A Russian man who reportedly has the habit of scamming tattoo artists by refusing to pay for their work recently got “scammer” permanently tattooed on his forehead by his latest victim.

A photo of the smiling unnamed man showing off his unusual forehead tattoo was posted online last week by Russian tattoo artist Roman Bikeev, a.k.a. Mr Amsterdam. In the photo caption, Bikeev explained that the man had come in for a neck tattoo, but later said that he had no intention of paying for the artwork and nonchalantly admitted to pulling the same trick on other tattoo artist in Ufa, the capital city of the Republic of Baskortostan. So the tattoo artist decided to take his revenge by inking “Кидала” (Russian for ‘scammer) on the man’s forehead, along with his autograph.

Photo: Mr. Amsterdam/VKontakte

The photo, originally posted on Mr. Amsterdam’s VKontakte page, quickly went viral and eventually attracted the attention of the media. However, things just didn’t add up, and people were quick to point that out in the comments. First of all, how did Mr. Amsterdam manage to ink the embarrassing word on the man’s forehead without him objecting, and why was he smiling when the photo was taken? Also, what’s to stop the guy from going to the police or even sue the tattoo artist? Some social media users even accused Roman Bikeev or faking the whole thing as a way of promoting his services.

This is where things get really weird. In response to the criticism he had been receiving online, Mr. Amsterdam sat down with GTRK Bashkortostan and insisted that his story was 100% true. He explained that he didn’t need to trick or hold the man down to ink the embarassing tattoo on his forehead. Instead he simply proposed it to the scammer as a way to exact exact revenge for himself and all the other tattoo artists he had tricked in the past, and the guy accepted.

“It was a very interesting situation,” Bikeev said. “The guy made an appointment for a tattoo. When he came in and I examined him, I noticed the many tattoos on his body, all done in different styles. We talked and decided to do the tattoo on his neck. I did my job and then he told me he wasn’t going to pay and that he had never paid for any of his tattoos. That’s when I offered to tattoo ‘scammer’ on his forehead, because what he does is insulting to me and my colleagues. He accepted and sat back down in the chair voluntarily, no one forced him. When I was done, I took the photo and told him ‘That’s it, goodbye’.”

Bikeev added that before he left, the man looked in the mirror, smiled and told him that he was going to get rid of the embarrassing tattoo the same way he has gotten all of his ink, by tricking another tattoo artist or a laser removal specialist to cover it up or erase it, and not pay for it (obviously).

So far, the police haven’t received any complaints related to this bizarre incident.