Cyberbullying and Doxing are NEVER OK.

More victims are being subjected to the reckless tactics of the operators behind the business “Candy Waters Autism Artist”, which once again include the owners:

  • posting personal addresses and contact information of individuals who have spoken out against the questionable practices of the business; falsely labelling the individuals as “cyberbullies” and provoking followers to contact and/or harass them.
  • placing unwarranted phone calls to the individuals and their relatives and/or associates as a means of harassment.
  • attacking these individuals on both a personal and professional level through defamatory posts on their individual business page(s) and/or about their business(es) on self-published pages.
  • gaslighting followers through both a ridiculous and lengthy Facebook Note* riddled with inaccuracies.

The individuals targeted by the business owners are also disabled, one of whom is also autistic herself.

alice art

Source: Facebook.com

 

If you are a victim of cyberbullying or doxing, you can file a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center in addition to your local police department. If you know the offending party’s location, you can also file a complaint with their police department.

Bullying is never an appropriate means of resolution. There is no justification in this type of behavior, especially when your claim is that they are “bullying people with disabilities” when the people you are in turn harassing are also people with disabilities.

 

 

 
*please note, the linked Facebook “Note” appears to be a living document, in that the writers continually add/edit it, and its content may have changed since the time of publishing this entry.

Class Action Lawsuit

There is news of a class action lawsuit against the business Candy Waters Autism Artist, owned and operated by Robert and Sandra Waters of Park Ridge, IL.

If you are a consumer who was lead to believe that the artwork was 100% created by the autistic teen, or that proceeds benefited an autism charity, please inquire directly with the folks at the Unspoken Victims of the Autism Art Scam for further measures and information.

In the past 48 hours we’ve been inundated with hundreds of messages from victims of the Waters Autism Art Scam. We have…

Posted by Unspoken Victims of Autism Art Scam on Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Contact: watersautismartistscam@gmail.com directly if you wish to share your story.
All information will remain confidential.

NOTE: We have no affiliation with those who retained the law firm. Any comments on this website will not be forwarded.

Please Read.

This website is not affiliated with any other forums discussing the issue at hand, which is this:

Is the business, Candy Waters Autism Artist, (not to be confused with the teen) operating honestly and producing authentic work that is indeed made entirely (or at all) by the teen?

This website does not condone hatred or bullying in any form. This is not part of a hate campaign. Very simply put, this website offers opinions, discussions, and information that consumers have a right to know before buying a product. You yourself make the choice about whether or not you purchase something. We have absolutely nothing to gain in making this information available, and this has nothing to do with jealousy.

When people voice such opinions or inquiries directly on the Candy Waters Autism Artist Facebook page, they are removed and the user is banned. We believe users have a right to inquire about products prior to purchasing or after the fact without fear.

There are first hand accounts of the business owners retaliating through excessive means of stalking, harassing, and defaming inquirers both on and into their offline lives. Please read through the comments on earlier posts for more information.

This website documents real statements and experiences from patrons and/or followers in an effort to raise awareness of the discrepancies in the business’ practices over the years. Artists are constantly under critique, and as a published artist, it is to be expected that people will have various opinions on the work. As parents, however, it is their duty to shelter their child(ren) from what they believe to be harmful. Personally, if my child were being bullied online, I would make every effort to remove or restrict them from social media or internet access, not spend my days posting about it online. Law enforcement and child welfare services are resources to reach out to for assistance. Launching your own hate campaign against people in retaliation is not an appropriate means of resolution.

Ms. Alice Carey (an autistic adult) and Ms. Tina Polhman (a lupus patient and disability advocate) are in no way affiliated with the owners of this website.  Please thoroughly research the information available on this topic. There are over 3,000 individual people who have come forward regarding this art business, including a former therapist of the child, who believe the business to be dishonest and misleading.

