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My sister got caught with one of these scams. She got a txt from her daughter from a new number. The story was her daughter’s phone had broken she’d had to get another quickly. She didn’t have her banking set up on it yet & had to pay a bill quickly - could my sister pay her bill by transferring money to the third party.

Amazingly my sister transferred the money to the tune of around £800 to this 3rd party. She went to her bank to do it & the bank queried as to was she sure about it etc.

Dunno what it says about my sister… Her bank actually refunded about half the money after a while.
I like to think that my reply would be 'go into your bank and organise the money transfer yourself' (all my kids live in places with branches of their banks still open). But I know these things work on immediacy - it's got to be done RIGHT NOW, giving you no time to think and reason through.

I'm fairly immune to this scam thankfully, having five children, so anyone sending me a 'hi mum it's me' is going to be met with 'who's me?' Besides which my lot don't text generally, they FB messenger me (since I am, apparently, too primitive to set up a Whats App).
 
I don't know anybody who would ask me for money in this way, so I'd know it was a scam and be highly amused.
I might even string things out with a bit of chat before telling them to F off.
 
I like to think that my reply would be 'go into your bank and organise the money transfer yourself' (all my kids live in places with branches of their banks still open). But I know these things work on immediacy - it's got to be done RIGHT NOW, giving you no time to think and reason through.

I'm fairly immune to this scam thankfully, having five children, so anyone sending me a 'hi mum it's me' is going to be met with 'who's me?' Besides which my lot don't text generally, they FB messenger me (since I am, apparently, too primitive to set up a Whats App).
Yes if you thought about it in any detail you wouldn’t do it. I think the txt from her daughter actually had her name on it somehow so it wasn’t just ‘hi it’s me’.

It obviously works in a percentage of cases. Makes you wonder just how much is scammed like this. Some people are making a tidy living from it.
 
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/08/us/gofundme-prison-scam-new-jersey-homeless-man/index.html

Woman sentenced to three years in state prison for collecting $400,000 in viral GoFundMe scam​

By Kiely Westhoff, CNN


A New Jersey woman has been sentenced to three years in state prison for her role in scamming more than $400,000 from GoFundMe donors, by claiming to be collecting money for a homeless man.


Katelyn McClure, 32, is currently serving a 12-month and one day term in a federal prison in Connecticut for her involvement in the scheme, the Burlington County Prosecutor announced in a news release Friday.


Her state sentence will run concurrently with her federal prison time, according to the prosecutor’s office. The judge also ruled McClure, who formerly worked at the state Department of Transportation, is “permanently barred from ever holding another position as a public employee,” the release said.


In 2017, McClure claimed she ran out of gas and was stranded on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia. The homeless man, Johnny Bobbitt Jr., supposedly saw her and gave her his last $20 for gas.


McClure and her then-boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, posted about the “good deed” on social media, including a picture of her with Bobbitt on a highway ramp. They also started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the homeless veteran, saying they wanted to pay it forward to the good Samaritan and get him off the streets.


The story went viral and made national headlines, with more than 14,000 donors contributing. The scammers netted around $367,000 after fees, according to court documents.


Prosecutors said the then-couple spent the money on a BMW, a New Year’s trip to Las Vegas, gambling in casinos, Louis Vuitton handbags, and other items.


Bobbitt, who received $75,000 from the fundraiser, according to prosecutors, took civil action against D’Amico and McClure and the scam soon became public.

An investigation revealed the real story. According to Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina, the couple first met Bobbitt at an off-ramp near a casino at least a month before the GoFundMe campaign went live. Investigators reviewed texts the couple sent discussing the scam and their money troubles, including one McClure sent to a friend which read, “Okay so wait the gas part is completely made up, but the guy isn’t. I had to make something up to make people feel bad.”

D’Amico and Bobbitt were charged in 2018 alongside her for concocting the scheme, prosecutors said.


McClure pleaded guilty to one count of theft by deception in the second degree in 2019, according to the Burlington County prosecutor.


Bobbitt pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit theft by deception in 2019 and was sentenced to a five-year special probation period which includes drug treatment. D’Amico also pleaded guilty and agreed to a five-year term in New Jersey state prison, as well as restitution of GoFundMe and the donors, in 2019.
 
My sister got caught with one of these scams. She got a txt from her daughter from a new number. The story was her daughter’s phone had broken she’d had to get another quickly. She didn’t have her banking set up on it yet & had to pay a bill quickly - could my sister pay her bill by transferring money to the third party.

