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Facebook Friend Request from Fake Profiles & Twitter Fake Followers
Taking things off at a bit of a tangent - my Facebook account regularly receives friends requests from obviously fake profiles. Sometimes via as Friends Requests, sometimes just in the comments up a picture of me looking good (well I think so) - the latest is from "David Dangle" comment "Beautiful be my friend".

Pictures of US military types are quite common, however, some profiles attempt to better target the recipient mark and use pictures of "Silver Fox" type blokes, often with a cute dog or kitten (these are obviously based on my Facebook profile - other people will get different types). There's usually only three or four pictures, probably these were the best they could scrape from someone's profile

Details are missing and often inconsistent when given - work and location don't match, for example. There's usually nobody on theirs Friends lists, or only one or two from wildly diverse backgrounds. Nothing in the picture albums beyond the three or four already used.

These are obviously scams of some sort, romance scammers, scams based on sick child, sick pet, or stuck overseas with no cash? And in addition, getting access to your friend lists, to fake messages from you. Or all of the above?

Also weird names, random mixtures of forenames and surnames, seemingly assembled by people who're not sure how English and American names work, or that a name like David Dangle sound a bit comedic (apologies to any real Dangles out there)

On Twitter, you'll get followed by characters with similar dubious profiles, often with a request to follow them, again some sort of scam going on. (these are in addition to the pervy followers [I do have real actual followers - who to be genuine people]).

To block or not to block, or to bait, that is the question?
Thought of you just now when I was offered one Garret William as a friend. While I wasn't called 'Beautiful' he has the usual snaps of men in US military uniforms, pet dogs etc.

I'm inferring from the photos that he's counting on a reply from British ladies who love dogs because everyone knows we're soppy over them.
These ones're big nasty-looking guard dogs though so Mr Garret William's virtue is safe! :chuckle:

Do we have a thread on romance scams?
 
Thought of you just now when I was offered one Garret William as a friend. While I wasn't called 'Beautiful' he has the usual snaps of men in US military uniforms, pet dogs etc.

I'm inferring from the photos that he's counting on a reply from British ladies who love dogs because everyone knows we're soppy over them.
These ones're big nasty-looking guard dogs though so Mr Garret William's virtue is safe! :chuckle:

Do we have a thread on romance scams?
I used to get loads from people from Nigeria for some reason.
 
Recently, I noticed that a few of my public comments on Facebook (pretty anodyne comments, nothing controversial) had been 'liked' by some woman with a foreign name. Didn't know who she was, looked at her FB profile. Nothing on her account at all apart from a pic of a woman with her knockers hanging out. No friends or comments.
A few days later, the likes disappeared and I tried to find the woman's account. It was gone.
I'm not sure what that achieved. Maybe it was a phishing exercise? If so, she wouldn't have found anything useful.
 
Recently, I noticed that a few of my public comments on Facebook (pretty anodyne comments, nothing controversial) had been 'liked' by some woman with a foreign name. Didn't know who she was, looked at her FB profile. Nothing on her account at all apart from a pic of a woman with her knockers hanging out. No friends or comments.
A few days later, the likes disappeared and I tried to find the woman's account. It was gone.
I'm not sure what that achieved. Maybe it was a phishing exercise? If so, she wouldn't have found anything useful.
I'd guess it's more an attempt to get on your friends list and start working up to a romance scam.
 
I'd guess it's more an attempt to get on your friends list and start working up to a romance scam.
You are your Romance Scam Expert.

In fact, you know so much I'd be wondering about what you get up to if I hadn't known you so long! :chuckle:
 
I'd guess it's more an attempt to get on your friends list and start working up to a romance scam.
Yep .. the Mrs and other women I know sometimes get friend requests from 'retired American general looking for romance'
 
You are your Romance Scam Expert.

In fact, you know so much I'd be wondering about what you get up to if I hadn't known you so long! :chuckle:
Please start a thread about this topic Skargy, I think that's a good idea (and if you give me your bank details, I've been contacted by a Nigerian prince who needs to quickly move money out of his country btw) ...
 
Please start a thread about this topic Skargy, I think that's a good idea (and if you give me your bank details, I've been contacted by a Nigerian prince who needs to quickly move money out of his country btw) ...
Hmmm, looks like we don't already a thread on it.

Must admit it fascinates me. Romance scams and general internet fiddles are so obvious, yet thousands fall for them.

Techy and I met online in 1998 when t'interwebs were new. Can remember thinking 'Oh no, he's one of those scammers! :omg:'
 
Wouldn't work with me. I know all my FB friends in real life.
Don't do romance either.
Yeah .. so now you've conveniently forgotten that night when you told me I was your princess when we were spooning huh? ... edit: in fact, isn't this the first tune we ever made love to? ..

 
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Hmmm, looks like we don't already a thread on it.

Must admit it fascinates me. Romance scams and general internet fiddles are so obvious, yet thousands fall for them.

