Conman Steals M’sian Designer‘s Work & Sold It To Other People; Claimed They Were His

Pamela Lee

2019-09-18 , 1:00 am

As a creative myself, I truly understand how hard it is to stay original.

Unique ideas only strike once in a blue moon and it sucks when someone steals your idea without giving you any credit.

And what’s worse is someone selling and making a profit off of your idea.

Conman Tricked Man To Design Product

Taufiq Salleh shared the story of how a conman tricked him to do design for a product on Facebook.

The conman later stole and redesigned his idea and gave his own price to another client.

The man claimed that he needed the design urgently and was willing to pay any price.

Red flag, anyone?

Empty Promises

Taufiq mentioned that he put a watermark on ten of his designs because the man did not pay him a deposit.

The man claimed that he was going to give him the deposit after his boss approves his work.

After the approval, the conman promised that a cheque would be delivered on Monday.

Kept Pushing For Watermark To Be Removed

The man kept asking for Taufiq to send the working file for the posters. He also asked for the watermark to be removed.

However, Taufiq was firm and stood his ground telling the con that he will remove the watermark once the payment is made.

Conman Sold His Design

The con later asked Taufiq to complete another design by 2pm on the same day.

Despite his initial refusal, he did it anyway.

A total of $790 for the website design, label and poster were promised but he knew something was wrong when payment was not promptly paid.

Image: The amount that they agreed on beforehand / Facebook (Taufiq Salleh)

He texted the man’s customer and found out that he had sold all his materials to another client for $165.

He even had the audacity to claim a website that was done by Taufiq’s friend was his own.

Shameless.

Let Him Learn The Hard Way

Till now, Taufiq still hasn’t gotten his pay from the conman yet.

Thus, he circulated the conman’s Facebook profile and screenshots of the chat between them.

He will only be taking down his post once payment has been made and has urged other designers to be wary of him in the future.

In Related News…

This might come as a shocker, but Zara was accused of stealing designs in 2016.

Even though they did not explicitly steal the designs unlike the conman, the public was harsh on the big fashion brand.

However, a Singapore-based artist who makes jewellery explained on her Instagram story that she doesn’t shame other designers for copying her designs. In fact, she takes it as a learning point to work harder to develop a more unique style and technique.

She does have a point.

I would say that there’s a fine line between inspiration and pure plagiarism.

Do give credit if you have taken inspiration from others because you would want others to do the same for you too!