A little while ago, I shared a project I did here. It was a combo VCR - TV I modeled and shaded. The problem is that I discovered that someone took this image and is pretending to sell this specific model of TV… Of cours, it is not possible and I’m pretty sure that this person is just stealing money or information of their costumers by using my work.
Worst of all, I know that they took it here… On this very website. Just to be precise, they even used the name of the topic to create this item in their store… Understand me, I’m not complaining about Blender Artist. It is not their fault! But I’m still wondering what I sould do with it… Do you have an idea?
I would also make some prevention : check regularly if someone is not stealing your work. It happens too often, sadly!
If you are currious, here is the website that is trying to sell my TV… o.O Even if it is not a real one!
My honest advice? Unless it’s on a mainstream part of the internet where people might actually find it (i.e. well known marketplaces etc…) then just ignore it.
My 3D files are placed on Etsy quite regularly, and I’ll normally politely ask them to take it down, which works nine times out of ten.
But I’ve also found the same models on other marketplaces which I’ve never heard of, and so I chose to ignore it, as it seems so obscure compared to other sources.
I mean, it sucks, especially if using your asset to mislead etc… (like in your case), but unless you want to go through the process of having it taken down, it’s just not normally worth it in my opinion unless - as I say - it’s a well known part of the internet.
You can try to send them an email or something, and politely request they don’t use your image, but chances are, there won’t be anyone at the other end anyway…
Well that is defiantly a scam. It looks like they are using your image to sell a “product” that does not exist. God help anyone who actually sends money to those people.
I am not sure what to recommend, the whole “shop” comes into mind as a total scam. If you look at other products they all have the same price range (was 80 now 26) and the same Corney 4.5, 5 star reviews
“The goods arrived, the quality is good”
“Repeat customers, I highly recommend this”
I presume they are just putting up images from the web, writing there own reviews and asking for money for in-existent products with no intention of sending anything to anyone.
If you really feel like it what I would do is tell Amazon that the shop is a scam, but as Magnavis says it could be more hassle than benefit. I can understand your frustration.
I would complain directly to Amazon not the shop as I think the whole thing is a scam. Amazon is hosting it and should be responsible, also they will care more than the scammers for their own credibility.
The fact they are using your image basically is what it is, nothing much you can really do about it. I mean you could try contacting them and ask it to be taken down, but since they very much look like a total scam, the chances of them caring is basically zero.
It’s not like they have the actual model files or anything like that, and much like AI training, they just scrapped the web, found your render and used it, without even realising the stupidity of using the website name and thread title as if its an actual product name.
As for the scam side of it all, I guess that really comes down to how you feel about scams or this one in particular and if you want to try and do anything about it.
You could, look up the domain name registration, contact who is in charge of issuing those domains and report it as a scam site.
You could check out the exact payment methods they are using and contact them to tell them its a likely scam and people may well soon be asking for money back once their TV’s never arrive.
Some governments have scam watch reporting services, etc, tho that may be more geared towards those that are actual victims.
Or you could just decide it’s not worth wasting your time and maybe go make a vintage Hi-Fi system and see if they try to sell that as well, HAHA.
That website is a scam to begin with. Probably somewhere in China. I recognize the typical layout and typos throughout their website. Links and references to the customer support is a scam. Listings and rating for the site are non existent. They’ll probably be shut down soon and open up again with a new name. This guy here on YouTube is one of many scammer busters that I follow. You should watch a few of his videos.
My opinion is that you do not have a whole lot to worry about. That website pays for nothing. I bet all of their images are pirated on there. In fact I did a GOOGLE image and all 7 out of 8 items I searched were pirated from other legitimate websites.
The overall risk of that is likely low. Scammers like this are known to frequently steal other people’s art to use for the product image, and the URL doesn’t exactly suggest a legitimate site. The average person looking to buy assets will never see this site, and the phishy* title combined with the phishy URL should be a warning sign to the average internet denizen unlucky enough to find this site that it is not a legitimate listing or a legitimate site. I’d guess it wasn’t even uploaded by a human, just scraped and re-uploaded by a bot.
* I know how to spell fishy properly, but when the goal is to defraud users users and phish them into compromising their info, phishy feels more appropriate.
