Hastur
Footballguy
There are multiple individual threads about various scams, but I thought it necessary(in light of the proliferation of scams) to have a master Scam thread detailing any new scams that pop up online.
This is for online/innerweb/social media scams only.
Let's start with this as the basic current knowledge:
As for the actual scam, they will tell you to PM them for details
If you PM them one or more of the following may happen:
As for the actual scam, they will tell you to PM them for details
If you PM them one or more of the following may happen:
This is for online/innerweb/social media scams only.
Let's start with this as the basic current knowledge:
Common to all scams:
Things to check on a person's profile:
- It's typically either locked or they are in Bangladesh/India/Nigeria/Pakistan (Note: Australia and New Zeland now allow users to lock profiles. Do what you want with this updated information)
- The profile picture is often stolen or a stock photo (You can tell it's a stock photo if it has a watermark or if you reverse image search it)
- The name starts with MD or Md (doesn't mean they are a doctor, but I've seen it on 100's scammer accounts. It is a short form of Muhammad which makes sense given the actual location of most of these scammers)
- The user name is vastly different from the name (EG: Name is John Smith but the user name is Amar Amandeep, yes I've seen this)
- The gender and photo don't match (Yes, I know that can be a thing but it's helpful to help identify the scammers along with the other things I've mentioned here.)
- They will claim to work for Facebook or for a company related to what the group is about. (I recently saw a t-shirt scammer in a Buffalo Bills group claim they worked at "Bills Mafia")
- They have no information listed at all on the profile (This could just be someone who locked down their profile but if you combine it with the other items it can be a warning sign)
- The things they "Like" don't match the details. (EG: They say they live in New York but all of their "Likes" are for companies/products/shows/etc in India)
- They have friends with odd names/profiles that don't line up with where they say they live (EG: The profile says they live in New York but all the friends are from Nigeria and India (Yes I've seen this!))
Things to check on a post:
- The account posting reacts (likes, etc) to their own post and comments.
- Only bots and scammers do this!
- The comments are turned off and the only way to engage is to message them.
Common scams:
Wikipedia List
Animals for adoption/sale
- Do not adopt/buy animals online as they are almost always a scam!
- Typically the scammer will ask for a deposit and block you.
- Even if you get the animal, the animals are often sick
- Use a local rescue, yours is likely full
Car detailing
Post warning signs:
- The post will state something like they are new to the area and running a small family business
- The post is from an individual (not a company page) and they will not tell you the company name (because it doesn't exist!)
- Another profile (also with the warning signs above) will comment or say they have used them before (they work in groups/teams to try and convince you it's real)
How does the scam work?
Video -https://youtu.be/gMsEx5tHK1s?si=m3r-9bECU5f5p89sAs for the actual scam, they will tell you to PM them for details
If you PM them one or more of the following may happen:
- They will take payment and never show up, then block you.
- The person is in another country and will find “someone” to come to detail your car and take a cut of the total as a finder's fee.
- Who is that person? No one knows or cares
- The scammer will often use Craiglist to find the person to do the work
- What can they do once they are in your car:
- Clone your key fob to steal your car later
- Put a tracker on your car
- Check out the security of your house to rob you later
- Who is that person? No one knows or cares
Duct Cleaning:
Post warning signs:
- The post will state something like they are new to the area and running a small family business
- The post is from an individual (not a company page) and they will not tell you the company name (because it doesn't exist!)
- Another profile (also with the warning signs above) will comment or say they have used them before (they work in groups/teams to try and convince you it's real)
How does the scam work?
Video - https://youtu.be/J_FMXc7F_bM?si=kdUnbACno-gGT5U9As for the actual scam, they will tell you to PM them for details
If you PM them one or more of the following may happen:
- They will take payment and never show up, then block you.
- The person posting is in another country and will find “someone” to come to clean your ducts and take a cut of the total as a finder's fee.
- Who is that person? No one knows or cares.
- The scammer will often use Craiglist to find the person to do the work
- What can they do once they are in your house:
- Charge you more than advertised
- Check out the security in your house to rob you later
- They can steal from you
- Clone your car key fobs to rob it later
- Who is that person? No one knows or cares.
Facebook posts with BMW facts and/or various celebrity hashtags
- These are not always a scam but a way to “game” the algorithm so the content shows up higher/more
- The people who do this are not to be trusted!
- I block any account/page that does this because they may post scams once the content gets more engagement.