301
votes
Accepted
Sugar daddy wants my online banking login info to make deposits — is it a scam?
they're asking me for my online banking username and password. is that
information alone enough for them to be able to take my money out of
my account, or am i safe?
They don't need that ...
- 13.9k
280
votes
Lost $10K to scammers, found out their home address and want to take action
There is a real chance that you haven't found the scammer. You may have just found another victim. The risk to you is that you decide to try and scam the scammer, or you try to physically strike the ...
- 144k
274
votes
Why do Nigerian email scammers openly say they are from Nigeria?
They say "Nigerian" because the savvy ones ignore it. So any answers must be from lower risk victims who are more likely to send the money.
- 1,431
260
votes
Accepted
I received $1000 and was asked to send it back. How was this scam meant to work?
This is a very trivial scam.
Flow is like this:
Send money to Mr. X (you, in this case).
Call Mr. X and ask for the money back, because mistake. Usually they ask for a wire transfer/cash/gift cards/...
- 181k
253
votes
Scam or Real: A woman from Facebook apparently needs my bank account to send money
Absolute scam. Any time anyone asks you to open a bank account so they can send you money and then you have to send some portion of it back to them, it's a guarantee that it's a scam.
What happens ...
- 10.1k
242
votes
A man on a work project in West Africa asks me for 2000 - is this a scam?
Nobody with 40 million in the bank needs a random stranger to help them out with a few thousands. No matter which problem he has, with the liquidity available to him, he can access funds and his bank ...
- 2,402
218
votes
Why is a friend asking me to make multiple Money Gram transfers in my name using his money?
Stop doing this. If your friend contacts you, don't answer until you've followed through on step 2.
Go get a lawyer. They might advise you to contact the police and tell the police what's been going ...
- 2,593
211
votes
Accepted
Someone wants me to use my credit card at a card-only gas/petrol pump in return for cash
Plenty of people don't have credit/debit cards, if they had cash in hand they were probably just one of those people. Cash first, fuel 2nd with you pumping, not much risk to you in that scenario.
...
- 70.8k
210
votes
I received $1000 and was asked to send it back. How was this scam meant to work?
This is almost certainly a scam or a mistake. This is not good, spendable money: it is not yours to keep.
Very simple to handle. Tell the bank, in writing that you were not expecting to receive ...
206
votes
Is this work legal? Someone promises payment for converting money transfers to Bitcoin
It's a scam. It's called a money mule. Typically the way this will work is that the scammers will make a fraudulent money transfer into your friend's account. Your friend will convert the funds into ...
- 13.9k
206
votes
Am I being scammed after paying almost $10,000 to a tree company not being able to withdraw my profit without paying a fee
I was contacted by a woman on Instagram we told me I could make a $50,000 profit after sending in $500
Yes, you're being scammed. Didn't even read the rest. As long as you keep sending them money ...
- 181k
194
votes
Accepted
I'm supposedly eligible for an inheritance from a distant relative. Offer appears to be legitimate
In any instance where your hackles are raised about a possible scam, but you have reason to move forward regardless, approach with caution, and complete whatever due diligence you can, without direct ...
- 42.9k
187
votes
I'm supposedly eligible for an inheritance from a distant relative. Offer appears to be legitimate
To close this out, in fact it wasn't a scam, despite the third letter.
The contact details in the second letter checked out against the Law Society website, so I gave them a ring on their general ...
- 4,473
184
votes
Is this person wanting to pay my credit card trying to defraud me?
This is no friend.
The clue is that your user name and password aren't required.
I've made payments for my mother in law, and the card number, just the 16 digits on front, were enough to send a ...
178
votes
I won $9500 in a game. Now they're asking me to send it back via different means, promising me more money if I do so
It sounds like a new variant of an age-old scam.
The way they want you to return the money will be non-reversible. But in a few days, you will find that the $9500 payment into your account is ...
