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Just a handful of the scammy sewing supplies companies found
online... |
Almost two years to the day, I received another vexing email about my
origami twist box
project.
Two years after my fight with Dyaneeo.com – now a dead domain that you can buy for $8.98, which must be the ultimate irony – the battle apparently continues. That is, the battle against clueless people who buy products without so much as a whiff at reviews or doing a smidge of "research". By their behaviour, these folks perpetuate the viability of these unscrupulous sites to operate their intellectual property theft "businesses".
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By the way, this is not all about me. The other designers whose work had been affected two years ago when I first came across this scam are – for the most part – still victims of this ongoing theft.
Apparently, Google has long enabled users to search for images, but
it's only been in the past couple of years that I've paid attention to
it. It can be quite helpful in determining if a site is "scammy."
If the image is a composite like this one, you can select the part that you want to search for, in this case the image on the left. (The white corner outlines can be stretched out to select as much or as little as you want.)
In terms of getting your money back, it's unlikely that you'll be able to recoup what you've spent, because these companies will usually send you something and it will be difficult to make a case that they didn't send you what you thought you were promised. But by all means, take it up with your payment processor (PayPal, etc.) and see where it goes. The bottom line, though, is to spread the word via whatever social media means you have at hand and put these companies out of business.
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While I was scrolling through chellosewingshop's PDF offerings, I found one that was new to me (below).
The individual also submitted this comment that I declined to approve for
posting:
"I bought your pattern and am very disappointed! The pieces aren't labeled
and I only received 2 pieces and you reference way more than 2 pieces.
Also, there is no link for pdf instructions so this is basically worthless
and I paid $15!! Help me out and tell me where to get the pdf and the
other template pieces!!"
At least when I got a message
about this project being stolen from me in July 2022, it was from someone who didn't use five exclamation marks.
Two years after my fight with Dyaneeo.com – now a dead domain that you can buy for $8.98, which must be the ultimate irony – the battle apparently continues. That is, the battle against clueless people who buy products without so much as a whiff at reviews or doing a smidge of "research". By their behaviour, these folks perpetuate the viability of these unscrupulous sites to operate their intellectual property theft "businesses".
While Dyaneeo is gone, other sites that are essentially copies of
it continue to thrive. Before responding to my exclamation point loving
emailer, I did a quick search and arrived at a site called
itvalore.com, which is selling plastic templates for that twist box, along with
"instructions".
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| I'm hoping nobody actually spends that much on pieces of plastic! |
You may or may not recall, but the photo mashup is the same as what
Dyaneeo used. That is still my photo of my box, doctored up with
coloured pencils. (And the other images are also stolen from other
sources. It's not like these thieves bothered to make the actual project
and take their own photos.)
Days later, I found these other sites.
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| This from calvariotailor.com (its previous name of Devoncie can be found all over the site)... |
By the way, I chose the "full meal deal" on the complete set of templates
when I took each screenshot, meaning that the buyer will supposedly be
able to make three or four different sizes of these things. I find the
price(s) astounding, meaning if these companies are indeed finding enough
people to hand over fifty bucks or more for these templates, I can totally
understand why they sell them. (From a money-making perspective, not an
ethical one.)
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| This is from Handicoo.com... |
Notice how all of these sites use the same photos? This will come
in handy when I later demonstrate how Google's
image search can help find these sites.
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| This is from lxdsewing.com... |
After encountering these entities, I sent a "cease and desist" email to
all of them. If you are a designer who has been similarly affected, that
is the absolute least that you can do.
I did not ask my emailer to identify from where she had purchased her
templates, just that she take up her issue with them and not me. (I wasn't
rude and refrained from using even one single exclamation mark, but I
didn't pull any punches either. Being berated for circumstances created by
a third party stealing
my digital content was over the top outrageous.) It was evident,
however, that my problem still exists, although it's perhaps not as
prevalent as it was two years ago.
Take a look at this
Facebook thread from 2022
by another of these near identical companies that no longer exists:
Dorociie Showing Shop (no longer at
dorociie.com).
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| Oh look — the video that they stole from Judith Magen has Dyaneeo's logo on it! |
Not having a Facebook account of my own, I can only scroll so far
through the comments, but here's a section that drew my attention:
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| Ya think?? |
I have debated on and off with myself as to whether I want to test out one
of these companies and see if they are actually still distributing hard
copies of my tutorial along with these templates, or if they have come up
with their own "instructions". (In the end, I believe it's still the
former and would rather not contribute to their coffers.)
