Advance-fee
The advance-fee scam arises from many different situations: investment opportunities, money transfers, job scams, online purchases of any type and any legality, etc., but the bottom line is always the same, you will pay the scammer and receive nothing. It can be as simple as the scammer asking you to pay them upfront for an item they have listed, or as complex as a drug scam that involves an initial scam site, a scam shipping site, and fake government agents. Sometimes the scammers will simply take your first payment and dissappear, but sometimes they will take your initial payment and then make excuses that lead to you making additional payments. If you are involved in an advance-fee scam, you should attempt to dispute/chargeback any payments sent to the scammer, you should ignore the scammer, and you should ignore them if they attempt to contact you again.
Blackmail email
The exact wording of the emails varies, but there are generally four main parts. They claim to have placed software/malware on a porn/adult video site, they claim to have a video of you masturbating or watching porn, they threaten to release the video to your friends/family/loved ones/boss/dog, and they demand that you pay them in order for them to delete the video. Rest assured that this is a very common spam campaign and there is no truth behind the email or the threats.
Brushing
The scammer is creating and shipping out fake orders in order to both boost order numbers and place false verified reviews. The country most commonly associated with brushing is China, but packages may also come from other countries. If you are a victim of brushing, you do not need to worry. Receiving packages as part of brushing doesn’t meant that your private information is compromised, and you don’t need to do anything.
Calendar
Having spam appear in your calendar does not mean that you were hacked, or that your email account is insecure or compromised in any way. Your response should be to report the event as spam/junk, and then delete the event.
Car
The scammer will list a car on a marketplace site and will ask you to email them. They will tell you that they will ship or otherwise transport the car to you and allow you to inspect it. They may use the name of a company like eBay or Amazon to make the scam sound more legitimate. The scam is that the car does not exist, despite whatever pictures you have received, and you will be asked to pay for the car using gift cards or irreversible wire transfers.
Cartel
It’s a very common scam, and the scammers are not affiliated with cartels or crime groups, they are simply normal scammers using a threatening script. The threats are not real, and there is no risk to your safety whatsoever. The best way to react is to simply ignore the scammer and ignore any of their other contact attempts. These scammers often pose as escorts or sex workers to lure in marks then break out the threatening script once someone has contacted them via their ad.
Courier
Courier fraud situations usually start with a phone call from a scammer who may know lots of information about you. Scammers will impersonate bank employees, police, or other government officials. They will say that your account has been linked to fraud or another crime, and will request your assistance. You’ll be asked to either withdraw money, or purchase gift cards or expensive items, and you’ll be directed to give the money to the scammers in some way. One thing that sets courier fraud out from other phone scams is that there is often a local connection, as victims may meet someone in real life to hand off the cash or items.
Crypto/Forex
Fake cryptocurrency websites and apps controlled by scammers are becoming more and more common. Sometimes the scam begins with a romance scammer who claims that they can help the victim invest in cryptocurrency. Victims are told to buy cryptocurrency of some kind using a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange, and then they are told to send their cryptocurrency to a website wallet address where it will be invested. Sometimes the scam begins with a notice that the victim won cryptocurrency on some website, in this case messages will often be sent through Discord. In either case, the scammer controls the website, so they make it look like there is money in the victim’s account on their website. Then the scammer (or the scammer pretending to be someone official who is associated with the website) tells the victim that they have to put more money into the website before they can get their money out of the website. Of course all of the money sent by the victim has gone directly into the scammer’s wallet, and any additional money sent by the victim to retrieve their money from the website will also go directly into the scammer’s wallet, and all of the information about money being held by the website was totally fake. This scam is also known as the pig butchering scam. If the scammer used Bitcoin, then you can report the scammer’s Bitcoin wallet address here: https://www.bitcoinabuse.com/reports. If the scammer used Ethereum, then you can report the scammer’s Ethereum wallet address here: https://info.etherscan.com/report-address/. You can see how much cryptocurrency has been sent to the scammer’s wallet address here: https://www.blockchain.com/explorer.
