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.
