Facebook Scams

[brett]

My wife never, ever accepts friend requests from people she does not know or does not interact with on a fairly regular basis.

Over the past week or so she has had three friend requests that she deleted.

I hear her laughter each time she gets one.

All were similar. Widowers in their 50's. Attractive. One or two were veterans complete with uniform pics, , etc, two professionals the other one listed secure employment etc. All listed similar like.....music, long walks in the park/beach, international travel. All the softly, softly, mushy mushy stuff that might appeal to some 'marks'. The only thing that is walking or traveling internationally is the sucker's money.

As my spouse said, she is in her late 60's. Why would any of them be interested in an old lady like her?

Well, perhaps not her but probably her credit cards or bank account!

Fortunately she did not just fall off the pumpkin truck last week. I sometimes wonder what percentages of hits these fraudsters actually get by doing this.

 

[Spock]

In addition to scammers sending friend requests, there are the reply-to-comments saying how much they like your posts/profile and could you please send them a friend request.
I've reported several to FB and the bot responds that it doesn't violate FB standards despite FB having a "repeated unsolicited contact" (or similar) reporting category.
Popular Youtube channels get similar "you won! contact me on telegram!" bulk comments.
Neither platform is trying to clean it up as deleting bots will wipeout half of the platforms "user" base that they tout when selling how far their ads reach.

 

[omni550]

Fortunately she did not just fall off the pumpkin truck last week. I sometimes wonder what percentages of hits these fraudsters actually get by doing this.

On his show, Dr. Phil would periodically feature men and women who had fallen for these sorts of "romance scams".....to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Usually sending almost all of their money over the course of time. Very sad.

Dr. Phil's team would do a ton of background research and show the gullible individual proof that their "lover" was a fraud...including often calling the scammer with the gullible individual's phone while on the show!

So the scammers don't have to have a high percentage, they just have to hit on the "right" person.

omni

 

[RobbieB]

I did the "internet dating" thing for a while and yeah, lotsa scammers out there.

 

[COcheesehead]

I did the "internet dating" thing for a while and yeah, lotsa scammers out there.

I meet my wife online. She must be doing the long scam on me.

 

[Graybeard]

I avoid Fakebook like the plague. I have a phony account, that is under a fake name, and it is used only if I need to check on a business that doesn't have a website to see their hours.

 

[COcheesehead]

FB a good to connect with people that are hard to see on a regular basis or affinity groups..hiking, biking, common interest folks and to sell stuff on FB marketplace. Otherwise it is not what it used to be.

 

[athena53]

I meet my wife online. She must be doing the long scam on me.

I've been dating a guy I met on-line for 4 years. It was pretty easy to pick out the scammers. I was in my late 60s, pleasant-looking but not arm candy, and had pictures from a lot of international travels, which probably spelled M-O-N-E-Y. Guys ridiculously younger, guys who said something vague like, "I like your smile" and wanted to contact me outside of the dating site immediately, guys whose work would explain their being out of the country for business a lot... all red flags.

I've gotten similar overtures in FB, either direct invitations from someone ruggedly handsome with a skimpy profile or some one who comments on my posts and wants to connect- I report them even if FB ignores my reports.

 

[RobbieB]

I meet my wife online. She must be doing the long scam on me.

Good for you! I almost did, but she was looking for the perfect guy and I guess I didn't measure up. She's been looking for the perfect guy online for seven years when we were dating.

After that I shut down both accounts (our time and match) and did it the old fashion way. Met my wife at the dog park.

But meanwhile...back at the sites...all kinds of scammers which I reported and were gone soon after. Probably back with a new ISP and user name the next day. Pro scammers.

 

[COcheesehead]

Good for you! I almost did, but she was looking for the perfect guy and I guess I didn't measure up. She's been looking for the perfect guy online for seven years when we were dating.

After that I shut down both accounts (our time and match) and did it the old fashion way. Met my wife at the dog park.

But meanwhile...back at the sites...all kinds of scammers which I reported and were gone soon after. Probably back with a new ISP and user name the next day. Pro scammers.

Red flag!!!!

 

[brett]

It costs next to nothing to send out 100 or 1000 bait lines.

So, if the scammer gets one or a few lonely, gullible fish on the line he or she would be happy.

I really do not get this business of sending money or giving your credit card or your financial details to someone that you met on line.

Cry me a river, hard luck story that my credit cards have been stolen or my mother needs an operation do not cut it. I love you so much is meaningless in these situations.

Keep your hands in your pockets and do not give away anything relating to your fnancials or your financial situation.

 

[JackJester]

I avoid Fakebook like the plague. I have a phony account, that is under a fake name, and it is used only if I need to check on a business that doesn't have a website to see their hours.

same here. FB and all of social media is ruining this world. Look at what it has done to politics and fake news. My 13 yr Lab Nelson has a FB account so I can access businesses without a real website. He is considered a minor for friend requests though. Of course I don't consider E-R as "social media".

 

[Scuba]

I do enjoy using Facebook to connect with acquaintances and keep up with long distance friends, but never accept connection requests from people I don’t know. The ones from the men who are fishing are so obviously phony, it’s hard to believe anyone falls for them. I tried reporting them to Facebook but as others have said, they don’t do anything. Now when I see one of these requests, I don’t even bother to read the b/s, I just delete it.