Death threat
The exact wording of the emails varies, but they will usually claim that they have been paid to kill you, and will threaten to kill you/your family if you do not pay a Bitcoin ransom. They usually also claim that they will kill your family if you report the email. The emails are spam and can be ignored.
Fake check/Fake cheque
The fake check scam arises from many different situations (fake job scams, fake payment scams, etc), but the bottom line is always the same, you receive a check (online or in real life), you deposit a check and see the money in your account, and then you use the funds to give money to the scammer (usually through gift cards, Western Union, or cash). Sometimes the scammers will ask you to order things through a site, but that is just another way they get your money. The bank will take the initial deposit back , and any money you sent to the scammer will come out of your own personal funds. Usually the fake check deposit will be reversed in a few weeks, but it can also take several months. If you do not have the funds to cover the amount, your balance will go negative. Your bank will usually charge a fee for depositing a bad check, and your account may be closed depending on the severity of the scam. Here is an article from the FTC: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-spot-avoid-and-report-fake-check-scams, and here is an article from the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/21/your-money/fake-check-scam.html
Fake payment c The fake payment scam occurs when someone tries to trick you into thinking that you have received a legitimate payment when no such payment has been made. The most common method they use is sending you an email meant to look like a payment confirmation. In some cases the emails will be almost indistinguishable to a legitimate email sent by the payment service. It’s also common for scammers to spoof the ‘from’ email to match an official address. To combat a fake payment scam, verify online payments by logging in directly to the service. Do not check your junk folder, and do not assume a payment is legitimate based on an email alone. If a payment isn’t reflected on your account and the person you are dealing with insists they have sent it, call support and ask about it. There is also a variant of the fake payment scam where you will receive a legitimate but fraudulent payment. If you think you’re dealing with a scammer, you’re probably right. Always trust your gut.
Google Voice
The scammer wants to create a Google Voice account, which allows them to make free calls within the U.S. and Canada. Google Voice requires verification from a phone, so scammers trick people into verifying accounts for them. If you are currently talking to a verification code scammer, just block them and move on.
Tax
Tax scams can happen in many forms, such as phone calls with the caller ID spoofed to a real tax number, text messages claiming you have money available to claim, and emails that look like they come from the tax agency. The scams usually involve phishing, but can also involve threatening you and demanding payment immediately, sometimes threatening you with prison time if you do not agree to pay a settlement. If you see one of these scams, report it to the agency they are impersonating.
Tech Support
Tech support scams can start with the scammer contacting you, through a random phone call, pop-up on a website, notification, or email. You can also run into tech support scams by Googling a support phone number and seeing an advertisement placed by a scammer meant to look like a legitimate support page. To avoid tech support scammers, always ensure you are on the correct website when you’re looking for a support number to call. Don’t be afraid to hang up and double check if you have called for support but think you may be talking to a scammer. If you’re talking to support and they mention anything about gift cards, hang up.
Underage
This scam usually starts on a dating app and you will encounter a normal woman whose profile says she is above 18. Later you will be contacted and told that the girl is underage. They’ll usually pose as the girl’s father, another family member, or a police officer. They will tell you that your life will be ruined and you will be a sex offender, but will offer you the chance to pay them to make the problem go away. The stories they use as to why you need to fork over money vary, but the common ones include therapy for the girl, payment for a broken phone or computer, etc. Of course, there is no girl and no crime has been committed, so if you are involved in this scam all you need to do is ignore their threats and move on with your life. The scammers may contact you again in the future after you block/ignore them, so be ready in case that happens. If you have already sent money to the scammers, you should try to dispute the transaction and see if you can get your money back. NOTE: Scammers pretend to be underage boys as well and the text above still applies, but it’s called the underage girl scam as those are the vast majority of cases.
