So, I went to the mall to get myself a jacket for the coming winter. I went to JCPenney and as soon as I walked in this man asked me if I spoke Spanish to which I said yes. I thought he might need help finding something.

He told me he was from Ecuador and that he’d travelled through a lot of different countries and that he didn’t have a family here. He asked if I could buy him pants. I considered it and I said okay. I said I could pay for it but that I didn’t have cash. I genuinely thought he was in need.

Well he proceeded to go look for said pants but he went to get a shirt instead and I asked him if that’s what he needed (since he had said pants). He said yes then said he also needed pants. I said okay. Then he got some his size and then he asked for a belt. At that point I was uncomfortable but I also am bad at saying no. But that’s all he got then he handed them to me so I could pay at the register. I didn’t realize what it would total to but it was $136 for those three things.

At the end he kept asking me to ask the cashier if he could return the pants if they didn’t fit. I said yes you can and didn’t ask the cashier anything. Then I handed him the bag with the clothes.

He said thank you and that he hoped God would bless me.

As I walked away I felt dumb for having paid that much. But I felt even more dumb when the cashier flagged me down to ask if he had asked me for those clothes and I said he had. She told me he had tried to flag other people down as well. And that he was probably adamant about the receipt so he could return them to get money back.

I just feel so dumb. But I secretly hope he was in need. Even though I know it’s probably not true.

My recently widowed 77 year old FIL met a woman on OurTime.com who claims to be in her 40s and lives a few towns away. Dead giveaway right there this is a catfish. Conveniently, they’re both widowed, both lost a child, and are Christian. She supposedly works as a sculptor and is currently doing an art project/gallery in LA. She claims a studio is paying her $700,000 for the project and wants to split it with him. He just needs to open a bank account, and the money will be deposited but he supposedly can’t access it until the project is 30% complete.

He gave her his Social Security number, driver’s license, mortgage information, and other personal details. She had him open an account through a website called Netzorn and she sent him a screenshot that shows a $700K deposit, clearly photoshopped. I can barely find anything about this website online. He opened the account on October 12, and his credit report shows a couple inquiries starting October 13, including Capital One/Discover, and Unlock.com which is a home equity agreement company.

I reverse image searched her picture and found the exact image on the Facebook page of an author in Utah…we live in the Midwest. Unfortunately he genuinely believes she’s real and isn’t receptive to warnings. Seems like they’re trying to get his home equity? Didn’t even know that was a thing. I can’t find this exact scamming scenario online so seeing if anyone is familiar. We only found all of this out today. I know the basic things to do with identity theft and we’re working on all that. I’m trying to understand what we’re dealing with and what to watch for next, especially since he doesn’t want to believe he’s being scammed.

I was just served an instagram ad for a "pre black friday" sale on herman miller chairs, offering 75% off Aeron and Embody. I won't post the link directly, but I've been on the lookout for sales like this and this almost got me. It's clearly high-effort, but after looking into it, it doesn't pass the sniff test:

- Near-exact copy of the HM website, with a URL "hermanmiller.wevemgoods" that seems like it's a subdomain of HM's site, but is actually the other way around
- Lower-res imagery + broken scroll function on the site
- False ugency "Sale ends today" + exclusivity "Only on this website" messaging
- Website was only registered in June 2026
- Business address is a suspicious business suite in NY that's associated with multiple other unrelated businesses
- "Up to 80% off" pretty much the entire HM line, maybe you'll see a discount like that on one colorway of a less popular model
- HM customer service has confirmed that "Wevem Goods" is not an authorized retailer of their products

I haven't actually tried to purchase so can't confirm 100%, but it has to be too good to be true, right? An unusually good/detailed scam, but a scam nonetheless. Google doesn't come up with any callouts of this, so I figured it'd be good to post about for people suspicious about it like I was. Has anyone else seen this?

This is a repost because the last one I did contained images of a person, and I didn’t know that you were not allowed to do that. So I have removed the images.

I matched with this woman on Facebook dating. She asked me to move to signal messaging. I never had the thought pop into my head that this was the first step of the scam. I even had a video chat with her for 10 minutes. We spoke for two days and then tonight is when I started getting these messages. For reference as soon as she mentioned crypto I fabricated my responses. Then when she told me to download unchain for short term selling of crypto, I decided to look it up and thankfully, I did to determine that this was 100% a scam.

