I got a call from an 800 number that is not a valid Citi support number. The caller was asking if I recognized a transaction at Walmart or Lyft. I said I did not and they should be denied. I then asked for him to validate that he was really from Citi and he got really cagey. I offered to call back on the Citi number and he said that was not possible. By this time I knew he was a scammer and had not given any info.

Here is the big tipoff he was not for real, he had a nice clean Midwest American accent, not a Pilipino accent. All the phone support people I speak with at Citi seem to be in the Philippines. next time I get a call from someone purporting to be from Citi I'll make sure to ask to be transferred to an agent with an accent.

The other tipoff I learned about when I googled the number is that it rang once and I answered, but no one was there and it disconnected. Then it called again with a person on the line. That is a good tip that it is an automated dialer looking for working numbers.

I got woken up at 4:30am today from a call by someone claiming to be a CPD officer letting me know I had an arrest warrant for a failure to appear for jury duty. All they had was my name and address. I asked for their information and said I would call them back. Obviously the name they gave me did not appear on the list of Chicago government employees, but i’m sure if I was less coherent when talking to the person I could’ve accidentally given them more personal information or they would have tried to ask for money or something.

Has anyone else had something like this happen to them?

I am absolutely shaking right now, my roomate just came into my room asking if my mom was okay and I just had the largest panic attack.

My daughter’s boyfriend got this text that claims it was from my husband, about my mother. Weirdly it also claims that my roomate is the one who found my mom… I’ve seen videos about weird scams with phishing but this is the first time I have ever been seen it in person!

I immediately called my mom who said she was outside my house in my parking spot and I rushed out and checked her wrists…. I am beside myself.

Got a couple text messages today from the number 67984 that said "Welcome to SSA Messaging. Text HELP for help, STOP to unsubscribe. Msg&data rates may apply. Msg frequency varies. For more info visit ______"

The second text message said "Your Social Security requested link is_______ Thank you for using our online services."

I left out the URLs but they appear to be for the legitimate .gov website and the second URL looked to be for Medicare sign up. I did NOT click on any of them because I assumed they could be spoofed. I never signed up for SSA messaging or Medicare. Is this a scam or is somebody else using my phone number?

Just today there was a phone call from the same Miami number targeting every Family Member's Phone, including a landline, asking for me by name. My Mother actually picked up, and said I wasn't in, so she offered to take a message, to which the caller declined (he sounded like a young guy, with no obvious foreign accent). The caller called each number twice back-to-back in quick succession when no one answered.

The caller didn't answer any of the call screening questions on my cell phone (which marked them as spam), and they dialed back so quickly that my phone was still screening the first call when they called the second time.

My Mother thought that somebody was possibly trying to get in touch with me over a small bag that I believe I lost on a drive back from Florida, but I don't recall anything within the bag that had my information on it, nor would it make sense to me that the person in question wouldn't leave a message about it.

Have any of you ever experienced or heard of this, and what could it possibly be?

Thank you!

So, I went to the mall to get myself a jacket for the coming winter. I went to JCPenney and as soon as I walked in this man asked me if I spoke Spanish to which I said yes. I thought he might need help finding something.

He told me he was from Ecuador and that he’d travelled through a lot of different countries and that he didn’t have a family here. He asked if I could buy him pants. I considered it and I said okay. I said I could pay for it but that I didn’t have cash. I genuinely thought he was in need.

Well he proceeded to go look for said pants but he went to get a shirt instead and I asked him if that’s what he needed (since he had said pants). He said yes then said he also needed pants. I said okay. Then he got some his size and then he asked for a belt. At that point I was uncomfortable but I also am bad at saying no. But that’s all he got then he handed them to me so I could pay at the register. I didn’t realize what it would total to but it was $136 for those three things.

At the end he kept asking me to ask the cashier if he could return the pants if they didn’t fit. I said yes you can and didn’t ask the cashier anything. Then I handed him the bag with the clothes.

He said thank you and that he hoped God would bless me.

As I walked away I felt dumb for having paid that much. But I felt even more dumb when the cashier flagged me down to ask if he had asked me for those clothes and I said he had. She told me he had tried to flag other people down as well. And that he was probably adamant about the receipt so he could return them to get money back.