The problem is, my tutorial makes reference to the original eight
templates from Judith Magen and these peddlers of plastic only
provide two of them. With Ms. Magen's website seemingly no longer
accessible (at least it wasn't coming up during the week that I wrote this
post), it does pose a conundrum to those who purchased these things.
By the way, this is not all about me. The other designers whose work had been affected two years ago when I first came across this scam are – for the most part – still victims of this ongoing theft.
What's more, I recognize new designers being been ripped off: one being
Ulyana at Estadistica Datos del Mundo. I have featured two of her projects that are now being used to sell
templates,
here
and
here.
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| Be on the lookout for screens that look like this... |
Again, I don't get why some projects are appropriated at all. In both of
these cases, the templates are simple and small in number. (It's not like
the
Summit Pack bag by Cloudsplitter that you can
see in the lower left corner of the above graphic, a topic I will expand
upon later.)
The above two screen grabs are from MalltoonVIP.com and HanDicoo.com. Check them out. I challenge you to tell me you don't think they're set up in the same way, use the same images, and ultimately sell the same things... none of which are their creations.
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| ... because the user interface is near identical across many, many sewing related sites! |
The above two screen grabs are from MalltoonVIP.com and HanDicoo.com. Check them out. I challenge you to tell me you don't think they're set up in the same way, use the same images, and ultimately sell the same things... none of which are their creations.
Seek Out Reviews & Site "Trust" Scores
Want to avoid getting scammed? When you see a site laid out like the
ones shown above – and I seriously mean it, they all look so similar as
to be virtually the same – do a google search for a review of that
company before you make a purchase.
Specifically, do a search on "<domain name>.com scam" or
"<domain name>.com reviews" (where <domain name> is the
actual domain of the site, like dyaneeo) and see what results you get. If the results are indeterminate, go on
to the next suggestion.
Or...
Let me just go out on a limb here: there is likely
not one site out there resembling the setup shown above that is
in any way legit. There, I've said it: don't buy plastic templates (or
any other sewing supplies) from sites like this,
because somewhere on that site is something that has
been stolen from someone.
[By the way, do a search on temu rips off designers and
you'll get a lesson on how widespread this problem is, and how difficult
it is to bring it to people's attention when so many of them are
attracted to "deals" like dogs to squirrels.]
Use Image Search (Attention DESIGNERS)
Here's how I used it on chellosewingshop.com, to investigate a photo I know to be from
Cloudsplitter (designer of the Summit Pack).
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| Position over the photo you want to check and right click on your mouse... |
If the image is a composite like this one, you can select the part that you want to search for, in this case the image on the left. (The white corner outlines can be stretched out to select as much or as little as you want.)
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| Click on "Find image source"... |
Once you click on "Find image source", Google Lens will
return a list of matching images (if it finds any). In this case, exact
matches for Cloudsplitter's original bag can be found on various sites,
starting with her Etsy shop.
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| These are the exact matches that were found... |
In all of the first three instances, Cloudsplitter is identified as the
designer of this pattern. (In any circumstance where a designer consents
to sell products on another platform, it is extremely rare – if not
totally unheard of – for the designer's name or brand to be omitted.)
Needless to say, the name "Cloudsplitter" does not appear on
chellosewingshop.com, nor on malltoonvip.com, nor
on handicoo.com, nor on mccaintailor.com, nor on mcswinecraft.com, nor on morlinosewing.com, nor on eachioosewing.com... these are all of the "similar" sites that came up on an image
search for the entire composite image.
That is, these entities are all in the same business of stealing
stuff off the internet and using it to make a buck.
In this case, the scam is not just about the intellectual property theft
of Cloudsplitter. About four years ago, the basic shape of her
Summit Pack bag was hacked by a YouTuber going by the name of
DIY Crafts TV (who had her own issues with people claiming that she was using
Cloudsplitter's work inappropriately). She showed her audience how to
make a simplified version of the bag using only four templates. (Having
made the actual
Summit Pack, I can attest that there are way more than four pattern pieces
required.) For anyone purchasing this item from these sites, I guarantee
that you're only going to get the four piece version of the pattern
(because DIY Crafts TV's pictures are also shown in the listing).
Whatever instructions come with it, I have no knowledge of – they may or
may not be distributing Cloudsplitter's actual PDF – but the words
describing the construction process are taken from her original
description of the bag... which the four templates will have no way of
recreating.
It's just like the two templates (out of eight required) that are being
sold along with my twist box instructions.
That's how this situation ends up being a scam for everyone. And
that's why we need to stop buying from these companies and why we need
to put more thought into how we make online purchases, period.
