Have You Ever Fallen for a Scam, and if So, What's The Most Embarrassing Scam That You've Fallen for?

freekay on 28/11/2024 - 08:17
Last edited 28/11/2024 - 10:23 by 1 other user

I've seen a number of forum posts popping up about people getting swindled/hoodwinked/heckin' bamboozled, and I wondered how many more of us have been artfully dodged?

I'll start:

Back in the wild west days of eBay (where money transfers to a bank account was a legitimate payment option) I purchased a copy of Windows Vista (Ultimate) and paid the seller through bank transfer.

Not sure if I'm more embarrassed about the bank transfer, or paying for Vista (Ultimate, no less). Anyway, needless to say the item never arrived and the seller disappeared. Filed a police report but I've yet to hear from them (it's been 84 years).

Poll Options

  • 246
    No, I've never fallen for a scam, ever
  • 231
    I've been scammed once
  • 44
    I've been scammed multiple times
  • 5
    I'm literally a walking target because I fall for scams all the time
  • 10
    I'm the scammer lol
Financial Scam

Comments

  • altomic on 28/11/2024 - 08:30
    +57

    I responded in detail to a post about falling for a scam. The OP took those scam details and used them to scam me.

    • Lord Fart Bucket on 28/11/2024 - 14:04
      +6

      In order to properly investigate this claim, i need $500 in giftcards, you login and password and also your banking details.

      • DashCam AKA Rolts on 28/11/2024 - 15:00
        +4

        Is that the Lord Fart Bucket of Nigeria?

    • TrumpisKing on 29/11/2024 - 12:11
      +1

      πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

    • HeWhoKnows on 29/11/2024 - 14:43
      -4

      Im too "embarrassed" to reply

  • SnowDragon on 28/11/2024 - 08:42
    +9

    I was looking for a PS4 below a certain firmware so I could install CFW. Found a guy on gumtree but he was 200km away but offered to post. Sent him $200 via payid and he ghosted me. Before I sent the money he offered to send a pic of his licence and medicare card which I found a bit odd at the time.

    Wasn't a cheap lesson to learn but could have been worse. Annoyingly his gumtree had a few positive reviews and stayed up for weeks after I reported him with screenshots and all. Also reported to the cyber crime cops but heard nothing back.

    • freekay on 28/11/2024 - 08:51

      You know, I ALMOST fell for the same scam. But then my spidey-senses kicked in and ghosted the guy. In hindsight, I might have missed out on a really cheap PS4 Pro.

    • skid on 28/11/2024 - 09:14
      +4

      That really sucks.

      Did you ask him for a pic of the PS4 showing that version of firmware on a TV and maybe have the date visible in the pic too? Scammers usually do not have the item to begin with and asking for a fresh pic can catch them out.

      • freekay on 28/11/2024 - 09:29
        +2

        Nah it was one of those "I have lots of interest, send deposit now and I'll reserve for you"

      • SnowDragon on 28/11/2024 - 09:41
        +2

        Yeah he sent a pic with firmware etc. After the fact I did a reverse image search and it didn't find anything so he could have actually had the PS4 and just not sent it.

        I think he wanted $250 for it and I said I'd think about it and get back to him and he immediately lowered it to $200 so I said ok - another trap in hindsight.

    • tessel on 28/11/2024 - 12:29
      +8

      That shit continues today. They send pics of drivers licence and Medicare cards to make you think they are legit. Those cards belong to other people, so after they scam you you go to the police with an ID card that belongs to someone else and they cop the blame. What a lovely world we live in.

    • AustriaBargain on 29/11/2024 - 19:13
      -1

      Half of the voting public in the US voted for Trump. Well, less than half. Have to wonder if morality doesn't matter to half the general population. Feels like for a lot of people if they can profit from wronging someone, they will do it.

    • DontNeedThis on 01/12/2024 - 10:09
      +2

      So get this, I’ve fallen for the exact same scam by what sounds like the same person! :-)))))

      It’s honestly wild to come across this years later and see someone describing the same situation. I also sent money to someone for a PS4 (below a specific firmware) after they offered to post it. Same dealβ€”200 km away, sent $200 via PayID, and then they ghosted me. The bit about offering their licence and Medicare card too? Spot on! I thought it was odd but went along with it, thinking it added some legitimacy.

