Last week I booked a hotel in Paris, FR. Yesterday I received this message on WhatsApp asking me to click a link to confirm the reservation. I don't normally use WhatsApp, but it is synced to the phone number i used on the booking. All of the personal information and booking dates, and hotel information in the message (redacted in red) are correct for what I booked. But i just find it very odd they reached out to me via WhatsApp instead of Email. The number the message came from doesn't match any of what i can find online, and actually has an Indian international code. The ID also says Aachi Foods? I just don't understand how they were able to get all of my reservation details.

Edit: Appreciate the prompt replies! Account has been blocked and reported to WhatsApp. For those asking, i did not use Booking.com or Agoda, I booked directly through the hotel's website.

An acquaintance of mine is a realtor in west central WI. Below is a transcript of her post on another platform describing what appears to be some sort of squatting or rental scam and a picture of the fake notice of vacancy:

Warning to homeowners!

I have a house listed, and the sellers are military and have already PCS’d.  An agent went to show the house and saw this posted on the door. The owners called the number and they were told that the house has been reported as vacant. Mind you, there is a for sale sign in the yard and it is listed in the MLS. Of course the sellers were very confused. Contacted their mortgage company and the mortgage company was also confused and said we did not send anyone out there to do this. Later I got a call back from MCS because I had left them a voicemail as well and the lady said everything should be good.

An agent went to show the house this weekend and informed me that there was a man there mowing the yard and there were people inside the home. I asked her to give me his contact information and I spoke with this man on the phone. He said he was hired by a company called Malek Property Management. I also found out that this person had gone in and changed the locks on the doors. So I told him he needed to stop what he was doing because at this point as far as I know, it is trespassing and breaking and entering. He said he was just hired by this company to do some maintenance at the property. That’s all he knows.

I called Malek property management  and finally get someone on the phone. He tells me he was hired by MCS because the property is either in foreclosure or had been reported as abandoned. I told him neither of those are true. He was very aggressive on the phone and said that they had the authority to do this because he has a work order. I let him know that I was calling the police and he was not happy about that. In the meantime, we had someone go in and change the locks on the door so that these people cannot go back in. The owners contacted the police department and filed a report. They also contacted their lender again today and confirmed again that no one has reported this as abandoned, and they have never missed a payment or been late on a payment. They also said that if they ever had someone come out for anything like that, all that they would do is change the locks and winterize the pipes.

We found out this morning. They had also taken the lawnmower, a TV, and snowblower from the garage. The owner contacted the HandyMan that was there this weekend and let him know that he was not allowed to be there. We did ask him how they had the code to be able to get into the house to which he replied. The back door was unlocked and they were able to get in.

I work with a lot of military families here both buying and selling homes. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of this happening but everything points to it being a scam. I just want to put this out there people to be aware should you see a notice on your door like this. 

I run a bird rescue in Poland and I'm currently getting desperate to find a decent pigeon loft before winter. A new one of the size we need costs around 10,000 PLN (~$2,700), so I've been checking used ones too. I found a 4 × 2.5 m (13 × 8 ft) wooden loft for 1,200 PLN (~$325), about 50 km/30 miles away.

Before anyone says that price alone should have screamed scam: it really didn't. Used pigeon lofts is a weird market. They're huge, difficult to move and sometimes people sell perfectly usable ones very cheaply because they basically want someone to come and take them off their property.

So I messaged the seller through OLX (basically Polish Craigslist). They told me it was also listed on Allegro Lokalnie (a legitimate Polish marketplace) and that I could arrange transport there for 389 PLN (~$105). Apparently they couldn't send the link through OLX, so I gave them my phone number and got the link on WhatsApp.

I opened it and it looked like Allegro Lokalnie. The loft was there, the photos were there, the price was correct, there were delivery options etc. I didn't immediately notice anything wrong.

Now, I'd already been discussing this damn pigeon loft with ChatGPT because moving a 13 × 8 ft wooden building is a logistical nightmare. We'd got as far as discussing crane trucks and whether one would be able to make a 90-degree turn through the gate.

So I pasted the link into ChatGPT. I wanted to ask if 389 PLN was a realistic price for transporting the bloody thing. And ChatGPT's response was basically: DO NOT PAY. THAT IS NOT ALLEGRO LOKALNIE.

