CandyWolfie/Jelli the panda

[0acorn0.livejournal.com]

Firstly, I want to note that I did want to avoid doing this. I have always been an optimist in people, but I've lost too much money as well as other artists. And I've been asked by several artists to make this post.


WHO: CandyWolfie (http://www.furaffinity.net/user/candywolfie)

WHERE: FurAffinity.

WHAT: 7 transactions for digital art from me (http://www.furaffinity.net/user/acorn), 3 from Onta (http://furaffinity.net/user/onta), 1 from Demicoeur (http://www.furaffinity.net/user/demicoeur), 1 from Ali (http://furaffinity.net/user/ali), 6 custom designs from WolfSpazz (http://www.furaffinity.net/user/wolfspazz)

WHEN: Most of these payments and agreements happened between December of 2010, and March. The chargebacks began around March 19.

PROOF: Unfortunately, most of my dealings with him were over AIM and I didn't think to screencap as he paid up front, was friendly, and was easy to work with. I do have a screenshot of the chargebacks for every transaction made by him.

My Screenshot from the chargebacks:
http://i56.tinypic.com/1q1zrk.png

Ali's screenshots:
http://i56.tinypic.com/1hrq.jpg
http://i54.tinypic.com/f1ld2g.jpg

Screens from him proving he can't use his paypal (he's said he can't use either of the two he has) now (provided by Ali)
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o25/cmorabito1590/Screenshot2011-04-16at64531PM.png
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o25/cmorabito1590/Screenshot2011-04-16at64558PM.png


EXPLAIN: I was first approached about a commission from him around the end of December. At the time, I was doing "This can be you" sketches (customizable sketches with predetermined poses). He was easy to work with, and continued buying out these sketches for the next few months.
The work I did for him:
ALL NSFW:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5022068/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5026692/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5049919/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5114708/
There's also one WIP that isn't uploaded yet, one that hasn't begun work, and another predetermined pose that he purchased.


Ali's transaction:
$15 for this design:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5021001/

Wolfspazz's transaction:
$60 for these designs:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5061678/

Onta's Transactions:
I'm not sure on price, auctioned livestream drawings:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5144322/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5009224/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4993705/


In march I began to have money taken from my account and saw that I had disputes open. I IMd him immediately about it, and he said he had no idea what was going on. Each day after I began to receive more and more and kept in touch with him about it. He promised me he was calling paypal and his credit card company, trying to deal with the things happening to my account.
I had no idea it was happening to other artists till a week later. He's deleted a number of journals that try to explain the situation from his end. Unfortunately, I didn't screencap. I was trying to remain positive through this whole thing and believed him to be honest.


As I receive screens from the other artists, I'll edit this entry.


Edit:
He's admitted to using his parents' card:
http://i.imgur.com/B0HDe.png (provided by Dipper)
More screens:
http://i.imgur.com/tIPGg.png
http://i.imgur.com/lDhwB.png

Comments

[torinir2.livejournal.com]

All I can say is that it's about time this guy got posted here. Saw what he did on FD_2. Major bad juju from CandyWolfie.

[deathweasel.livejournal.com]

Do you have any how I can get invited to FD_2?

[purpule.livejournal.com]

It really looks like a scam, because I have never heard of this money chargeback thing before. I presume they paid with a card that was overdrawn and paypal has found that their payment is actually no good and bounced it.

They have a journal telling their side:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2266252/

[angeling.livejournal.com]

A chargeback means the credit card owner called the credit card company directly and disputed the purchases through there. The CC company then cancels the payments to PayPal, and PayPal in turn cancels the payments to the recipients.

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

Seems like the kid got his had stuck in the cookie jar of his parents credit card, using it against their knowledge to pay for furry porn. It totally sucks this happened to you, but if the parents were the ones to own the card and do the chargebacks chances are that paypal is going to side with them :( I hope I'm wrong but that is what it seems like.
I don't even know what you could have even done to prevent this. Is there anyway you can verify the card being charged rightfully belongs to the person who owns the Paypal account? It just seems he is young and wanted to make his way in the fandom by buying lots of art of himself with out his own money, which now has only proved to damage his reputation and hurt the artists who he paid to do the art.

[latilombax.livejournal.com]

I've noticed this from a few other journals. I have no idea anyone would do such a thing to such amazing artists :/
I'm really sorry to hear about all of this. Now if I were to do commissions (which I'm not sure about), I'll just stay away from him (and even if he PM's for one, I'll just politely turn him down)

[skittlewolf.livejournal.com]

Didn't Dipper get screwed over by this guy too?

[0acorn0.livejournal.com]

Yes, but I'm not sure how much work she did or was going to do for him. So I'm not sure how to list it. I know it was around $80, and then she got hit with some fees.

