Family and friends is used to scam dozens of users every month. When you pay using Family and friends, neither Commishes nor Paypal can help you with getting your money back.
The family and friends mode on Paypal is intended to send money to friends and relatives and does not offer payment protection. It is impossible to open a dispute a family and friends payment and you cannot report the recipient of the payment for scamming you. If you pay for a commission using Family and friends and do not receive art in return you've lost the money.
If an artist requires you to use family and friends please report them immediately. Do not interact with the artist at all.
Also, refer to the safe buying guidelines that will help you protect yourself against other bad practices.
First of all, you're doing the community a service. Malicious users usually attempt to contact dozens of potential victims at once. You're probably not the only person being involved in a scam, and reporting them to avoid them from involving other users will not only protect you but also protect others who may not be paying attention.
By reducing the attack surface of these scams you contribute to making them less appealing to scammers. If a scammer manages to scam a few users with a new account they will likely try again. If you report them right away, their scam will be less effective and they will be discouraged.
Also, you protect yourself. Paying using Goods and services provides you with payment protection from Paypal. You should not give up this privilege, under no circumstance.
Scammers are crafty, they will attempt to make up reasons why they need you to pay using Family and friends. First of all, no reason is valid. But here are a few common ones:
Sorry. There's no way to put it mildly. There's nothing you, Commishes or Paypal can do about this. You're out of your money.
Patreon, Boosty, GoFundMe, Ko-Fi and similar services are not payment providers. They are tip jars. Sending money using any of these services is permanent and irreversible, just like Paypal Family and friends. When sending money with Boosty or Patreon you are sending it as a gift. You cannot undo the payment and rely on the other party to refund you if anything goes wrong.
Due to the recent conflict in Ukraine, many Russian artists have been driven off of Paypal and some have been forced to use Boosty. While this is true, it does not make the services inherently safe. Be careful!
Here are some common red flags to detect scams when using tip jars. These are common to most auctions, but you should be extra careful when using these services.
If you don't feel confident, reach out to a moderator or ask on the support channel on our discord. Do not let a seller rush you into sending money when using these services. Legitimate artists won't feel threatened if you ask a moderator for help.
Remember. Tip jar payments are final. You cannot dispute them using Paypal or your bank, and Commishes cannot help you. If you got scammed or were sold a stolen adoptable we're unable to help you. All we can do is warn you ahead of time!