They say fake it ’til you make it, but not like this weirdo.
Presumed Moscow, Russia-based Instagram user @damarl_sait has a decent sized account with a handful of cool influencer-style car photos that look like he’s leaning against his own rides.
Pretty cool dude, right?
At first glance it looks that way until Facebook user and photographer Pa Ris (who goes by /notparis.walker on the Zuck app) pointed out that @Damarl_Sait was, on at least one photo, photoshopping Car Youtuber/Influencer Nick Perez’s (aka @FindingNick) photos and passing them on as his own.
Perez is a so-called real car influencer with actual cars, a legit youtube channel and an Instagram following to match (not to mention any other channels on platforms he might have.)
Here’s a screenshot of Pa Ris’s post exposing the grift and here are their respective posts below (that is, if @Damarl_sait hasn’t made private his account or deleted the photo.)
In Damarl_sait’s most recent “posts,” the tagged location is Moscow or Moscow City, Russia, so I’m guessing he’s based there, or not at all since he clearly doesn’t have the best track record for posting anything resembling the truth.
Unfortunately, if he really is from Moscow, anyone faintly familiar with L.A. Car Culture can see past his photoshop skills. For one, this photo is clearly on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.
It’s worth noting that some commenters are pointing out the English stop sign as a clear tell but, contrary to popular belief, English road signs in Russia are a thing.
For example, here’s a stop sign in English in St. Petersburg.
Embed from Getty ImagesAnd click on @DaMarl_Sait’s followers and this is mostly what you see, a bunch of what looks like fake followers. I clicked on each one of these posted below and none, except one, had any posts. In other words, not only is this dude just stealing and photoshopping photos, he bought some followers, too.
Credit where credits do, his photoshop skills look passable to the uninitiated.
“Damn good photoshop tho,” Pa Ris commented on his own post.
“To the normal person, it’s believable.”
At the end of the day, all this dude has is some OK photoshop skills on an account with fake followers.
For whom is he posting these fake photos for?
This is not the first time I’ve blogged about someone photoshopping themselves onto someone else’s photos.
What Howard and @Damarl_Sait did is just cringeworthy.
Could y’all not? You will be exposed every time.
Although you might not have the flashy cars and fame, your genuine attempts to make your own car content wherever you are with whatever you have will 100 percent always do better and be appreciated more than your best fake photoshops.