I just feel so dumb. But I secretly hope he was in need. Even though I know it’s probably not true.

I received a call from an overseas telemarketer offering me cable/internet service. I provide them with a junk credit card I keep just for these occasions, in hopes that they will make a charge on my credit card and I can hopefully identify the caller or who is hiring them.

Following this call a well know national cable provider then charged my credit card $25 deposit, as the telemarketer said they would. Additionally, I received a welcome email directly from this national cable provider with an Order Number and confirmation of my order.

However, the telemarketer is insistent that I MUST call the 888 telephone number they provide me once I get the new cable box/equipment from the cable company. They call me repeatedly, telling me I must call this 888 number to start my service. I searched this number and it does not show up as being associated with any business. I call this number 888 number and the guy answering the calls say the name of a well known home security company, not the cable company. I told him I was calling for the cable company and he said that is also him, and he told me he is the number for several companies to get service started. I hang this call up.

Now I look up online and call the advertised telephone number for the well know national cable company. I ask them about my order and the cable company say the order is in their system and the order was placed online by the customer (i.e. they think I directly placed the order online on their website. I told them a 3rd party called me and they must have filled out the online form. The cable company said they did know, but their system says it was an online, consumer direct sign up). They tell me that they intended to mail me hardware. I cancelled this order fully.

My questions is how is the scammer making money from this scam? It seems like way to much work to get a valid credit card. I assume the scam must somehow involve my calling the 888 telephone number to get service started once I get the hardware but I can't figure out how they will generate revenue from this scam. Are they somehow planning to hijack my new hardware, but how would that make them money? (Some sort of man in the middle attack by being in the middle of my internet connection?) But they did offer me just cable TV service alone, without internet, so I don't how providing me just TV cable would be profitable.

To be clear, I don't think the national cable company has any involvement in this scam, I think they are also victims and/or pawns in this scheme.

Any thoughts/ideas would be appreciated about how this scam works.

Hello, new member here!

Today I received one phonecall from "the legal department" the lady dismissed me when I asked what the name of the company was..I got transferred to "Jack" from EHRENBERG & ASSOCIATES claiming I'm being sued from a debt from 8 years ago. He told me they have attempted to deliver legal documentation and this was the 2nd time they've attempted. If I dont receive those papers, Im basically ignoring my court summons..i have til monday to receive those papers if not I'm liable to pay court fees and attorny fees on top. Ive never heard of them, never received any paperwork regarding this matter. Ive been looking online to see if I could find anything about this company and couldn't find anything..i looked up their address and its some studio plaza building.

Overall, it took me by surprise because I was never contacted, no letter in the mail, nobody trying to serve me papers or anything in that matter, has anyone else ever heard of them?

My recently widowed 77 year old FIL met a woman on OurTime.com who claims to be in her 40s and lives a few towns away. Dead giveaway right there this is a catfish. Conveniently, they’re both widowed, both lost a child, and are Christian. She supposedly works as a sculptor and is currently doing an art project/gallery in LA. She claims a studio is paying her $700,000 for the project and wants to split it with him. He just needs to open a bank account, and the money will be deposited but he supposedly can’t access it until the project is 30% complete.

He gave her his Social Security number, driver’s license, mortgage information, and other personal details. She had him open an account through a website called Netzorn and she sent him a screenshot that shows a $700K deposit, clearly photoshopped. I can barely find anything about this website online. He opened the account on October 12, and his credit report shows a couple inquiries starting October 13, including Capital One/Discover, and Unlock.com which is a home equity agreement company.

I reverse image searched her picture and found the exact image on the Facebook page of an author in Utah…we live in the Midwest. Unfortunately he genuinely believes she’s real and isn’t receptive to warnings. Seems like they’re trying to get his home equity? Didn’t even know that was a thing. I can’t find this exact scamming scenario online so seeing if anyone is familiar. We only found all of this out today. I know the basic things to do with identity theft and we’re working on all that. I’m trying to understand what we’re dealing with and what to watch for next, especially since he doesn’t want to believe he’s being scammed.

I wanted to share something that happened after I uploaded a 3D model to Sketchfab.

