Paintarty.com Reviews: Paintarty Scam Arts Store Exposed
Paintarty.com is a fraudulent arts store that lures artists with its ”pay only shipping” Instagram ambassador collab but fails to deliver the items after payments are made.
The first redflag is the Instagram link on paintarty.com which leads you to instagram.com/benusious/ (whose link has been changed). A search on Google showed that the page ‘Benusious’ is currently named Paintarty’ and was formerly Pawbless. A viral scam store that duped pet owners with its ‘pay for only shipping for Bandana‘, and failed to deliver the orders.
Did you receive an Instagram collaboration deal from Paintarty arts store? Beware! it is a scam. We investigated Paintarty.com, below are reasons why It’s a scam, and why you should avoid it at all costs.
Overview of Paintarty.com Scam: Redflags That Stand Out
No Physical Business Address
Paintarty.com has failed to provide its business address on its website. This is a warning sign that shouldn’t be overlooked, as lack of physical address is very common with fraudulent online stores. The absence of address indicate that the owner of the website isn’t genuine, as they prefer to hide behind a wall of anonymity.
Copyright Infringement
Paintarty has posted lots of paintings on their Instagram page but deliberately tagged wrong artists and not the real owners of the work. This is because they’ve not gotten permission from the artists to use their art collections. No legitimate business would make such obvious mistake.
Recently Registered Website
The domain ‘Paintarty.com’ was registered on 21st October 2023. This means the website has been open for barely few months. So the store has no reputation and could easily shut down any time. See website registration details here
Poor Customer Support
Aside from the email address [email protected] the store has not bothered to provide a telephone number with which they can be easily reached via call. Which is quite suspicious for an online store offering ambassador deals.
Too Good To Be True Discount & Sales Offer
The discount margin is too large and unrealistic even on a sale. What this store simply does is use the cheap price as a bait to lure buyers. When people see the low price, they become tempted to take a risk.
What To Do If You’re a Victim of Paintarty Scam
Contact Your bank To Cancel The Transaction and Get a Refund
The first thing you should do is contact your bank to inform them about the fraudulent purchase. Through the chargeback system, you can get your money back from the transaction if you file a dispute claim. You could also request for a credit card freeze. That way, your bank would block any future transactions on your credit card, ensuring that scammers are unable to exploit it.
Update Your Passwords and Enable Two Factor Authentication
The second step you should take is updating your passwords. This should be done if you’ve used the same password you used on this Lennony.com on other websites or applications. You should also go an extra step of enabling two-factor authentication. This would keep you protected from data breech.
Meanwhile, you should beware of any fraudulent email from the store. Do not click on any suspicious link in the email, as it could be a phishing scam. Clicking on the link might install malware on your phone which could compromise your device’s security.
Report the Scam
Report the scam to relevant authorities and organizations. This includes:
- Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3): If you are in the United States, you can file a complaint with the IC3 at https://www.ic3.gov/.
- Your Local Consumer Protection Agency: Contact your local consumer protection agency or the equivalent regulatory body in your country.
- Better Business Bureau (BBB): File a complaint with the BBB if the online store is based in the United States.
Ways To Know If an Online Store is Safe and Legit
Aside from the obvious too good to be true discount sale, here are other ways to identify a scam website;
Recently Registered Website
How old is the website? The domain age of a website tells a lot about a store’s legitimacy or transparency. Websites below 6 months old are often considered unsafe. You can find out a website’s age by checking on Who.is ( a free domain checker tool)
Website Lacks SSL Encryption
find out if the website is secured with SSL encryption. (https and padlock symbols). If the padlock symbol doesn’t appear near the website’s URL, then it means your personal and financial information is at risk at the store.
No Business Address/ Fake Business Address
Does The website provide return address? If Yes (Copy the address and paste on your browser. Google map would show if it is a real warehouse address or a residential address) If the address has also been used by other websites you’d see reviews in search results.
No Reviews Online
Are there customer reviews online? (It is advised that you sit it out if there are no customer reviews of the store. However if you’re not patient enough to wait you can send a mail to us to verify if the store is legit)
Shady or No Returns and Refund policy
If the policy isn’t available or if it isn’t clear, you should quit shopping.
Unsecure methods of Payment
When an online store’s payment methods lack the necessary encryption and security measures to protect customers’ sensitive financial information, it puts you – the shopper at risk of unauthorized transactions.
Conclusion
Paintarty.com is a scam arts store that lure artists with its fake ‘pay just shipping’ Instagram Collab but fails to deliver the items after receiving payments. See warning signs and how to get your money back if you’ve been scammed by this store.