is this a scam?

she messaged me $50, and immediately messaged saying it was a mistake. i looked it up, realized its a common scam, and sent her a text to tell her to take it up with apple but now she is blowing my phone up because her child won’t be able to play basketball if she doesn’t get the money sent tonight.

originally i thought this was a classic scam, but i am really struggling to figure out if she is genuine or not. i’m such an empath, so im heartbroken if this is real and not a scam.

Hey everyone,

I’ve been seeing ads and mentions floating around for a platform called Datheon (datheon.in), which positions itself as an "AI systems and automation studio." They offer various online training programs, structured "task packs," and "internships" (including free standard tracks and paid/advanced options) covering things like Python, LangChain, RAG pipelines, and non-IT product building.

I’m trying to figure out what the actual catch is here. Has anyone here gone through one of their programs or interacted with them professionally?

• Are these free/standard online "internships" actually worth anything on a resume, or are they essentially glorified self-paced tutorials with a certificate template slapped on the end?
• Do they try to upsell you on expensive training packages or certifications down the road?

Would love to hear if anyone has first-hand experience with them or if this is just another lead-generation setup.

My dad is lonely and has almost no tech skills. He thinks he's found a new partner online, but it's clearly a scammer. He has to pay to talk to her using an app. I see a Facebook post where "she" was directing him to use an app called "Zangi." I don't know if that's the only one. He's new to social media, and I see the ai photos they're using from a clearly fake profile. Us (grown) kids have tried to tell him that there's no reason to pay to talk to people online like this, but he believes she's real anyway. Is there anything we can do? I'm completely lost in knowing how to deal with this.

I don't want to embarrass my dad, but I want him to open his eyes. No one really knows how much money he's spending, but he needs every dollar he earns. He's newly back to work after a long illness my mother's death. Please help a worried adult child out. Thank you.

I tried to think if my previous employer maybe signed me up, but that doesn’t sound plausible considering I was working as support staff in a restaurant.

I got a letter from Human Interest about an account I don’t remember opening at all. It says I have a certain amount of money “contributed” and a chunk of money that was taken out as “expenses”. I’ll be honest I don’t even know what to make of what I’m looking at because this is something I’ve never dealt with.

I’m just so unsure of what to do and if it’s even legit. I tried out putting both of my emails in on the login page then doing forgot password, but never got a password reset code sent to either. There’s an account number, but I have no clue what to do with that lol. I’m not good with this kind of stuff.

I’m suspecting it’s a scam, but just wanted to get some advice on what I should do.

Hi everyone, I received this message from a seller On Depop

"Hi! I am SO SO EXTREMELY sorry! The batch of packages that got shipped along with yours got all mixed up and some orders went to the wrong people! I am honestly not sure if yours was labeled correctly, but wanted to see if I could ask you for a huge favor to refuse the package once you receive it so usps ships it back to me for free! I'll cancel the order and resell the item for you with 50% off if you're still interested!!! Or you can any other item from my closet for free. I am really sorry for an inconvenience, no idea how this whole batch got messed up and where my head was at! I'd truly appreciate your help and understanding!!! SB 12:51PM"

Is this a known scam where they try to get me to refuse the package so the tracking closes and they keep the money? What is the safest way for me to handle this when the package arrives?

I got offered a job at some Sonic blockchain - full/part time, worldwide.

Suspicious offer. The guy said he found me on GitHub and somehow found my email despite private settings, i assume it got leaked through git commits. That was weird because almost all my repos are private and public activity is very low.

Then i saw the link - i am afraid to open it. ScamAdvisor says it was registered 6 days ago and doesnt recommend to trust it. I sent AI to check it and of course it is not affiliated with Sonic in any way.

I maybe hastle too much about that kind of stuff, but i face this kind of scam for a first time and wonder what is the scam itself? They want me to open the link and what next? Or they want me to have a call and make me install some software? Anyone had such experience before?

For the last few months I have been getting like 15 spam calls a day. I have tried blocking the numbers, but it doesn’t help because they always call using a different number. I installed AT&T active armor, but that didn’t do anything. I have never picked up these numbers or even forwarded them to voicemail because I don’t want them to know that I’m monitoring this number. I’ve tried looking up how to solve this, but most of the time the solution that’s offered is to change the settings on your phone to silence unknown callers. My problem is that I work in a more high intensity job where I get calls from people I don’t know all the time that can be very time sensitive, so silencing Unknown calls could be dangerous and is not an option for me. What can I do besides changing my phone number? I feel like I’m at my wits end constantly getting spam calls

I recently received an email about a job offer; they contacted me through a profile I have on a kind of LinkedIn for translators.The whole thing seemed suspicious to me, but I continued with the work they proposed until the moment of payment, and you can probably guess the rest. They didn't take any money from me or anything because the whole thing was too suspicious, and in the end I decided not to play along anymore, but I'm still posting this to report these people. They didn't have an official website, a LinkedIn profile, or any reliable source, so they were suspicious from the start, plus they only communicated through Microsoft Teams chat.