An account calling itself “Sketchfab Support,” using the Sketchfab logo, commented under my model. It claimed I needed to verify my account because of bot activity and threatened restricted access if I didn’t do it within 12 hours.

What made it convincing was that the comment appeared in my actual Sketchfab notifications. At first, I thought that meant it came from the platform.

The comment contained a shortened link. The page I reached copied Sketchfab’s branding, claimed my account was restricted, and asked for card details to complete verification.

But the address wasn’t on Sketchfab’s domain. The supposed support chat also mentioned “bookings” and a “Reservations Department,” which had nothing to do with my account or 3D models.

A notification from a real website doesn’t make the commenter official support. That was the part that nearly fooled me.

Sharing this so other creators know what to watch for. If you receive a similar message, check your account through Sketchfab directly instead of following the comment’s link.

Context:

A stranger sent my friend a small lump sum of money about a month ago. It was a zelle payment not sure if it was personal transfer or commercial.. My friend doesn't have any side gigs or anything that would incur a random payment

There has been no communication from the user that transferred the money. No contact from chase/zelle nor any persons demanding the money back. It has sat in the account for a full month and then yesterday the same user just sends another payment with double the previous amount.

Is this a new scam? Is there something a scammer can do with those transfers to gain access to my friend's account?

The redacted first name is my mom's name, the last name is our shared last name, although she usually uses a hyphenated version with her maiden name. The voicemail was left with a pre-recorded robotic voice as well, not a human.

I haven't spoken with her in almost 7 years and I've changed phone numbers twice in that time, since I moved to a completely different state and have a number local to my state now. The phone number that called me also had an area code local to me. There should be nothing that links my new phone number to her, except for mutual contacts.

I called my brother (who still lives with her) and he said the only thing he can think of is that her and her husband's joint Microsoft account got "hacked" a few days ago, but that they apparently fixed it before it got to their banking information. Again though, there should be nothing linking her Microsoft account to my new phone number.

(Repost bc I forgot to attach the screenshot)

After applying via a remote jobs website (Handshake AI), I was contacted by someone at this used car dealership. They appear only online with no solid address and a phone number that traces back to some young woman in Massachusetts. Anyway, it all sounded legit and intriguing until I realized they only wanted to communicate via MS Teams. They wanted me to buy a computer and printer that they said they would pay for with a digital check. All I had to do was connect my banking app for their reimbursement check and future payroll. Red Flag raised!
I have worked on remote jobs where the agency provided computer equipment to me on a loaner basis. The agency sent the hardware, not some third party with a sold-to-me invoice.

Their website is polished, and they were fairly smooth in our back-and-forth dialog via Teams. A Who-Is search of their domain stated that web address had been registered in Sept. of '26. Today, I was emailed an invoice from "Nick Price" at a computer refurbishment store in Warren, MI. I called that store, after searching their number, and no one by that name works there at all. I removed the Teams app and cleared all cache information from my phone and computer.

Job hunting is stressful and time-consuming, to say the least. Nowadays, though, we seeking employment have to also deal with scammers who zero-in our vulnerabilities. These hustlers are very skilled at stealing our identities and money. Be very careful, folks.

throwaway account. i was doing too much on too little sofia earlier and i somehow fell for a phone call scam. got a call to the phone we have at work from someone who claimed there was a package being delivered soon and any delay in accepting it would risk having to pay up to 5000€. they then asked to have two lines, and they had me talk on my work phone and my personal phone (they also had the three first numbers of my personal phone and only asked me to confirm the next ones. i have no idea how)
while on both phones, they told me they had my boss on the other line (they knew her name) and immediately i could hear a woman talk in the background, who i thought was my boss on the other end of the line

anyways. they said my boss asked me for some gift cards and online pay cards to pay for something so we wouldn't get sued or fined, so i gave them approximately 1000€ before the call started bugging. i hung up and immediately realized what had happened. i don't know why, but something clicked as soon as the call was off. i called my boss, but the gift cards were already used, so there's nothing to be done except report it and hope it doesn't happen again

i saw my boss before going home, i burst into tears the second i hung up on her but i started crying again the second she called me into her office. im so scared because i half blacked out while i was being rushed to get the gift cards so im sure im misremembering some details. i can't afford losing my job rn, i dont know what to do. i gave my boss all the information, but she's very hard to read so i dont know what's going to happen