Wrong number/Mandy
An intentional wrong number text is the entry point to multiple different types of scams. Because these are so prevalent and lead to several unwelcome outcomes (including you confirming you have a live number, leading to more spam/scams), it is recommended that you do not reply to them, even out of courtesy. They hope to take your courtesy, parlay it into a conversation (often by commenting how nice you are and giving some suggestion of fate in meeting this way), and eventually deploy a scam. If you received a wrong number inquiry that seems to assume a connection with you (e.g. seeking a specific friend, inquiring about a doctor’s appointment, asking about a business correspondence, etc.) and there are no pictures included, then you are likely at the beginning of a crypto scam. You can see a video of this scam develop from wrong number to crypto scam at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ_flb9tGuc If you receive a random text from a woman that is trying to play up a relationship/hook-up angle and includes an alluring photo, you have encountered what this subreddit often calls the Mandy scam, based on the name used in an early incarnation of it. The replies are sent by a bot and will give the same responses (with some slight variations) regardless of how you respond. The bot also has a few specialized responses that occur when you say words like ‘bot’ or ‘scam’. After a series of replies, it will eventually push you to go to an adult/cam/age verification site.
You can report spam texts by forwarding them to 7726 (SPAM): https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-report-spam-text-messages
There is also some evidence that intentional wrong number texts can be part of a data-gathering exercise where each bit of info you give (e.g ‘Hi Susan!’ and you reply with your name out of courtesy) is collected to be used against you in other scams.
Influencer
This is a dishonest marketing technique where a user will reach out to you on a social media platform, usually Instagram, and offer you the chance to work with or promote a brand. Sometimes the main brand account will reach out to you, but other times a fresh account will message you and direct you to contact the main account. Working with the brand will involve buying their products, though you may be offered a discount. This technique is usually used by dropshipping sites that sell items from Aliexpress at inflated prices, so even with the discount they will make money from your order. This is simply a marketing technique sent to many people at once to get people to order from their site, so if you receive a message like this all you need to do is ignore it.
Instagram
This scam is a variation of the verify/pin scam. You will receive a message from someone who is asking for your help to log into their account. This message could be from a contact you trust, but the account is actually compromised. They will either ask you to add their email or phone number to your own account, or ask you to receive a verification link that you will copy and send to them. Either way, these steps will allow the scammer to change your password and lock you out of your account. The purpose of this scam is to gain access to your Instagram account which they will then use to scam other people. They may also attempt to blackmail you into creating videos that promote their scam. If you receive one of these messages, ignore it and report the account as hacked.
Job
Fake job scams come in many different varieties, though most share common characteristics that you can use to spot the scam before becoming a victim. The scammers will usually conduct interviews over Google Hangouts or a similar online service. Their English will be awkward, and they may be re-using a script, so Googling unique sounding parts of the email may yield useful results. They will offer high wages for the work being done, and they will “hire” you by telling you that you are hired, rather than going through the normal process that a company takes when hiring an employee in your country. If they mention anything about a check or about receiving and sending out transactions, it is a fake check scam. If they mention anything about receiving, processing, or inspecting packages, it is a parcel mule scam. If they ask you to purchase items up-front, ask you to pay a fee in order to be hired, or ask you to purchase gift cards, it is an advance-fee scam. If the job involves posting advertisements on Craigslist or eBay, they are using you and your account to scam people. If the job invovles Bitcoin ATMs, it’s a scam.
MLM
MLMs are a great way to lose money and friends. The vast majority of people who get involved in MLMs do not make money, and the money that is made is made by the people at the very top.
Muse
The muse scam is a new variant of the fake check scam. The scammer will contact the victim over social media and claim to want to use their image for an art project. They will offer a generous sum of money and offer to pay via check. The victim will be instructed to send money to the scammer for “materials” via an irreversible method. The scammer will often use a stolen social media account to increase their credibility. Usually the fake check deposit will be reversed in a few weeks, but it can also take several months. If you do not have the funds to cover the amount, your balance will go negative. Your bank will usually charge a fee for depositing a bad check, and your account may be closed depending on the severity of the scam.