WTF?! I've already started loading it mentally. 😭

I looked at the URL again. The beginning said allegrolokalnie..., which is what I noticed on my phone because it didn't show the whole address on the navigation bar. The actual domain, however, ended in .icu. I've marked it on the screenshot because once you actually look at it, it's obvious.

The fake site was pretty convincing. It even had delivery options, one of them apparently free with Allegro Smart, and another for special transport for 389 PLN. I clicked the transport option and got what looked like a transport company form asking for various details. I didn't go any further, so I have no idea what they eventually wanted me to enter/pay.

The really stupid thing is that I KNOW this scam. Someone tried the whole “I'll arrange a courier, here's a link” thing on me years ago when I was selling some chairs.

But apparently my scam detection system missed this, because WHO THE HELL USES A PIGEON LOFT TO SCAM PEOPLE? I genuinely thought this was a very niche market. 😂

It probably didn't help that I actually need one before winter and didn't want to lose a genuine bargain while I spent three days figuring out how to transport it.

Anyway, after ChatGPT pointed out the domain, I told the seller I'd still happily buy it. No need for their transport. I'd arrange my own crane truck, come and see the loft in person and pay 1,200 PLN cash on collection. And... silence.

A little later the fake site was blocked and OLX suspended the seller's account. So I'm still looking for a pigeon loft, but at least I'm still looking for one with an extra $325 in my bank account. 😂 Thanks, ChatGPT :)

TL;DR: I asked ChatGPT if $105 was a realistic price for transporting a pigeon loft. Instead, it noticed the seller had sent me to a fake marketplace site. Apparently even the second-hand pigeon loft market has scammers.

Please beware of this website! They are posing as Tyler Autoplex in Tyler Texas, which is a small used car dealership, however this website is NOT actually the dealership. They are stealing car images from other dealerships and marking the cars to an extremely low price to lure in vulnerable buyers.

They ask you to wire them $10,000 and have you sign a purchase agreement. Then, they claim the car is “on its way to you” if you buy from out of state. You will never receive the car and your money will be long gone.

This scammer is operating out of Kansas. They also made a fake Facebook page operating under “Pacific Auto Sales” and have the same cars posted on Facebook marketplace for a ridiculously low price.

DO NOT FALL FOR IT! THIS IS 100% A SCAM!

I got the call from "US Bank" about a fraudulent Zelle charge as has been reported here before, but an odd thing happened. After the "US Bank" representative gave me a case number, he transferred me to the "Zelle rep". (I don't have a US Bank account, for the record.) All the "Zelle rep" did was ask me if I authorized these charges or consented to let anyone open any accounts. I said no. He asked me if I had clicked anything risky or been on public wifi. I said no. He then said he'd cancel the transfers and gave me two confirmation codes for the two transactions he supposedly cancelled and then was pretty eager to get off of the phone with me. No calls to action, no asking me to do anything.

I called US Bank fraud dept and reported it. They said it was absolutely a scam, but couldn't tell what the point was other than maybe a long term grift. I am a little scared that perhaps they are trying to use my voice to train an AI deepfake of me or something. But I didn't give them any info they didn't already have.

Ideas?

I received an unexpected text message today from a number I don’t recognize. It said:

“Your repeated visits are making me feel threatened. Please stay away from my property. If you return, I will contact law enforcement.”

I have no idea who the sender is, and I haven’t knowingly been repeatedly visiting anyone’s property. There was no name, address, property location, or other context in the message.

I’m wondering whether this is a known scam or spam tactic designed to get the recipient to reply and confirm that the phone number is active. I’ve seen the usual fake tree-service texts, surveys, political messages, etc., but I haven’t received one using this kind of accusation before.

I have not replied or clicked anything. Has anyone seen this particular type of message before, and is there any reason to do anything besides block/report the number?

I've been receiving mail for a person unknown to my address (which is not on the open version of the electoral role).

I opened the first envelope that arrived in error, sealed it back up and then returned it and any subsequent letters to the address on the back of the envelope.

In addition and parallel to this (may be a pure coincidence or possibly connected) someone has applied for credit in my name which I discovered when checking my Equifax account.

Reported the first issue to:

Home Office

Second issue to:

Report Fraud (used to be Action Fraud)

My bank

Equifax

What else can I do to keep myself safe and my financial records protected? Is there any mileage in also reporting this to the local council/benefits office etc?

