They usually fall into one of these categories:

  • Crypto Scammers: These scammers promote fake cryptocurrency schemes, fraudulent investments, and phishing sites designed to steal crypto assets.
  • Romantic Scammers: These scammers engage you online, try to gain your trust, and eventually solicit money under false pretenses. (Sometimes they send boobie pics or dick pics if you are a woman, mostly stolen from other accounts, mainly from Instagram or Reddit.)
  • Impersonation Scammers: These scammers create fake profiles that mimic legitimate businesses or influencers, offering fake giveaways or investment opportunities.
  • Phishing Scammers: These scammers send malicious links that lead to fake websites designed to steal personal and financial information.
  • Ponzi Scheme Promoters: These scammers promise high returns on investments but use funds from new investors to pay earlier investors, eventually collapsing and causing losses.
  • Charity Scammers: These scammers exploit the goodwill of people by creating fake charity accounts or campaigns, soliciting donations for non-existent causes. (These types of scammers target Fellas; we are compassionate people who raise funds already, so in their view, we are a good target.)
  • Employment Scammers: These scammers offer fake job opportunities, often requiring an upfront fee for training materials or background checks.

So, now you know the categories. What’s next?

It's quite simple. There are a few tricks you can use and some common fingerprints that most of these scammers share. When you recognize those, you will be much safer and not such an easy target for manipulation.

The first and most telling fingerprint in most scams is that the DM message comes from an account that has just started to follow you and is an account with which you have not interacted at all. If you receive a DM from an account like this, be wary; it is most likely a scammer.

Other typical marks of a fake or scamming account include:

  • Low Follower Count: Scammers often use newly created accounts with very few followers.
  • Generic Profile Information: Fake accounts typically have minimal or generic profile information, sometimes with stock photos as profile pictures.
  • Too Good to Be True Offers: Be cautious of accounts offering unrealistic opportunities, such as instant wealth or exclusive deals.
  • Pressure Tactics: Scammers might use high-pressure tactics, urging you to act quickly to avoid missing out or they will use emotions against you. (Someone needs food, surgery, my child is sick, etc.)

What to do?

Verifying an account is legitimate:

Here are two examples of attempts to scam:

Well, here is a live example for you. Just look at that bio; nothing else is needed, just some basic math to reveal this scam.

The user @alicec_ontreras: Her bio says, "Professional trading account Manager. Expert in Crypto, Stocks, forex, options and lots more. Watch me turn $1k to $10k in 7 days Online support 24/7 DM"

OK, let's break that apart, shall we?

Math first:

  • $1k to $10k in 7 days. That is a 900% return in 7 days.
  • Annualized Return

To understand how extraordinary this claim is, consider annualizing this weekly return. Assuming such returns could be achieved consistently every week (which is highly unrealistic), the annualized return would be astronomical. This number is incomprehensibly large, proving the impossibility of such returns.

Benchmarks:

  • Stock Market: The average annual return of the S&P 500, a benchmark for the U.S. stock market, is about 7-10% per year.
  • Forex Market: The forex market can be profitable but does not yield returns anywhere near the promised 900% in a week without catastrophic risk and usage of leverage and margin on levels unheard of.
  • Crypto Market: While cryptocurrencies can experience dramatic price swings, consistent 900% weekly returns are unheard of and suggest speculative or manipulative practices and usage of leverage and margin on levels unheard of.

Next, if that did not prove it to you, let's look at the post that she has provided as "evidence": In a post, she congratulates a couple on being debt-free: https://x.com/alicec_ontreras/status/1777696757742207434 . They have made a profit of $59K in Crypto. Seems that the scammer has deleted that post but Google search still shows that post: GS_PccwXEAAgIMj.png

Hmm, let's check that picture a bit more: Well, well, what do we have here? The same picture on Facebook but under the company Premier Aviation Holdings, LLC. GS_Pj-QWcAAInfr.pngAnd this can go on and on.

A new type of scam is making the rounds. Here's how it works:

You receive a link by DM, often shortened by a service. It looks like this: GS_QkhDWYAABChn.pngThe link redirects you to a PayPal page that is totally authentic. This page informs you that you have received money from someone and need to accept it by clicking a link sent to your email. It looks like this: GS_Qrc6X0AAW8EW.png

If you accept, the money will indeed be transferred to your PayPal account. However, this is where the scam begins.

Here’s how the scam works:

  • Scammers have access to stolen PayPal accounts. Sending the money directly to themselves would be too risky, as it can be easily traced. Instead, they send the money to an unsuspecting person (you) as a supposed mistake.
  • Then, they contact you, asking you to return the money. When you attempt to return the money, the transaction fails.
  • The scammer then contacts you again, apologizes for the inconvenience, and provides an alternative method to send the money.

This works by taking advantage of people’s psychology:

  • We want to make things right, so you feel incentivized to pay the user, even if you need to use an alternative method.
  • This second payment method directs the money to their own bank account.

By doing this, you unintentionally become part of a money laundering scheme, and the scammer moves one step further from law enforcement.

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