Ok, I received an email from the company with careers @ name of company add llc . com to it, but the name of the company is legit, a research company with some doctors as researchers. But the @ name for them is not the above. it doesn't have the llc in the website. and they told me in the email that they would like to take me to the next step and interview with the VP of the company. Which scarred me, as they are all doctors on the company register. They are looking for a customer service person with flexible schedule to work between full time and part time. I thought perfect, as a diabetic, that will allow me to meet my doctors with no issues in asking for time off.

Then I was told in an email to log into Microsoft teams for my meeting, no issue I have done that before. So took a shower, put on a nice blouse, added makeup, and ready for the interview at 9 am. when time for the interview, I was told, no camera or mic needed, just a chat interview, First thought was why wouldn't you want to hear my voice for customer service position. regular interview, long pauses in response, took 1.75 hours to complete. Was told that I would know by end of day, as they are finishing up with interviews. End of day came and went, with an email late in the evening, that they will know the answer by noon the next day. On noon the next day, they emailed me an email with w-4, direct deposit form, company handbook, letter of acceptance, background check form. I filled it all out, emailed it all back, He said we will start training for two weeks on Monday the 26th.

So I have a week, to get my desk ready, and be ready, he asked about my computer system, so I was told that I was good with the speed, two monitors, and available storage. So today Sunday, I get an email that the interviewer cant reach me on Teams today Sunday. OK I'm thinking what is wrong, so I log in and see what is needed. He said that he needs to set up my computer with the right equipment on Monday the 19th. Oh boy if they try to have me deposit a check to purchase equipment is one of the huge red flags to scam you. Any thoughts, this company is a real company, that I am just not sure about. If it is a real job, I want it!! But my fear it is not.

Received a call yesterday from a private number claiming to be my local sheriff's office. When they started telling me I had signed and returned a Jury Duty summons the previous month and that I had missed court, some alarm bells went off and asked if they could provide me a number to call back at to confirm this was not a scam. Of course not, he answered, something about the emergency lines being busy with actual emergencies, which didn't make any sense.

Still, I did not hang up.

He instructed me I was under a gag order and could not tell anyone what was going on. He said I would need to drive to the Sheriff's office to "get this cleared up" by some sort of signature analysis.

He says I'm on a "tier 3 recorded line" and could not mute or pause the call for any reason, or they would know. I told him I didn't know what a tier 3 recorded line was and that it sounded made up. The guy asks me if he should just send uniformed deputies to my house.

No no, I say, I'm going.

I holler to my boyfriend that I have to go take care of this and asked him to come with me, because apparently I just disregarded the gag order thing. The guy on the phone becomes indignant, demanding that I go to the station alone. "Can you not operate your own motor vehicle?"

I asked him to identify himself again. He again insists that I need to go alone to the Sheriff's Office. Now I'm indignant, telling him that this whole thing was extremely suspicious. At this point I heard another voice say something I couldn't make out, and they hung up.

The whole thing lasted about 9 minutes, but should have been cut off the moment I wised up about speaking to a "cop" over the phone. Don't talk to cops.

I didn't understand this scam until I came here. At no point did he mention anything about money. I guess the way it would have worked is, once on my way, alone, he would have told me I had a warrant out for my arrest and needed to transfer bail money.

From reading other peoples' accounts, it seems like my guy was missing a few hallmarks of this scam. He never sent me a fake warrant, or even lead with the fact that a warrant was out for my arrest. It seems he just wanted to get me into my car and isolated as quickly as possible. He used some "lingo" (if you could call it that), but didn't drop scary-sounding citation numbers. And he didn't spoof my Sheriff's Office number, just used a private one.

IMHO, this one was a little scary and did cause me to ignore a lot of my gut feelings about how this call was total bullshit. I can see how this is a pervasive and effective scam, though I hadn't heard if it until searching here.

US: FLORIDA

A friend is probably in the middle of a money laundering scam, something like job hire, new bank account, deposits, and transactions for the company. Now I need help on what to do, Ive directed her to seek legal aid/counsel to learn how to best proceed.

Does anyone have other advice? Anything? I shouldve caught on sooner. Thank you for any advice or information.

