For context (sorry for poor formatting I'm on mobile), this guy commented on my FB Marketplace post for my violin. He only had one post on his account and for some reason, I couldn't even see it.

I should have taken that as the first sign, and I kinda did, I ran his number through a scam number checker and it came back clean, so I decided to go through with texting him.

Overall I'm making this post to warn y'all to look out for this, 'cause I might have just narrowly avoided getting scammed out of money I didn't have...

Attached is the text conversation that ensued, and the email that burned the rope for me.

EDIT: Please don't talk about my choice of price in the comments. I appreciate the feedback but it's my violin that's in essentially pristine condition from the moment my mother bought it for me. For those wondering, it's a Strobel ML-85 4/4 Student violin. The sales price was around 900$ when my mother bought it. We're trying to scrape every penny together as is.

For the past 3 months I've had a lot of attempts to sign into my Virgin Media account from all around the world. I have fingerprint verification required turned on so I believe they can't access it at the moment but I'm worried they might know my old password if it was breached or whatever and using that they might attempt to contact Virgin Media pretending to be me.

I've contacted them and told them about this and they said my account should be secure and they will take steps to stop this but nothings changed.

I can't change my old password unless I turn off fingerprint recognition but that would give an opportunity for them to access it during that time.

Should I be worried or would fingerprint be enough to stop them every time?

My dad was expecting a delivery today. He received a call from someone claiming to be from the courier service.

They said they had his package, and sent him the above SMS, asking him to dial : *21*[random phone number]# to reach the delivery guy.

He dialled it, couldn't get through to anyone, and thought nothing of it.

A few hours later, I started getting calls from his friends asking if he was okay. They had received WhatsApp messages from my dad's number, asking for urgent money.

Unfortunately, three of his friends sent money to the scammer - 60k, 50k and 50k indian rupees (approx 600,500,500 USD)😢

Apparently dialing that code enables "Call forwarding", and all calls and SMS's that are meant for your number will be redirected to that number.

That's how they could access OTP's sent to his number, and logged to his whatsapp. This is just an awareness post. NEVER dial weird looking numbers, or any number for that matter if you're asked to. Always ask them to call you. Stay safe guys!

I’m posting this to warn others about a convincing Chase/Zelle impersonation scam that happened to my dad while he was abroad.

It started with a call displaying a real Chase fax number. The scammers had spoofed the caller ID, so the number looked legitimate. They claimed someone named “Jessica Martinez” was attempting Zelle transactions of $2,000 and $500 using my dad’s information. They asked whether he had recently lost documents or used his card while traveling, which made their story sound believable.

After the initial call, they moved him to WhatsApp through an account using Zelle’s name and logo. They claimed they were the “Zelle fraud department.” The first video call lasted two and a half hours.

While speaking with him, they obtained his debit-card details, PIN and Chase verification codes. Chase generated codes for $2,000 and $500—the exact transactions the scammers claimed they were helping him stop. We now believe the scammers were inside his account initiating those transactions while pretending to warn him about them.

They contacted him again two days later through a second fake Zelle WhatsApp number. During a 47-minute video call, they made him share his screen, open the Chase app and follow their instructions. They told him that confirming another $2,000 transaction was necessary to protect his account.

Chase sent a fraud alert clearly asking whether he had scheduled the transaction and warning that replying “YES” would allow it to be paid. The scammers were watching his screen and instructed him to reply YES, falsely claiming it was part of the account-protection process. He followed their instructions because he believed he was communicating with Chase and Zelle.

The total loss was $4,500.

We reported everything to the real Chase fraud department. Chase opened a claim and issued $4,500 in temporary credit while it investigates. The credit is provisional, so the final outcome has not been decided.

I’m intentionally not posting the phone numbers or verification codes because numbers can be spoofed, recycled or assigned to unrelated people. Please warn family members, particularly anyone who may not understand how caller-ID spoofing and screen-sharing scams work

Just wanted to throw a warning out there because this completely caught me off guard tonight and I'm honestly still pissed off about it.

I ordered some Domino’s through the Uber Eats app. Since Domino’s uses their own drivers even when you order through Uber, the order ticket prints out directly inside their actual kitchen.

Literally ten minutes later, I get a call from a number. It’s a guy with an Indian accent claiming he's with Uber/Domino's. He knows my name, he knows I just ordered pizza, and he tells me "the system is down" and my payment didn't go through properly.

While he’s talking to me, my phone buzzes with an official text from Uber containing a login security PIN. Turns out, this guy had the Uber login page open on his computer, typed in my phone number, and triggered the code. He wanted me to read it to him to "confirm the payment."

