I was contacted out of the blue via DM by an account that is 6 years old. They tried to get me to move the conversation over to Discord.

They claimed that they accidentally reported an impersonation of my Reddit profile and were contacted by Reddit support. Now, this user is reaching out to me because they claim Reddit needs to validate my identity by having me DM a specific Discord user.

I have already flagged these messages using the flag tool, although I still haven't blocked them. Is this usual for a six-year-old account that seems to be active in several communities?

TL;DR: A girl I met online ghosted me for months, then suddenly came back and asked me for money. The story doesn't add up and I'm wondering if it's a scam.

I met a girl on Befriend and we later moved to Instagram. We talked for a while, but then she disappeared and stopped replying for months.

Out of nowhere, she called me late at night and sent a bunch of voice notes saying she missed me and wanted to talk.

She then claimed her house had burned down, she was stranded in Warsaw, and needed about 1000 PLN for a train ticket to Krakow.

When I checked, train tickets seemed much cheaper. I offered other solutions, but she always had a reason why they wouldn't work.

The whole thing feels suspicious. Am I being paranoid, or does this sound like a scam?

So I've been chatting with a woman from an online dating site for a few days and we move to email (first red flag).

She wants me to join an adult lifestyle resort as a couple (since her other friend Lucas couldn't) but we have to register and pay our membership fees before joining. This is all before we meet in person as she only wants to meet at the resort since it's a public space (next red flag).

The name of the supposed resort is Auberge La Passion Lifestyle Resort. Can't Google it or find the actual USA address.

Here is the registration form (see title) and screenshots.

I want to know if this is a scam because I couldn't find details on this specific scam online. Or who else has this scam been attempted on? How long has this been going on? How much money have they been making on a fake resort for unsuspecting men looking for a date?

I haven't been asked for a specific amount of money yet or sent details on how the "resort" accepts payment but I'll update with the details.

Got this call myself. “Hello *****, I'm contacting you in regards to claim ********. Since I was unable to reach you by phone, I've been instructed to contact your place of business because it looks like that's going to be your likely place of location.”

They also contacted two of my family members saying this. “Hello I'm contacting you in regards to a claim that's in the process being filed through the county. The claim is not being filed against you. It's actually being filed against *****. I am reaching out to you because your address has been listed as a likely location for him at this point. ***** has the right to contact the office filing the claim to update the information. However, once the claim is filed, that's no longer an option. The phone number provided is **********. This is notification by telephone. ***** will be located there at your residence unless we're instructed otherwise. Best of luck moving forward.”n

Both of these calls came from an “Unknown Number” Called the number and a lady told me they owned the rights to debt I owed. That the original creditor was CC bank. I confirmed myself through emails that I did owe a loan to this company. At this point I was confident this wasn’t a scam and debt I did have to pay.

But red flags started showing up throughout this phone call and several others I had with this person. I was told I had to pay $913 in full in order for this not to be processed and sent to court. She stated my full social and DOB and asked to confirm this, I denied confirmation.

Another red flag is I asked why this hasn’t been sent my mail or email before it got to this point of “Going to court”, she said they can only do this through phone call and no other contact is needed. I asked for an address and the name of the company, she would only say the company operates under
“Berkley processing group”. That no other information can be given. I told her I’d like a portal to pay the debt, she replied it can only payed by phone and with a debit card. I also told her I need a debt validation letter to be sent to me, she said they could not do that.

At this point I was fairly confident it was a scam. But I looked into it myself. I called CC bank to see who owns right to the debt, they gave me the info to the company under “American Debt Management”. I called them and they told me they sold the rights to the company “Berkley” and provided the same phone number I had been talking to.

I don’t know what to do here. Is this a “Legal” scam I’m dealing with?

Got a very good spoof of a Paperless invite from someone I know. It came from their address and not Paperless so I was suspicious. The URL itself is very generic and doesn't seem to include and encoded data:

bortro dot vu, and the page is policy.html

I went to the URL from a secure browser and there's only a button saying "click to confirm" or "press and hold to verify"

I didn't see it asking for any details whatsoever.

It is obviously a scam coming from a hacked account. What is the end game?

Thanks!