Techy and I met online in 1998 when t'interwebs were new. Can remember thinking 'Oh no, he's one of those scammers! :omg:'
He’s just playing the long game. It’s all going according to plan..
 
Online fraudsters have reaped millions by building victims' trust via dating apps and then guiding them into a cryptocurrency scam.
Scammers abused Apple developer program to steal millions from victims on Tinder, Bumble, Grindr, Facebook Dating

Sophos has released a new report this week about a dating app scam that led to the theft of millions of dollars from people on Tinder, Bumble, Grindr, Facebook Dating and similar apps.

After gaining their trust on these dating apps, scammers convinced victims to download fake crypto apps, where they duped them into investing money before freezing the accounts. ...

Named "CryptoRom," according to Sophos researchers Jagadeesh Chandraiah and Xinran Wu, the scam has led to at least $1.4 million being stolen from victims in the US and EU. In their report, the two say that the attackers moved beyond going after victims in Asia and instead are now targeting people in Europe and the US.

Sophos researchers even managed to find a Bitcoin wallet that was being controlled by the attackers thanks to one victim, who shared the address he initially sent the money to before being shut out.

Chandraiah said the CryptoRom scam relies heavily on social engineering at almost every stage. Victims came to Sophos to discuss the scam and the researchers found other reports of people being taken advantage of.

"First, the attackers post convincing fake profiles on legitimate dating sites. Once they've made contact with a target, the attackers suggest continuing the conversation on a messaging platform," Chandraiah said.

"They then try to persuade the target to install and invest in a fake cryptocurrency trading app. At first, the returns look very good but if the victim asks for their money back or tries to access the funds, they are refused and the money is lost. Our research shows that the attackers are making millions of dollars with this scam." ...
FULL STORY: https://www.zdnet.com/article/scamm...tims-on-tinder-bumble-grindr-facebook-dating/
 
I think the ones that comment on your Facebook posts will appear in your Messenger at some point. I get them too. They 'like' a couple of posts (usually really random ones, where I'm...I dunno...talking about the lack of choice in curtains at B&M or something) and then head over to Messenger to ask me to 'friend' them, because they don't want to be 'forward' and send me a friend request...or something. They then start in with the DMs, which are always such startlingly original things as 'hello' or 'hi there'. None of which fills me with the belief that they have English as a first (or sometimes even second) language.
 
Here's an example of romance fraud on an industrial scale - an operation based in Ghana that's estimated to have raked in over $42 million.
Romance fraud: Looking for love in wrong place proves costly

For the victim, a 78-year-old man from Annandale, it started with an effort to find some companionship. He created an account on a social network called iFlirt, then made contact with someone identifying herself as a widowed woman in her 30s who seemed interested.

As the online relationship grew, though, the scam started to emerge. The woman, who claimed to be from New York, said she was arrested while traveling to Germany to retrieve an inheritance of gold bars, and needed money to make bail. The man paid it, only to get another message that she was arrested a second time and needed even more money.

In the end, the Annandale man, who is not identified in court papers, got taken for well over $500,000, the latest victim in a growing trend known as romance fraud.

Romance scams reached a record high in 2021, increasing by nearly 80% from 2020, according to a report from the Federal Trade Commission. In the past five years, victims have lost more than $1.3 billion to such scams ... , more than any other category of fraud the agency tracks. ...

On Friday, two of the people who scammed the Annandale man will be sentenced in federal court in Alexandria. ...

Prosecutors estimate that the scheme targeted multiple victims and raked in more than $42 million, much of it going go Ghana, where the scam was headquartered. ...
FULL STORY: https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-7c2468757794ff2abe1a67f939089bb8
 
How do you amplify your (possibly) scam cryptocurrency solicitations? Use "attractive women" to strike up relationships with men and then urge them to invest!
Bay Area man loses $380K investing in cryptocurrency suggested by woman he met online

Investors fear they may have been conned out of hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars from a high-stakes deal introduced to them by attractive women.

The Federal Trade Commission says it's seen an uptick of complaints involving romance and cryptocurrency.

Kevin Sam, of Antioch, met a woman online in February who reached out suddenly via a direct message. ...

He says their online relationship grew, but they still have not met in person. ...

Sam remembers her mentioning an investment opportunity in cryptocurrency on Feb. 10.

"Open the wallet and enter the mining pool," she wrote, urging Sam to invest with the site called defi-base.com.

He did just that and he says it immediately paid off. ...

But he says when he tried to cash out on some of his investments, he ran into problems.

"You are participating in the 7-day 100,000 USDT gift on the mining pool. Cannot withdraw during the pledge period," the company told him.

That was on March 5. ...

In all he says he invested $225,000 and still hasn't been able to withdraw his money.

He filed a complaint with the FBI. ...
FULL STORY: https://abc7news.com/crypto-romance-scam-fraud-cryptocurrency-defi-base/12046925/
 
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