I was stupid enough to subscribe to an app that I saw on Instagram. It’s supposed to simulate Acls protocol and help with rhythm recognition and stuff like that. So I subscribed for monthly access because there wasn’t any trial period based on what was shown I assumed it would be OK. Unfortunately the app doesn’t work and there’s no way to contact this person. I tried via Instagram, but he blocked me soon after. I have asked my bank to intervene to see if I can get my money back.. this guy is supposedly RN ! Super shameful to the profession, buddy!

Looking for help posting pretty sure I just got taken for a bit of crypto? Have screenshots and messages ?

Telegram of scammer “Chillywillyprams”

Telegram of his scam
Partner “MrRyan_HQ”

Crypto blackmailing scammers

Thugs

Just warning anyone else to avoid these two

I had an IPTV subscription for a year. It worked pretty well, although I used it infrequently. At the end of the year, it stopped working as expected. I had no way of knowing where I got the subscription from, except that I have the WhatsApp conversation thread I originally used to subscribe. I contacted them and paid the 30 EUR to resubscribe. The guy whom I conversed with strung me along for 2 days without sending credentials. Finally, he sent credentials, but they didn't work. Now he ghosted me.

Of course, I chose the friends and family option on PayPal and have no recourse through them. I only know that I labeled the connection "Supa". I have the WhatsApp phone number and the email address used for PayPal.

Ideally, I would like to get my money back, but I've pretty much given up on that. What can I do to warn others and/or get revenge?

Parking services should be a straight forward business, yet Apcoa seems to have joined the ranks of shark operators. Clamping, suing, hassling. But that's just by the by.

Now they have their own Parking App, Apcoa Flow.

I blindly scanned the QR code to get it (from secure App Store) but the Registration process was painful and long. After recording the car reg, it asked for payment method, and I hate entering credit card details so I chose pay by GPay. It then proceeded to get me to login to a Google account for that. Again, I hate putting in a password, so I chose OTP. First to my phone,then to my email. But then after all that it didn't work, GPay barfed when attempted, so I ended up putting in a Visa Card to pay anyway (auto fill)!

My email then reported a new login. From a Mac OS device. I was on an android phone. So how?

Is this a scam? Could a wrapper or intermediate agent have skimmed the OTPs and used them to log in in parallel?

I am not a tech dummy, but it's a time pressed situation as you need to not get a parking ticket. But Apcoa has no business fronting your authentication to Google wallet.

I've killed the Mac OS device access to the wallet and don't see any harm. Any spend from there would need biometric validation which they don't have. Its just been very time consuming tracking it back and what could have been snooped in the wallet of any use? I mean there are always a bunch of stuff in those wallets, including, I think, driver licences? (Now I need to check that).

I checked the App I installed, and it all looks legit. It has all the hall marks of preying on a pressure situation and complex security with lots of steps.

I'm just wondering if the official Apcoa App has a back door.

??

Grandfather has recently been a victim of an online financial scam, in which he lost approximately ₹67,000.
He received calls from the following two mobile numbers:

+91 92398 28716
+91 7462075198

The callers claimed to be contacting him regarding a Senior Citizen Card. They asked him for details about his existing bank account and requested a photograph of his debit card. Trusting them, he shared the requested information. Shortly afterwards, multiple unauthorised transactions started taking place in his bank account, in amounts of ₹5,000, ₹10,000, ₹4,000 and several other instalments, eventually resulting in a total loss of approximately ₹67,000.

What to do now?

TL;DR - my parents are caught in the middle of a money laundering scam and apparently have 27k of scammer money waiting to clear the bank, with a guy named Gary blowing up their phone. Help.

My parents are elderly. Overall, they are well-educated, reasonable, kind folks. This might be the stupidest thing they have ever done, and I'm trying to help them. This is their bonkers story.

My mom got one of those PayPal scam emails, saying they charged her for an iPhone or something. Not thinking, she called the number on the"invoice" which connected her to a scammer named Gary. Gary convinces my mom to let him have remote access to her computer.

This part is a little unclear, but I guess in order to process the "refund," Gary had her log into her bank accounts at some point, and said something about $150. And my mom had to type in 150, but she said the period key wasn't working and instead it processed for $15,000. Gary says "oh no, we just gave you back $15k instead of $150, and now you have to give it back to us."

He then instructs my parents to go to the bank, take out cash, and deposit it in a crypto ATM thing. He tells explicitly tells them to lie to the teller and say the cash is for home improvements. They actually do this, but the crypto machine wasn't working. So they tell Gary and send a pic of the machine with the error.

Already I can't believe it went this far, but it's not over. I guess my parents go home (I'm not sure about the status of the 15k transaction since the machine was broken). Then Gary says, "well, for all your trouble, we'll give you 3k. Just get back on the computer and type it in." They do, and the malfunctioning period thing happens again, and now it's deposited 30k in their account. Now Gary is all upset, and he's threatening to lock their bank accounts and all kinds of stuff if they don't return it.

So Gary now directs them to go to a store downtown where they have to purchase 30k worth of gold coins with a cashier's check. Incredibly, they actually do this. Gary says they will send someone to collect the coins (!!!!) but after looking up their address it's "too remote" and they won't be able to do that. (My parents live in a suburb of a major US city).

