Online Scammers

[AllSeeingEye123]

How are people still falling for stuff like this?

https://www.archive.is/https://www....ort-woman-lose-500k-lonely-hearts-conman.html

No matter how many times stories like this or similar are in the press, lonely older women think their story is different. Guy online who will never cam with you to show the photos is them always having an excuse and they always seem to have a brilliant job such as in army before asking for money.

 

[BigMavis]

Interesting. In this ladys case it appears she was grieving the sudden loss of her husband. There is a reason this happens to the vulnerable. Also a lot of people believe anything on the Internet, from news to sob stories. I don't think it will happen so much in the future.

 

[Gembo]

I was just reading this, it’s so sad. I detest these scammers and I feel very sorry for that lady, I’m glad she was brave enough to go public with it, I’ve read a few stories like this now and the more people who are aware the less chance there is of it happening to others.

 

[tskiry56]

I can’t say I wouldn’t fall for a scam but I wouldn’t fall for one like that.
When your vulnerable you fall for a lot of things. A few years back i had an email from the tv licensing company and at the time I had just come out of a dv relationship, was grieving for my grandparents and panicked when I got this email saying I hadn’t paid. I didn’t think and completed the form. I ended up being scammed by about £1,000.
I was very lucky to get all the money back and the scammer never got there online next order!

 

[Norfolking Good]

It is the scams where the guy pretends he is MI5 or SAS and that the woman is in danger. Scamming is such a low thing but when you frighten the living daylights out of someone thinking they will be kidnapped, killed or something is deserving of a long stretch at her majesty’s pleasure. I never quite understand how the women fall for it as it is so utterly ridiculous and usually a money scam.

 

[LaurieLaurie]

I’m sure my parents will fall victim to a scam one day.

When they show us emails they are unsure of they always say well it’s got our correct email address on Yes but it’s from imgonnarobyou@hotmail claiming to be from Amazon.

 

[Gembo]

I like to think I’m pretty savvy when it comes to scams but I still worry about falling for one. Our friend lost £800 recently to one and they tried taking a totally of £7,000 but luckily that didn’t go through. I’m really stingy in real life so I’m almost certain I’d never give money to a stranger who asked cos I’d be irritated giving it to a friend (don’t judge me please ) but the other scams are a worry. I didn’t know until recently that they can spoof email addresses and phone numbers. I’m used to the scams that say they’re from Royal Mail or dpd but then you look at the email address its from Gary@hotmail but I had one from Sainsbury’s the other day which was from the Sainsbury’s email. The only way I realised it was a scam is that the email was badly spelt, I don’t online shop with them and it made no sense. But I can see how people would fall for it. I think they’re vile scum trying to take money from innocent people who probably work their ass off for every penny. Life is hard enough without crap like this threatening to empty your bank account. It makes me irrationally angry!

 

[Hobbitsies]

I like to think I’m pretty savvy when it comes to scams but I still worry about falling for one. Our friend lost £800 recently to one and they tried taking a totally of £7,000 but luckily that didn’t go through. I’m really stingy in real life so I’m almost certain I’d never give money to a stranger who asked cos I’d be irritated giving it to a friend (don’t judge me please ) but the other scams are a worry. I didn’t know until recently that they can spoof email addresses and phone numbers. I’m used to the scams that say they’re from Royal Mail or dpd but then you look at the email address its from Gary@hotmail but I had one from Sainsbury’s the other day which was from the Sainsbury’s email. The only way I realised it was a scam is that the email was badly spelt, I don’t online shop with them and it made no sense. But I can see how people would fall for it. I think they’re vile scum trying to take money from innocent people who probably work their ass off for every penny. Life is hard enough without crap like this threatening to empty your bank account. It makes me irrationally angry!

I have noticed they are getting smarter too. I bank with RBS and they send texts with various things to me. A few times this year I have received texts from HSBC and I know if I was with that bank if would make me freak a bit. I would always phone my bank to check as I prefer doing stuff like that on the phone but damn they are really trying.

I saw a post somewhere the other day that people are posting fake we've missed you slips through the door from RM or DPD etc to get people that way. You wouldn't even think of half of this stuff.

 

[Gembo]

I have noticed they are getting smarter too. I bank with RBS and they send text with various things to me. A few times this year I have received texts from HSBC and I know if I was with that bank if would make me freak a bit. I would always phone my bank to check as I prefer doing stiff like that on the phone but damn they are really trying.

I saw a post somewhere the other day that people are posting fake we've missed you slips through the door from RM or DPD etc to get people that way. You wouldn't even think of half of this stuff.

Yep they are getting smarter, it’s scary. I get so many dodgy calls, texts and emails, it drives me mad. I’ve even had the recorded message that a warrant is out for my arrest because of an unpaid tax bill or something like that. I did laugh at that one but I had already read about it, to someone else that could be absolutely terrifying

 

[Captainmouse]

I have noticed they are getting smarter too. I bank with RBS and they send texts with various things to me. A few times this year I have received texts from HSBC and I know if I was with that bank if would make me freak a bit. I would always phone my bank to check as I prefer doing stuff like that on the phone but damn they are really trying.

I saw a post somewhere the other day that people are posting fake we've missed you slips through the door from RM or DPD etc to get people that way. You wouldn't even think of half of this stuff.

