Meaning & use
artist scams
Last updated
Meanings
nounplural
dishonest plans that trick artists, especially by pretending to buy, show, or promote their work.
Grammar: Always plural in this meaning; the singular 'artist scam' names one such trick.
Patterns
- artist scams target someone
- fall for an artist scam
- report an artist scam
Many artist scams start with a message offering to buy a painting for more than the asking price.
She warned other painters about artist scams after a fake gallery asked her for an upfront fee.
Online artist scams often use stolen photos to make the buyer look real.
nounplural
tricks in which someone pretends to be an artist in order to cheat people.
Grammar: Here the scammer claims to be an artist, so the phrase means 'scams by artists'.
Patterns
- be accused of artist scams
- a series of artist scams
Police uncovered a group of artist scams that sold worthless sketches as valuable originals.
The newspaper described his artist scams as carefully planned lies about his training.
Word forms
| singular | artist scam |
|---|
Common combinations
- fall for an artist scam
- New sellers often fall for an artist scam before they learn the warning signs.
- report an artist scam
- You should report an artist scam to the platform where it happened.
- artist scams target
- Artist scams target people who share their work publicly.
- a wave of artist scams
- A wave of artist scams followed the launch of the new marketplace.
- spot an artist scam
- Learning to spot an artist scam can save you money and time.
Synonyms and how they differ
- art fraud
- Broader and more formal; it covers any dishonest dealing in art, not only tricks aimed at artists.
- con
- More general and informal; it can describe any trick, while 'artist scam' names the victim or setting.
- swindle
- Stronger and often about money lost; 'artist scam' may involve fees, fake sales, or stolen work.
Word family
Commonly confused: artist scams or artist's scams?
artist scams vs artist's scams
The possessive form means scams belonging to or made by one artist, not scams that target artists generally.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'artist scams' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase is plural, so it takes 'are'; option 0 uses a singular verb, option 2 mixes a singular noun with a plural verb, and option 3 has an incorrect singular noun after 'new'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “artist scams”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.