Hey everyone,

I have a friend who visited one of the many Mr Beast Crypto Scams, and registered using a spam email and a throwaway password. They seem to think things are alright, but I want to ensure they're safe.

Their close friend's Discord was hacked, sent the image we've all seen, and so my friend googled the site and visited the top search result on their mobile device.

I then asked if they'd given the website any information. They said they registered using their old spam email, and created a password they claim they've never used before (thankfully). I'm taking them at their word here.

They did not interact with the site any further. From what I understand, the scam is aimed at those who try to withdraw money, and will either steal bank info or charge fake fees until the victim catches on. With that said, I just want to make sure my friends phone is still pure and untainted by some potential malware.

Thank you for any help!

I keep receiving phone calls and texts messages about selling a house I've never owned nor been associated with in anyway.

For context, the aforementioned property is in the area I grew up in and moved away from when I was in my twenties. I have never lived at that address nor knew anyone that has/had lived there.

It doesn't show up on any credits reports, nor has any unexplained drafts ever hit my bank accounts.

I'm a male, but they always ask for or call me Deborah whenever I'm called or texted. I have no doubts it's a scam, but I'm trying to figure out why it seems to them like I own or have owned the property. I own a house now, and I have people always calling asking if I want to sell, but I still get called asking if I want to sell the mysterious property I'm writing about.

I'm not sure if this is something I should dig deeper and make sure there isn't any kind of fraud or identity theft, or just let it go. I don't respond and haven't responded to the calls or texts in years.

Got a call from a 559 area code claiming to be US Bank. Red flag #1, but I answered anyway.

The caller asked if I used Zelle and claimed there were two suspicious pending transactions—$2,000 and $1,000—to a "Jennifer" I’d never heard of. When I said they weren't mine, he started asking if I had traveled or connected to public Wi-Fi recently to make it sound official. He assured me the funds were on hold and gave me a fake "case number" and "cancellation number," then transferred me to their "returns department."

Red flag #2: While on the phone, I logged into my banking app and saw zero pending or active Zelle transactions. When I brought this up, he quickly claimed that was "a good thing" because it meant the money hadn't officially left my account yet.

Red flag #3: The next guy instructed me to open my bank app, go to Zelle, and enter the "cancellation number" as the recipient's phone number/email to cancel it. When I questioned why I had to add a recipient to cancel a charge, he insisted it was standard procedure.

At that point, I told him I was right next to a physical branch (I wasn't) and was heading inside to deal with it in person. He started rambling, but I hung up, called the official 1-800 number on the back of my card, and confirmed it was 100% a scam.

These scammers are getting sneaky. Rule of thumb: If your bank supposedly calls you, hang up immediately and call them back using the official number on your card or app.

Hello everyone, I got subscription bombed this morning for the second time unfortunately. Changed passwords and checked bank accounts but have two follow-up questions:

• The fraudulent purchase was made using my Ticketmaster account. However, the credit card used was not mine. I have no clue how it got saved to my account but I went ahead and removed it. Is this normal? Why would the scammer use someone else's card? I'm trying to understand how this scam works.
• I caught the activity fast enough that the four purchased tickets had not been transferred yet by the time I changed my password, so they're just sitting in my account now. I've reported this to Ticketmaster. Do I need to do anything else? (I can't go to the game lol, it's not even in my city)

Thank you!

I fell for a classic recruiting scam to get me to launch malicious code on my computer. Here's the details so you can hopefully avoid falling victim.

The details: I got an email from a recruiter at Salesforce mentioning they found me on LinkedIn for a role that I seemed to be a good fit for. I am on LinkedIn and my personal email is connected to my account, so this didn't seem off (but it obviously should have been a flag). I did a quick search of the recruiter's name, which was real, and proceeded to respond. They sent back some details of the position and wanted to setup a quick video call to provide more details. I agreed and provided some times the following day, and was told to expect a Teams link 15 minutes before the call would start (this should have also been another flag).

I tried looking on the Salesforce website for the job posting but couldn't find anything, and the post blurb I was provided didn't provide too much details other than some stock language. The job title they were proposing is an exact match to my current job, which is generic enough that it could be real but also a huge coincidence I should have flagged.