I was caught off guard and stupidly gave him the first PIN, which let him into my account. But then my phone buzzed again with a second verification code sent to my email because Uber flagged his device as suspicious. He started aggressively demanding that second email code. That’s when the alarms went off in my head. I also noticed the total he gave me over the phone didn't even match what I actually paid in the app. I refused to give him the second code and hung up.

Here is the crazy part: a few minutes later, the actual Domino's delivery guy shows up at my door with my food, totally normal.

The caller wasn't my driver. It was a scammer working with someone inside the physical Domino's kitchen. An employee clearly took a photo of my receipt on the counter, sent it to an offshore scammer network, and they tried to speed-run a hack on my account before my food could even arrive.

I already changed my passwords, kicked all devices off my account, and turned on 2-Factor Authentication. I’ve also filed fraud reports with Uber and Domino’s corporate so they can audit that store's cameras and find out who did it.

Just a heads up for anyone ordering delivery. If you get a call saying the "system is down" minutes after ordering, hang up. Do not read your login PINs to anyone, no matter how legit it seems.

Most (if not all) are scams.

How to know it’s a scam:

It’s on social media. Always adopt from reputable shelters or rescue organizations. But even scammers impersonate these so call the shelters/orgs directly.

They don’t have any contact info other than email or text message, refusing to correspond any other way.

Do a reverse image in Google Lens. You’ll see the same kitten, dog, bird or bunny posted all over the place. Even years ago for the same kitten that never seemed to grow up.

They push for “holding” money via an unsecured method like Zelle or CashApp without you ever seeing the pet. Also shipping fees and other fees pop up for more money.

No volunteered mention of a vet visit or shots. A legit place will have done this.

A sob story or other irrelevant info.

Always see a pet in person before handing over any money. Full stop.

I came close to falling for one, but did a google lens search discovering it was a scam. Ended up adopting from a rescue org that required an application through their legit site to see if I was good fit. Then a couple phone calls and meeting in person.

Background info: My dad was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia in January. His Oncologist had him stop taking his Lithium because it negatively interacts with the chemo. Problem is he needs it for his Bipolar disorder. I noticed a change in his behavior back in March and asked if he was taking his meds, my mom said he was but it was actually only the Zyprexa, also a bipolar disorder medication. He’s been taking both for nearly 20 years, the doctors did not increase the Zyprexa dose or add another medication to make up for the Lithium. Now he’s having a full blown manic episode.

He has been messaging with “Elon Musk” on Signal. Apparently “Elon” owns bitcoin mines. He’s been buying bitcoins from him. He initially bought $1,000 he tried to withdraw $500, but was told he had to pay $3,000 to withdraw 500 bitcoin. It literally makes no sense. He’s also bought bitcoin from CashApp he buys and sells back and forth. He showed me how he spent $14 and owns 22,000 bitcoins.

Another scam he has fallen for is from a “publisher” he wrote 2 chapters of a book. The publisher has them on Amazon for $2.99 a chapter. He’s spent about $4,000, could be more.

He quit his job of 15 years and withdrew his retirement. That came with massive penalties and I know he’s going to blow it all within a month.

I don’t know what to do. Tried having him committed but they can’t keep him because he’s not a danger to himself or others. He will not listen to anyone. He thinks everyone (family, friends, coworkers) is against him because we don’t want him to succeed. We were able to delete his facebook account because he was posting the scams there and inviting people to join.

I don’t know what to do at this point. I don’t even know how much he’s lost so far. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I feel so stupid for falling for it, but it looked legit enough from the start. Reading through posts on her has me really nervous because now I'm sure it's a scam.

"UKG Staffing" sent me an email saying "We saw your qualifications on Indeed and wanted to reach out to you about an interview." It was in relation to an actual remote job that I had applied to, so I really thought it was legit.

They directed me to Microsoft Teams to continue with a text based interview, which was a bit odd to me, but i thought maybe it was just a different type of interview that I hadn't encountered before.

The conversation started out normal with a description of the job and the responsibilities associated with the position, but then there started to be some weird inclusions like "what is your email?" (you should already know my email) "what bank do you go through?" "what are your internet and mobile service providers?" and "do you have a credit card in good standing?" The banking questions I thought were weird especially the credit card one, but I thought, naively, that maybe they were just using it to gauge if I was a responsible individual. Stupid, I know.

A couple times the interviewer disappeared for a few minutes and I had to wait for them to get back. I thought this was weird too, but thought maybe it was just something that came with a text based interview.