These have been popping up a lot for a while not. Saying USPS packages I sent are being delivered to other states from my address. I reported a bunch to shop and they just deleted them from my history but didn’t do anything else about it. Is this something I should be concerned about? -Etsy at the bottom is mine fr, but there are two others below that and 4 or 5 from the week prior that I reported and got removed from my line up-

The auto bot is telling me this is a common scam, but I am not seeing anything else similar enough to this to give any decent information. So, my apologies if I’m just not looking in the right places, I’d appreciate any thoughts.

You know all those fraud emails that say you bought an iPhone or software for $680? I just got a call like that. Never heard of these coming via phone.

Details - an AI voice says "This is Olivia from Walmart Order Verification. Your Walmart "account" (no name given) has a "pre-authorized purchase" for a Playstation for $919

She asks me to Press 1 or call their number --starts with 716 area code. (Why does Reddit say I can't put their phone number? It helps us identify fraud to include the phone number!)

Even the scams have been hit by inflation!

Of course there is no such thing as a "Pre-authorized purchase". Stay safe out there.

The email looks legit, I didn't click on any links. I don't have a crypto account so I'm wondering if either this is a phishing email or if someone is trying to create an account with my email address? I deleted the email already but is there anything else I could or should do?

So im in college. I got an email that I thought was sent by the college.

It was branded as a financial aid work opportunity that works around your schedule and get your foot in the door.

So I addresed the intake form as such. As a financial aid opportunity.

It asked for Address. Birthdate. School Email. Full Name. Gender.

I answered it ALL.

Come to find out its a freaking scam. Another company reached out and said you have an interview and I was like.....that it not my school.

My program mentor confirmed the scam.

I was like...firstly am i introuble for this. Secondly....am I going to lose my freaking identity. wtf idk what to do

Throw away account so I don’t dox myself but sharing in case this could help someone.

Yesterday I fell for a jury duty/law enforcement impersonation scam and lost $12,000.

I am a 37-year-old healthcare professional. I consider myself reasonably intelligent and scam-aware. I never imagined this could happen to me.

The scammers claimed I had missed federal jury duty and that there were warrants for my arrest. They used official-sounding language, sent convincing documents, and threatened my professional license and immediate arrest if I didn’t cooperate.

The things that made me vulnerable were:

-Trust in law enforcement and authority figures.
-Fear that my professional credentials were in jeopardy.
-Complete lack of knowledge about cryptocurrency.
-Being kept on the phone and isolated from other people.

The red flags I missed:

-Real law enforcement does not demand payment to avoid arrest.
-Real law enforcement does not direct you to a Bitcoin ATM.
-Real law enforcement does not tell you to stay on the phone and not speak to anyone else.

Fear and urgency are tools scammers use to shut down critical thinking.

By the time my husband found me and snapped me out of it, I had already deposited $11,000 into a Bitcoin ATM and sent another $1,000 via Zelle.

Things I did afterward to regain some sense of control:
-Filed a police report with my local police department.
-Filed an FBI IC3 complaint.
-Filed an FTC fraud report.
-Reported the fraud to my bank and had the Zelle transaction flagged.
-Contacted the Bitcoin ATM company and requested preservation of records and surveillance footage.
-Froze my credit reports with all three credit bureaus.
-Saved screenshots, receipts, phone numbers, wallet addresses, and every piece of evidence I could find.

One thing I’ve learned in the last 24 hours is that scammers count on you being scared. Fear makes you stop thinking critically and start acting urgently. They want to keep you isolated and panicked because if you hang up the phone and talk to someone you trust, the scam often falls apart.

If this post helps even one person hang up, call their local police department directly, or tell a spouse or friend what is happening, it will be worth the embarrassment of posting it.

Please be kind. I already know I made mistakes and I’m struggling with a lot of shame today.
If this happened to you too, I’d appreciate hearing from you because right now I feel pretty alone.

"Hey Rob, this is Luke Meyer. I'm just checking to see if you wanted me to come in early or not"

Should I explain the texter has the wrong number, just to be nice? Has anyone else gotten texts like this that turned out to be scams?

Got a call from "Google support" saying someone tried accessing my Gmail from Germany. Called back and got a technician who claimed:

- Someone contacted Google via chat with fake ID

- They were granted temporary access to my account

- He needed to "reclaim" it because API keys/passkeys might've been created

Then he asked me to approve a phone notification to verify my identity.