- 10.9k
177
votes
I am an EU resident being contacted about stock I own in a defunct company by a supposedly US based lawyer, is this a scam?
A bit of detective work.
The website lists no names for the firm. Any business, doctor, lawyer, etc, is at least going to tell you who the main partners are.
The site itself looks like a generic ...
175
votes
Accepted
Is this $200 "welcome money" (from a major bank) some sort of scam?
Banks in the US frequently offer these kinds of promotions, and this particular one is not out of line with similar offers. Chase frequently does $300 for a new checking account. As usual some ...
- 78.6k
175
votes
Someone stated that my uncle died in Canada and there is money for me
If I had a legitimate reason to give to you $100,000 with a $500 fee, I would ask you if it is okay to take the $500 out of the $100,000, and if you agree, I'd pay you $99,500 without any cost for you....
- 23.8k
171
votes
20% monthly mining vs 5% monthly trading
Anybody that guarantees a monthly (for example 5%,11%,16%, 20%) return that would be great if that was a annual return, is running a scam.
If they guarantee they could take your 20K euros and make ...
- 144k
169
votes
Accepted
Dissuading my girlfriend from a scam
What's Wrong With Being a Turkey?
One of our dear friends comes to us to seek advice, since we seem to know a thing or two about money. Our friend just so happens to be a turkey - a particularly ...
- 11.7k
168
votes
A newer friend of my brother's gave him a load of baseball cards that are supposedly extremely valuable. Is this a scam?
TLDR: This is 100% a scam.
My brother is working in a union and has met a bunch of people and started making good money lately
Let me rephrase: "my brother is 'fresh meat' -- he is new to this ...
- 5,006
159
votes
Potential scammer pushing me to click a link and threatens to send the police
Please, take a deep breath and realize that empty threats are typical scammer behavior. He is behind a keyboard far away. He does not actually want police involved (and he can't simply have them ...
- 30.2k
158
votes
I was contacted by a private bank overseas to get my inheritance
Nobody legit will ever ask you for money to give you money. If there is a million dollar inheritance and it costs $1,000 to get the money to you, someone legit will take $1,000 from the inheritance ...
- 23.8k
155
votes
Friend was brainwashed by MLM-/ponzi investment scam. What can I do?
Go to the police. This is fraud and it is illegal. Sure, this will hurt your friend, but it is better now then when he starts abusing his position to defraud even more people...
Original comment by ...
- 1,519
149
votes
Accepted
Scam caller asked for last 4 digits of card. Fake number doesn't fool him, does he have my full number?
He was probably trying to impersonate you on a site that legitimately knows your card number, perhaps your card issuer itself. Such a site would challenge your identity by asking for your last four ...
- 848
145
votes
Accepted
What would prevent me from taking advantage of scammers?
The scammers not giving your money back would prevent you from pulling out of the "investment" (scam). They may pay out the claimed returns for a month or a few months in order to build credibility to ...
- 9,553
143
votes
I believe this to be fraud — hired, then asked to cash check and send cash as Bitcoin
Absolutely a scam 100% chance. This is one of the most common scams out there.
Here's how you will get ripped off.
They send you a check which will deposit in your account
Seeing the deposit went ...
- 53.4k
143
votes
Accepted
Is it legal to photograph and test ATMs?
Legal? Maybe. Legitimate? Absolutely Not.
I'm not qualified to guess whether documenting the make, model and location of ATMs is technically legal in your jurisdiction. A list like that isn't ...
- 782
143
votes
Stranger sent me $12,100
This is certainly some variation of the overpayment scam
There are many variants, but they usually start with a fraudulent payment of some type into your account. They payment may be a bad check, a ...
- 13.9k
141
votes
Urgently need pre-paid debit card to pay debt collector
This sounds like a scam. The debt itself may be legitimate but the debt collector doesn’t sound legitimate.
Legitimate businesses would never need access to your bank account. If you have the funds ...
- 9,392
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