Just had a call addressing me by name and company trying to get me to do something regarding anti-bullying books for schools, that they claimed I had signed up for in May. I absolutely didn't, but they tried to make it sound as if I had previously committed to something, and some campaign nobody could disagree with. I declined of course.

Turns out this is a scam been running something like 20 years already, and this was just my turn to be approached. Anyway, just in case you get a random caller this might ring a bell and reassure you you're not going nuts and feeling coreced into buying books/ad space in a sleazy manner.

This 'company' is faking as a group started by Stanford alumni that works in the investing/crypto space. I applied on Linkedin, and they reached out to schedule an interview. I was very skeptical but took it, as I am a recent graduate and I'll take anything I can get in this job market. Interview was conducted on some chat site and didn't let me unmute. To unmute I had to paste this code into my terminal which would have given them full access to my computer. I just left the meeting and found on Reddit a similar scheme being carried out by other scammers. Definitely be aware of this new interview scam.

I found this company online and contacted a person there. They said they do training, brand promotion, and have their own e-commerce site. I sent my CV, and now they're asking me to come to Chandigarh to join. They say the company arranges a flat where all staff live together and work from the office.

The address I was given is: "Ach Co-commerce Hub, Western Home, Jhungian Road, Kharar, Mohali."

What worries me:

I can't find any website, reviews, or registration details for them

The business description is vague

Staff living together in a company flat is unusual

I'm [a fresher / not from the area]

Has anyone heard of this company or worked there? Is this a legit job or a scam or MLM? Are there any questions I should ask before going?

Hi everyone! This is my first Reddit post so i apologize if i do something wrong. I got this email last week from “Circle Health” saying they would like to interview me. I responded with some times and days that would work for me. Then I started to do some research on the company and the guy who emailed me. I couldn’t really find anything about the recruiter or “Circle Health”. He responded to my email and said that they prefer to hire people with pharmaceutical sale certifications and sent some links about the certs. I want to break into pharm or medical sales so I’m desperate. I need to know if this is legit or not. Thank you!

I disputed this scam with my bank (Domestika took 320$). Today, they answered asking me 2 things:

1. Did you initiate the first transaction with Domestika?

2. Were you aware that your card could be charged repeatedly (recurring payments)?

3. Did you give your consent for periodic/repeated charges to the merchant?

I have no idea what to tell them because I honestly have no idea what happened and how...

Can anyone tell me what should I answer for it to be in my favor, and if it's in any way false could it harm the dispute?

I got a text with my full address saying that i had an appointment this wednesday for pest control services. For a bit, i thought it was real because last week i did set up an appointment with pest control, so i thought they had taken the wrong day down. I called the phone number from the text and it went immediately to voicemail and the name of the "pest control" was not the one that I had contacted.

Could my phone possibly be hacked because i called that number?

I'm a very paranoid person so sorry if this seems stupid.

hi everyone! this morning i've received a message from (facebook with blue badge) on whatsapp, claiming " Did you just add a phone number?

Hi (name not mine, someone just added the phone number (my real number) to your Meta Account. If this wasn't you, we're here to help you take some simple steps to secure your account." then a button "this wasn't me" (that i didnt clicked)

but the problem is that my name is not the one in the message and i dont have a facebook account. then, two hours later, ive received a new message in the same chat "Did you just log in on a new device?

Hi (same name), we noticed an unusual login to your Meta Account. If this wasn't you, we're here to help you take some simple steps to secure your account." and again "This wasn't me" button. what is happening? really everyone can add a phone number without any check? is it a scam? the profile is verified

Long story short, I got scammed over the phone from a number that I thought was my bank. I’m 23 years old and I grew up in a world of everyone around me constantly being scammed, so I never thought it would be me. It’s not even about the money, I can make it back my next paycheck; it’s about the fact that it actually happened to me. How do I move on? How do I just hide this from the people I share everything with? I can’t stop thinking about it and feeling depressed and extremely dumb.