I checked my email at the meeting time and didn't see a Teams link, so I emailed the recruiter and was sent back a link very quickly. When I selected the Teams link my browser opened to the link that was shown and indicated my desktop version of Teams was out of date and I needed to use the mobile version. I have had Teams issues on my computer before so didn't think too much of it and selected the browser option, which opened a Chrome window that looked very real at first. There was even a video in the bottom right of a person moving ever so slightly as if they were waiting for me to join.

I was already flustered running late to this call so I missed some warning cues (like how you usually need to be admitted to the call, or how the person should have been full screen since they weren't displaying anything.) The browser view almost immediately had a popup saying my microphone or speaker wasn't working properly and that I needed to repair it, with another link. This should have been another big giant red flag, but I have had legitimate audio issues with Teams (although never had a link pop up), so I clicked through like an idiot, which brought up a window prompting me to run a PowerShell command. This final red flag actually stopped me as I knew there was absolutely no way Teams would prompt me to do this. I immediately stopped and closed out.

I immediately ran Bitdefender antivirus software which appears to confirm nothing was infected. I do realize any of the buttons I clicked could have launched some code, but my assumption (and hope) is that the Powershell script is how they actually compromise your system.

I later reviewed the email communications and realized the domain was not a clear match for Salesforce(@careers-salesforce.us) which I shrugged off as Salesforce using a separate domain for recruiting (again, this is dumb on my part). While the recruiter's full name does appear as legitimate through a quick Google search, the email address only included her first name, and a 50k person company is clearly using both first and last names in their email addresses. Furthermore, her signature only had her name. No title, no phone number, signature, or logo.

Sad to say I actually fell for this scam but did stop once I realized it was prompting me to launch a script, which Teams would clearly never have me do. Hopefully you all can avoid something like this in the future!

I recently got a new google phone number for my bookkeeping business. This week, I have had 2 calls from elderly gentlemen inquiring about a $300 deposit into their account. I can't get a clear understanding of how they are getting my number. The name, Blue Heron Fund, listed on the deposit is similar to my business name, but phone number on the statement is different from my business number. I can't help with the callers with the unknown deposit, but shared my concerned that an unknown deposit might be from a scammer. Any thoughts on why I keep getting these calls?

In the past few months I have received about a half-dozen emails which are variations on "will you come on my podcast to talk about your book". I'm an academic. My books are published through large publishers, and are really only of interest to people working in the field. They are successful, but I have no illusions about the limits on the audience for them.

The emails are pretty obviously AI-generated, regurgitating the text on the back cover the book, that sort of thing. In one case the email purported to come from a well-known person who does have a podcast, though it's clear from the return address that the email did not in fact come from US National Public Radio (who in any case are unlikely to be interested in a book about Canadian law). In other cases it's been an invitation to have one of my books discussed by a book club, or an offer to help with marketing - which makes no sense for a book published by a multinational publisher with a marketing department.

I'm assuming that if I replied I would eventually be met with a request to pay them something to proceed further. Is it anything other than that? It doesn't seem likely to be aimed at gathering email addresses, since they would already be pretty certain mine is accurate and current.

Is this a scam? A company that emailed me looks like it’s a legitimate payday loan service out of CA says that I applied for a payday loan…

I definitely didn’t apply for a loan with them, so not sure if it is someone trying to get some cash or if it’s a phishing scam to get me to call them, but not sure if it’s worth calling them and telling them this.

I have all of my credit frozen so trying not to freak out about this.

Contents of the email:

“Hi xxx,

My name is Emma K and I am your Client Care Manager here at Boost Credit Line. I'm just checking in to see if you would like to finish up your loan application. The process is simple and only takes a few minutes! If that is something you are still interested in, please feel free to give me a call at xxx or respond to this email. 
I am here to help! I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks!”

I received an unexpected €330 payment through PayPal from someone I don't know. I wanted to contact PayPal support to figure out how to handle it properly, but before I could get the situation resolved, I received another unexpected payment of €265 from a different account. Both senders appear to be from the same country.

The sender of the first payment has now opened a case against me, falsely accusing me of scamming them over an eBay purchase. They provided screenshots that are fake and that have nothing to do with me. The €330 payment is now on hold because of this case.

I've tried contacting PayPal support multiple times, but I haven't received much useful help. One agent told me they would arrange a call with a specialist within 1–2 days. It's now been two days, and I still haven't received a call.

I'm getting increasingly anxious about the situation because I don't know what to do with the money or how to get this resolved safely.