Amazingly my sister transferred the money to the tune of around £800 to this 3rd party. She went to her bank to do it & the bank queried as to was she sure about it etc.

Dunno what it says about my sister… Her bank actually refunded about half the money after a while.
My simple question is "why didn't she call her?" It now seems as if everyone has forgotten how a phone was used originally. If the person says they don't have the money,
1) they got a phone that has text, so can call out,
2) even if person made excuse for above, reverse the charges. Then there would be questions to ask and the number would have to be logged for future tracing.
 
Yes if you thought about it in any detail you wouldn’t do it. I think the txt from her daughter actually had her name on it somehow so it wasn’t just ‘hi it’s me’.

It obviously works in a percentage of cases. Makes you wonder just how much is scammed like this. Some people are making a tidy living from it.
Lots of information can be gleaned from social media platforms. I see plenty of kids (now late 20's and early 30's) who grew up with fb et al and they have their privacy selections set to "public" and share all their pics and comments to their 600+ friends, who have 600+ friends. I had trouble with setting anything for viewing by friend of friend, forget public.

Did I say I'm not on social media. Anything I would post would be deleted a month later. That still doesn't stop people from reposting..
 
My simple question is "why didn't she call her?" It now seems as if everyone has forgotten how a phone was used originally. If the person says they don't have the money,
1) they got a phone that has text, so can call out,
2) even if person made excuse for above, reverse the charges. Then there would be questions to ask and the number would have to be logged for future tracing.
I don’t know - I did raise an eyebrow when I heard about it. Anyone thinking clearly wouldn’t have done it..

I can’t remember the exact details how/why she was convinced it was genuine. It may’ve come via Facebook or WhatsApp..
 
Lots of information can be gleaned from social media platforms. I see plenty of kids (now late 20's and early 30's) who grew up with fb et al and they have their privacy selections set to "public" and share all their pics and comments to their 600+ friends, who have 600+ friends. I had trouble with setting anything for viewing by friend of friend, forget public.

Did I say I'm not on social media. Anything I would post would be deleted a month later. That still doesn't stop people from reposting..
I mostly use Facebook to publicise my books/talk to the writing and reading fraternity. This means my profile needs to be WIDE OPEN. Anyone can stare at my page. Yet, apart from dodgy attempts to get me to Friend people (men who are universally American widowers who 'like my smile') hasn't resulted in a deluge of scam attempts. But my children all have a different surname to me, aren't (apart from one or two who need it for professional purposes, like I do) on Facebook, and all have 'nicknames' that they would use in talking to me, not the given names that they use in the wide world.

I would just be VERY wary of anyone who needed money from me.
 
I mostly use Facebook to publicise my books/talk to the writing and reading fraternity. This means my profile needs to be WIDE OPEN. Anyone can stare at my page. Yet, apart from dodgy attempts to get me to Friend people (men who are universally American widowers who 'like my smile') hasn't resulted in a deluge of scam attempts. But my children all have a different surname to me, aren't (apart from one or two who need it for professional purposes, like I do) on Facebook, and all have 'nicknames' that they would use in talking to me, not the given names that they use in the wide world.

I would just be VERY wary of anyone who needed money from me.
Yes. You use fb for very public reasons. The point I'm trying to make is that many people don't realize how public it is.

People posting about parties, trips and family are open to scammers using that information. They are not aware of how this personal information can be used against them.
 
Yes. You use fb for very public reasons. The point I'm trying to make is that many people don't realize how public it is.

People posting about parties, trips and family are open to scammers using that information. They are not aware of how this personal information can be used against them.
It's the ones who let the whole world know that they're going on holiday that get me. Really? I'll be around to burgle your house you next week then!
 
Yes. You use fb for very public reasons. The point I'm trying to make is that many people don't realize how public it is.

People posting about parties, trips and family are open to scammers using that information. They are not aware of how this personal information can be used against them.
And just as an important reminder, every police agency in the entire world advises not to post pictures of your children on fb. Your site may be secure, but most of the 20 relations who are your friends can't be bothered. If I were the mother of kids there would be a ban.
 
I had one of the "Hi ya-long boring- bit -but -basically need money now" messages a couple of years ago, before it became such a common scam. When I responded with the question about which one are you, they came back with "your favourite one of course " complete with smiley emoji. ' Oh I should have known it was you Jasper" I responded, to which they responded with yes its me and re-iteraated the money request.

Jasper is my dog, kids all joke that he's my favourite.
 