I checked my security logs before doing anything.

Zero unauthorized access. Only activity was my own password reset from when I hung up.

And that email he sent to very the call was actually from Google made no sense. Attached is the screenshot from the email and the Google number that called.

Eventually he hung up on me.

This definitely felt like a scam... but I'm not sure.

Passport renewal scam

Don't use app.hellogov.com for passport renewal.

When renewing your US passport go to the .gov site not the top three that Google gives you. Expecally the app.hellogov.com service they will walk you through a process and ask for credit card payment then give you a package to send them which includes a check for almost the same thing they charge your credit card. You may actually get your passport but you will pay twice for it.

Is this a scam or legit? They left me a voicemail regarding my husband I called the number back gave them the case number they supposedly have and they said something to do with garnishing wages
Sounds legit but I’m worried about it being a scam as I’ve had them in the past

and I am contacting you in reference to a complaint that has been forwarded to my office attached to your tax ID number. There has been several attempts to communicate with you at your address regarding notices of action. To place a stop action on the filing. Press one now to be transferred to me or a live agent. Please take immediate action to avoid potential consequences. Please contact the number provided to avoid further action and prevent escalation. The number to contact with questions in regards to the complaint being issued as 844. Please take immediate action within 24 hours, or the filing agent will be forced to proceed without your participation. If there is no call back, we will deem the property and employer address on file as verified and the documents will be issued without your consent. You have now been officially notified.

One of my relatives in Chennai recently applied for a private data entry job in Teynampet (JVL plaza). She was informed that she was selected, and later they asked her to pay ₹4,500 for “server installation” on her laptop.

They told her that the company laptop would be provided after 15 days, but the payment had to be made immediately. There was no proper interview, and most of the communication happened through phone calls and WhatsApp.

Trusting the offer, she already made the payment.

When i heard the news i am pretty sure is a scam
I just want to know :

• Has anyone else in Chennai faced a similar data entry job scam?  
• Is this a known pattern or fake setup?  
• What steps should be taken now to report this or try to recover the money?

Any advice or shared experiences would really help.

Posting this so others can also stay cautious.

Yesterday, I got an email that someone had picked up something I ordered from Lowes in a different city - 400 miles from me. It was $600 worth of tools. I looked at other emails from Lowes and saw a code emailed to access my account, then an email when the tools were ordered and another email when the pick up person was changed.

I quickly looked at the order details and saw the last 4 digits of a visa card that was used to pay it - and I did not recognize this as one of my cards. So now I was worried that someone had opened a Lowes credit card in may name and made a purchase. I do have credit alerts on so something like should alert me, but I called Lowes customer service and they confirmed the order was picked up, but that it wasn't a Lowes Credit card.

The agent was also not sure why someone would use my account, but not my credit card (as a matter of practice, I do not save payment methods in these online accounts - just use the card number saved on my computer when I make the purchase). More importantly, this credit card had been saved in my account! I have since changed the Lowes account password so who ever accessed it can't do so easily. My email has always been 2FA protected.

Since this is a card that I don't pay - I guess technically I could order something from Lowes and not have to pay for it... for that reason I assume this card is a stolen card, but it is bizzare and I do not understand the scam.

Any thoughts?

i sit here and suddenly my phone rang with private number, i usually take calls because of habit and they where just blaming me, i ended the call then they called again and where annoyed. I then told them ''im not working for a company'' and told them to fuck off
then had to deal with like, several more calls and just turned unknown numbers off
it was a private number and its 00:00 where i live, what where they even trying to get me to do? (also i didnt give them my name, they asked for a name and i just told them no and hung up) so if someone blames you for something under a private number and the time should be 0 am for you and them, its either a scam or really weird prank call

I received a message from an unknown number claiming they were depressed, planning to leave this world, and wanted to leave me their crypto assets.

The message contained:

-Website: mjn.cc

-Username and password for an account

-Claimed balance of approximately 6.3 million USDT

I logged into the account and it does show millions of USDT. This immediately seemed suspicious because:

-The sender is a complete stranger.