Update: My paypal just got permanently deactivated.

About a year and a half ago, my partner bought a house and we moved into it together. My partner and I are not married. My name is not on the mortgage. I have not lived at my parents’ house in over 12 years. Two days ago we got a letter addressed to my father but sent to our house. It was one of those home warranty scam letters. The very next day we got another one addressed to my father. This time it was a “we will buy your property (my dad’s current address) and cut you a check right away” letter. My question is, did we get on a list because of something I could have done wrong? Or is my father doing something? How is my father connected to my partner’s house? Thanks in advance!

Just got a call from an Alberta number claiming to have 4.7 bitcoin that belongs to me. Asked me to join a video screen sharing call to help me add it to my kracken account. Would be nice to have 500k given to me tkday but the second man I talked to seemed to be in a bit of a hurry to get me going there. I was at work and tsking my time. I assume this is a scam and hung up. Anyone else getting these calls claimed to be from Blockchain.com or representative of an agency to help the crypto to get tto its rightful owner

I got put in a text thread with one other person (other than the sender) This is the message they sent:

“Hello this is [NAME] I wanted to say that I really appreciate you and everything you done for me emotionally wise. I’ve been going through some things even my best friend [BFFS NAME] didn’t know due to the things she facing but I’m praying. My daughter heart isn’t doing good so I’m MIA”

Then they inserted a photo of a person with a heart monitor device or something? and then stated:

“Plz keep pray for me”

After receiving these messages, I got two missed calls from the other number that was in the text thread. If this is just a wrong number I would like to tell them, but I feel a little paranoid. What do you guys think?

Hi all, bought a bed for £480 from a business on FB marketplace. I asked if bank transfer is ok via phone , he said yes. The courier then got in touch with me on the morning of delivery (5am) and when the bed arrived I transferred the money into the account that the driver told me to. ( His personal account , because the owner was asleep so couldn’t confirm payment - he said. He also said to NOT put “bed” as the reference and keep it blank). And then, because HSBC flagged it as suspicious it put a 2 hour timer thing on the payment, but it had fully left my account. Keep in mind I did it right infront of him to the details provided and showed him the Proof of transaction as he literally stood over me and watched me send it.

He then said that since he hasn’t received any money into his account yet he can’t give me the bed. So he left and said he would come back tomorrow evening ( lastnight ). He said that because it is going out of the way of his journey he wants me to fix him £50 to cover his petrol. Is this not extortion??? It’s not MY problem. He’s left with my fucking bed that he’s holding hostage AND my money that he confirmed received?
*****I got in contact with the company again and he said not to give any money to the driver. ( he’s obviously trying to pocket a quick £50 ) keep in mind I’m a girl that lives alone and this was at 5am. What are my rights? Is this normal?

** I do have the bed now, he bought it lastnight at nearly 11pm and didn’t help me bring it in properly at all, he asked my pregnant mother to help him carry it and tutted and murmured when she said she obviously couldn’t. I suppose I just want to know what to do now as it was quite sinister, where can I report him to?

God forbid I was elderly or more vulnerable than I am already I would’ve more than likely just handed it over because again I want my bed I’ve paid for.

So just to be clear -

Brings bed
Lets me bank transfer
Leaves with the bed AND my £500 despite seeing receipt
I followed all instructions I was given and was somehow punished.
Holds the bed hostage until I send him £50 for “going out of his way” to deliver MY bed that YOU wouldn’t let me have??? The cheek.

I received a job offer from "Pavilion Collection Inc" about a real estate company hiring for a job. Red flag #1: $50/hour after training when this is entry level. I thought this was legit, and then they wanted me to buy equipment. Red flag #2. They sent me a $4,300 check for various equipment (a specialized computer, iphone, etc.). I was to give them payments of $500 for the computer. However, the company was almost certainly a scam. First, the check didn't work. Second, I used Zelle to send the $500 payment, and then I realized this was a scam. I contacted Truist Bank to figure out what was going on.

Have any of you guys heard about Pavilion Collection Inc? Is it a scam, like I thought?

I recently came across reports of a possible H&M data breach:

https://cypro.co.uk/insights/cyber-bulletins/hm-data-breach-claims-what-is-confirmed/

I use a unique email alias for H&M, so I can identify exactly which company an email address was originally shared with.

I recently received a suspicious cryptocurrency phishing email at this address, supposedly offering free $DIAM tokens in exchange for connecting a crypto wallet.

Since this email alias was used exclusively for H&M, it raises concerns that customer email addresses may have been exposed or shared with third parties.

A screenshot of the phishing email is attached.