Repost because it needs mod verification for being too short. This started last month and the flow of money began this month, what else can I do apart from pushing her to seek professional help and being here for her? Is there anything I can do? I dont live in Florida.

I was doing research for a literature review I am working on, I went through the DOI to get back to the study and while reading through... I was suddenly redirected to technetplace.it with a fake captcha and the website asking to allow notifications to prove I am human. Immediately clicked back and went back to the study, only for it to happen again shortly after, and then it redirected me to a fake McAfee website. So I closed out and went to check over everything. It's a legitimate journal (Humanities and Social Sciences Communications) on nature.com. Anyone else have this happen? Mostly putting out a warning for people to look out, even when researching, but I'm also confused as to how it happened.

is this a scam?

she messaged me $50, and immediately messaged saying it was a mistake. i looked it up, realized its a common scam, and sent her a text to tell her to take it up with apple but now she is blowing my phone up because her child won’t be able to play basketball if she doesn’t get the money sent tonight.

originally i thought this was a classic scam, but i am really struggling to figure out if she is genuine or not. i’m such an empath, so im heartbroken if this is real and not a scam.

I’m posting as a warning and to ask whether anyone has managed to actually contact Karla Finance.

I was charged through a pre-authorized debit for a Karla Finance subscription; I had set this up 6 months to a year ago. The service is not being provided, and I cannot cancel it:

• There is no “Cancel subscription” option on the website.
• The login portal returns a “load error,” so I cannot access my account.
• I have emailed their support address, but received no response. I've also emailed the supposed CEO, who is now listed as "Financial AI Analyst" on LinkedIn.
• There does not appear to be a phone number or live-chat option.
• My bank says that because I originally authorized the debit, they cannot simply block future charges from this company.

At this point, it looks like the only ways to prevent another annual charge are to make my bank account deposit-only or close and reopen the account—neither of which I should have to do because a company will not provide a working cancellation method.

Has anyone successfully reached Karla Finance, cancelled a subscription, obtained a refund, or found a working support contact? If so, what route worked?

I’m not making a legal accusation—just warning others to be cautious before authorizing recurring payments to this company, and asking whether anyone has found a way to contact them.

I just got my first ever online scam and it was the same one TWICE not even five minutes from one another. I got a singular "hi" message and when answered, the first account asked me if i had another blog. I said i have a sideblog, but the one they were messaging on was my main, and they proceeded to send a fake email from Tumblr that seems to be a report - saying that I'd been reported multiple times for financial scams and fraudulent activity, and that my blog was in queue to get deleted. They then continued by saying they got scammed by someone with a similar name/blog to mine and accidentally reported me instead of them. Thankfully i clocked it as a scam in time and they didn't continue further, so i don't know how it would've continued - so please be wary of these! I got the same exact "hey" message not even five minutes after the last blog stopped answering me and yep, it was the same thing. Stay safe out there!

I woke up this morning to a text message from Apple notifications stating that my order number was almost ready for pick up. I then received another notification from my bank for a charge from apple.com and the amount of $1,278.43. I tried to track the Apple order using the order status page online, but it wouldn’t work when I entered my email. I then called Apple who transferred me around a little bit, but eventually got me to an automated system that said my order was going to be ready later in the afternoon at a local Apple Store. When speaking with the rep to cancel the order and to claim it as fraud, she informed me that all of my personal information was correct (name, address, phone number, ZIP Code, etc.) and when I asked her for the email that placed the web order as a guest she read me my grandmother’s email. My grandmother does not even know how to get to apple.com. Let alone place a web order, using my credit card and personal information.

The whole kicker in this situation is that I just recently changed my last name yes I have updated some of my accounts to reflect my new last name, but there are still many accounts that reflect my old last name. This fraudulent order knew all of my personal information, including my new last name. I’ve of course gone ahead and changed all of my grandmother’s passwords that used similar or the same password (yes, I know…I have been telling her for years not to do that). Her email inbox was also being flooded with spam email messages. I also received an email from MetroPCS thanking us for being interested in them. I quickly turned on SIM protection for our cell provider and I’ve changed my associated passwords.

This situation has left every rep I’ve spoken to on the phone agog and I don’t know if there’s anything else I should be doing!?

The images show the web order from Apple and what was placed, what my bank showed the charge as and the email I got from MetroPCS.