 

[Sarah S]

Facebook is dreadful for reporting. Someone kept cloning an account of one of my friends and then sent friend requests ( anyone on fb do your friends a favor and make your friend list private). I reported it ( no chance to free text and explain just identify fake account of a friend) they respond will check with your friend. Good luck with that - she is dead

A family connection ( woman in her 60s) got taken in by the romance scam. In this case she had early onset dementia so not surprising but terribly sad

 

[SecondAttempt]

I do "scambaiting" as a hobby. I am heartened by the number of attractive young women working on oil platforms these days. I met one a few months who needed a few things so I was going to buy them for her (no, not really!). She sent me links. I'm not sure why she needed a racing jacket and some of the other things on an oil platform off Norway but I played along. Her list totaled about $2500 worth of stuff. But these guys really aren't too bright. "She" wanted me to ship it to an address in Pennsylvania so her aunt could send it on to her on the oil platform. She could not explain why I couldn't just have the merchandise shipped to her and got very angry after that. We broke up soon after.

 

[SecondAttempt]

A family connection ( woman in her 60s) got taken in by the romance scam. In this case she had early onset dementia so not surprising but terribly sad

My partner's ex-sister-in-law (she is still in touch with many of her ex-family) recently was victimized in this way. Also a woman in her 60s, no dementia though and a lawyer no less. Her son figured out what was going on but could not convince her it was a scam and to stop sending money. He had to get a conservatorship and control of her finances. Really sad story.

 

[jollystomper]

I barely use Facebook these days, mainly for some some family and organizations that that only communicate through it. My rule has always been to never accept a friend request unless i have known that person in real life (and be wary of it has been a long time since I have seen them). When I have gotten requests from "friends of friends", I contact my "friend" to see if their "friend" is sane by my standards .

I learned the Facebook game. They really have zero interest in shutting down scam accounts, or preventing account cloning, despite their public posturing. More accounts means more revenue. Once one understands that, one can choose to proceed with them, but with caution.

I still do not understand how people can fall into "romance" without first physically meeting that person. I can see interest, but as soon as that person gives an excuse for why they could not meet, it would be time to run in the other direction.Perhaps it is my own wariness with the opposite sex (for a variety of reasons and observations) when it comes to matters of the heart, or my days as a radio and party DJ (where I saw many instances of "the vision from the voice does not match reality" ). And sending people money sight unseen... just not within my mental ballpark capacity to understand that.

 

[FiveDriver]

I'm shocked, shocked I say, to learn that there are fake names and photos on facebook !

The scammers on the internet have ruined the greatest advancement in communication since the clay tablets. Zucker, and Musk with his twitter, have turned social media into a cesspool of lies. I only use these sites to get quick sports scores. You can't even trust the recipes on there anymore. I'd bet that the Funny Cat Photos are bogus.

 

[COcheesehead]

I do "scambaiting" as a hobby. I am heartened by the number of attractive young women working on oil platforms these days. I met one a few months who needed a few things so I was going to buy them for her (no, not really!). She sent me links. I'm not sure why she needed a racing jacket and some of the other things on an oil platform off Norway but I played along. Her list totaled about $2500 worth of stuff. But these guys really aren't too bright. "She" wanted me to ship it to an address in Pennsylvania so her aunt could send it on to her on the oil platform. She could not explain why I couldn't just have the merchandise shipped to her and got very angry after that. We broke up soon after.

You clicked on links in an email from a scammer?

 

[MichaelB]

We humans are an empathetic species, and vulnerable people have always been targeted by predators. As long as some humans are sociopathic criminals and others empathetic, there will be fraud and exploitation.

AI and devices like ChatGPT will become new tools for scammers.

 

[easysurfer]

We humans are an empathetic species, and vulnerable people have always been targeted by predators. As long as some humans are sociopathic criminals and others empathetic, there will be fraud and exploitation.

AI and devices like ChatGPT will become new tools for scammers.

Haven't even thought about the use of AI and ChatGPT as scammer tools.

What kind of world have we created?

 

[COcheesehead]

Haven't even thought about the use of AI and ChatGPT as scammer tools.

What kind of world have we created?

Scams have always been around. They aren’t something new. Ponzi anyone? The tools just change.

 

[Spock]

....
AI and devices like ChatGPT will become new tools for scammers.

It's handled. We have the "click this box if you are not a robot".


So how long will the new Turing Test screeners take to authenticate me when I try to log into Fidelity

 

[MichaelB]

It's handled. We have the "click this box if you are not a robot".


So how long will the new Turing Test screeners take to authenticate me when I try to log into Fidelity

My expectation is we soon will move deeper into the online world of “Validated ID”. We’re already partly there. For non-validated users, Fidelity (and others) will use an AI bot to determine if you are an AI bot.

 

[omni550]

For non-validated users, Fidelity (and others) will use an AI bot to determine if you are an AI bot.

I wonder if the two AI bots will start a romance together, or just a romance scam?


omni