      I went to a police station, explained the situation and showed the licence. They called the guy. Twenty minutes later, he called me back apologising. Sent me $100 back saying he'll send the rest in a week. He never did & never heard of him again.

      Ps: He sent me a pic of his licence, holding it next to the firmware version showing on the TV. So he definitely had the PS4.

      • SnowDragon on 01/12/2024 - 11:44

        Wow that's very strange. I suppose it's not a surprise it would be a common thing. If you're after something specific like a low firmware ps4 you wouldn't likely find one nearby and would be happy to pay for postage given $200 is a great price for what you are getting.

        Glad you got some money back at least. My guy didn't have any online presence, but if he did I'd have messaged all of his friends/followers shaming him

        • DontNeedThis on 01/12/2024 - 15:16

          Face it, my guy IS your guy!

    • Jules_d1 on 02/12/2024 - 11:24

      In this day and age, $200 is NOT an expensive lesson when it comes to scams.

      • skid on 02/12/2024 - 11:54

        That's it - $200 is low enough to take a risk but high enough to hurt. Wouldn't want to think how much the scammer got off this one simple trick.

        • captain womble on 06/12/2024 - 01:00
          +1

          my dad is down at least 800k.
          Multiple scams. He keeps thinking he is safe from being scammed because he knows better. Just like he always thought he knew better…

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 28/11/2024 - 08:48

    Bitcoin cash lol
    Didn’t even have time to set a stop loss

    • freekay on 28/11/2024 - 08:51
      +2

      I may or may not have invested in XRP when it hit ATH.

      • Jimothy Wongingtons on 28/11/2024 - 08:53
        +2

        At least u got a chance of recovering (assuming you still diamond handing)

      • pegaxs on 28/11/2024 - 10:22
        +7

        I bought $500 in XRP when it was about $1.50 a few years ago… dropped down to like $0.10 so I just let it rot in the account… It started to go back up and got to $0.20, so I thought, ok, and threw in another $2,000… It dropped back to $0.10… I left it in the account to rot…

        About 2 days ago it was up to $2.25, I cashed my $2,500 back out and kept the left over in there in case it goes stupid again and shoots up like BTC. All told, I think my "average price" across all my buys was about $0.35/XRP, so when I saw it at $2.25… *YOINK!*

        • freekay on 28/11/2024 - 10:23

          Noice!

          • pegaxs on 28/11/2024 - 10:28
            +2

            @freekay: Just checked it again after it was back down to $2.18, it is up again to $2.26 again, so put in another sell order for $2.50.

            It's a massive scam, because next year when I think I've made bank on my XRP, the ATO is going to want their slice and I'll have still made a loss :D

        • Jimothy Wongingtons on 28/11/2024 - 11:30

          living the dream mate

          the ATO is going to want their slice and I'll have still made a loss :D

          i guess at least you get the >12 month hold discount rule on the tax

          • pegaxs on 28/11/2024 - 12:03
            +2

            @Jimothy Wongingtons: I think I bought it back in 2018?? ish? and I have only just gotten my money back… Ive only broke even so far… Well, broke even cash wise + whatever XRP I still have left…

            Thanks Trump :D

        • Miss B on 29/11/2024 - 06:07
          +1

          Back in the day when Socialgood actually gave people cashback at an unsustainable rate I made some purchases through them. I cashed out the first lot of cashback, managed to eventually get a bit more. But before things completely went to shit and they made it so you're paying money to still not be able to withdraw I managed to get all of it to the exchange, but the price of SG had gone from around $1 to around 2c (it might not have been that low yet, but it got there).

          It's been back up around the 20c mark for a while and I could cash out around $1100, I think mostly from Ebay/Aliexpress 100% cashback and referral bonuses and bonus cashback and things. I think I'm kind of waiting to see if it goes back up to $1 some day so I can finally claim my 100% cashback (probably more like 300% with all the bonuses).