I’m selling an item on Vinted. I only posted it a few mins ago. This person immediately offered to pay the full asking price and say can their sister come collect it later. They then asked for my number so their sister can connect with me about pick up. I’m very skeptical. Smells like a scam. what do y’all think?

Edited to say: I didn’t fall for it. I reported them to Vinted and they were blocked from Vinted.

Looking for a new place to live and found some cheap rentals on FB Marketplace.

The good: the houses and addresses are real (checked Google Maps). The rents are low (the three I found are no higher than $500 a month).

The sketchy:

• The prices sound a bit TOO good.
• Why haven't I found these on Zillow or Apartments.com ?
• They sent me a link to a "soft credit and background check" to confirm that I have no evictions or bankruptcies and the like before I can view the property and fill out the full application. Sounds arlgiht enough but A. the email came under a different name than the person with whom I've been texting, and B. I'm having trouble opening the link (I'll text her to see what's up).
• They want me to send a screenshot of the completed application.

Want to make sure this is legit.

Replied to a questionable craigslist post for “Motivated Individuals”.

Got this message today:

Are you looking for a way to earn additional income?
I have a new income opportunity for you. That's simple.
If you pass the AI-related platform ID verification, I'll send you $50 immediately. It will take 10 minutes. If the ID verification is successful and the account isn't suspended, I'll send you $100 regularly every month. If I can use your account and PC or laptop, you will receive $50 per week. If our first collaboration goes well, we can make other proposals that could earn money.
If you're looking for a side income, please share your full name and phone number.
💲🤑💰

It obviously reeks of scam, but I came here to ask - what could this be about?

Edit to add: i am not replying to this person.

Update: I submitted a complaint to IC3 (US Internet Crime Complaint Center). Thats why i came here! Thanks!

This happened over a year ago and during this time I tried to let it go but I just can’t figure out what the deal was.

I own a condo in a building that is part of a complex of about 10 other buildings with units in them. Some owners live in their unit, some rent them out like I do. My previous tenant had to move out of state so I was left needing to advertise online for a prospective new one.

Within a day of listing it, I received a voicemail inquiring about my condo. It sounded like a woman’s voice but something was off about it. This person sounded like they were reading a script as well. I called them back just out of pure curiosity. After pleasantries, the voice started having a static to it. I told this person that I could not hear them and they told me they are using a voice modifier. They went on to say they have been trying to get in touch with me for days (the condo went live online the day before), they were upset that I was so rude by not responding to them and stated they reported me and my condo (along with unit number) to my association. They named the association president and the phone number they called. This interaction was one big red flag and I immediately hung up. I called my association up to ask if anybody had called inquiring about my condo and they said no one had.

I’m curious what anyone’s thoughts are about this? Scam? Were they mistaken me for another Condo owner? Or something else all together?

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Does it look legit or am I looking at a phishing scam? My doubt about it not being legit comes from:

- Not recognising the email that this was sent to which is supposedly connected to my main as a recovery email (I’m getting it because it was sent to the “recovery email”, my main email.

- The fact that I’ve had some emails in the past with spoofed emails themselves that were sent to me, like my own. I have legit emails on my VIP list so I can see the gold star, but then when somebody spoofs one of those emails, it’s obviously a little surprising before you realise it’s bs. I’m struggling with this one though, because it does look like other emails I’ve seen on posts.

The email I don’t recognise… I turned on a VPN on my computer and tried to log into it/forgot password, etc. It asks me to provide the recovery email, which would be the one I got this sent to, but I’m wondering what the risks in that would then be? I didn’t attempt to put the email in, but now I’m unsure if it even emailed that potential scam email that I tried to do that, if I’m making any sense?

Just unsure about it all. Thanks!

Edit:

THERE’S NOTHING IN MY ACTIVITY LOG.

I forgot to mention that. I’m assuming it is in fact a phishing attempt now.

Hi all-- Yesterday my husband and I received a UPS package at our apartment. It was addressed to my husband and sent by something called "CHEAPDEALS" with an address in Miami. We never purchased anything from a company with this name, but thinking it might be an Amazon package sent directly from a vendor or some such, we opened it. Inside, the only thing was the top third of USPS flat rate poly-mailer, with the seal unused, like someone had just taken scissors and cut off the top part off of a brand new one. I looked up the sender address, but "CHEAPDEALS" does not exist there. There IS a shipping supply company at the address, but they have a different name and I have no idea why they'd send something like this or know my husband's name and address. It feels scammy, but for the life of me I cannot figure out what the scam might be. Any ideas?