It's the ones who let the whole world know that they're going on holiday that get me. Really? I'll be around to burgle your house you next week then!
Have the FakeBook generation become very naive or is it simply that they love being in the limelight by posting? Sat in the packed dentist waiting room last time 2 women on opposite sides of the room were revealing all sorts of personal information to each other, so that everyone could hear. I don't get it at all.
 
Have the FakeBook generation become very naive or is it simply that they love being in the limelight by posting? Sat in the packed dentist waiting room last time 2 women on opposite sides of the room were revealing all sorts of personal information to each other, so that everyone could hear. I don't get it at all.
Both perhaps. I often hear people talking loudly in the street too. The other day two women were discussing so and so and how she wasn't drinking as she's just had a gastric band fitted. It happens that I know who they were speaking of too.

Wait- you actually have a dentist?!
 
The other day two women were discussing so and so and how she wasn't drinking as she's just had a gastric band fitted. It happens that I know who they were speaking of too.
Loose lips, eh. :chuckle:
I bet Ms Gastric Band would be FURIOUS to learn how her health was being so casually discussed.
Or is having a gastric band common these days, like a spot of cheeky Botox? I dunno.

People have always gossiped and been overheard.
Sometimes it's a good thing. The murderer Colin Pitchfork was caught when he was overheard bragging in a pub about paying someone to take a DNA test instead of himself.
Luckily that woman took her concerns to the police. Otherwise not only might Pitchfork have escaped arrest and possibly offended further, the then-new science of DNA would have been discredited.
 
The murderer Colin Pitchfork was caught when he was overheard bragging in a pub about paying someone to take a DNA test instead of himself.

"On 1 August 1987, one of Pitchfork's colleagues at the bakery, Ian Kelly, revealed to fellow workers in a Leicester pub (The Clarendon) that he had taken the blood test while masquerading as Pitchfork. Pitchfork had told Kelly that he wanted to avoid being harassed by police because of prior convictions for indecent exposure. A woman who overheard the conversation reported it to police."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Pitchfork#Arrest_and_conviction

maximus otter
 
Loose lips, eh. :chuckle:
I bet Ms Gastric Band would be FURIOUS to learn how her health was being so casually discussed.
Or is having a gastric band common these days, like a spot of cheeky Botox? I dunno.

People have always gossiped and been overheard.
Sometimes it's a good thing. The murderer Colin Pitchfork was caught when he was overheard bragging in a pub about paying someone to take a DNA test instead of himself.
Luckily that woman took her concerns to the police. Otherwise not only might Pitchfork have escaped arrest and possibly offended further, the then-new science of DNA would have been discredited.
True. And the Manson case as well of course.
 
Have the FakeBook generation become very naive or is it simply that they love being in the limelight by posting? Sat in the packed dentist waiting room last time 2 women on opposite sides of the room were revealing all sorts of personal information to each other, so that everyone could hear. I don't get it at all.
I have repeatedly told people off for flipping open their wallet in front of me (to search for cards, usually, to pay) and letting me see their national insurance number, the photo of their kids, information on their health and, often in the case of older customers, all their PINs.

If I were so inclined, I could use quite a lot of the information I see (it doesn't take long for me to memorise a number, and they often have their date of birth on some piece of paper with other personal information tucked in the front of their wallet) and use it to nefarious ends.
 
I have repeatedly told people off for flipping open their wallet in front of me (to search for cards, usually, to pay) and letting me see their national insurance number, the photo of their kids, information on their health and, often in the case of older customers, all their PINs.

If I were so inclined, I could use quite a lot of the information I see (it doesn't take long for me to memorise a number, and they often have their date of birth on some piece of paper with other personal information tucked in the front of their wallet) and use it to nefarious ends.

I once had occasion to visit the doctors surgery in Portree when I lived on Skye. Written on a sheet of A4, 18” from the public hatch, were the username and password for all of the practice’s laptops. I won’t give away any secrets, but suffice it to say that it wouldn’t take you long to guess them...

maximus otter
 
Makes you wonder just how much is scammed like this. Some people are making a tidy living from it.
For such an easy 'outlay' compared to income, it's a cinch. Cheap to do 100 calls, only takes 1 to pay it back. That's how the modern con economics works with scam emails and so on - it only takes one sucker to make it worthwhile.
Have the FakeBook generation become very naive or is it simply that they love being in the limelight by posting? Sat in the packed dentist waiting room last time 2 women on opposite sides of the room were revealing all sorts of personal information to each other, so that everyone could hear. I don't get it at all.
The problem is that social media platforms have a generational life. That is, after a while the pre-teens/teens/twenty-somethings don't generally go on Farcebook anymore; it's considered 'old hat'. FB has the issue with *ahem* older generations that are playing catch-up with social media and so on. This is why scammers/arse**le 'influencers' are using Whatsapp and Ticktok to scam people. They know their target audience.
As with many things, fashions are followed.
 
