The art contest is over already, and it was productive for many users in: earning merits, developing and showing their skills etc, but who knows when another opportunity like that would come again. I don't think it's a way users should hope to earn merits, probably they'll have to wait for another landmark anniversary, they can just do good works(with effort)on the forum to earn merits, maybe not a ton like the art contest produced, but with time if they double their efforts, the little would add up into a lot(many)
Users shouldn't want to be scam hunters because they want merits, they should only do so to help the community, and to protect them from losing their cryptocurrencies, merits would then come at the end, but should not be the first aim.