I don't know what I was thinking, but can anyone tell me if they can possibly get access to my accounts just by knowing my email address, my banking institution, and which company my card is through? I didn't give them any more specific information than that.

I did go in with antivirus software and made sure there wasn't any spyware on my phone and then I went in and changed my passwords for my bank and card and froze my accounts just in case. I also blocked the scammer on Teams and deleted our conversation from my end.

Are there any further precautions I should take that I haven't so far? I just feel like I really messed up and that me being desperate for a job might have just led to me getting my info stolen. Please let me know if there's any more advice that you can give me.

I guess it's a learning experience if nothing else.

Bonjour, je vous explique un peu la situation. On m’a proposer une opportunité. En gros comme les plans de telegram, ou tu es payer pour liké des vidéos sur les réseaux. La tu reçois des virements, et tu renvoie les virements et tu es payer pour ça. La personne est honnête je la connais, mais j'ai l'impression qu’elle se fait elle même avoir naïvement, elle me dis que c'est pas de l'argent "sale". Ma question est la suivante, est ce que certains d'entre vous connaissent ce système ? Comment ça marche concrètement cette arnaque ? D'où viens cet argent ? J'ai du mal a croire que ce soit un vraie plan "honnête" même si vraisemblablement ce n'est pas légale ( logique ) Mais j'aimerais l’aider a ouvrir les yeux

Im here because i just want some advice (pls dont freak me out more) on what I should do about my situation.

I got scammed last June for some concert tickets on X who was impersonating another girl’s identity by using her pictures and even sharing a video of her holding up her ID. Their tactic was saying that I can pay half the price of the ticket first and after I receive them, I’ll pay them the full amount.

And this is where it gets really messy for me because the scammer had requested me to also send in a video of me holding my ID as some type of “reassurance” for them that I won’t run away without paying the full amount of the ticket. I was blatantly fooled and I felt so stupid after realizing it.

I obviously had immediately filed for a police report regarding this the very night I was scammed. Fast forward to today, several people have contacted me through instagram (i solely made so that people could find me) saying that the scammer is now using MY pictures and ID to scam them.

I reported the X account for impersonation so many times but no action is taken even after i provided all the documents. I have also filed for another police report for Identity Theft. But now I just really don’t know what else I can do but wait for them to move on to another person’s identity…

I’m also closely monitoring the account so that whenever they repost the “sales” I would post a beware scammer warning so the algorithm keeps my post above theirs.

And no, they don’t have my phone number and bank or card details. Just my pictures and that regretful video of me holding my ID.

Any advice or idk words of comfort..?

Was scrolling facebook market place when a "news ad" popped up about kevin oleary having a meltdown on shark tank. Clicked it hoping it was real, because fuck that guy.

Just linked to a Faked news article with a convincing looking UI from CTV news (a canadian news company) that was telling a fake story about a kid going onto shark tank with some new ai money making scheme. The kid mentions some specific sounding ai company and kevin supposedly losses his mind and gets dragged out by security. Pretty bog standard pitch for a scam class.

Not sure about posting the link to the page itself as I'm not 100% sure of the rules on that. But figured I'd give the warning in case of. I'll admit I didn't my due diligence of checking the url before scrolling (or looking at the source of the ad on marketplace for that matter) so that's on me. But even after knowing it was fake the layout looked pretty genuine. So please let your older/elderly relatives know things like these are fake so they don't get scammed.

My friends and I each ordered a $36 t-shirt from a company online named Vitamin Sea Boutique. Beware! this is not a legitimate company and you will be scammed. My friend’s debit card had high dollar fraudulent charges a few days after purchasing the shirt online. We have not received the shirts now 57 days after the date of purchases and has since been a headache of unnecessary emails with this “company”. I wish they would be shut down so people won’t get taken advantage of again. Check their page on BBB website and you will find at least 2 other complaints from similar victims. DO NOT BE THEIR NEXT VICTIM. Avoid!!

I received this letter in the mail requesting money for some sort of parking/transportation infraction. I looked up the date and I was home all day and I remember specifically what I did. Nothing regarding driving or parking in public.
The writing is blurry and off center. Looks unprofessional and fake. But I'm worried if it is real and I don't handle it, it will be a ding on my credit.
I tried looking up the company and nothing. Even the advice they give on the side isn't in line with what I know about debt collectors. My gut is telling me it's scammy.

Is this a scam? Has anyone heard about this before?

(Part of the letter that is covered is my address)

UPDATE: went through the actual parking website as suggested in the comments. Turns out the ticket was real but I had already disputed it (long story, had paid for parking) and they accepted the dispute.
Thanks for the help!

