Warhammer 40k t-shirt scammers used YouTuber’s photo for con

T-shirt cons use fake photos to trick customers into buying from crooks - Darcy Bono warns her photo was used in a Warhammer 40k t-shirt scam

Warhammer 40k T-shirt scam - photograph by Darcy Bono of herself, pulling an Orky grimace

YouTuber Darcy Bono took to Twitter and Reddit on Tuesday to warn of a Warhammer 40k t-shirt scam using a stolen photograph of her. She says that a doctored photo of her was used to try and trick fans in “The Imperium of Man” Warhammer 40k Facebook group into buying non-existent t-shirts.

T-shirt scam artists join social media groups and use doctored photos to claim they make or have recently bought a unique t-shirt. Their goal might be to accept sales from unsuspecting customers, then take the money and run, or it could be to direct buyers to websites that will infect their computer or steal their payment information. Warhammer 40k t-shirt scam - screencapture of a post in a Facebook group showing Darcy Bono in a t-shirt

Bono states on Reddit that the image started off as a photo showing off a pair of Ork themed t-shirts she received as a gift from her brother. She adds that Orks are her favourite Warhammer 40k faction, so: “I was very pumped, took pictures of them, and shared them on my personal social media”. That explains the Orky grimace she’s pulling in the photo.

The scam artists then “snagged the images off my Twitter”, Bono says. She adds that she has been notified of her likeness appearing in scams “quite a bit recently”, adding “apparently now they’re photoshopping me into poorly designed Ultramarines merch”.

She doesn’t seem to be too upset by the identity theft, saying “I’m more outraged they’ve associated me with the Ultramarines”.

The pictures used in this kind of  scam are usually created from stock photographs. Bono’s YouTube channel is full of tutorial videos for converting and painting miniatures, and while she’s not quite as recognisable as Duncan Rhodes, using a public community figure ‘s likeness in a scam must increase the odds of it being discovered.