wise. I'll send the

[06:41] screenshot." And Sage when I was doing the math for how much the commission was the math for how much the commission was cost $516 USD. And OP adds, the next day yesterday, dear Sage got a lot of money from authors that commissioned her and

[06:54] that we were supposed to get. Two of my disputes were denied, so I'm indeed out of $700. Mine failed, but if your bank or your is more lenient, try and dispute your payments because Wise won't get your

[07:08] money back. I'm going to cry now. Oh my god." So, this one was for $683, also denied. So, it's a total of actually like 800. Oh, man. Another

[07:20] person says, "This might be the third one that I saw with this amount of the author says, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was that high because I had like five character portraits. On top of things, it's not like I'm wealthy, so most of

[07:33] it stings more. I'm just going to try to work and move forward because if I mope, suggests calling Wise, but unfortunately in the author's situation, because Sage received the money and it was beyond 60 days, wise can't get the money back.

[07:47] Instagram that she was going through a lot of financial and personal problems, but this is like the fourth person who hasn't received any of their commissions in months, and it's a nasty situation. I'm so sorry." And next up we have

[07:59] another person. So this is an author named author Michelle Love writing, "Let hate, merely enlighten other authors so they can be aware. I commissioned Daria Sage January 2026 for two pre-made commissions. They said it'd have them in

[08:14] mid-March. I paid $700 up front for these pieces. They never came. Sage kept giving excuses, and for the most part I Unfortunately, I became increasingly frustrated when Sage kept posting about

[08:27] taking new commissions and pre-mades while my pieces were significantly behind, as were some people's from 2025. Whether this was intentional or merely unprofessional, no one can say. At the end of May I told Daria Sage I wanted a

[08:41] refund. She told me she would send it in 30 days. A few days after I sent that disappeared. She did reach out to me ghosted me. She hasn't responded to my emails, and I haven't gotten a refund.

[08:54] At this point I disputed it with wise. They denied the dispute. I also days ago, so we'll see what happens there. So attached were DMs where the about poses. Not sure if you filled up slots yet, but I was interested in doing

[09:08] both of these." So they have some options. And Sage says, "All slots are to sleep, but they're going to set up wise tomorrow. And they say, "I can send full payment up front to help with the pet babies." And Sage says, "Thank you

[09:22] so much." So the author wanted two pre-mades, it was going to be $700, and then Sage sends photos of her cat. So the wise link was sent, which was to an another author had also posted, so we know this is Sage. Then And author said

[09:35] verify their stuff. Sage is super enthusiastic and is like, let me know received the payment, love. So, they're asking about when the art should be maybe mid-March, but they're pretty flexible. Sage says, yep, March is

[09:48] forth. Then the author sent some references. That was all in January. So, now, 3 months later in April, the author is like, hey, I want to follow up on these two pieces. And Sage says, hey, with everything going on, I need to move

[10:01] some of my pendings. Is it okay if I finish yours on April 25th? I will start author says, that's perfectly okay. Thank you so much. April 26th, the author checks in. Hi, I want to check in on the status. Sage says, hi, love. I

[10:14] will start yours today. So, May 7th, an updated sketch was sent. And then, you know, some more progress pictures were sent May 7th. Nothing else. So, a couple weeks later, May 29th, the author checks in again and the artist likes it. And

[10:28] being behind. Recently, I lost power connection, which made it difficult for me to work. I want to assure you your commission is still a priority for me. first week of June if that works for you, love. But if you need me sooner,

[10:40] please let me know. I'm also doing other pendings in between. Please know I don't I'll be sending sketch updates tomorrow as well so you can see the progress and you for bearing with me. I really appreciate it. This will be the last

[10:53] time I will be adjusting our deadline and I will deliver no matter what. I my artwork in exchange for the delays. Heart heart heart. The author thanks for the update. And then, nothing. So, June 12th, the author finally is being

[11:07] frustrated saying, hey, I paid you $700 for two artworks January 22nd and I got nothing. There's multiple delays, no proactive communication. And at this no longer be used to market the book since the book is now out. You

[11:21] delivered mid-March and now it's June 12th. On May 30th, you promised sketch updates the next day and nothing. I want a full refund. And ghosted. That is so >> Another person, author Katie West, writes, "I also went through this with

[11:36] funeral announcement for a family member as an excuse. I also disputed with Wise, money back since it was an international transaction, but they shut down their refunded at this point." >> Yes, right? Authors and everyone wants

[11:51] because sometimes life throws a screwball at you, and there's nothing somebody gets sick, your pet gets ill, you have to take them to the vet. It happens. But like from January until now, how are there so many things that

[12:06] are causing delays to where you can't manage that, you know? Like a January commission was not completed. There was another January commission. There are completed. And these are all in the couple hundreds of dollars. And beyond

[12:19] sent. There wasn't even a sketch that was sent. We did see a progress photo, but the artist never received even a sketch, right? So, on one hand, you want point where it's kind of like, "Hey, like where is the line?" Because at this

[12:34] were a few other people in the comments talking about their experience. Another person said, "I'm so sorry to hear this. I commissioned Sage last year, and while there were some delays, I did get my art in the end. But I've seen a lot of posts

[12:46] other authors reach out to me who are in a similar situation. I'm really gutted pretty much only using two artists I've Another person said, "I had a similar experience. Paid for some pre-mades last

[13:00] year. Excuse after excuse after excuse as to why they weren't ready yet while still offering pre-mades and new commissions." Like, what are the odds your cat is ill, your family member, unfortunately, I'm so sorry, had passed

[13:13] away, you take on a lot of commissions, can't complete any of them, and then also open up more pre-mades and more commissions at the same time, and then somehow your account unfairly gets suspended, and your Wise account

[13:28] apparently is also suspended. Like what are the odds all of these are happening? And more so to me, this is starting to read a bit like a scammer because too something intentional. And now the artist is just gone. Their Instagram is

[13:41] gone, their Threads account is gone. So what can these authors do at the end of with their bank and hopefully hopefully the bank sides with them. Although already we've seen in some cases unfortunately the bank didn't. So that

[13:54] absolutely sucks, man. It just sucks that it can be a situation where people make a way like this and then other people get left in the wake of their pieces, you know, don't have the promo material for their books and are out

[14:08] hundreds of dollars. So what are your thoughts on this entire situation? Do unfortunate circumstance after unfortunate circumstance kind of this was something much more deliberate and much more malicious? I would love to

[14:22] section down below with respect. Don't bully anybody, but man, this is such an If you like this video, I appreciate it if you like and subscribe. Don't forget art there for streamers and creators. I also have a coffee with free resources

[14:36] working on some merch. I was going to release it soon and it's basically done. my grandmother's ill like I mentioned prior, keep her in your hearts, guys. It I might have some scuffed videos from my family home. And with that, I hope to

[14:50] catch you guys in my Twitch streams or in another one of my videos. Peace.