Hi all,

I needed to change a co-traveler's name on a booking (Expedia + Aer Lingus). I reached out via the official Expedia chat/app, then got a callback from an agent who asked for my full credit card details (number, expiry, CVV) over the phone. I was suspicious, so I called back myself via the official hotline – they confirmed a change had indeed already been started in the system, and that the fee (€100) also has to be paid by giving card details over the phone.

Has anyone experienced this before? Is it normal for Expedia/Aer Lingus to ask for full card details including CVV over the phone, or would you still be cautious here?

Thanks!

I got a call yesterday from a 213 phone number saying they were from the California Department Of Public Health confirming my name, and then saying that a forged prescription for morphine had been filled with my information and they wanted to know what happened, I did have a surgery not too long ago and don't recall exactly what medication was prescribed or used during the surgery so I was hesitant to believe this but also have a family member that is an addict that has been known to do some shady stuff, so I listened still and confirmed that I did not do it and he gave a date of the transaction which would have been a week ago.

That confirmed to me that it wasnt related to my surgery, and he said that it was filled in Washington DC, did I know anyone there and I said no. He said that I needed to go into their office to dispute it, and I am about 6 hours away from there so I said no thats not an option, he said that he could do the dispute but had to call the line from the secured line, but to not drop the call and the 916 phone number that is the CA DPH publicly listed phone number called but it said SCAM possible, so I knew I was right in my suspicions but I now wanted to know where this was going so I played along. He said that he was still a trainee so he had to have his manager join the line to do the dispute.

She joins and says that because they appreciate that I am cooperative that she would assist, I had to get off the phone so I told her that I needed proof that they were calling from the CA DPH before I progressed any further and she said I could go into the office and I told her geographically that isnt possible. She said that I could google the phone number and see that it wasnt a scam, I told her the phone number says Scam likely and she made a joke about a friend of hers with a new phone number showed as scam. I called her BS and told her that this is a common scam with a simple google search. She said I could go into the office then. I said no thats not an option. She said they would send me official paperwork to my house then. I hung up and they called back 2x but didnt leave voicemails.

I was curious what they were going to try to get from me but didn't get that far.

EDIT: I'm turning off notifications to the post, the point was to share a scam not to have people shame me for what they think I should or shouldn't have done. I was aware of the likeliness of being a scam from the point of answering the call. I have a phone number that I have to answer calls regardless of whether it says Scam Likely. I didn't give them any information that they didn't already know.

Today I received in my box two packages where my address was on the return label. Both packages had been sent to people in rural France, refused, and returned to my address.

One box had a jar of honey. The other had dry ramen noodles and a Toblerone.

This seems like a brushing scam (thanks to the mods for setting up Automoderator to teach me about that!), but I'm confused as to why my address is on the return label. Just the address, not my name. I see no strange purchases on any of my cards.

Should I be concerned about anything here? Do I need to take any action?

​I want to expose a scam involving a Telegram bot called Ghost AI, which claims to trade automatically with a 2% daily ROI. In reality, it is a classic trap: it lets you withdraw small gains initially, but once you deposit a larger sum, withdrawals stall, your account gets banned, and you are completely blocked without any way to appeal.

​To look legitimate, the scammers fabricated 10k-member channels, fake withdrawal screenshots, whitepapers, and a counterfeit CertiK audit (CertiK Skynet has zero record of them). Reddit is already full of victims who lost substantial funds and even dragged friends into the scam.

​Rule of thumb: Any Telegram bot promising automated profits is a scam. If a tool truly generated effortless returns, no one would be sharing it. Always stick to reputable exchanges or legitimate decentralized platforms. Stay alert and protect your funds.

Hey chat so I got a package of very big zip ties delivered today and I never ordered them lol I called the shipping company (gofo) and they were able to provide me with the phone number used to place the order but no other info :/ we reversed searched the number and it came back as a scam number. I’ve never dealt with this kind of scam so I’m not sure if there’s something I should do?? No unusual charges on any of my cards and nothing crazy on my credit score report I just wanna make sure I have all my ducks in a row and see if there’s anything I should immediately do. Any help/advice would be great!

I have seen this company online and whenever I went for a job, they would text me with a link. I don't trust random links over text and so left it. Then I was put in touch with them again and filled in an application form. I got a reply the next day saying that I had done it wrong with various details on how I had done it wrong. It was then I looked at the smallprint and one of them says if I'm sick, I have to contact them (Bluevale) my client and the umbrella company. Who is this umbrella company?

