In Oklahoma, tattoo artists are sounding the alarm: fake accounts are appearing en masse on TikTok, stealing other people’s work, promising clients “special discounts,” but in reality, they just take the prepayment and disappear. Victims come to real studios with a ready receipt in hand and an empty spot on their skin, while the reputation of those who have spent years building trust is being ruined.
How the scheme works
Oklahoma-based artist Dustin Hale has personally filed about six reports against accounts impersonating him in the past year. The fake profiles look almost identical to the originals: they feature the same portraits, the same videos of the work process, and the same style. The difference lies in the details that an average user rarely notices. According to Hale, scammers upload stolen content in batches – a dozen videos at once in one evening, whereas a real artist publishes their work gradually, as it’s created.
When Hale posted a breakdown of the scheme, hundreds of people responded in the comments. Among them were tattoo artists from other states who had encountered the same problem. “It’s nationwide,” he explained. “Not just Oklahoma, not just one region. It’s nationwide.”