This is my theory. May or may no be legit.

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

So from looking at that last screen provided by Dipper, he has in his possession one of those parent/child credit card type of deals where the child can go shop without the parent there, but the parent has full control of the card and account.

And instead of him informing his parents of all these big expensive purchases he did himself (since is seems most of them are uhhh adult in nature), or his parents informing him that WHOA MAN he is making way too many of these expensive purchases and needs to quit, they move ahead and pursue chargebacks against each of these artists claiming the charges were fraudulent.

He can scream it wasn't his fault til he's blue in the face, for the fact he A) used a card he did not have sole control over and B) did not explain to his parents what he was doing and that the purchases weren't fraudulent and basically put six artist's in the hole, he's completely responsible for getting that money back to these artists as they fulfilled their ends of the bargain, regardless of what PP or the CCs say. Otherwise, he ought to enjoy his new status as a blacklisted commissioner.

Re: This is my theory. May or may no be legit.

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

Yeah I think that pretty much sums up the entire fiasco and makes the most sense. The shitty thing is these artists are going to be out of hundreds of dollars. Does anyone have the grand total of what the chargebacks have wracked up total for this kid?

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

Also, I know you have it stated there, All NSFW, but could you please bold it and/or just slap the NSFW tag next to all the links? If anyone is a skimmer like me, they just might skim over that tag and get a bit of a... surprise. Haha.

[0acorn0.livejournal.com]

Fixed :)

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

Been waiting and hoping someone would post this. I am absolutely furious about the entire situation, and he hasn't breathed a word about paying anyone back (At least nothing that seems sincere).

My first interaction with him was when I saw he was trying to get a freebie out of Nim-Nim, and he'd already won something and she politely reminded him that he can only ever have one. So he mysteriously said he "forgot" that rule then said it's unfair and that he should have more free art anyways. Basically he was trying to dupe a friend into free art despite having already gotten one.

Since then I haven't trusted him for crap, and in seeing how he is in Ontas livestreams I really feel like he just went totally art-crazy-overboard without caring about the consequences. I hope he DOES pay people back, but until then hed better not buy another damn commission from -anyone-.

[0acorn0.livejournal.com]

From what I gather of what he's told me, he's trying to get his mother to reverse the chargebacks and paypal keeps telling him they've refunded people. I've yet to see mine appear, and am keeping a close eye on it.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

I had a feeling after reading through what he was saying that it was a credit card opened with his parents through their credit line.

I figure that his parents started getting this notifications about paypal charges or they got the bill or a copy of the bill. They either honestly thought that the card was stolen and disputed the charges which can go back further than usual or they figured out what he was doing and decided that they weren't paying for his "entertainment".

Either way I could see how he might not know how this all started but I think that by now he has a pretty good idea of what happened.

I am hoping that he makes good on what he owes and learns to live within his means. It sounds like he got in over his head.

[ashleyvsdestiny.livejournal.com]

Owe up to your parents that you bought $1000 in cartoon animal porn, or say you have no idea what happened and that someone must have stolen the card info? I think it's a safe bet as to which route he went.

That said, this is another of just how bad credit card companies are with charge backs. They'll accept just about EVERYTHING bought online as being 'stolen' if you report it as such. |:

Welp

[ontahb.livejournal.com]

I'm out about 180 bucks :\

Re: Welp

[0acorn0.livejournal.com]

Thanks for letting us know! It really sucks just how much has been taken.

[sovy.livejournal.com]

Have you talked to Paypal about this?

I wonder if he is underage? Awkward!

[0acorn0.livejournal.com]

I disputed the cases and lost. I havent had a chance to email them as of yet.

[taasla.livejournal.com]

You have no idea how happy I am to see this here. I was urging Dip earlier to make this post. Now everyone knows to avoid him. I really don't care if it's his parents who issued the chargebacks or what, the point is people are out a lot of money.

[kadaria.livejournal.com]

Not only that but if the parents are making a credit card in their kid's name they really are responsible for it. When I did equestrian sport as a kid I had a low level credit card tied to my parent's account and the one time that I used it at a movie theater (after riding all day we went out to see a movie but I didn't have cash and honestly thought they wouldn't notice) I caught HELL for it!
I can't imagine what would have happened if I had spent hundreds on furry porn. Sucks to be them, but they should have been paying better attention to how the card was being used.

[puritikoneko.livejournal.com]

Wow... This whole situation is just all kinds of messed up. I feel sorry for every party involved with the exception of the buyer... I mean, if his parents are indeed the ones with the control over the account and money, look at all the money he's spent!

And the artists who put their time and energy into producing commissions for him, only to have the money ripped out from under them. @.@ I especially feel for Dipper, who's already going through a terrible time with everything as it is. I really, REALLY hope that all of the artists get their money back and this kid makes better financial decisions in the future.

