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Scam Crisis Averted
2 years ago
General
Hello and welcome to the Unicorn's Bookshelf.
I'm not giving names. No point risking the innocent, but I just played witness to what I believe was a scam attempt.
A good friend of mine came to me this morning asking for help. Someone on Twitter (or I guess it's "X" now.) contacted my friend with an offer of a "first payment" of $3,500 dollars via PayPal. all my friend had to do was prep a nice $55 in Paypal to compensate for the charge PayPal makes to receive a payment. First payment for what? apparently this person was just feeling generous. My friend, needing money, was very tempted to accept and was asking me for help with the $55.
Now...I've played with Paypal. It's how I get paid for my commission work. PayPal will take their charge directly out of the received payment at no additional cost to the sender. That's fine. They're a business. They provide a service and that costs money. They can have their share as far as I'm concerned, but never have I had to have that payment prepped BEFORE I could receive a payment. Something strange is going on, I think.
I look up the guy's name. Find his Twitter. Three days ago he put up a request for $2000 to cover charges to replace his computer because it's having issues. Very little of that request has been filled. So how does someone NEEDING money get away with offering a "first payment" of $3500? My friend asks and is told this person just put that up to get money for more content. That it doesn't mean anything and they're just seeing people in the world are still good.
...sure.
So I'm seeing an impossible financial offer with virtually no explanation beyond "just because" to someone that is in desperate need of money FROM someone who is in need of money. Either this guy is scamming Twitter, or he's scamming my friend, or both. Maybe he's been hacked and someone is using his account. Whatever the reason, something isn't right here and the answers aren't adding up to anything trustworthy.
My friend has backed out of this. He's fine. Should be reporting the whole thing to Twitter's moderators as I type this.
Let this be a reminder, folks. Do your research. If an offer looks too good to be true, double check everything. Look the person's account over. Get answers and make sure they actually add up. Don't get yourself in trouble over something like a little money. It's not worth the risk. THIS situation has been dodged. This person will be looking for others. Make sure you know what you're getting, why your getting it, and that the costs all make sense before you accept.
As always, my best wishes to all of you.
A good friend of mine came to me this morning asking for help. Someone on Twitter (or I guess it's "X" now.) contacted my friend with an offer of a "first payment" of $3,500 dollars via PayPal. all my friend had to do was prep a nice $55 in Paypal to compensate for the charge PayPal makes to receive a payment. First payment for what? apparently this person was just feeling generous. My friend, needing money, was very tempted to accept and was asking me for help with the $55.
Now...I've played with Paypal. It's how I get paid for my commission work. PayPal will take their charge directly out of the received payment at no additional cost to the sender. That's fine. They're a business. They provide a service and that costs money. They can have their share as far as I'm concerned, but never have I had to have that payment prepped BEFORE I could receive a payment. Something strange is going on, I think.
I look up the guy's name. Find his Twitter. Three days ago he put up a request for $2000 to cover charges to replace his computer because it's having issues. Very little of that request has been filled. So how does someone NEEDING money get away with offering a "first payment" of $3500? My friend asks and is told this person just put that up to get money for more content. That it doesn't mean anything and they're just seeing people in the world are still good.
...sure.
So I'm seeing an impossible financial offer with virtually no explanation beyond "just because" to someone that is in desperate need of money FROM someone who is in need of money. Either this guy is scamming Twitter, or he's scamming my friend, or both. Maybe he's been hacked and someone is using his account. Whatever the reason, something isn't right here and the answers aren't adding up to anything trustworthy.
My friend has backed out of this. He's fine. Should be reporting the whole thing to Twitter's moderators as I type this.
Let this be a reminder, folks. Do your research. If an offer looks too good to be true, double check everything. Look the person's account over. Get answers and make sure they actually add up. Don't get yourself in trouble over something like a little money. It's not worth the risk. THIS situation has been dodged. This person will be looking for others. Make sure you know what you're getting, why your getting it, and that the costs all make sense before you accept.
As always, my best wishes to all of you.
Venaki
~venaki
That's strange and troubling. Twitter ( X ) is turning into junk yard with hungry rats/scammers of all kinds. Thanks for explaining about PayPal, may be useful. ( Lizard use it once or twice a year )
Draikar
~draikar
OP
I use PayPal, myself for online payments and to charge for my commissions. I don't think the service is a problem, but I do think this guy might have been using it for his scam. Always good to be aware of the little tricks people use to try and fool you.