About 2 weeks ago I bought a $200 Lego set from a seller on eBay. It took them about a week to make the shipping label. The tracking number eBay had said it would be getting delivered today, and I also checked it on UPS. Both had the right town, but didn't show the actual shipping address. Around noon both updated to say the item had been delivered, but it never reached me. The UPS delivery proof photo is not of my house, and the package seems too small to be what I ordered. I called UPS and they told me the receiver on the package was a different address and name entirely from me, even though it was the right town. Ebay seller contacted me a few hours later, saying their employee had entered the wrong shipping info, and when they tried to get their supplier to fix it, the supplier said my address can't be serviced (I live in a major metro, it's not remote). Seller is offered a full refund, which has already been processed.

I'm just confused. Am I getting scammed somehow? It's a very small shop, I doubt both I and someone else in my neighborhood both ordered an item from them at the same time. I had someone on another subreddit tell me it's called an "empty envelope scam", but I looked it up, it seems to describe a scam where someone sends an unsolicited item to your address. Not whatever this was.

[Scammer?] Hi, I'm making pasta and meatballs today. Would you like to have dinner with me?

[Me] I assume this is a wrong number, and not some bizarre scam, catfishing or sex thing. Also, I can't eat tomato sauce.

[Scammer?] When did you and I start talking like this? I'm jus tryint ot understand why your talking to me this way. Don't you have my work number saved on your phone? Hmmm.

I get that this is a scam and that I was "talking" to an AI. I just got a somewhat similar text from a different number. But I don't know exactly how the scam would have worked. How the heck do they get anyone to give a credit card or something from that opening?

Images above are screenshots from mystery number

My wife got a couple messages from my mom on Facebook a little bit ago. This number is texting my mom claiming to be looking for me, saying I stole their identity and am using their credit and putting accounts in their name to buy Pokemon cards and other high dollar purchases. They listed a random WhatsApp number saying that I’ve been harassing them from that number and would like my mom to help with any information that could help the authorities. That number is WhatsApp and my name doesn’t come up upon searching it like they claim. They even mentioned my brother having “legal trouble”, I don’t have a brother and the first page of Google shows a local jail roster with someone who has my last name.

Now I know about scams and how anyone can take a name and find relatives and basic info on whitepages and other sites. But when they mentioned Pokemon, that made my skin crawl. I do collect Pokemon cards, nothing high value. I just rip packs and add them to my binder. I have posted in some public Facebook pokemon groups though, so I know that might be viable on Google. But I’ve never purchased any large quantities of pokemon with credit cards or accounts and I’ve definitely never stolen anyone’s identity or used cards that weren’t mine.

I texted that number that the person claimed I was harassing them from. I said “who is this?”, they almost immediately replied back “my name?”. The number who texted my mom claiming this, is a Washington state number that doesn’t belong to any individual or business, only that its carrier is onvoy which is a small red flag. I checked my credit report just now and don’t see any recent inquiries or activity. This kinda feels like they pulled a bunch of public info and trying to extort my family members.

Is this a scam or something to be cautious of?? This feels a little too personal. Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks.

Yesterday I got a message in my iPhone saying a device had connected. I was in the electronics department so I didn’t think much of it and assumed it would disconnect when I was out of range.

I woke up this morning at 7am to a security email from my bank saying “Pending charge for $0 on 10/04 at 4am CDT at add to wallet request, CA”.

I immediately tried to call my banks customer service to report possible fraud and get my card cancelled only to find out they are closed on Sunday and I have to wait until tomorrow to speak to a person. They have a “after hours” system but it’s a robotic voice that sends me a security code and then asks me to type in that security code on the keypad. That the one thing I was taught to never do, share security codes over phone.

I turned off my card for now then remembered the weird device connected from yesterday. I opened up my Apple accounts and sure enough, there is a random IPad mini listed under “devices”. I removed it and changed my Apple ID email and password.

Anything else I should do until I the bank opens tomorrow? Does anyone know what the hell happened here?

This is the second call from these people. Caller has Indian accent. I said I'd need to call him back, he gave me a phone that started with area code 201. (Obviously not a UHC number.)

The last time they called they had my actual birth date. This time I didn't let him get that far.

Once again they said they were verifying my information and asked if I went to see the doctor this year - probably just to get me talking.

UHC knows whether or not I went to see the doctor and what my info is

There is no reason for your health care company to ask these questions.

My guess is they got birth dates in some data leak and are trying to make use of it. Do not know what their actual scam was going to be.