[lozpie.livejournal.com]

I completed a commission for CandyWolfie in January and all went smoothly, no chargebacks. I think it's 45 days for a chargeback, so I'm out of the 'danger zone'? Unless it's longer if it's done through the credit card company? It was a clean commission if that makes a difference.

I know this isn't exactly useful, but he was very polite and nice to work with.

[0acorn0.livejournal.com]

He bought commissions from me in December, i still received chargebacks from them. You might wanna keep an eye out just in case

[tobias-radjin.livejournal.com]

If I was you, you should take him to Small claims court and sue him, his parents or both to get your money back. Anyway, I hope you'll have a good outcome.

[0acorn0.livejournal.com]

Dipper is in law school and is setting things in motion to have some sort of legal resolution

[http://users.livejournal.com/_patches_/]

Ugh, what a mess. Glad a post was finally made about him. I do hope that this can somehow eventually be resolved. This kid needs to be put to a stop. I do hope a lot of people blacklist him.

[casteddreams.livejournal.com]

I was hoping to see this posted! If anything I think artists should be notified of this issue, so I think it was very good of you to post this. Thanks for that. :)

Either way, I do hope this gets resolved, and you and everyone else gets their money back! Good luck! <3

[jinoki.livejournal.com]

I certainly hope he wasn't spending his parents money, cause that's pretty low down and dirty. Thanks for the heads up and I hope the artists get the money they're owed.

[angeling.livejournal.com]

I have some experience with PayPal chargebacks. I'll post about them here so people can be aware of the possibility of being scammed in this way - extremely risky if you're taking credit card payments, even more so if it's through PayPal.

Chargebacks mean the credit card holder contacted the CC company and disputed the purchases through there (usually by claiming unauthorized activity, occasionally by claiming they didn't get the goods/service). The CC company cancels the payment to PayPal, which in turn takes the funds from the seller.

Disputing chargebacks for anything other than tangible goods with a proof of shipment to an address verified by PayPal will almost always result in the seller losing the money. PayPal is extremely unhelpful in cases like these, since all it does is try to dispute the chargeback in your stead. Without tangible goods involved you're invariably screwed out of your money, since virtual goods aren't covered by PayPal's seller protection policy (and art/character designs/etc are virtual goods unless you ship the originals or something else to the buyer, and even then if the address isn't verified, you're out of luck).

Like the poster said a few comments earlier - PayPal does not return fees from chargebacks, so you lose your money twice - the money you've been paid is held in full by PayPal, including any fees PayPal took when you received the money - so if you got $10 and paid a $1 fee (effectively getting $9) you'd get $10 held by PayPal - meaning you lose your $9 and another $1. You do, however, get refunded fees if the payments are disputed through PayPal itself and you lose the dispute.

Chargebacks can also take up to 75 days to be resolved.

Bit of advice: If a buyer disputes a payment via chargeback, no matter the outcome, blacklist immediately. Dead ringer for a scammer (unless you actually didn't return the goods) or a card used without permission.

[angeling.livejournal.com]

*didn't send the goods, what. My brain's not all here tonight.

[mel-the-hybrid.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, I remember seeing this guy in my livestream a few times, but only when he wants a freebie. Never actually commissioned me I think (I can't remember actually).

One really huge mess. :T

[prismpawpaw.livejournal.com]

What a way to introduce yourself into a community CandyWolfie.

I feel really sorry for everyone who has been duped. I wish there was a "fund for artists who got duped" or something.

[sigilgoat.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting this. I've been seeing him pop up and I was really hoping someone would come forward here.

[loregryph.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to see this here, since I've been watching it develop the last few days. All I can say is that all the artists involved have my sympathies. When an irresponsible barely-legal kid goes on a shopping spree using accounts that aren't theirs, it never ends well for the people who sold them the goods and had no idea they were using mommy and daddy's money.

I've had to deal with that once myself, but instead of Paypal/credit card, it was a money order for a couple hundred bucks taken from a joint account the 18-year-old kid had with his parents. It rankles me when the parents don't come down on the irresponsible kid and make THEM pay instead of the usual reaction of disputing the charges and harming the people who had nothing to do with their kid's bad decisions.

In short, I sincerely hope that all the artists involved get their well-earned money. The kid needs to learn to own up to his mistakes and not throw the artists under the bus after the fact.

[tobias-radjin.livejournal.com]

I just found out he was a minor back in December 2010. He just turned 18 this year, he must of lied about his age on FA.

[aggro-badger.livejournal.com]

If I had money, I would buy those now orphaned pictures from the artists who worked so hard on them. I would buy them, and post them, and have a new character. :>