I was recently asked to investigate whether the Public Art Competition for the North-South Light Railway in Cologne is legitimate. They have an open, international call for artists to submit applications for public art as part of their railway project. What flagged this as a possible scam was "The financial means for the competition, including the realisation of the art works, amount to 1.75 million euros.".

Although that does seem like a large sum for public art, the call does appear to be legitimate. Cologne really is working on expanding their public rail system, and the websites appear to be legitimate. Although the total is 1.75 million euros, that's split among 8 stations, working out to an average 218,750 euros per station (minus whatever they're taking out of that to pay the staff organizing the competition). Artists are encouraged to participate, but to continue to be careful and protect their rights and finances. The call can be found here.

Update July 7th: The call is only open to citizens of EU or EU-associated countries.