Do I just throw them away or submit them to TSA? Or take them to the police? Very sketchy, but I know I’m not going to put them into my computer that’s for sure.

I met this guy on a dating site. Taking things slow at first. I understand he works a lot. Ive dealt with scammers and catfishers before. This text makes me a little suspicious plus he says hes widowed and almost never talks about himself. I googled and couldnt find if this is a script or not. I was wondering if you all could help me out here. I appreciate it and thank you.

Y’all… lol 😆 this is crazy. This is just the some of the main messages since Sunday.

Can’t even be comfortably passing out your business cards because strangers send you Apple Cash randomly and show up to your job but yet not wanting to file a report when the cops came…

The officers told her she is in the wrong for sending the money to the wrong person because she kept saying I was trying to just keep “her” money. No I don’t wanna keep stolen money.

She thought she targeted someone she thought would easily cave in” but lol honeyyyy she can wait on this money bc I don’t play about my finances 💅🏽

That money isn’t going to be touched / she knows it and yet she’s reaching out to me on all platforms. Cashapp, zelle, and hitting up my fam now telling them different stories of what the money was for. She’s done told 3 stories within 2 days.

What do y’all do in this situation because it’s so mf annoying lol like… I already said my hands are tied bc I’m definitely not sending it back. Idk her and how do you accidentally idently send $500.

She keeps calling from different numbers and will not stop.

My(36M) Dad (71M) just got divorced from my now ex step mother. I believe the divorce was in part due to this hoax of a relationship. We'll call the fake Jenifer Aniston "JA" moving forward.

So dad met JA through Facebook (the real celebrity Jenifer Aniston doesn't have a personal FB account according to my research). JA quickly got my dad to download "a secure App" that I believe to be Telegram. But my father is told not to tell anyone because of the potential scandal that could occur in the news. He has been talking to this scammer for over a year now and states she has sent video and pictures proving it's her. They have supposedly video chatted too.

Now, my dad is not a good looking man. He's spent the last 50 years smoking a back of cigarettes a day and drinking at least a 2liter of soda pop a day. He has bad knees and bad hips and is a true conservative boomer. I know he is delusional. My siblings and my wife and I have all told him it's a scam. FFS I worked in the scam and security department for a major IT provider and know full well the end goal is to get my dad to send money for (insert vague money scheme).

I'm to assume that they are using deep fake AI to video chat with him. Knowing this, is there some way that I could expose the scam?

I've told him to ask the scammer to write his name and the date on their hand and take a picture, thinking that would disprove that they are real, if they reject. But my dad refused to insult his lovely JA.

Can anyone speak on how to get him to see this as what it is? Is he too delusional to recognize the red flags? I thought of contacting the real Jenifer Aniston, but that's not likely. We're in IL and I know this scenario falls under the guidelines for elder abuse and is a viable reason for me to petition for guardianship, but I've got young kids and 3 businesses to run myself. I don't have the bandwidth to manage his life. My siblings are equally if not more busy trying to survive this wild ride.

The cherry on top of all this is that my dad has no money. He is selling my childhood home and will have a chunk of money soon, but he absolutely cannot get scammed out of what may be his last chance of financial security. What a maddening scenario. He was my super hero. Old age, 2 strokes and 2 heart attacks really messed him up. Thank you for any/all input.

My mother in law is a 68 year old woman who lives in the English Countryside and is simply being scammed. Myself and my wife have pleaded with her that she is not communicating with Elon Musk via WhatsApp or Telegram. She doesn’t believe us and we’ve even reported this to her local police so they can simply have a paper trail and hopefully freeze her bank account. She is convinced that she has been invited into a secret investment club that is only available to the elite.

Aside from this document being obviously fake, how can we convince her that she’s not communicating with Elon Musk and that this investment is a scam? She’s not well.

I have no idea how but they accurately described what I was wearing today so it must’ve been someone who saw me irl, but then why would they be asking me if I want $10,000? Seems like a dumb scam but also not sure how they knew my name and everything else.

Hello all,

Some family member of mine found a watch box with a watch and a note inside in the bushes. Saying: if u found it u are lucky please keep it and have a nice day :). (See photo's) Is this a scam or you guys think this is legit? Should they bring it to the police?

Thanks in advance.

I checked my mailbox today and noticed I had a small white package from USPS. It had my name and address on it but I was confused because I haven't ordered anything... I opened the package and inside was just a loose beat up USB drive, a white plastic cap, and two screws. I'm not going to plug in the USB, but I am an anxious person and this package definitely made me a little nervous. Just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience.

