How a Craigslist Scam Turned Me Into a Professional Photographer

Hello there. My name is Joe, and I’m a professional, full-time photographer hailing from Brooklyn, New York.

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2025-1-8 22:57

A Woman Lost $50,000 to a Deepfake Elon Musk in AI Romance Scam

A woman was scammed of $50,000 by a deepfake Elon Musk who sent her AI-generated photos and told her he loved her over a deepfake video call. [Read More] petapixel.com »

2024-4-26 13:11

MrBeast Warns Fans of iPhone Giveaway Scam With His Deepfake

MrBeast has warned that a video for an iPhone giveaway that appears to be fronted by him is actually an artificial intelligence (AI) generated deepfake scam. [Read More] petapixel.com »

2023-10-4 17:35

Wedding Photographer Accused of Pulling ‘Family Emergency’ Scam

A wedding photographer from Kansas stands accused of "scamming" couples and robbing them of memories of their big day by faking a family emergency. She has, allegedly, done this multiple times. [Read More] petapixel.com »

2023-5-2 22:31

Leitz Cine Warns of Potential Scam Targeting its Customers

Leitz Cine, a "sister company" of Leica, has issued a warning to customers that a "scammer organization" has purchased a domain name similar to the official company website and could attempt to contact them via email impersonating official employees. [Read More] petapixel.com »

2023-1-10 21:56

Walmart Sold a Super-Cheap Scam SSD That Fakes a 30TB Capacity

Until earlier this week, Walmart was offering what appeared to be an incredible deal: a portable SSD available in a variety of sizes from 500GB up to 30TB for as little as $18. petapixel.com »

2022-9-2 18:01

My Photography Business Was Targeted by a Fake Check Scam

What would you do for this check? I'm photographer Dave Koch, and this is the story of how my real estate photography business was recently targeted by a fake check scammer. [Read More] petapixel.com »

2022-4-7 19:17

Photo Shoot Fraud: Don’t Get Taken by a Scam Like This

I’m photographer Jay P. Morgan from The Slanted Lens. In this video and article, I’ll share with you an actual photoshoot fraud case and what to look for so that you don’t get taken by a fraudulent scam like it. petapixel.com »

2021-2-10 21:47

Beware This Wikipedia Photo Copyright Scam

Heads up, photographers (and content publishers): scammers are apparently now changing the copyright ownership data on Wikipedia photographs in order to trick people who use the photos legally. Photographer Kyle Cassidy took to Twitter yesterday to share how the scam works after being contacted by writer Eric San Juan about his photo. Eric had used […] petapixel.com »

2020-12-18 20:01

Instagram phishing scam uses seemingly legit account to get user passwords

An elaborate phishing scam has hit some Instagram users who warn that the content appears, at least initially, to be a legitimate message from the platform. The scam involves sending a private message to Instagram users, warning them that they have infringed upon an image's copyright and they need to fill out a form to avoid having their account suspended. dpreview.com »

2020-7-2 20:46

This Instagram Copyright Infringement Notice is a Phishing Scam

If you ever receive a direct message on Instagram informing you that copyright infringement has been detected in your photos, beware: it may actually be a cleverly-disguised phishing scam. This particular scam was first reported by Fstoppers writer Andy Day, who received a copyright infringement message that was purportedly from The North Face Chile (@thenorthfacechile). […] petapixel.com »

2020-6-30 21:40

PSA: This Old Photography Scam is Making the Rounds Yet Again

A well-known photography scam is making the rounds again, attempting to prey on desperate photographers who have been out of work during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you receive a suspicious request from a potential “client,” followed by “overpayment” of your fee, don’t fall for it! The scam was brought to light in a Reddit post […] petapixel.com »

2020-6-13 21:05

‘Overpayment’ Scam Leaves Wedding Photographer with $4,600 in Debt

A British Columbia-based wedding photographer is out $4,600 after falling prey to something called the “overpayment” scam—an insidious scam that often targets wedding and event photographers, and has allegedly cost its victims nearly $5 million this year alone. petapixel.com »

2019-9-5 20:52

eBay Scam: Buyer Steals Camera by Pretending to Receive Wrong Product

When it comes to selling your used camera gear online, many consider eBay to be one of the safer options. But as one photographer found out recently, there’s a new scam that gets around eBay’s “protections” and could cost you thousands of dollars and your camera gear. Liz Moughton—a photo intern who has worked at […] petapixel.com »

2019-7-22 17:04

How an Elaborate International Scam is Making the Rounds Among Instagrammers and Photographers

It all started with an email from Wendi Murdoch. She claimed that she had found us through a personal recommendation from a senior editor at Conde Naste Traveler. We had just finished talking with Conde Nast Traveler about doing some Instagram featured work on both my and Zory’s accounts, so the timing made sense. Flattered, […] petapixel.com »

2019-1-17 19:57

Kodak Bitcoin Mining ‘Scam’ Killed by SEC

Back in January, the tech world balked when a Kodak-branded Bitcoin miner called the Kodak KashMiner was unveiled at the CES trade show in Las Vegas. It seems that photography and cryptocurrency enthusiasts weren’t the only ones that balked: the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) actually blocked the KashMiner from moving forward. BBC News […] petapixel.com »

2018-7-17 21:02

Is Kodak Coin a Scam?

Kodak Coin was announced to much confusion last week at CES. Beyond they coin, they also announced a mining computer, that most discarded as a complete scam, as it didn’t take into account the average of a 15% decline in revenue per month while mining bitcoin. canonrumors.com »

2018-1-16 22:04

Beware the ‘Scam’ of Vanity Galleries, Photographer Warns

If your dream as a photographer has always been to have your work exhibited in a big city gallery, you might want to be aware of “vanity galleries.” Here’s a 6-minute video in which photographer Mathieu Stern warns this type of gallery, which he calls a “scam.” Stern was recently contacted by a gallery in […] petapixel.com »

2017-10-24 21:28

I Almost Lost a Nikon D850 to a Scam on eBay

This is the story of how I recently almost lost a Nikon D850 DSLR to a scam on eBay. Scammers are now targeting higher value eBay sales with fake PayPal phishing emails. When it comes to buying and selling goods and services on the Internet today, the options are endless. The market that was once […] petapixel.com »

2017-9-29 23:29

Beware This New Free Drone Scam on Instagram

Beware. There’s a new scam on Instagram that preys on people who would like a free camera drone. I was messaged by a scam account, and here’s how it works. The account that messaged me was @birdviewdrones. petapixel.com »

2017-7-28 20:00

This is What a Bad Reviews Extortion Scam Looks Like

Photographers have been targeted by a new “bad reviews” extortion scam in recent times. Here’s a look at what it’s like to be targeted by this type of nasty scam. Dallas, Texas-based wedding DJ Kelly Hooper-Taylor shared an iPhone Messages screenshot from a photographer who was contacted by someone demanding money and threatening to leave […] petapixel.com »

2017-6-10 19:49