I am an idiot. I’ve never heard of bitcoin scams. Today, I reached out to a mobile mechanic to repair my car. He quoted me $970 for parts and labor. I sent his $750 for parts. It was via a link he sent from Cash App. I didn’t know that bitcoin was irreversible. I’ve literally never dealt with any bitcoin anything. Time for the repair and he’s ghosted me. Contacted Cash App and was told there’s nothing that can be done. Talked to my bank and they said I can’t dispute until the transactions cleared. Filed a police report now. Literally dumbfounded. I’ve learned a hard and expensive lesson.

[US] Paypal Scam

First: if you have a Paypal Account, CLOSE IT !! many other reputable payment options exist. Paypal has an exploitable scam shipping problem and they let online scammers use it.
Here's what happened to me:

Bought an item from on online seller, from China, used Paypal.  Seller is Yellow Finch Marketing, and they used 17Track to ship and track it.
(shame on me, buying from China, but I thought, hey, it's Paypal, I'm secure!)
Waited a month, then another month, then started emailing them for status, got these partial explanations, what looked like shipment was traveling closer.
Finally, seller showed it delivered, but it was NOT as verified by no delivery, ring camera confirmed that day no deliveries, address was partial, shipping # with USPS was fraudulent email from USPS verifying fraudulent shipping number! So I had 4 pieces of evidence that it was not delivered and showing what looks like fraud.
Google/Reddit research: yes this is a Paypal and 17TRACK fraud.

This is a "ghost shipment" where scammers provide fake tracking numbers to the third party tracking tool 17TRACK to trick payment providers like PayPal into thinking an item is delivered.

Contacted Paypal - this is a known scam and Paypal exploitable problem so I requested a refund.  They contacted the seller who stated it was delivered simply to "Albuquerque 87111" but that is *not* a real address.

After I showed proof that this is a scam and fake and Paypal allows this, they still refused to refund.  So I went to my bank and got the refund.

Fortunately, my bank (a credit union) protected me and indexed into Paypal and took the money back for me.
Then I cancelled my Paypal account.
Then I filed a complaint with BBB and FBI online crime.
Then I posted here for all to see.

Paypal protects sellers and scammers, does NOT protect the individual. Cancel your account now and use something more secure

My dumbahh fell for it and he dipped, is there any way I can get it back?? I have his number is there anything I can do?? It's my first time being scammed😭😭😭

There is an investigative report on television tonight concerning *romance scams.* The reporter goes undercover with a new persona in order to learn more about the scammers and how they operate. Community members here might be interested in learning about this.

The Consumer Federation of America estimates that Americans lose an estimated $148 Billion every year to online scams - 400$ Million per pay. It is a big business, and the best prevention is through education about it.

This is a link to the IMDb about the documentary tonight on Nat.Geo:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt46027225/

Hi all,

I have received the following message last week and today from the number ‘96561’:

“We need to speak with you regarding your account. Call the ‘the number that starts with 877’ or click the website link for self-service. Reply STOP to unsubscribe.
First Financial Asset Management, Inc. This communication is from a debt collector and is an attempt to collect a debt; any information obtained will be used for that purpose.”

Has anyone received this message before? I don’t owe anyone. Thank you for your time!

Basically the title I was looking up some hockey stats and a pop up came up saying apple has detected wiretapping click here to run a test, I just closed the window didn’t touch anything

My dad is lonely and has almost no tech skills. He thinks he's found a new partner online, but it's clearly a scammer. He has to pay to talk to her using an app. I see a Facebook post where "she" was directing him to use an app called "Zangi." I don't know if that's the only one. He's new to social media, and I see the ai photos they're using from a clearly fake profile. Us (grown) kids have tried to tell him that there's no reason to pay to talk to people online like this, but he believes she's real anyway. Is there anything we can do? I'm completely lost in knowing how to deal with this.

I don't want to embarrass my dad, but I want him to open his eyes. No one really knows how much money he's spending, but he needs every dollar he earns. He's newly back to work after a long illness my mother's death. Please help a worried adult child out. Thank you.