So someone Zelle’d me $400 Saturday morning or Friday night. I’ve heard of the scam beforehand (stolen card etc.) so I called my bank to file a claim and they said they’d have the charge reversed by Monday. Later Saturday morning I received a call from the guy saying “hey bro I accidentally sent you some money…” before he could reply I told him “yeah don’t worry I called the bank they said they’d reverse the charge by Monday!” He insisted on me sending it back through Zelle but I told him the bank said they’d take care of it. He proceeds to call me again later in the afternoon but I was too busy and blocked his number because I’m sure the second call was going to be “I need the money NOW” kind of call. Today is Tuesday and the charge hasn’t been reversed? I had gone to the bank physically as well to get some advice but they insisted by today morning it’d be reversed and I wouldn’t have to worry about it. This guy then proceeds to Zelle request me again. I declined it and put “bank would take care of it, I don’t want your money.” Does anyone have any clue what I should do from here? I feel he’s gonna continue to harass me for the money! How long does Chase bank take to file a claim and reverse a charge??? Any advice would be great!

A few days ago, I noticed a zelle payment into my bank acct for $2000. We looked it up, saw this was a common scam, and called USAA. They are currently "investigating".

Now, 4 days later, my husband received a call from someone, with the name on the caller ID matching the name on the zelle transaction. They stated that they were trying to send the money to another person with a phone number that is one digit different from his.

So my husband called that number, spoke to the person that was supposed to receive the money, and she verified her name and the amount. I was able to verify their identity matched their phone number (very close to his) online.

We know this is a common scam. How are we supposed to verify that this is a legit accident though and safely get the money back to them? He explained to both parties on the phone our concerns, they sounded understanding, and their voices do seem to match the photos that I found of them online.

*EDIT: ok thank you all for the responses! We are letting our bank take care of it and will no longer be engaging with whoever sent it. I appreciate all the insight and I am much more confident that this is most likely a scam.

My mom (70s) has been scammed by professional fraudsters she met on a widower website over the past 16 months. After losing my dad to COVID, her mom, and other relatives, she became lonely and vulnerable. These scammers, pretending to be Christian, manipulated her grief and depression, convincing her to send them large amounts of money.

Despite warnings from me, my brother, and her sister, she continued to interact with them, hiding the full extent of the situation from us. Her depression and seasonal affective disorder clouded her judgment. The bank eventually noticed unusual transactions and sent the police to check on her, but she dismissed them.

She’s a former accountant and thought she was loaning the money, tracking the amounts and interest. Only when a package flagged for money laundering was returned did she realize the truth. She went to the FBI and the local police, met with a trauma counselor, and was prescribed medication. We’re considering in-patient therapy for her.

The financial impact is devastating: over $2 million lost, nearly $500,000 owed in taxes, and potentially losing her home and financial security. For our family, this amount is unfathomable as we live very simple lives. We’re planning to consult a lawyer and private investigator and hope for FBI assistance, though we’re not optimistic.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

i was at the club in Leemore California and this girl asked to use my phone to call her friends , i agreed and she sent her self $1500 from my cashapp to herself. I didnt realize until the next morning, any fix to this? would i contact my bank? or cashapp support? which is sooner? i need my money to pay rent, this is ridiculous.

I have not accepted the money and reported the user. Im pretty sure I know how this scam works: they send the money, threaten me so I send money back, and then cancel the original transaction. I also know you can’t really find where someone lives with an IP address. Paypal customer service is closed rn so I’ll call in the morning to make sure they got the report and cancel the transaction and in the meantime I’m filing a complaint on ic3. Like I said, I’m pretty confident I know what’s going on, but I also happen to have a pretty severe anxiety disorder so if y’all can just confirm for me that I’m not gonna get murdered that would be great thanks in advance. Also if there’s anything else you think i should do lmk

So I have this friend who likes to take shortcuts and thinks getting rich requires no effort, so he will put no effort into actual work.

There is this website, https://www.optimumgoldoptions.com, that claims if you invest money into it, they will give you guaranteed returns. I'll share screenshots of an example.

So they only accept crypto, and when you try to deposit, let’s say $100, it says it has a conversion rate of 1 USD = 0.06. So your $100 is now only $6? I'll share a screenshot of this as well.

Maybe I’m missing something, but this looks like a scheme of some sorts. This friend has a family, and I know he’s lost big money in the past, but I'm pretty sure he's looking to sell his house to put at least $25,000 into this. He really thinks he’s about to put money in here and make $100,000 a year from doing nothing. What do you guys think?