* edited to change a term

Someone asked me if I could rate their sexy pics in my dms. They are a man, I think from their profile. I had no previous connections to them and I have no activity in NSFW communities. At first, I said yes because I didn't exactly realise what they were asking if me, and they called me kind; but then I realised what was happening and I immediately refused, and they started saying I'm not kind, which is weird

I'm a woman, also I have no interest in art. I have already blocked this person but I'm curious what they were trying to do. Specially seeing their 180 degree attitude change immediately.

I need help. I’m not able to find anything online that is similar to this situation.

I am located near Toronto, Canada, but have recently been getting random emails from the Houston, Texas area.

None of names in the images are mine. Nor are the order numbers. Images are screenshots of these emails:

- Order for tickets to a pumpkin festival in Houston (I received two of these 3 min apart)
- Landlord reference request for Houston apartment (got spammed with this a few times)
- Order for $350 jewelry store order from a store in Houston

NONE OF THIS IS ME. I have only been to Texas once in April with my husband before we took a cruise out of Galveston, but that was 6 months ago, and these emails started coming in September.

What is going on?? Is my identity stolen?? my bank looks okay, no charges on my cards, and I changed all my passwords today.

any advice helps thank you

I get stuff on my linkdin, been looking for a job, notice some want to pay them to fix my resume, alarm bells rang so i didnt do that, since i wouldnt be able to find a job anyways, i think i did the right thing.

Mastercard Debit card issued by BMO for my business showed a $165.80 charge from ZAP*ZAPPOS.com. I've never heard of them. Googled them to find they sell shoes. No one at my firm has access to this card, its only used for online Software License fees. BMO says they contacted ZAPPOS and they claim the charge was authorized. I've never been on their website, I've never downloaded their app, and I certainly didn't get any shoes from them. Is the entire website a scam, or did a scammer manage to do something shady? Is it worth calling the ZAPPOS number to dispute it?

I’m a recent graduate (June 2026) and have been applying for jobs since last year. I already have an offer from an MNC for 4.5 LPA, but I wanted a better-paying job.

A few weeks ago, I received a call from someone named Disha, claiming to be an HR representative from a company called “Z Working.” She offered me a resume-typing job that supposedly paid ₹25,000–₹35,000 per week.

She asked me to share my resume, Aadhaar card, and PAN card. Unfortunately, I sent the documents through WhatsApp.

After sending them, I received a contract and was asked to provide a digital signature. I started feeling suspicious, so I drew the first letter of my name incorrectly, deleted the documents from WhatsApp, and forgot about the incident.

Today, on my birthday, I received a call from a man claiming to be an advocate from the Delhi High Court. He threatened to take me and my family to court because I hadn’t worked for five days. He claimed I could face fines of ₹1 lakh or even ₹20 lakh.

Then Disha called and demanded ₹7,999, threatening legal action if I refused to pay.
I panicked and called my dad. He contacted a lawyer and the police, who suspected it was a scam and advised us not to panic. My dad told me not to pay anything and to block the numbers.

I’m relieved I didn’t pay them, but the experience left me shaken. I know I should have researched the company and verified the recruiter before sharing my documents. However, making a mistake doesn’t mean someone deserves to be threatened and intimidated.

I come from a middle-class family, and ₹7,999 is a significant amount to me. I could have spent that money on clothes, makeup, or skincare. Had I had enough money in my account, I might have panicked and paid them just to make the threats stop.

I’m sharing this to warn other freshers. Be cautious of jobs promising unusually high salaries for simple work. Verify employers before sharing sensitive documents, and never let threats pressure you into making a payment.

Has anyone experienced something similar with “Z Working” or a resume-typing job? I’d appreciate advice on protecting my Aadhaar and PAN details.

Please be careful out there. Job hunting is stressful enough without people exploiting our desperation.

im so dumb idk how i trusted ts😭

they send u a whatsapp message with a link to vote for sophie in a ballet tournament bc she's the daughter of close people to her/him nd she can win a scolarship nd jump to the stage. to confirm ur vote, u have to put number and verify it with a code, and that code is to link a device to ur account and then they steal your account nd send the same message.