          I actually don't know how people are still using them. Last I checked I think now you have to shop to earn a small amount of cashback, shop more to become eligible to withdraw once the cashback is approved, which you then have to pay to withdraw a small amount of and it will take about 6 months. Except that 6 months keeps getting extended because you can pay even more to get in the priority withdrawal queue and they will only allow a certain amount to be withdrawn per x period, so basically it will never happen.

          • Matt P on 01/12/2024 - 02:40

            @Miss B: Yeah what bs. I've apparently got enough in there to buy a supercar but i can't withdraw shit. They keep pumping 40000% cashback on temu but it never tracks etc..

            Keep leaning on "oh, we're a japanese company, that makes us trustworthy".

            Its bs.

    • Cave Fire on 28/11/2024 - 12:31
      +3

      That's chill… I've been "hard rugged". Sounds like some sort of hmmm…. Basically like in the movies. Hackers drained my crypto account while connected to their site. $2.5k! Their domain contact is in Oslo, Sweden lol. Was buying dodgy coins back then.

  • ForkSnorter on 28/11/2024 - 09:03
    +3

    The biggest scam I've fallen for is buying a property in the inner-city area of a capital city. Thankfully out of that trap now. Life is so much better (and houses are cheaper) in the more distant suburbs and semi-rural areas.

    • ChatGPT on 28/11/2024 - 16:27
      +7

      Other than price, what's the scam here?

      • Leeeroy on 28/11/2024 - 18:14
        +1

        Commute time?

    • try2bhelpful on 28/11/2024 - 18:20
      +7

      Yeah, there is a reason distant and semi rural areas are much cheaper. The lack of amenities like transport and hospitals. Generally the properties don’t appreciate in value at anywhere near the same rate as inner city. If you like the lifestyle then all power to you but don’t fool yourself that you are getting the best return on your investment.

      • ForkSnorter on 29/11/2024 - 08:42
        +4

        The lack of amenities like transport and hospitals.

        Depends where.

        In some inner-city areas (e.g. Brisbane), you feel like you are locked in to your local area, because it is such a hassle to drive anywhere through the traffic jams in every direction. Of course, you can take public transport, but you are dealing with a highly concentrated population using the same buses and trains, plus a lot of the public transport uses or is affected by the road network. So sometimes you're stuck on a bus with 60 people all coughing on each other, while the bus is stuck in traffic for 40 minutes. Recently, Brisbane was declared the worst city in Australia for public transport, and for traffic jams. Sydney and Melbourne have better public transport, and slightly better traffic, but can still be a hassle. One of the reasons I got out of the inner-city areas was so I can drive or ride my bike down the road for 5 or 10 or 20 mins without having to deal with traffic jams, air/noise pollution, or people all over the street smoking and vaping.

        In terms of convenience, it's sometimes a mixed bag, regardless of whether you're inner city or rural/semi-rural. I have a massive supermarket just 2 or 3 mins drive from me. There is no traffic to get there, and it's fairly quiet inside. I no longer have to drive to a massive concrete shopping centre and spend 10 minutes looking for a car park just to get some basic groceries, like I did in the inner city. I'm also 8 minutes drive (almost no traffic) to a massive Bunnings, which makes it easier to do house/garden maintenance and improvement. In the inner-city area where I lived, it was an absolute hassle to get to Bunnings/hardware shop and back.

        Generally the properties don’t appreciate in value at anywhere near the same rate as inner city. If you like the lifestyle then all power to you but don’t fool yourself that you are getting the best return on your investment.

        Generally, you're correct, but it does depend where and when. If you bought a semi-rural or rural property pre-COVID (e.g. 2019), you would have pretty much doubled your money. That didn't happen in the inner-city areas. Then again, if you look at the overall $ return, you're right, in the long term inner-city properties have gained more.

        But I have never looked at properties in terms of how much money I will make on them. I have solely viewed them as a place to live.