Parcel mule
The parcel mule scam involves fraudsters sending you packages and you shipping them out to other people. The items are fraudulently obtained, usually with stolen credit cards, and the investigation into the fraud will lead to you rather than to the scammer. Here is the Wikipedia page for this scam: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parcel_mule_scam, and here is an article from the USPS: https://about.usps.com/publications/pub300a/pub300a_v04_revision_072019_tech_022.htm
Pet
First, you will encounter a breeder who may have their own website or who may post listings on an established website. They will offer a good price for a pet with papers, however they will not be able to meet you in real life, and will only sell you the pet with the use of a shipping/courier/freight service. The scammer will demand payment via irreversible payment methods such as Cash App, Venmo, Western Union, or cryptocurrency. The websites they use are usually very easy to spot, as the domain will have been registered recently, and the images they use should be findable using reverse image search. Once you pay the scammers and they know they have you, they will demand more and more fees for things like airline insurance, crating fees, papers, import permits, etc. If you are involved in a pet scam, you need to stop talking with the scammers and dispute any transactions that you are able to dispute.
Pin/verification
You will receive a legitimate authentication text from a company like Google, Craigslist, or Microsoft, and you will also have someone else asking you for the pin. Sometimes the scam starts on Craigslist, and the scammer will ask you to verify that you are a real person, and will say that Craigslist has many scammers which is why they want to verify you. Sometimes you will receive a random authentication text, and the scammer will text you without any previous contact. The goal of the scammer can be to verify accounts that require phone verification, verify postings that require phone authentication, or to steal your accounts.
PS5
The PlayStation 5 testing scam. This scam is usually spread on social media and offers the chance to become a tester for Sony and receive a PS5. These advertisements are lies. The actual scam can be an advance-fee scam where you will be asked to pay before receiving the console, or it can be an information gathering scam. If you see one of these posts, you should report them.
Recovery
Also known as refund scams, these scams target people who have already fallen for a scam. The scammer may contact you, or may advertise their services online. They will usually either offer to help you recover your funds, or will tell you that your funds have already been recovered and they will help you access them. In cases where they say they will help you recover your funds, they usually call themselves either “recovery agents” or hackers. When they tell you that your funds have already been recovered, they may impersonate a law enforcement, a government official, a lawyer, or anyone else along those lines. Recovery scams are simply advance-fee scams that are specifically targeted at scam victims. When a victim pays a recovery scammer, the scammer will keep stringing them along while asking for increasingly absurd fees/expenses/deposits/insurance/whatever until the victim stops paying. If you have been scammed in the past, make sure you are aware of recovery scams so that you are not scammed a second time. If you are currently engaging with a recovery scammer, you should block them and be very wary of random contact for some time. It’s normal for posters on this subreddit to be contacted by recovery scammers after posting, and they often ask you to delete your post so that you both cannot receive legitimate advice, and cannot be targeted by other recovery scammers.
Refund
Refund scams usually start with a spam email about a fake transaction, although they can also be sent through SMS or any other messaging service. The message will provide you with a phone number to call if you want to cancel the transaction, and if you call the scammers will try to get you to provide credit card or banking information in order to receive your refund. Scammers have been taking advantage of Paypal’s invoice system to send out realistic scam emails through Paypal itself, here is a news article about that technique: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/08/paypal-phishing-scam-uses-invoices-sent-via-paypal/. Here is a Snopes article regarding the Norton variant of this scam: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/norton-email-renewal-scam/.
Rental
Rental scammers usually list apartments at lower than market rate, and will ask for some money up front, or will offer you the keys for money up front. The scammer has no property to rent, and any money you send to the scammer will be lost. Be very cautious if you are trying to rent a place in a city you don’t live in, as seeing the apartment in person is a good way to find out if you are being scammed or not. However, just having physical access to the apartment does not mean that you are not being scammed, so be careful.
