NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Several Arkansas tattoo shops have recently fallen victim to scammers, stealing hundreds of dollars from their clients.
The scammers pretend to be the business or an artist working there and then ask for a deposit before the tattoo.
Black Cobra Tattoo Studio in North Little Rock is dealing with a scam on its Instagram page. The scammer has created a page that looks like the tattoo shop's official profile and then asks for deposits through Cash App.
"We've had many people report it," Black Cobra Tattoo Studio Owner Matt Obaugh said. "We've been dealing with it for over a week and have had no luck getting the page taken down."
This isn't the first time this tattoo shop has dealt with scammers. Obaugh said this has happened several times in the past two years.
"You don't want somebody to be taken advantage of," Obaugh said. "You definitely don't want somebody to feel like it's us out there taking advantage of people."
Other tattoo shops in Arkansas are seeing the same thing.
Love Spell Tattoo experienced a similar scam where someone claiming to be a guest tattoo artist at the shop asked for deposits before beginning the tattoo process.
Seventh Street Tattoo and Piercing said they have also had this happen to them.
"We've had people either message us on Instagram, call us, or come in and think that they have a scheduled appointment with an artist they think they put down a deposit with," said Madison Oliver with Seventh Street Tattoo and Piercing. "We don't have that artist here, and we obviously didn't take that deposit."
These businesses said booking through the shop is always safer, and they recommend double-checking which artists are on staff.
"Everything we book here is through the shop," Obaugh said. "We have a receptionist that handles appointments for every artist that works here."