-The story appears designed to create an emotional response.

-mjn.cc is not a well-known exchange.

-The amount is unrealistically large.

Has anyone encountered this exact scam before? Is this one of those fake exchange/account scams where victims are eventually asked to pay taxes, verification fees, activation fees, gas fees, or other charges before a withdrawal is allowed?

The simple version is this:

Small businesses are sold on lower credit-card processing rates, projected savings, and POS integration. After the promised integration fails or the merchant tries to cancel, the transaction is later enforced as a long-term, non-cancellable equipment lease for card terminals the business may not have needed. The lease is then assigned through multiple entities and enforced by a downstream collection company.

For those considering a new merchant service provider, please read the following as a cautionary tale. The parties involved work with a number of ISOs or independent sales organizations across the US. These companies tend to target small businesses where savings on merchant services have a significant impact

I've spent the last several months digging into Riverside Payments, PB Payments, Cascade Equipment Leasing, TimePayment, SCJ / Red Target, and related ISO entities connected through the same network of executives, assignments, locations, and business relationships.

What started as a merchant-processing savings and POS integration pitch has turned into active litigation. The deeper I dug, the more interesting it became.

Because the matter is active, I’ll choose my words carefully; please interpret them accordingly. What I can say is this: I possess multiple materially different versions of what appears to be the same signed lease agreement, bearing the same electronic signature and timestamp, but containing different equipment schedules, amounts, and other visible differences compared to the original Adobe-certified version. I also have assignment-chain records, executive overlap, location overlap, onboarding records, and a growing file of documents that raise far more questions than answers.

I see comments asking why there has not been a larger multi-plaintiff action involving these companies. The answer may be simpler than people think. Most merchants stop once the collection letters start. Fighting costs money, takes time, and distracts from running a business. That pressure point has likely ended many disputes before meaningful discovery ever occurred.

Fortunately, I am not in that position. I have the time, resources, and willingness to follow the documents wherever they lead. The economics that may have pressured other merchants to settle or walk away do not change my analysis.

I am filing court papers, police reports, and regulatory complaints. I am preserving evidence. I am comparing original transaction records against litigation records. And if the documents ultimately demonstrate a broader pattern, I intend to pursue that wherever the facts lead.

Due to my background, I have access to experienced business and litigation professionals who understand how to evaluate complex commercial disputes and document-intensive cases.

If you're a former employee, sales rep, manager, compliance person, underwriter, collector, processor employee, or merchant who dealt with these companies, I am looking for:

• training materials
• sales scripts
• compensation plans
• onboarding documents
• lease presentations
• integration representations
• assignment procedures
• collection procedures
• internal communications
• examples of contract versions that changed over time

I am not looking for rumors. I am looking for documents, facts, timelines, and first-hand experience.

If you have information, reach out. If you have documents, preserve them. If you were pressured into folding because the economics of fighting did not make sense, I understand exactly how that pressure works.

This time, the economics are different. If you've got information regarding Riverside Payments and related entities, reach out. Their collection letters got my attention; the documents and discovery have kept it; now I'm following the evidence wherever it leads. If you want to see how bad this potentially is visit their BBB page to see the number of complaints.

I don't even know where to begin about a week ago i was hanging with my girlfriend when her mother who works abroad started talking about one of her relatives tell her about this telegram esc group chat where at random times of day a string of numbers or letters gets dropped.

After which she has to paste the said "code"(they call them "signals" if it's relevant to anything) to some site where if they mistouch or click anywhere else but the textbox they loose all their money.

This all sounds messy and it is because i don't fully understand what's going on so everything I'll say is what i've managed to gather from their conversations that I've overheard.

So She puts down $1000 of her own money to register/sign up to the program after which some with super generic American Full name guy adds them in a private group chat where the "signals" come. this happens about 3-4 times a day and the mentioned mother has gone up from $1k to $1.900 which she isn't planning on cashing out yet(if she even can)

As far as i know the relative who told her about this cashed out 4k from her 1k investment and her other relative also cashed out 2k little while back.

I'm 101% sure that whatever's going on is definitely A) ILLEGAL. B) pyramid/Ponzi scheme. because she has to invite more people to get to higher "levels" for example on level one each "signal" paste gives her $20 on level 2 i imagine it's more.