Good luck with getting them to answer the phone, my card was cloned over Christmas, I hung for over an hour before being cut off, and 45 minutes on the lost stolen number, they blocked my card but I needEd to pay for a battery for my car. Total nightmare

 

[BigMavis]

I get scam texts a lot. Last one was from netflix, payment was declined, click link or account will be closed. Obvs I didn't, but some folk wouldn't think twice. There is a guy called Jim Browning on YouTube goes after scammers, its really interesting what a cold caller can do. They can basically access your camera on your computer and take it over. I'd recommend giving him a watch if its something you're interested in.

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

I get so many scam texts its ridiculous. Usually banks that I don't bank with!

I once got my netflix hacked a few years ago and the person changed my email address and password. I rang Netflix who were really helpful and managed to prove it was my account and got whoever was on there kicked off so I'm sure they weren't happy as I was onto it pretty quickly. It really angered me and I wonder how they even found my little random netflix account out of the millions and millions there is lol.

Also, Years ago I got a fake email from amazon about books on trains someone had apparently bought from my account and to hit a link.. I didn't bother hitting the link but from the screenshot on the email I was able to get a mans name and the address the books were going to in Wales. The email was worded as if this person had hacked my account and was getting these sent to him. I was able to find him on Facebook and messaged him to let him know someone had likely hacked his emails or else his amazon as I just wanted to make him aware. I wasn't the first person to contact him about it. He had been hacked a year or so previous so it was still being used. Felt very sorry for him. I would hate the idea of someone hacking my account and using my details to scam other people

People that scam others are just total scumbags

 

[SamBamford]

A relative of mine almost got scammed a couple of weeks ago. They claimed to be from her internet provider, saying her connection was slow and they were going to give her a £300 refund. They asked how much she had in her bank account, she told them. She gave them the account number, remote access to her laptop on the strength of thinking she was getting a refund. They only failed to empty her account as she doesn't have the passwords for her online banking for this reason. Still thinking she was getting a refund she phoned her niece to crow about it. We had to cancel her cards, sort her computer out and deal with her thinking we had stopped her getting the refund. They phoned again the following day and she had a conversation with them. She is hoping that the £300 does materialise to show how wrong we all are. She would fall for a scam again sadly.

 

[bunnyboo]

One of my favourite hobbies is to spend time scamming scammers I sent this one dude a traceable link today (can't believe his dumbass clicked it) and I got this:

 

[Ghostpumpkin]

My grandad is in he is 80s and still uses a laptop now and again for booking holidays and things like that, we’ve always told him to be careful about scams.

About a year ago he told us someone had contacted him saying his laptop was faulty and he could send a payment to Manchester and they would repair it from their end. At the time he told us he had sent the money and he was waiting for it to be fixed. We were so frustrated that he had fell for a scam as there was no way nothing wrong with it and no one rings you up to say your laptops broken. Anyway, he never disclosed how much he paid and he just turned round one day saying it was all sorted. We all think he was scammed but don’t know by how much and he would be too proud and stubborn to admit it.

 

[Loveheart]

My dad fell prey to the old 'we're CID and we have to tell you someone from your bank is stealing money from your account so you have to take it out and give it to us' scam. This was before the fake police scams became well known. He went to his bank and withdrew £5,000. They didn't even ask why he was withdrawing so much cash and he handed it over to a fake police courier. They also asked for his bank card details which he gave them as he thought he was assisting them in catching a thief at the bank. He never got a penny back as the bank said he handed over the money himself.

 

[DanaScully]

I'm receiving constant spam emails and they appear to be getting more and more sophisticated and convincing. I do worry about my parents and other older relatives becoming victims, so I tell them to let me know if they receive something they're unsure of and I can check it out.

If you receive any scam/phishing emails, forward them to [email protected]. They act on all reports to remove malicious URLs and block email addresses sending scam emails.

The website www.haveibeenpwned.com can tell you whether your details have been leaked in any data breaches. If yours flags up I would suggest using an app such as Bitwarden to set unique, strong passwords for all accounts and also use two-factor authentication where available.

Scammers buy lists of leaked credentials online and use a technique called credential stuffing to attempt to login and take control of other people's accounts. This is what's happening a lot of the time when people claim they've been hacked.

 

[AllSeeingEye123]

https://www.archive.is/https://www....ke-Royal-Mail-message-snaring-victims-UK.html

I can relate to being one of the millions sent a text in the past few weeks. Mine that was sent from a mobile number that Google doesn't trace says.......

Royal Mail: Your package has a £2 shipping fee, to pay this now visit https://postal-fee.com/royalmail/. Package will be returned to sender if unpaid.

The link sends you to a very sophisticated copy of the Royal Mail website. Many things made me knew it was fake before clicking on the link such as....

1) I haven't sent a package anywhere.
2) It should be a full stop after 'fee'.
3) It should be a capital T in 'to'.
4) The final sentence should have a word like 'the' or 'your' in front of 'package'. That's bad English.
5) It was sent from a mobile number.
6) It didn't give an address for where the parcel I owe money for is destined for. So vague of them.

 

[BigMavis]

Got my first Hermes scam text today. They're bound to get hits.

 

[Warpaint]

Some of the email ones are very good but I just hover over the title to tell the address is nonsense. I keep getting calls automated calls from London at the moment. I keep blocking the numbers but they use different lines. No doubt my number had been leaked somewhere on the WWW.

I remember just after I'd got tickets for a gig ticketmaster emailed saying they had a massive data breach and it was likely I was affected. Luckily nothing seemed to come of that though in regards to bank details