Waters Autism Artist Scam

In the past few days there has been an exceptional surge of visits to this blog after Sandy’s posts on her Facebook pages alleging Candy is being cyberbullied, due to critics expressing their opinions on a self-published book recently released on Amazon. Many of her own followers have turned here for information in the wake of being blocked for simply asking a question or pointing out that no one was “bullying” the teen in their reviews of the book.

Many concerned consumers began researching everything for themselves. There is more information available on that matter in the form of videos here:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Waters-Autism-Artist-Scam-1786330378286003/videos*

*NOTE: We are not affiliated with the publishers of that page.

Alice Carey is an adult diagnosed with Autism who is also not affiliated with this page but has shared her individual beliefs on the matter elsewhere. We do not necessarily share her views and we do not support the bullying of any individual with autism.

Timeline – Candy Waters Autism Artist

Why did it take over a year and a half* for video footage to be released of Candy painting—and extreme measures from Sandy and Robert who both harassed people (including those with autism and special needs families) on/offline that dared to question the authenticity of the art (stalking and locating their personal addresses, employers and family in the process to deliberately smear them)—when a simple unedited video showing Candy at work would have laid any concerns to rest immediately if the Zazzle art were in fact authentic?

*this may span earlier, however, due to mass deleting by Sandy Waters, the earliest example that could be publicly recovered appears on twitter, a platform that does not allow other’s posts to be removed by Sandy Waters.

February 8, 2015*

Twitter user @GingerosityXOXO posts the following question on a public forum that is not moderated by Candy Waters Autism Artist

June 27, 2015

Circulated posts appear on social media where professionals warn that this is a charity scam, also on platforms not moderated by Candy Waters Autism Artist.
Exhibit A         Exhibit B

June 2015 – January 2016

Hundreds of people politely question the work, in groups, on the Candy Waters Autism Artist page, often simply asking if there are any videos of the artist at work. These comments are deleted by Sandy/Robert Waters and the user is banned when she is able to do so. If she is unable to delete their comment, she deletes the entire post so the comments disappear along with it.

February 2016

Sandy Waters posts the artwork in Facebook group “ARTISTS TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING CREATING ART”. Anyone asking about process gets blocked. A discussion takes place within the group between special needs parents. Sandy Waters joins the conversation under her fake profile FRED JOHNSON and immediately harasses everyone for discussing the work. The group’s admin is also threatened with legal action if the posts aren’t removed. You can see the posts below. Only FRED JOHNSON’s are missing because Sandy Waters disabled the profile.

Exhibit C

BACKGROUND: This same profile was used by Sandy Waters to harass her former grade school classmates when they requested she not continually spam their alumni page with the artwork, as it was irrelevant to the group’s theme. She was shunned from the group and proceeded to ambush them under her alias, FRED JOHNSON.

Exhibit D   Exhibit E   Exhibit F

This blog emerges for continued public discourse for informative purposes in hopes of resolving unanswered questioned that would otherwise be deleted on the Candy Waters Autism Artist Facebook page.

March 2016

Sandy and Robert Waters begin commenting this blog under their name as well as aliases “Liz”, “Joe” and “Candy” (all from the same IP Address).

Exhibit G      Exhibit H     Exhibit I

Sandy and Robert Waters proceed to research, cyber stalk, and harass a commenter of the blog, locating her address, phone number, and resume. The Waters each proceed to contact over a decade’s worth of employers, past and present, to smear her, going so far as to brand her a pedophile to her colleagues and business associates. They demand the individual’s immediate termination from employment and threaten to boycott businesses, picket events, and launch defamatory pages if the employers do not concede.

Sandy Waters uses her fake profile JOHN BRAND to run a smear campaign directly on this individual’s own business page, falsely declaring her as a pedophile and fraud publicly.

Exhibit J

Sandy and Robert Waters are served an official Cease and Desist (unlike the myriad of fake cease and desist letters they self-issue) from law enforcement.

