#scams

New Kaspersky research shows digital scams are spreading rapidly in messaging apps, hitting households and businesses – Global losses over $200 billion Scams through messaging apps are becoming a serious and ever-increasing financial threat, with Greece among the countries affected, according to new Kaspersky research. The study notes that fraudsters are taking advantage of economic uncertainty,…

Then, in 2021 (well over six years after C and I worked together), I received this message:

Now, I know a multilevel marketing scam when I see one, and this entire message screams MLM. She doesn’t name the firm, she doesn’t specify what sort of positions are open or what kind of experience you need (well, I guess she says “no experience is required”, but she doesn’t even want to mention the type of work in case someone does have experience???) and it sounds like you can work as much or as little as you’d like. I also find the wording of “who may be open to making some extra money” particularly telling since MLMs love to word things in such a way that you feel a little stupid for saying you aren’t interested.

I got curious and looked either at her other posts on Facebook or maybe on Linked In or something and saw that she was working with Primerica. Now, Primerica claims they aren’t an MLM, Wikipedia claims that they are, but no matter where you fall on the “Is Primerica an MLM?” debate, it is undeniable that they have shady business practices and they end up scamming people out of money. Even the average income that they voluntarily report on their website is only about $10K/year (and that’s the average. There’s a reason these types of companies never seem to disclose the median income of their representatives.).

So, not wanting to get into it with a vague acquaintance I have who’s clearly in an MLM or at least helping a scammy company, I responded pretty neutrally:

Wouldn’t you know it, I just never thought of anyone who would want to give Primerica a bunch of money.

Two years passed, and I received this message, which was notably not sent on my birthday (though it’s close):

I just never responded to this. It had now been well over eight years since we’d worked together, and this message was unhinged. Like, she doesn’t even attempt a conversation, find out how I’m doing, etc? That’s just bad salesmanship. Find out literally anything about me so you can try to tie whatever scam Primerica is running this month to my wants/needs. What the heck are we doing here???

Anyway, nearly three years have passed since that last message. Last week, I saw that I had a private message on Linked In. I went to check it and saw this:

And I don’t know what came over me. Maybe it was just the realization that this woman was contacting me over a decade after we worked together, and not just to try to get me trapped by Primerica, but also wanting me to suggest an MLM scam to my professional network. I’m a data analyst for goodness’ sake! My last job was at a Fortune 250 company! I currently work for a very large, very well-respected org! Every company I’ve worked for that offers a 401K has also had a financial institution manage that 401K, and that financial institution contacts me more often than I’d prefer to ask if I want help with financial planning! Why would I risk the perception of my judgment by promoting Known Scam Primerica to people I work/worked with who likely also have access to legitimate financial planning?!

Anyway, this was my response:

And she responded with this:

And our final exchange was this:

I feel rude tbh, but holy cow, the only thing that frustrates me more than weird, underhanded behavior is people who are really bad at performing their weird, underhanded behavior. Like, I’m not even a great salesperson, but I can tell you that, with every single one of these interactions, there was a better way to go about trying to get me to actually do what she wanted me to do.

@/keencodexsteel

https://www.tumblr.com/justcallmedom31/819294510221836288/replies/819480548863082496

The reply seems to be removed but I had this same account commenting on my posts:

Unfortunately and sadly, this isn't new. :( This is just your typical recovery scam mixed with a crypto/bitcoin ad to try and get you to contact them.

Best thing to do is to report their comments and as I say with all phishing blogs that have posts:

report the post as: something else > unlawful use > phishing

start your comment with something like:

"crypto/bitcoin recovery scam account. This account left a comment on my post/multiple posts.." ect.

Honestly the comments on blogs feature makes seeing stuff like this really nice.. hehe.

Hope this helps!

I'd like some advice on what to do about a sudden swarm of scam accounts that have been mentioning me: Normally, there's only one or two of any kind of scam account showing up at a time, but today, I started getting ones that show up in threes or fours at once. The screenshots below showcase the two incidents I've had with them, with the second one being the most recent (as of writing this).

Each of them line up with the type of account verification scam mentioned in this post -: https://www.tumblr.com/scam-alerts/819420589093748736/i-got-tagged-by-this-user-telling-me-suspicious?source=share, and I followed your instructions in hopes of getting rid of them.

More of these bots arrived about two hours after I reported the first batch of them to Tumblr, and I have some suspicions that you may be able to help me with: Given that they came back after I reported them and operate in bigger groups than normal, is it possible that whoever (or whatever) is behind these accounts is employing a flooding tactic to deter reporting, make reporters look like bots, or clog up the Tumblr report system? Or is this just a uncoordinated selection of spam accounts that are targeting the same people at the same time?

Thanks in advance for any and all guidance you can give, and keep up the good work!

Hi there!

I've noticed an influx of these bots as well, especially today, I think they're big mad that staff figured out how to track down their posts easier when they're being made, and so now they've amped up their efforts to mass produce their scam to try and get someone, anyone to fall for it.

I'm keeping track of these blogs myself and as of 30 seconds ago a fresh new wave has just went out... It's frustrating that scammers have stooped this low for a quick buck, but all I can suggest to people is to keep calm, and report the blogs making the scam posts rather than the ones spamming users via comments.

Just remember to breath, and if you ever have doubts, take a few seconds to do some research.

Also stop and think for a second,

The website on this phishing tumblr page is not 'tumblr dot com,' so that right there is your first red flag. Second, you didn't sign in, so it's 100% NOT linked to your account. So.. how is it unique to you/fixing your account if other users are being @ spammed with it? It just asks you to click 'verify' then to pay money... (it's actually worse than that btw)

Remember (sorry for making this big btw):

You never paid to sign up and use [tumblr], and you will never have to pay for anything in relation to an account issue. The only thing you, a user, will ever have to pay for, is something you choose to buy from their official TumblrMart store.

That's it.

[tumblr] will not ask you to pay to verify your account. [tumblr] will not ask you to pay to fix an account issue. [tumblr] will not ask you for your social security number. [tumblr] will not ask you to mail a check to a UK address.

[tumblr] staff does not use whatsapp, discord, or any other platform to talk to users about account issues or to 'fix' account issues. Anyone who posts, or messages you telling you to contact a staff member via any method outside of tumblr dot com or their official email accounts, is 100% going to scam you.

Especially if they tell you to change your email or password.

I'm working on updating the verify your account scam exam(ination) post as we speak. <3

Thank you for letting me know about this, hopefully staff get this issue to calm down sooner rather than later. :(

@staff