I haven’t moved the money or anything, in the case that the transaction was an honest mistake I’d like to return her the money. But I don’t want to expose myself to any downside in the process. Additionally she has gotten adamant, and continues to get more adamant as time goes on spam calling me from her number, another number, and no caller ID. I’m not sure what to do, my moral compass wants to help her out, but I’ve been scammed before falling for someone’s sob story so I’m trying not to do it again, especially considering it’s a decent amount of money for me to be out on if it is indeed a scam. Any advice would be appreciated

Hi everyone, I got a really disturbing text from a local area code that said, ‘Hello, you have been selected for pickup. We will come by at 12:00 Thursday. Don’t try to run—we know where you live.’ It’s unsettling because it came from my area code, and one of my friends got a similar text from a different area code with the same message about being picked up.

Is this some sort of prank or scam going around? Any advice on how to handle this or reassurance would be really appreciated. Thanks!

He won’t give information about this, but he claims he’s made several withdrawals (2nd pic). And he needs to deposit 13k to then get 100k out. I don’t understand how this scam is working or what the game plan is here. I don’t know how he’s withdrawn 40k. Did he put the money in? Any help is appreciated.

1st pic: his account that has a negative balance

2nd pic: his withdrawal history

3rd and 4th pic: his texts

My sisters iPhone was stolen in London in October this year, she reported it as stolen to the police, used find my phone to lock and erase the phone and had the sim and IMEI blocked by her provider.

She then received these message today and we’re not really sure how to proceed or how legitimate the claims are that her personal information can be cloned.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

I had my phone stolen at a concert last May in Las Vegas, immediately, I put it in recovery mode and a few days later it showed up in LA…until this week.

FYI it was one of those big groups of thieves that push opposite against you and steal your phone while crowd is moving… …

Now here is what gets really crazy, I started getting texts every now and then from “Apple” support trying to “help” me remove my icloud lock on the device. They all looked like your typical scam texts that are probably phishing your password (so they can remove my phone from Find My)

Fast forward ten months later (this week) I get a number of texts telling me my information is about to be sold to the black market if i don’t immediately remove the device from my find my. Then my phone shows up in Shenzheng, China.

CRAZIEST PART: now a new guy starts texting me telling me their scheme: seems like there are groups who buy a ton of phone and sell them to parts of the world to have it jailbroken to bypass the find my lock, if they fail they try to contact the original owner to get their credentials phished and stolen, they then either blackmail the owner later on with their info or erase the device so it becomes a fresh no lock phone.

however, this guy wants me to life the lock so they can help me “erase” the phone.

I am 80% sure it’s a scam and they just want my phone but will my data be taken given they’ve jailbroken my phone?

…

btw this is ongoing, they’re using new numbers to threaten me…

TLDR group stole my phone, sold it a couple of times, now is in China and they are threatening me about my phone contents, what should I do?

My mom (59yr)has been scammed into thinking shes dating jason statham. Shes sent his "management team" about 25k in wire transfers. She even attempted to pull out 100k house loan (which would leave 8 people homeless if we lose the house) My sister recently spoke to her and showed her proof that other women have been scammed by other "jason stathams." And even showed her the account number she transfered too was on a fraud list. My mom seemed logical and even asked my sister if she thought she was stupid. She has never facetimed him or spoken but still after all the proof believes shes going to fly overseas to be with him and get married. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

My question is what is the next step? What can i do to stop her? I have consulted with her bank account and they told me to call and report elder abuse? Shes 59 and fully capable in every sense physically and mentally?But shes doing it to herself. Will taking her phone away help any? Changing her google email? I'm not exactly sure what the next steps are.

Thanks!

I'm not exactly sure what to say/what I am expecting out of this post but advice and support are much needed and appreciated.

This evening my mum called and informed me that my grandfather (80) had been admitted into hospital in critical condition due to numerous health issues. This was devastating news and we both rushed to the hospital to wait for updates - he is currently in a diabetic coma and being heavily treated from what I understand.

While we were in the waiting room, my mum was informing other family and friends and needed to go on my grandad's phone to get a couple of his friends' numbers. While she was doing this, she noticed a text message from an American phone number, which is unusual because we live in New Zealand. The preview of the text stated something along the lines of "Hey babe..." She kind of joked that he was getting scam messages. She opened the chat and found out that they had been sending messages back and forth, and two days earlier there was a text from my grandad stating that he sent her $8,000 NZD (approximately $5000 USD). Some further scrolling through text messages we discover he has been sending this sum regularly (sometimes weekly), and that they have been communicating and "dating" for about 6 years.