/

Te envían un mensaje de WhatsApp con un enlace para votar por Sophie en un torneo de ballet porque es hija de personas cercanas a él/ella y puede ganar una beca y subir al escenario. Para confirmar tu voto, tienes que poner un número y verificarlo con un código que es para vincular tu cuenta a un dispositivo y luego te la roban y envían el mismo mensaje.

Title: Possible dating-app scam? She insisted on meeting at a particular venue, and the conversation got awkward when I suggested somewhere affordable

I wanted to share this conversation and get some opinions from people

What made me cautious:

- The discussion about the meeting venue became unexpectedly awkward.

- I wanted to agree on a location and budget that worked for both of us.

- I've heard about dating scams involving people being directed to expensive cafés or restaurants, so I wanted to be careful.

I'm not claiming that this person is definitely a scammer. I don't have proof of that, and I don't want to accuse anyone unfairly.

My questions:

1. Have you experienced similar conversations on dating apps in India?

2. Are there known scams involving dates being directed to particular restaurants or cafés?

3. What precautions would you recommend before meeting someone from a dating app?

I'd appreciate genuine advice and similar experiences.

Ok, I received an email from the company with careers @ name of company add llc . com to it, but the name of the company is legit, a research company with some doctors as researchers. But the @ name for them is not the above. it doesn't have the llc in the website. and they told me in the email that they would like to take me to the next step and interview with the VP of the company. Which scarred me, as they are all doctors on the company register. They are looking for a customer service person with flexible schedule to work between full time and part time. I thought perfect, as a diabetic, that will allow me to meet my doctors with no issues in asking for time off.

Then I was told in an email to log into Microsoft teams for my meeting, no issue I have done that before. So took a shower, put on a nice blouse, added makeup, and ready for the interview at 9 am. when time for the interview, I was told, no camera or mic needed, just a chat interview, First thought was why wouldn't you want to hear my voice for customer service position. regular interview, long pauses in response, took 1.75 hours to complete. Was told that I would know by end of day, as they are finishing up with interviews. End of day came and went, with an email late in the evening, that they will know the answer by noon the next day. On noon the next day, they emailed me an email with w-4, direct deposit form, company handbook, letter of acceptance, background check form. I filled it all out, emailed it all back, He said we will start training for two weeks on Monday the 26th.

So I have a week, to get my desk ready, and be ready, he asked about my computer system, so I was told that I was good with the speed, two monitors, and available storage. So today Sunday, I get an email that the interviewer cant reach me on Teams today Sunday. OK I'm thinking what is wrong, so I log in and see what is needed. He said that he needs to set up my computer with the right equipment on Monday the 19th. Oh boy if they try to have me deposit a check to purchase equipment is one of the huge red flags to scam you. Any thoughts, this company is a real company, that I am just not sure about. If it is a real job, I want it!! But my fear it is not.

I was just served an instagram ad for a "pre black friday" sale on herman miller chairs, offering 75% off Aeron and Embody. I won't post the link directly, but I've been on the lookout for sales like this and this almost got me. It's clearly high-effort, but after looking into it, it doesn't pass the sniff test:

- Near-exact copy of the HM website, with a URL "hermanmiller.wevemgoods" that seems like it's a subdomain of HM's site, but is actually the other way around
- Lower-res imagery + broken scroll function on the site
- False ugency "Sale ends today" + exclusivity "Only on this website" messaging
- Website was only registered in June 2026
- Business address is a suspicious business suite in NY that's associated with multiple other unrelated businesses
- "Up to 80% off" pretty much the entire HM line, maybe you'll see a discount like that on one colorway of a less popular model
- HM customer service has confirmed that "Wevem Goods" is not an authorized retailer of their products

I haven't actually tried to purchase so can't confirm 100%, but it has to be too good to be true, right? An unusually good/detailed scam, but a scam nonetheless. Google doesn't come up with any callouts of this, so I figured it'd be good to post about for people suspicious about it like I was. Has anyone else seen this?