April 2016

Sandy and Robert Waters continue to pursue the individual indirectly by targeting her family, which they personally scope out via internet searches. Sandy and Robert Waters create blogs and boycott pages against this individual and her business relationships as well as over a handful of other autistic artists and their families. All of this information is documented and preserved with screenshots and page caches but will not be posted here for respect of the privacy of those in Sandy and Robert Waters’ crossfire.

Legal investigations are in place and certain information cannot be disclosed. Ironically all blogs Sandy Waters created and smear campaigns are abruptly removed at the close of one investigation.

May 2016

Sandy Waters continues to impersonate a doctor in order to add fictitious credibility to the work they advertise as Candy’s.

Meet Dr. Gatto

“He” regurgitates the same canned response and alludes to the mere request of video of Candy at work as promoting pedophilia.

An actual former therapist of Candy’s speaks out with beliefs that the art is a scam.

Exhibit K

June 2016

Sandy and Robert Waters post the first new video of Candy painting in 3 years. The video is edited and does not show Candy as the artist making the close up strokes. It appears to be a switch off to another person.

Exhibit L

Sandy Waters still continues to impersonate “Dr Gatto” and utilizes a myriad of other fictitious aliases online including:
Mary Mitchell, John Brand, Saffron Burrows, Karen Miller, Ana Rodriquez, and more to promote, complement, and engage with the work. The profiles are reported as fake and Facebook freezes many for ID verification (you must upload your gov ID to verify you are using your real name). Many of the pages switch to show “Sandra” or “Sandy” Waters, however the urls remain with her fictitious aliases.

Exhibit M

July 2016

Sandy and Robert Waters create a slew of blog entries addressed to their “Stalker”/”Cyberbully” most of which accuse behavior that they themselves engage in (i.e. harassment, stalking, cyberbullying, multiple profiles, fake names, etc.)

Exhibit N

Sandy and Robert Waters begin to show videos of Candy at work on paintings that demonstrate skill that is nowhere near the level of what was advertised previously in the Zazzle work. They are vastly different and many more suspicions are raised about the authenticity of what was originally marketed as Candy’s as a result of the new videos. Comments that question the difference are removed.

Another autistic artist provides her own video critiques and assessments of the work and new videos on Youtube. (Please note: the opinions expressed in those videos are not condoned by this website.)

Other blogs/postings also surface that question the work as well.

Exhibit O    Exhibit P  Exhibit Q

August 2016

Sandy Waters creates another blog of her own to self-promote the artwork anonymously.

Exhibit R

She also creates another fake profile to “fake purchase” one of the new artworks that are for sale.

September 2016

Sandy and Robert Waters target, stalk, and personally harass two other individuals who discuss the work on Youtube.

See comments:
Exhibit S   Exhibit T

Please feel free to share your experiences in the comments. 

Saffron, John, and Sandy

This article raises a lot of valid points.

beware of art scams

Below are some quotes from Ms. Waters, who apparently believes that there is only one person with “thousands” of fake identities who she perceives as stalking and harassing her, along with “a few sick and twisted friends”.  (If this is true and the Waters feel that someone is actually harassing them, why haven’t they gone to the authorities already?  That is what you do when you have a legitimate cause for complaint).

From one of the Waters’ recent blog entries:

To:  Cyberbully/Stalker & a few of your Psychotic Friends

You are a despicable, sick person and a FRAUD!!  If you have legitimate complaints against us and are telling the truth than why are you hiding under many fake identities?

We know who you are because we have your emails that you sent to everyone that is affiliated with our daughter with your true identity on them.  If you are using fake identities than…

View original post 535 more words

Candy Waters Art Scam? Part 5

We would like to thank everyone who has messaged in and commented with their experiences. If you wish to remain anonymous, we completely understand given the hostility the family has exerted on those publicly expressing their concerns.