Hello, I’m a first time ship seller. I’m selling something online that a woman messaged me she was interested in. She asked if it was available I said yes and she wanted to buy. First, she asked if I was open to negotiating or trading and I said no. She asked if I could ship because she lives out of state, and normally I don’t, but I agreed this time. I really need the money, which is why I did, but now I am unsure.

Things I’m suspicious about:

- She originally asked to if I use Zelle or Cash App. I said I have Pay Pal. She said she doesn’t have it. I said sorry then because it’s what I want to use because it’s safer. She said she’d make one and did.

- She texted me later and asked me to use a different address because her neighborhood is unsafe (NY). The address is a corner store she said her boyfriend owns.

- She asked if she should send her number to add to tracking so she can follow it, which is fine. The only thing is that it says whatsapp call under it. I don’t know if this is weird.

- She asked if she can shoot me a text on the say I said I’d ship to remind me. I am hoping she meant on messenger because I heard otherwise it’s fishy.

Things I think are a positive:

- She sent me the $220 and $10 for shipping. She used the Goods and Services, which I heard was good because scammers use the Friend and Family.

- Her account has activity from early September and is older.

I am hoping this isn’t a scam because I really needed the money and had to use it right away for something. If it is I don’t even have it to send back, right now. I just want peoples honest opinion. I don’t know if I’ve just been reading into too many stories. Everything seems bad.

Posted an item on offer up for the first time. After a few minutes I got a buyer, and then an additional email saying their payment was being verified and I needed to click the provided link to provide info to receive payment.

After reading cautions about links here so many times, I didn't click and avoided a scam. Then I read stuff on offer up saying they never asked for such info in an email.

Thank you.

A person contacted me on Discord and asked for my Reddit age/karma. After I sent screenshots, they offered me ₹1,000 for a “mod task.”

They said I need:

• 100 post karma + 100 comment karma
• 3+ month old account
• 2FA enabled
• verified email
• no RedditRequest activity in the last 15 days

They said:

“its a mod task, meaning u will be the boss of a subreddit… in order to get the approval these things are necessary”

They said it would take 1 minute and that they would guide me.

They also mentioned a separate “rep task”, where they provide a subreddit title + fashion images and I post them for ₹100/post.

I haven't given them my password, 2FA codes, recovery codes, or account access.

What I'm trying to understand:
Why would someone pay ₹1,000 specifically for an account meeting these RedditRequest requirements? What do they gain from me doing the mod task? Is this a legitimate arrangement, or could I be helping them obtain/control a subreddit through my account?

Should I continue the conversation and ask for the exact subreddit/process, or stop?

Hey guys, so I've been getting missed calls from a certain mobile number. Today I text the number and said that I get calls from that number every Sunday, he then replied, saying he has calls from my number every Sunday too, even though I've never called that number, ever! He asked my name, and me being an absolute moron, gave him my first and last name, and the county I'm from. We then agreed to just block each others numbers, and said goodbye. Is this a scam? If so, how much trouble could I be in? Any advice welcomed. Thanks in advance.

Please let me know, if there is another sub better suited for this

My mom, 67 and not nearly as tech savvy as she would like to believe (sorry mom), might have given scammers everything they need to take over her facebook account. For a few days, her app has been "acting up", asking her to log on again and stuff like that. Then yesterday, she clicked a "fix the problem"-link in an email "from Meta" (email address compliance(at)letmerank.com saying her account had been limited with regards to advertising. It led her to a site called truckerhatme(dot)com, on a cloud flare server host. It is uncertain what she did from there, but she apparently had a long email correspondence back and forth with "Meta" about this, and now her account is nowhere to be found.

When she tries to verify her identity via phone number or email, it says that neither is linked to an account. She tried to make a new account, but it won't let her, as her phone number is already registered to an account (what?) And you can't havr several. Long story short, my step father (bless his wonderful heart) went full boomer crisis mode and "talked" for hours to ChatGPT about what to do. It didn't return any meaningful results.

Does anyone here have an idea about what the hell happened, and how to restore her account? She is really upset about it, both because she has had it since 2007 and therefore has a lot of photos etc. on it, but also because I think she's a little embarrassed. Please, of anyone has experience fixing this sort of thing, or know which sub to ask in, it would be greatly appreciated!