The_littlerabbit Thank you for your help! I am new to many art communities, so I placed myself in a situation that I'm sure more seasoned members would not have place themselves in. I just hope I can find the original artists so they take note.
Hi everyone,
I just ran into my first case of fraud by a DA user (mantrra). I must admit I wasn't careful and bought an "adopt" from this person just to find out there is a likelihood it was stolen. The DA user only has 5 submitted works and all have different styles with all of them being adopts. 4 of the 5 have already been sold. The one that hasn't sold, was flagged on DA for being stolen. Can anyone identify who owns any of the remaining 4 (3! ...see updates)
**To see updates with actual proof of the original artist, please click the spoiler tag. **
(I didn't want to clutter the top post with too many images)
**Updates for each image will follow the numbering scheme of the image showing all stolen art**
1. Unidentified
2. Unidentified
3. Unidentified
4. Thank you to pegasys ! We were able to identify the artist (Olenloh01 on twitter) showcasing the art here: https://vk.com/wall-168034081_1425. Google translated from VK: 
It appears the art was never intended to be sold during its initial appearance. It could be the artists OC, but it isn't mentioned in this post. It looks like the image was used as an example for an art raffle.
Using the artist's twitter handle, I was able to send them a message. It seems like the artist had no idea that their art was taken. I used google translate to communicate but essentially I informed them that their stolen art was being sold on DeviantArt. From Google translate, the artist seemed grateful to be told and found it terrible that it had happened to them.
5. This is the one that has been flagged already. It was stolen from Onigrisama on YCH.commishes. Thank you to CatalystAristarkh for providing a backup link! The original comment shown below was deleted. Link to the art: https://ych.commishes.com/auction/show/6R4F/adopt/
The merman (3) is the one I was scammed with. He's a true beauty and it's a shame that I have no authorization to use it.
Extra: Thank you to everyone who lent a helping hand in any way. ^^
I remember seeing the 4th design somewhere, but I follow over 1200 people on dA so it might take me time to find anything.
PiersNivans If you have time to look, that would be great. I did a reverse image search on mine but I didn't get any meaningful hits.
I'm afraid I came up with nothing... I got very tired of looking around at some point and I'll be heading to bed soon, but I'm sorry for have failed you.
I searched the entirety of the tag "merman" here on Toyhou.se, no luck, I'll keep a look out elsewhere though
hi there! i believe i have found the 4th's creator. however i believe it may be their own OC or just an art example
https://twitter.com/Olenloh01 is the artist
post w/ art can be found here: https://vk.com/wall-168034081_1425
judging by what google translate has given me- and please feel to correct me if it's wrong. i am by no means a native speaker to russian and or ukranian- the post was meant to host a little raffle for art! the character was never up for sale in the first place.
as for the merman or the other pieces, i couldn't find anything on them. my best guess would be that most of this art comes from vk, since that's where the 4th piece came from. hope what little i found helps!
I've tried looking for the other 3 yesterday but no luck so far. However I'm gonna keep searching cuz I just can't bare to let this person gets away with it.
That said, they have already deleted the stolen comment on the strawberry girl adopt, so here's the backup link just in case: https://ych.commishes.com/auction/show/6R4F/adopt/
I'll be back if I ever find anything!
CaptainDorkface Thank you for trying! There's so much art out there that it's hard finding the origin of a specific piece of art when you don't know the platform or artist.
pegasys Thank you so much! The internet is always undefeated. X'D I knew someone would find at least one of the others. I gave those links to the buyer of that piece. I will also try to find a way to contact the original artist. When I have time, I'll edit my original post to include the link.
CatalystAristarkh Thanks for providing the link! I just checked their gallery again, and they deleted all negative comments about the stolen art. Another good Samaritan replied to everyone who bought art from matrra saying that there was a good chance that their "adopt" was stolen too. Those comments are gone as well. *Also updated my original post to add the link to the artist.
I saw they keep deleting all comments saying their work is stolen OTL
Has anyone told the people who bought from them yet? ;w; I was going to but I didn't wanna send them here if they've already been told.
I'm wondering if this is Digiphase? the MO is similar though this appears to be a bit lower effort....
https://toyhou.se/~forums/5867.service-reviews/109733.-16-july-psa-digiphase-fluxionz-flakia-more-da
I've seen the merman adopt being sold by the original artist on DA a couple of weeks ago and I don't remember their user. Its frustrating me. ;; I'll keep trying to find them if no one else has found it yet.
Trash-Oracle I have no idea! I'm too new to know the dealings of the community unfortunately. Maybe someone else can chime in.
crystallizing That would be amazing. I still haven't had any luck so far, but if you are able to find it please let us know.