        In my experience living in about 30 different properties, 2 of which I owned, the lifestyle is less stressful and happier at the fringes of the city or a little further, so that you can still travel into the city occasionally if you want to catch up with someone or see something, but you have more freedom of movement in any direction. It's like your spirit has more space to expand with the bigger blocks, wider streets, less traffic, less noise and pollution, easier access to natural spaces like beaches and rivers and mountains. Keep in mind, some of these areas are just as expensive as the inner city or even more so, for example houses that are walking distance to the beach, or some of the popular semi-acreage suburbs just outside the big cities, where you're looking at $1.5-$2 million for a basic house, or $2.5-5 million for a luxurious acreage property.

        • try2bhelpful on 29/11/2024 - 23:45
          +1

          I’m a big believer in all the way in or all the way out. All the way out is fine but don’t fool yourself that you have the same amenities.

          I live in Fitzroy surrounded by three tram tracks and five tram services. When Covid was on the 5km rule didn’t phase me because most things I need to get to are within 5km. This includes both South Melbourne and Victoria markets. A Bunnings store in Victoria Pde. The Melbourne CBD and many restaurants. The five hospitals in staggering distance. My GP and dentist are walking distance. Our car barely leaves the garage because we walk most places. If we want greenery we have Carlton gardens, Fitzroy gardens, Treasury gardens, etc.

          Right now the Covid prices for rural properties are going off the boil. People are realising they don’t get the amenities and the taxes on holiday homes is beginning to bite. Right now in the inner city you are looking at a million plus for a small house in Fitzroy. I bought inner city 30 years ago, the price rises have been eye watering.

          It is horses for courses but living inner city isn’t a scam. It is a lifestyle choice, albeit a rather expensive one.

    • R4 on 29/11/2024 - 13:27
      +1

      Semi-rural is living the Australian dream.

      Love it.

  • JustinFR on 28/11/2024 - 09:20
    +9

    We got scammed by a buyer on eBay. They bought a 3070 when they were first released, claimed that there was damage on the PCIe connector, requested a refund, and returned an empty box. We disputed it, eBay sided with the buyer and that was that.

    • 900dollaridoos on 01/12/2024 - 10:31
      +1

      You knew their address though.

      I would have spent the same amount of wage hours they cost me evening things out…

  • DingoBilly on 28/11/2024 - 09:21
    +6

    I've fallen for scams a few times. Nothing major, maybe $1000 total across all of them.

    Luckily(?) the most expensive was when I was young. Losing most of my networth ($300) then made me pretty open and wary of people.

    Lost a bit in crypto scams because well crypto is a scam lol. Helped me realize that whole space is full of fraud/scam and nothing actually there of value.

  • Fredfloresjr on 28/11/2024 - 09:31
    -1

    Was ages ago when someone offered me a NOKIA 5500, yes the first gaming phone. Happy old days.

    Someone messaged me at yahoo messenger and I trusted him. That's it. So far, until to this stage, haven't lol.

    • freekay on 28/11/2024 - 09:38

      Yahoo messenger… that takes me back

      • Bruceflix on 28/11/2024 - 10:01
        +5

        ASL?

        • freekay on 28/11/2024 - 10:25
          +4

          those mIRC days… with the fish slaps and scripts and port bombings…

  • Sweet3st on 28/11/2024 - 09:32
    +12

    I'm ashamed to admit that I once fell for a 'Telstra' cold call we can offer you a better deal. I must have been half asleep at the time as I usually just hang up. The caller needed to 'verify' my identity by sending me a code which I then needed to read out to her… I did and instantly thought o no. The next part is the terrifying part. I called Telstra over and over for the next 2 hours and no one in the Indian call centre would believe my account had been compromised. 'No madam, that was a legitimate call from Telstra'. Meanwhile I can see they are changing details in my account. Finally by sheer persistence I found someone who listened and reported it to fraud. There were no payment methods on the account but they did use it to order an expensive iPhone. Embarrassing lesson and I'll never get those 2 hours back.