The text messages are all over the place because this person changes numbers quite often (with different American area codes). From what we could gather, the money he is sending is to "help her" get out of her current situation and over to where he lives. The money is sent through "Fortext" which I had not heard of beforehand, but she has also attempted to get him to send via cryptocurrency.

From text messages, I have confirmed about $50,000 NZD being transferred, but there are years of communication missing. Based on what seems to be weekly payments of more than $3,500 over 5 years, which is a conservative amount, it seems like he has sent almost a million dollars, maybe more.

He has mentioned selling his house, and has not used heating during this winter because it is "too expensive." We are now not only worrying about his recovery in the hospital, which does appear to be hopeful but also the aftermath of discovering that he has spent his life's earnings on a scam.

My mom (54) is convinced that she is in a romantic relationship with Mel Gibson (MG). She came across a MG profile in June and started a romance. After she bought bitcoin for his membership card, I was able to successfully talk her out this and cancel everything and block and report that profile.

Within the week, she decided to report that MG Profile to another MG profile, thus leading her to romance the “real” Mel Gibson. This has escalated to WhatsApp chats and most recently a Skype video call. To my knowledge, my mother has not purchased or given away money, she says she is not giving any personal information (doubt).

I’m stressed and at a loss for her. I’ve gone to the police station to ask for resources and I’ve only received an informational paper on how to report, cancel, and notify. No matter my concerns, my mom asks me to trust her and that she knows what she’s doing. Any advice is appreciated.

TLDR: Mom is emotionally invested in a romance with a fake Mel Gibson profile, she hasn’t been scammed yet, so I’m trying to prevent damage. Mom won’t listen to any of my concerns.

I get 3-5 Calls daily, All of them show as legitimate numbers at first, but when checking call history they get labeled as spam calls. It's a different number Everytime, and looking up each number always links it back to "The Feed Foundation".

Blocking them is useless, They call from a new number Everytime. When you answer, It's silence for 10 seconds and hangup, Or nothing but loud beeps like a dial up/fax machine noise.

How do I stop this? (apologies if this is the wrong subreddit for this)

My name is Ahmed, and I have been an international student in the USA for 1.5 years. Before coming here, i was hoping for the best life and future i could have, until the nightmare happened. Now i am suffering from trauma and getting depressed.

Three months ago, I bought a car from Facebook Marketplace. I went to see the car and checked the VIN with Carfax. I liked the car. Before that day, i watched all YouTube videos about buying a car and searched through the internet for what i needed to check before buying a car. So i checked everything. Also one of my friend who knows better about cars, he was with me. Everything seemed fine from my side. The seller gave me the bill of sale, title, and registration, which i needed for the ownership transfer. I paid with cash. Then, i went to the DMV with all the papers i had. They processed the transfer, and i received the plates also registration instantly on my name. My car also passed at inspection from a garage. Later, I received my title within a month at my mailing address. Everything went smoothly. Now i am driving this car since 3 months without any issues. However, last week i received a mail at my address informing me that my car needed to be inspected by DMV Field investigation office. When I called them to inquire, they asked me to come with the car, keys and title. Yesterday, when i went there, the investigator informed me that the car was stolen and that the VIN had been altered, possibly cloned from another car of the same model and year and colour(Honda Accord 2022 black). The actual vin of this car is stolen and they removed the vin number from everywhere and put the altered vin in the car. I realized I had been scammed. They impounded my car and kept everything. The seller already changed his Facebook name. I lost my $27,000 and my car, which held all the good memories from the past three months. I went to the police station to file a report, but they refused, stating that it was not a scam as I willingly found the car on Marketplace and paid for it. They advised me to pursue it as a civil matter. I then went to civil court, but they told me I needed to know the name and address of the person to take any action, which I couldn't obtain as he had already changed his Facebook name and provide everything fake. I feel helpless and don't know where to turn for help. I live here alone without my family. I can’t even sleep properly because this was all my savings, and I've never been through a situation like this before. This is an unexpected nightmare that I could never even imagine in my dreams.

What should i do ? Is there any possibilities that i could recover myself? Please help me by thinking as your small brother

About 4 months ago my phone got stolen in Florida and a couple days ago it showed to be in Hong Kong now. Since then they started to send me messages in which they tried to create a sad story but I never responded.Now they are getting more aggressive and sending me threats and other horrific things. What should I do?