Review
Amazon review scammers are trying to buy 5 star reviews without looking like they’re buying 5 star reviews. A long time ago, sellers could offer free or discounted coupon codes to buyers in exchange for an “honest” review. This practice was banned in 2016, replaced by Amazon’s Vine program. FTC rules also dictate that any reviews or product promotions obtained in this way have to be clearly labeled as such. To get around both the FTC’s labeling rules and Amazon’s ban, there are websites and private Facebook groups that link together shady sellers with people willing to sell positive reviews. These shady sellers are usually Chinese, selling cheap products that would otherwise not receive positive reviews (or many purchases at all) naturally. They gave you those strange instructions of clicking [this] first, then clicking [their product] to make your selection of their product look more organic to the algorithm. You pay for it in full on Amazon, then are reimbursed via PayPal (which Amazon famously doesn’t use) to hide the transaction. If you don’t like the product, they do the return on Amazon to make them look like good, true-to-their-word sellers to the algorithm. But most people will just take the PayPal refund and hand over the 5 star review. One should never trust an Amazon (or other merchant’s) review - carefully research the products they purchase instead. Of course, there’s always the chance that an Amazon Review scam is just a scam and they’ll just take your money and run.
Romance
Romance scammers pretend to be in love with their victims in order to ask them for money. They sometimes spend months grooming their victims, often pretending to be members of the military, oil workers or doctors. They tend to be extremely good at taking money from their victims again and again, leading many to financial ruin. Romance scam victims are emotionally invested in their relationship with the scammer, and will often ignore evidence they are being scammed. Convincing a romance scam victim they are scammed is extremely difficult, but we have received success reports from using Dr. Phil’s shows on romance scammers or episodes of Catfish - sometimes victims find it easier to accept information from TV shows than from their family.
Skype
This scam occurs when you meet a woman/man on dating service/social media site/forum/wherever and they ask you to go on Skype, Kik, or another messaging system. They will ask you to exchange naked pictures, and they will usually ask you to include your face in the pictures. They will then threaten to reveal the pictures to your family/friends if you do not pay them. The best thing to do in this situation is block the scammer and deactivate your account for a while. Paying the scammer will not make them back off, and just tells them that it is worth their time to continue threatening you.
Steam
You will receive a message from someone claiming that they accidentally reported you, and they will direct you to the profile of a Steam/Valve employee or admin. The other account will then either try to steal your account, or steal your items. If you encounter this scam, ignore the scammers and report their accounts.
Sugar
Sugar dad/daddy/mom/momma scams are very common and usually come in two varieties: fake check style scams, and advance-fee scams. Fake check style scams involve the scammer making a fraudulent payment to you that will later be reversed, and then you making some sort of payment to the scammer that will not be reversed. Common examples include the scammer sending you a fake check and asking you to buy gift cards, or to send money via Western Union, or to purchase Bitcoins. Another common example involves the sugar scammer offering to pay your bills, or offering you banking information that you will use to pay off your bills. These bank accounts are stolen and the innocent victim will reverse the charge when they notice the fraud. The second variety of sugar scammers use advance-fee scams, where they offer you money but require you to pay first. They may ask for you to pay them to prove that you are loyal, or they may require you to pay a processing fee. It’s common for sugar scammers to send spoofed emails that look like they came from services like PayPal or CashApp that will inform you that you have received money, but that also ask for a processing fee before the funds are released.
Task
Task scams involve a website or mobile app that claims you can earn money by completing easy tasks, such as watching a video, liking a post, or creating an order. The app will tell you that you can earn money for each task, but the catch is that you can only do a limited number of tasks without upgrading your account. To upgrade your accounts, the scammers will require you to pay a fee. The goal of this scam is to get people to download the app for easy money and then encourage them to pay to get to the next level. It’s impossible to get your “earnings” out of the app, so victims will have wasted their time and money.
More in comments below.
Good post… should be in the Magazine FAQ/Wiki…
Few more scams to call out…
- Send money to help family member injured out of town.
- Amazon fake order (anyone calling for that matter saying you’ve been billed or ordered something).
- Car should also be for anything requesting a deposit before seeing in person with appropriate access or buying, (rental property, pets…). Usually high pressure and a really good deal situation.
- if it’s too good to be try or you feel soemthing is off… it usually is.
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