We received the following information from a former therapist of Candy’s:

Just wanted to let you know that I used to work with Candy at a school, I was her 1:1 aide. I worked with her for about 6 months at the school and also worked with her after school at home. I have long questioned this art that the family claims to be hers because when I worked with her she had 0 art skills. She did not have the fine motor skills to control her movements and paint anything besides blobs. She would often just stim with the paint. I do not believe this is Candace’s art work and I think it is despicable what the family is doing. They would often times just leave her alone in the backyard kiddy pool. I complained to the school once about it.

It has been a concern of many that this child’s developmental needs are not being met, or that she is perhaps deliberately being stunted to preserve this potential scam.

If you have information you wish to share, please comment below. You can enter “anonymous” as the name if you wish to remain anonymous.

No, this is not a virus.

If you’re just discovering this page, here is a summary of what it discusses:

For years people have questioned the authenticity of the artwork advertised as being created by this child with autism “who speaks through her art”.

image
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Since 2013, there has only been one video out there of her painting. This is a partial clip of the full home video that was submitted to ABC. The original video shows more of her natural and authentic painting process, which appears to be smearing a mass of paint that is muddied in appearance. This is in direct contrast to the colorful and delicate/precise art being displayed on Zazzle that they are branding as being made completely by her “from the first stroke to the last piece of glitter”.

Questions about the video usually get deleted and blocked. People have even been slandered as being pedophiles just for asking. Doctors are also impersonated as an attempt to add credibility through deception (notice the timestamps).

Many people have questioned the work over time. However, if you do so on the Candy Waters Autism Artist Facebook page, you will immediately be blocked/banned/deleted. The comments vanish. When people have questioned the artwork on other platforms, the comments were met with legal threats and fake “cease and desist” letters by the business to intimidate and bully people from voicing their concerns.

If you read through the comments of the very first entry on this blog, you will see evidence of this and firsthand accounts of this harassment. There are many more examples of this out there. The business has gone after dozens of individuals personally for voicing their opinions. They have even posted names and contact information for several artists, including those with autism (and their family members), and publicly slandered them in an effort to silence those speaking out or deter attention from their own public scrutiny.

In another desperate effort to censor people from the information shared on this blog, the Candy Waters Autism Artist page made an announcement that this page was a Virus rather than address any of the questions it raises. To say this blog is a virus is completely FALSE and just another example of them deceiving their own followers. For further reassurance, our URL begins with HTTPS, and is a secure and safe website.

Separate from this, many group owners have commented this blog to share personal accounts of the business spamming their support groups and lying about having certain conditions in order to gain access to the thousands of vulnerable people in these groups. From homeschool groups to specific disease groups, the business has targeted a large range. Here is only a partial list.

Celebrities are often advertised as endorsers of the work, however, many of the photos were taken at book signings and autographing opportunities, such as the 2015 Fest for Beatles Fans in Chicago, where a single magazine’s cover art was autographed at multiple celebrity tables. If there is any concern over the validity of these endorsements, you can contact the organizations/representatives directly to inquire.

Notice

This blog and its authors have no affiliation with content published on any other blogs or websites. The content published here is completely independent and separate from any copycat claims concerning other businesses or artists.

Take Action

If you believe you have witnessed or been the victim of Internet fraud, you can file a report online here.

Before supporting any charitable cause, always do your research. Here are signs of charity fraud and how to report it.

Know your rights.  Consumer rights and consumer protection law provides a way for individuals to fight back against abusive business practices. These laws are designed to hold sellers of goods and services accountable when they seek to profit by taking advantage of a consumer’s lack of information or bargaining power. Some conduct addressed by consumer rights laws is simply unfair, while other conduct can be described as outright fraud. Consumer rights laws exist at the federal and state level. They are enforced by government agencies, offices of attorneys general, and through individual and class action lawsuits filed by victims. If you believe a merchant has violated your consumer rights, you can take the actions mentioned above, and speak with an attorney to send a message to the offender that abusive business practices will not be tolerated.