How I Was About to Get Scammed as an Entrepreneur.

I like to think I’m pretty savvy. Like most of you, I’m constantly swimming through scams, fluff, and “too good to be true” messages—and usually my internal nonsense-detection is solid.

But every now and then, something slips through because it’s that well-crafted.

Not long ago, a scammer targeted one of the longtime artists we represent and impersonated our Head of Gallery Operations (don’t ask me how). Using our identity, they initiated a convincing, extended email thread with the artist—professional tone, detailed context, believable cadence—expressing strong interest in purchasing his latest body of work.

In hindsight, the information needed to make it all feel “real” wasn’t hard to gather. What made this scheme dangerous wasn’t just the facts—it was the sequence: the confidence, the timing, the gradual escalation.

At one point, they even instructed the artist to have the works individually framed—supposedly for display at a museum or art collective. Trusting that the purchase was coming through TERAVARNA, the artist paid out of pocket to frame, pack, crate, and prep everything for shipment.

The bubble finally burst when he called us to share the tracking information—just in time, because the work was about to go out that day.

He kept his art (thankfully), but still lost thousands in framing, crating, and shipping costs—plus the psychological gut-punch of realizing he’d been manipulated.

It’s the most egregious scam we’ve experienced to date—and a reminder that trust can be exploited even in the most relationship-driven industries.

If you’re an artist, gallery, or collector: please verify any high-stakes transaction with a known phone number or an existing contact method which is right in the footer. One quick call can save months of damage.