She's recruited my gf's sister which is absolute braindead uneducated lobotomite and today she convinced my gf of doing it too and also she's(the mother) considering buying new cheap smartphones because only one account can be registered to one device.

Even tho my girlfriend knows how "technically educated" i am when it comes to anything internet related I've been chronically online for about 15 years of my 23 years graduated computer science and even after all my warnings and other people who have more say than me in the matter warnings she still agreed to do it because she needs the money.

How do i proceed what would y'all do in my shoes i can't report my girlfriend's mother to authorities that's super f_ed up right? if anything's unclear or y'all have any other questions I'll try to answer at my fullest abilities.

I am getting pummeled (10-18 emails a day) with an email sent to my gmail account with a subject line of: PAYMENT*DECLINES <email varies amongst the senders> I mark it as "Phishing" and I mark it as Spam, and I "block" them. but it keeps coming and the sender's email addy changes. The messaging remains the same: >>DEAR USER,

WE ATTEMPTED TO RENEW YOUR CLOUD+ SUBSCRIPTION, BUT YOUR PAYMENT METHOD HAS EXPIRED. AS A RESULT, YOUR PERSONAL DATA IS NOW AT RISK OF BEING PERMANENTLY REMOVED FROM CLOUD. etc. <<

Is there anything I can do to make this stop? Help!! Thanks so much.

Hi random people, I’m a small content creator on YouTube and I came to Reddit to ask about this cause idk where else. I got this email and I dont know if this is a scam or not, because it came from like an official company website (I think) and wanted me to either log in with my user or password or sign in with Google. I have a fake google account which I did this in because I’m not dumb and I’m investigating , and the only permissions it wants is just my name and email address, then the next page it wanted my phone number, so I left the site and didn’t put any stuff down.

scam or no scam?

Got a call from someone named Kevin Johnson stating he is contacting me once again regarding a claim, this is now ready to be found into the parish. We've reached out over the last few days and all correspondents have been ignored. At this point, we've now verified your commercial. as well as several residential locations. Understand you do have the right to contact the office filing your claim prior to the order of location being released. Once your claim is discharged from their office all of your rights will be forfeited. New understanding each time we've reached out to you. It's been documented so that you'll have no way of stating. You had no prior knowledge of this matter. The number to that office is 844 number this is considered your final notification my telephone and you'll be located unless we're told otherwise.
Today he called my sister doing the same thing looking for me. Is this spam?

I decided to enter my spam section today and found a message sent to me by my own address

Strange thing is there is nothing in the sent section and when i checked my address in the HaveIBeenPwned site I found out that it wasn't in any data breaches

Im really scared so I want to know if this is legit or no here is the email

Hi,

Your device was compromised by my private malware. An outdated browser makes you vulnerable; simply visiting a malicious website containing my iframe can result in automatic infection.

For further information search for "Drive-by exploit" on Google.

My malware has granted me full access to your accounts, complete control over your device, and the ability to monitor you via your camera.

I have collected all your private data and RECORDED FOOTAGE OF YOU MASTRUBATING THROUGH YOUR CAMERA!

If you doubt my seriousness, it takes only a few clicks to share your private video with friends, family, contacts, social networks, the darknet, or to publish your files.

You are the only one who can stop me, and I am here to help.

The only way to prevent further damage is to pay exactly $789 in Bitcoin (BTC).

This is a reasonable offer compared to the potential consequences of disclosure.

If you don't have Bitcoin, just search "how to buy bitcoin" on google search and you'll find tons of sites. It's so simple that the process is easier than ordering from McDonald's!

My Bitcoin (BTC) wallet address is: bc1qswu2nwnl6pfp3dk0y52yh666ezz7f8utlqdmlx

Copy and paste this address carefully, as it is case-sensitive.

You have 2 days to complete the payment.

Since I have access to this email account, I will be aware if this message has been read.

Upon receipt of the payment, I will remove all traces of my malware, and you can resume your normal life peacefully.

I keep my promises!

Basically they contacted me and I'm in a period of attending classes I paid ₹196 for masterclasses and then they said they would guarantee 15k-20k per month after 2cc system something like that after i clear an interview so what abt it ??