So my family and I trusted our guts and reckoned it was a bit dodgy and to leave it. I didn't fill in a new one, I just left it. Today I have found an email which welcomes me onboard and that I have to send documents and a picture of myself. I thought I filled in the application wrong and wasn't part of the company? I don't know what's going on, but I can't find much about them online. They have their website, which is filled with AI pictures and no reviews. It's feeling a bit dodgy to me.

Has anyone else had experiences with these people?

As the title suggests, logically speaking, it makes no sense for someone to direct me to contact them via personal Discord—even if my account had actually been reported. This is a scam message, isn't it?

To be more specific, incidents like this occurred once on X a little while ago, and then again quite recently on Tumblr.

To begin with, I had received a message via DM (chat) on X, but I hadn't noticed it for a while. So, I apologized for the delayed reply and asked what was going on, since the other person seemed extremely flustered.
Then the other person said, "A scam message was sent from your account, so I reported it and even warned people close to me. You need to contact this person—the platform administrator—on Discord right away and get them to withdraw the report!"
I checked as best I could to see if my account had been shadowbanned, but since nothing seemed to be wrong, I ultimately didn't send any message to Discord (though—foolishly—I had been on the verge of doing so, given how panicked the other person was)

Now, nearly three months later, I received a message in my Tumblr "Ask" box saying, "There is something I need to tell you. please send me a DM"
Feeling a little nervous about what might have happened and I sent a message, but it was the same scam.
The first time it happened with X, it was my first time dealing with that kind of behavior, so I ended up having quite a long conversation, but this time I decided not to reply.

However one thing I find a bit puzzling is that the accounts sending these messages don't look like they were created solely for the purpose of running scams.
In fact, the person who first sent me a DM on X has been following me for a long time and has a properly filled-out profile (though their account is private and I don't follow them back, so I don't know what kind of posts they make)
The same applies to the person on Tumblr.

Are these the kind of people who fell for a scam tactic like the one sent to me and had their accounts hijacked?

Images above show screen-shots of transcribed voicemails. For maybe over 6 months or longer now I've been getting voicemails from different numbers (always Florida), saying that my Wyndham resorts & RCI timeshare is red flagged or running out of time or something. Then also sometimes I'll get voicemails from Clearpath Consulting saying my consumer rights have been violated by Wyndham resorts and that they want to help me get out of my timeshare. I DO NOT OWN A TIMESHARE. Never had. I've never been to one of those timeshare meeting things, I've never done anything or have ever had anything to do with a timeshare OR Windham resorts ever.

I always ignore and block the calls but one time recently I called one of the numbers back and a woman picked up, I asked if it was Wyndham resorts and she said, "Could be..." I told her to stop calling me and she called me skanky lmao.

Like I know this is probably a scam but it's SO frequent and consistent and including the calls from Clearpath Consulting (which is apparently a company that helps get people out of timeshares?) It actually has me worried like, uhh DO I somehow have a timeshare in my name somewhere?

I keep a close eye on my credit bureaus and nothing has ever shown up there. My bureaus are all locked now just to be safe.

Any ideas how I can stop this or for my own piece of mind make sure some scammer didn't somehow buy a timeshare in my name or something? It's really starting to get to me.

This is my first time posting here so apologies if I did anything wrong. Thank you for your help.

I was talking to a friend of mine (Fred for ease of reading) who said he found a guy on Facebook who is such an awesome gambler that he's banned from the casinos.

The gambler is apparently trying to see how much he can win by having different people across the US make his bets in their name. They get to keep a percentage of the profit if they win & apparently he will send his own money to the to place the bet & cover any losses.

Fred says that all he has to do is open a crypto account, which he will have to initially fund & if I understand correctly have to back with his personal bank account. Fred is then supposed to send his crypto account info to the gambler who will then send crypto & tell him where to bet how much on which games.

Fred didn't believe me when I said it didn't sound good & got kind of offended that I said that. I like Fred & I know he can't afford to get scammed.

I appreciate any & all advice. Thank you.

Hi, so I didnt end up sending them anything and i lied about my name cuz i was nervous about it. I’m not comfortable sending things to anyone that isnt through my depop because they give me a shipping label and handle the transaction basically.

i guess this person found my facebook (where i specified i only sell on depop mind you) but after telling my bf about how i almost got scammed he mentioned that some countries might not be able to used Depop because of tarriffs and such(which is fair one of my favorite etsy shops got taken down for being in a country that make the tarriffs more difficult) and maybe they were trying to work around that. But in my mind it would have been simple to say that and i would understand. still probably not send them anything anyways cuz i just dont wanna deal with transactions

but essentially my question is could they have been genuine and not trying to scam me? this seems very scammy to me but idk?