Dealing With Being Scammed
If you've been scammed as a consumer, go to your nearest, most
convenient online platform and drop a detailed review about your
experience. Because so many of these sites advertise through Facebook,
their Facebook page would be a good start, but don't stop there. (Not
being on Facebook, I typically go to
ScamAdvisor.com to do my reviews.)
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| My feedback re: chellosewingshop.com... |
In terms of getting your money back, it's unlikely that you'll be able to recoup what you've spent, because these companies will usually send you something and it will be difficult to make a case that they didn't send you what you thought you were promised. But by all means, take it up with your payment processor (PayPal, etc.) and see where it goes. The bottom line, though, is to spread the word via whatever social media means you have at hand and put these companies out of business.
If you're a designer and have had your intellectual property stolen,
letting the offender know that you know is a start. If a cease and
desist order is insufficient, take additional measures as I've
outlined in the past
to contact their e-commerce provider, domain registrar, or ultimately,
report them to DMCA.
We can't stop all of the scams, but if we don't make an effort to stop
any of them, we are just as much to blame.
While I was scrolling through chellosewingshop's PDF offerings, I found one that was new to me (below).
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| This is Sarah Mariam's Bubble Bag 3-in-1 creation... |
I'm sure you can tell by now that victims are chosen by the quality of
their work. There's nothing listed that isn't nicely crafted or
(originally) photographed. These sites know how to entice you into
thinking that if you buy their templates, you'll be able to recreate
these gems. By the same token, I am fairly confident that there is not a
soul within these companies who can sew or design anything approaching
the quality of what you see.
As expected, an image search brought me to the actual designer of this
Bubble Bag: Sarah Mariam. I connected with her via her Etsy shop to let
her know. Apparently it's happened to her before, but luckily it's not
widespread... yet.
If you have any appreciation for the work of independent designers,
please give this problem some exposure and maybe help reduce the blatant
copyright infringement being perpetrated online.
'Til next...
That's interesting about the image and finding where it came from. There are other scams out there too on Facebook. The first time I saw an ad that looked like it came from Bernina, saying they had 50 (or more) new Bernina sewing machines that had slight blemishes and cannot be sold so they were giving away these machines for free. Just need to write "done" in the comments. I was amazed at how many people commented! First of all Bernina would NEVER just give away sewing machines in that quantity for free. If they sponsored a charity, such as Sew Powerful's Sew-a-thon, they did give 2 machines away as prizes, but you had to be the top fundraisers for Sew Powerful to even qualify. Plus, I applied to be a Bernina Ambassador over a year ago (wasn't accepted) and if I had been accepted, I would have been able to use a Bernina machine (that I could chose in advance) for 18 months, exclusively as an Ambassador. At the end of the 18 months, Bernina would offer me a great deal to purchase that machine, if I wanted to. They didn't say for much or what percentage off I would get, so I would have had to become an Ambassador first and then be offered the deal later. Anyhow, the point is people are too gullible when they see there is a giveaway for free. No mention of how much to ship these machines, which is probably the real scam part as I am sure they charged a couple hundred dollars or more for shipping. But they would never receive anything. I have seen the same ads pop up with Janome sewing machines too. I would report them as scams to FB every time I saw them, but hundreds of people had already commented and they must private message each one telling them they won and probably to send them money for shipping. How many people woke up after they were told the shipping price? How many people were scammed out of money because they believed they won a new machine? With the internet and social media it is probably easier to scam someone now than it was in our parents and grandparents day. As they used to say, "A sucker is born every minute". People need to be aware and educate themselves that there are scams everywhere and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! And buy from reputable people on reputable sites, not from sites no one has heard of or has been around for 5 minutes. Use the internet and do a search if a company is a scam or in the USA, check the BBB (Better Business Bureau) to see if there are any complaints filed against them, etc. Another one I see a lot and report on Facebook is that they are selling US postage stamps at a deep discount! Ha! The post office is raising their prices constantly, they are a government run organization and do not discount! The scammers must be copying and printing stamps if they are truly selling anything real at all?
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't get is that scams that are almost as old as dirt are still circulating and still pulling in people who don't know how to take the simplest precautions. "Winning" or qualifying to get something for free that you later have to pay taxes or shipping on is a really old scam that has gotten a lot of coverage over the decades. (Romance scams get a lot of coverage too, and yet I still hear of victims who thought their situation couldn't have been that.)
DeleteThat being said, people who keep falling for those types of scams aren't affecting me personally with their silly choices. When companies aggressively mine the internet for designs to copy and profit from, that's a different story altogether that we need to tell.