🔎Scam Exam(ination)🔍 updated 6/15/26
Seen as: Verify your account / "Lurker Mode"
Scam type(s): Phishing / Credit card + info stealer.
Hello everyone! This is a post going over the scam floating around on tumblr where users are receiving DM's, asks, and/or are being @ spammed in comments on a blog post by accounts that look like this:
(note: they use around 6-8 numbers but it does vary)
account-update-####
notification-####
system-update-#####
system-updates-#####
account-bot-reply
account-updating-#######
<random string of 10-13 numbers> ✨new.. lol ✨
What the scam looks like:
These accounts are pretending to be [tumblr] staff/staff 'bots', often show up in waves making a post with a AI (disgustang) image and a long wall of text below it while @ spamming users in the comments telling them that they need to click the link in the post otherwise their accounts will be terminated/banned within 24/48 hours.
Recent images of this scam can be seen here:
The text description of this post will look like this:
(note: I don't want to copy paste it into this post and risk getting banned so the text version will be in the alt text of the images)
The comments will look similar to this, although this image is outdated, with many users spammed in hundreds of comments:
Do note: These accounts are not real staff accounts. Nor has [tumblr] or its staff ever used 'bots', 'automatic operators' or made posts to alert users of account issues like this.
Official [tumblr] accounts will have a badge! It looks like this:
The biggest part of this scam is this, taken from one of their posts:
To safeguard your profile during this process, Lurker Mode has been activated:
Your posts remain fully visible to you.
Your profile is temporarily hidden from the global dashboard, search results, and discovery feeds.
Lurker Mode is not a real thing on [tumblr]. This is not a mode or 'feature' that exists. It has never existed in the 14 years I've used tumblr.
These posts will also say:
Please complete a secure verification process to confirm your age within the next 48 hours.
This is to imply urgency and to make you feel pressured into going to the link without thinking. Do not go to this website. It is a phishing website made to look like tumblr. Here is how it looks:
Look at the website address. It is not [tumblr] dot com. It's a phishing website made to look like tumblr.
[tumblr] does not have a chat bot that tells you to pay money. It has never had a chat bot like this. That too should tell you it's fake.
[tumblr] does not, nor ever has, had a pop up telling you to verify your account, either. Again, you clicked the same link others have. This website is not unique to you, or your account.
Your account is safe. This is a phishing website. Do not give them your credit card information, or your personal information! It will steal it!
Here are the dangers that come with giving them your information...
Now you may be asking: okay, what does this website do exactly?
It's really just a simple website made to look like tumblr, have you click a button, and then it takes you to a page where you pay money. There's a fake AI "help bot" that gives you instructions, but, again, [tumblr] has never had that. so that alone should be a massive red flag that this is 100% fake.
Here is the page that appears once you click 'verify your account.'
If you notice- there's nothing here that asks you for anything related to your tumblr account. Nothing at all.
The chat bot will give you instructions saying what to do next, otherwise it's all just.. words and 'give us money.
Pause and think about this:
Did you give tumblr- the real tumblr- your credit card information when signing up?
The answer would be no. It's 100% free to sign up for tumblr, and costs users nothing to use the platform.
The only time a user has to pay for something is when you buy something from TumblrMart, their official store.
Any account issue [tumblr] may have with your account, is handled via the email that's connected to your account. If you had randomly been terminated, gotten banned, or broke TOS and got a warning, you'd get an email about it.
Not an ask from an account, not a DM, or a comment on a post telling you that 'if you don't go here you'll be gone in 24 hours.'
Again, your account is safe, nothing is wrong. Remember to report these accounts (that make the posts not the ones tagging you!) as:
something else > unlawful use > phishing
Remember to say it's a staff impersonation account, and that you were tagged with others in the comments. :) Everything will be okay.
The DM Method: (outdated..?)
These fake accounts can also send users messages similar to the following via asks or DM's:
Your Tumblr account has been temporarily locked due to security measures. Verify your account within 24 hours to stop permanent suspension.
Suspicious activity has been detected on your account! Our team has begun an investigation. To continue using your account, you must complete user verification.
Visual examples of this can be seen here:
Image 1 taken from this post, image 2 taken from this one.
Take a deep breath, and remember:
[tumblr] staff will not contact users via asks, comments, or direct messages regarding any issues related to your account.
[tumblr] will only contact you on the account you used to register your account with, via their official email account that ends in tumblr.com.
[tumblr] will never ask you for money to 'verify' your account, to reactivate your account, to 'fix an issue', or anything similar to the sort.
[tumblr] staff does not use Discord, telegram, whatsapp, or any other social media account method to handle any kind of issue. Nor do they use any other website. If you need to contact them, use their support page!
[tumblr] staff will never, ever, threaten you that if you don't "pay someone money", your information will be sent to the police, FBI, ect and you will be arrested for xyz reason.
If you are contacted by any user who tries to get you to contact someone who is allegedly a [tumblr] staff member by showing you a report ticket and a 'staff card' showing their discord, whatsapp, telegram, or email, or they tell you to go to a website that isn't tumblr, that is likely the "I accidentally reported your account" scam.
You should report that DM, and go a step further and report a post the hacked account has made* as well for phishing.
(Note: this also works with reblogs, just please make sure you're reporting the hacked accounts reblog, not the original post..)
Providing screenshots is also always a good idea in these situations as well. :)
This is a very.. concerning and worrying phishing scam that can do a lot of damage if you're not careful.
This is honestly no different than those "you have a package from the UPS click here" or "you owe money from a toll both click here" scams you get in texts, and I would think people would know that- by looking at the URL alone, this is not owned nor operated by [tumblr] in any regard.
Please make sure to share this and help others become aware of scams, the more people who learn about scams, the less likely they are to fall for them. :)
Take care, stay safe, and keep helping others.