Wait- you actually have a dentist?!
I've had to descend to the level of private treatment at horrendous cost (£500 for one filling). Probably the most money grabbing scheme I've ever come across. Not only that but the dentist himself has bombarded me with telephone calls and texts asking me to leave him a Google review. It's not that I was overly impressed with the quality of his work.
 
"On 1 August 1987, one of Pitchfork's colleagues at the bakery, Ian Kelly, revealed to fellow workers in a Leicester pub (The Clarendon) that he had taken the blood test while masquerading as Pitchfork. Pitchfork had told Kelly that he wanted to avoid being harassed by police because of prior convictions for indecent exposure. A woman who overheard the conversation reported it to police."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Pitchfork#Arrest_and_conviction

maximus otter
It's a good job a lot of criminals are terminally stupid.
 
I've had to descend to the level of private treatment at horrendous cost (£500 for one filling). Probably the most money grabbing scheme I've ever come across. Not only that but the dentist himself has bombarded me with telephone calls and texts asking me to leave him a Google review. It's not that I was overly impressed with the quality of his work.
I too was private for many years Pete. It wasn't that bad, cost-wise to be fair. I used to book in first thing, usually a clean, and that was it. Then, the next time I went I found my dentist had left - no problem as such- but now I had to fill a form in. For years this wasn't required. Pointless.
I went a couple of times to the new dentist but haven't been back since, mainly due to the distance and transport issues at the mo.
All I need is a good clean.
 
I too was private for many years Pete. It wasn't that bad, cost-wise to be fair. I used to book in first thing, usually a clean, and that was it. Then, the next time I went I found my dentist had left - no problem as such- but now I had to fill a form in. For years this wasn't required. Pointless.
I went a couple of times to the new dentist but haven't been back since, mainly due to the distance and transport issues at the mo.
All I need is a good clean.
I have one of those electric water-powered flossers which works well when you remember not to start it up squirting until it's in your gob.
 
We were watching a BBC TV series about people, often but not always women, who are taken in by online 'romance scams'.
You'd think anyone who can access, say, Facebook would be aware of the dangers of being speed-wooed by strangers.
No, they're still falling for it and getting fleeced.

I get friend requests from the same sort of crew. Easily dealt with, just blocked right away.

While most are apparently handsome men in respected professions (though we know they're really Nigerian scam gangs) I've had the odd female bait dangled.
Here's the latest image. TOTALLY unretouched of course.
 

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JPMorgan shutters website it paid $175 million for, accuses founder of inventing millions of accounts

JPMorgan Chase on Thursday shut down the website for a college financial aid platform it bought for $175 million after alleging the company’s founder created nearly 4 million fake customer accounts.

The country’s biggest bank acquired Frank in September 2021 to help it deepen relationships with college students, a key demographic, a Chase executive told CNBC at the time. JPMorgan touted the deal as giving it the “fastest-growing college financial planning platform” used by more than 5 million students at 6,000 institutions. It also provided access to the startup’s founder, Charlie Javice, who joined the New York-based bank as part of the acquisition.

Months after the transaction closed, JPMorgan said it learned the truth after sending out marketing emails to a batch of 400,000 Frank customers. About 70% of the emails bounced back, the bank said in a lawsuit filed last month in federal court. Javice, who had approached JPMorgan in mid-2021 about a potential sale, lied to the bank about her startup’s scale, the bank alleged. Specifically, after being pressed for confirmation of Frank’s customer base during the due diligence process, Javice used a data scientist to invent millions of fake accounts, according to JPMorgan.

In the suit, JPMorgan alleged that Javice first asked her engineering chief to create “fake customer details” using algorithms. When he refused, she found a data science professor at a New York-area college to create the accounts, the lender said.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/12/jpmorgan-chase-shutters-student-financial-aid-website-frank.html
 
You would have thought that JP Morgan would have raised an eyebrow at the apparent swift success of Javice's enterprise and made some simple enquiries. Whoever approved the purchase needs sacking, although I guess $175m is not a huge amount in terms of their various activities.
 
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