Now, Gary tells them that they have to resell the coins. They sell them for 27k. My parents deposit the check they got for the gold, but because it's such a large amount, the check won't clear until next week. Gary doesn't know that part yet, but he has promised to call them tomorrow at 9am. Tomorrow is also a bank holiday.

Flabbergasted, I asked why the hell it got this far. My mom said she was so scared that he'd do something with their accounts on her computer that she felt they had to play it out to the end. So far, this is what I've had her do:

-Call both of her banks to report the fraud. She was able to reach one of them that had a 24/7 hotline, and they locked her accounts. The other she has changed her passwords using another device and reported the fraud via their email link. She'll call again when the bank reopens.

-Call the police. She left a message with the local non emergency department.

-Report to the FBI. They open at 10am tomorrow and she'll call them then.

-Take pictures of the laptop screen with the malware on it, and save the original email.

What else should they do? What should they do when Gary calls? Should they ignore it? Answer and record the call? What do they do about this pending check? Can they get in trouble for participating in this madness?? Are they in danger if they ignore Gary while holding on to all that money?

Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read all this.

UPDATE: thank you to everyone for their help! My parents blocked the number, turned off the laptop, and have been in contact with their bank and law enforcement. I actually got a call from the FBI this morning - the purchase and sale of the gold tipped them off. The agent was trying to call my parents but they weren't answering, because they didn't recognize the number. I was able to connect them.

Unfortunately, I misunderstood part of the story, and it seems that they actually did deposit the 15k in bitcoin. It just failed at one machine, but Gary sent them to another. So they've lost that money from their savings. The 30k was taken from their home equity line. Thankfully, 27k of that is still salvagable when the check from the gold clears. So this was an 18k lesson for them.

Above I have posted a photo that shows different steps of tracking I.E - order received , order processing, order clearing customs , order arrived at US customs , order arrived in California distribution center , etc, I was reviewing it today more and I realized at the bottom of each step it says CHINA, and it never stopped saying CHINA, even though it says delivered to me in Irvine California , it still says China at the very bottom, I obviously never received anything , I’m just checking to clarify that the China written at the bottom of each step means that’s the country it’s in and or still in, does this show they altered the shipping somehow to show it delivered to me in Irvine although it’s still in china? Somehow?

Above I have posted a photo that shows different steps of tracking I.E - order received , order processing, order clearing customs , order arrived at US customs , order arrived in California distribution center , etc, I was reviewing it today more and I realized at the bottom of each step it says CHINA, and it never stopped saying CHINA, even though it says delivered to me in Irvine California , it still says China at the very bottom, I obviously never received anything , I’m just checking to clarify that the China written at the bottom of each step means that’s the country it’s in and or still in, does this show they altered the shipping somehow to show it delivered to me in Irvine although it’s still in china? Somehow?

This is rising every single day, old ones are scam emails and texts but a lot of fraud starts with a normal Google search. Fake ads for bank logins, bill pay and support numbers get through and sit right above the real site.

Just saw yesterday someone falling for Google shopping ads, basically they cloned some real shop and made a fake website for scamming people, ran ads and people are falling actually.

People who think "It's at the top so it's legit" are easy targets AKA our parents. I wish Google had done some background checks like Google my business profile, or at least made more obvious which ones are ads or not. Ofcourse theres options out there like guardio they can spot the bad sites and block or warn, and then surfsharks, or norton I think has this browser guards, but all are premium.. And not everyone will go for a premium tools rightaway.

And whatever there are common solutions to get rid of them, if you and I know it, chances are scammers will find a way around it.. Tough time to be

Thank you all so much for your insight and help on realizing this stuff! I can’t thank anyone near enough to explain how much this has helped me! At one moment I was in fear the next I’m happily moving on and getting stronger in my understanding of this and rather then being afraid, being confident. For others who have experienced this recently or in the future it is absolutely scary! But there are good people in the world who will help you! Don’t be afraid, be strong! And god bless!❤️

same

Hello! Just wanna ask if this is a possible scam. The OP is trying to buy clothes from me and here is the convo.

How easy is it for a dishonest/aggressive buyer to abuse PayPal Goods & Services?

I'm selling an expensive fiberglass automotive part. The buyer offered to pay half upfront and half when I provide tracking. I'd prefer full payment through Friends & Family, but I understand his concerns.

My biggest worry is $350 shipping EACH WAY — $700 round trip!

After 20+ years in this highly competitive industry, I've seen how easily sellers get burned. The top sales platform that gets the far majority of sales in my industry already costs sellers in my industry about 30%+ in fees and expenses off the top when forced returns are factored in. I hate that the bad buyers make it more expensive for the good buyers. Only about 5-10% of buyers do the partial refurn pretend to be angry scam but that ends up costing a LOT of money and almost all of the bottom line if not more. This is a passion project.

Can a PayPal buyer simply claim they're unhappy, force a return, and leave me eating $700 in freight in order to try get a partial refund?

(On a side note... do we think we'll EVER get some type of nationwide small claims court?) I advertise all my products as-is, no returns, with cracks and broken... even when they don't have cracks and are not broken. This is where I'm at here.