    • knk on 29/11/2024 - 09:30
      +1

      God that's infuriating, you noticed, did everything right and they couldn't even come to the party lol

      • Sweet3st on 29/11/2024 - 11:23
        +1

        Just a warning that reporting the breech can be more difficult than dealing with the scammers. Poorly paid call centre staff don't want to do anything. When one insisted again that it was a legitimate call, I asked why someone had gone into my account and changed my address? 'I'll get to the bottom of which staff member changed your address and ensure they face disciplinary action' 🀯

    • davidmwilliams on 29/11/2024 - 21:32
      +1

      This particular scam really makes me angry because part of the problem here was how easy Telstra made it for scammers.

      They've changed their Telstra ID now, but back then anyone could make a Telstra ID under any email address and link it to any mobile phone number - provided they had the verification code that gets sent to the mobile. So, in this case, they called you and said they're from Telstra, etc. etc. and "to confirm it, we've sent you a four digit code" - that's the code Telstra sends you when they created a Telstra ID using your mobile number. Then it gives them access to your account.

      It was really, totally shit of Telstra that they had such a stupid system that allowed any number of Telstra IDs against any mobile number - and provided no notification to your existing ones when making a new one.

      So, I feel for you; while you were deceived the bad guys had an easier time of it because of Telstra's crap authentication scheme.

  • stickingly on 28/11/2024 - 09:35
    +3

    Years ago when traveling in a third world country a guy befriended us, showed us around, and ended up spending a few hours with us. We ended up giving him some money to get something for us and he disappeared with the money.
    It was actually quite impressive how much effort he went to for what was a small amount of money for us, less than $20

    • freekay on 28/11/2024 - 09:39
      +7

      Look, if he showed you around and you had a good time, did you really get scammed?

      • Save 50 Cent on 28/11/2024 - 12:03
        +1

        Yes.. if they paid for some weed and didn’t get it then obviously they were scammed.

    • Subere on 28/11/2024 - 10:27

      That's was probably 2 months wages

  • sumyungguy on 28/11/2024 - 09:47
    +39

    My marriage, it's a romance scam, ongoing…

    • godofpizza on 28/11/2024 - 10:25
      +1

      When they say love is free, it's not really. Once your on back, the meter is running.

    • mini2 on 28/11/2024 - 11:59
      +2

      Yeah, the exit costs are high.

  • ihbh on 28/11/2024 - 10:02
    +15

    I got a call from Telstra recently saying that my IP address had been hacked and the hacker was at it right this moment. They asked where I do my online banking? I said on my PC. I panicked and they said don't worry, just download this software and give them access to my PC and they will get rid of the hacker for me.

    So I did and they asked me for the password and I whispered it to them. They said speak louder but I said someone walking past in the street might hear it. I said put the mouthpiece closer to your ear. So they did.

    Then I told them my password: "BANG BANG YOU'RE DEAD, 50 BULLETS IN YOUR HEAD."

    • Miss B on 29/11/2024 - 06:21
      +1

      Years ago I had them call, I think Microsoft actually. I kept them on the line letting them think I was trying to do what they said but I couldn't find what they wanted me to. Eventually I was just like "profanity off scammer, I hope your mother is dead so she doesn't know the shame of having a scammer for a son" and hung up.

    • Breno785au on 29/11/2024 - 07:14
      +1

      I had the exact same one yesterday. They got me to download anydesk and I would read out the connection ID wrong. Had them going for 30mins before they hung up.
      Lol I was so happy since I've been watching a lot of Rinoa Poison lately.

      • knk on 29/11/2024 - 09:32

        I strung one along long enough to quickly spin up a segregated VM and log them into it.

        They caught on eventually when there was no browser history or anything haha and hung up

        • Morkai on 29/11/2024 - 09:52

          Those ones are always funny. Keep a "passwords.txt" file on the desktop and see how fast they spot it and copy it off your VM.

      • shkippy on 02/12/2024 - 01:32

        Just beware that when you do string the scammer along that you're not usually "getting them back". As often is the case the scammer/caller has also been scammed and working under forced conditions. So hanging up immediately and report to scam watch is generally the most ethical course of action.

        But having said that, I did have a woman with an Australian accent call me that my bank details were compromised. So I asked "Which bank are you from?" She guessed a reply of "commonwealth bank" once I replied "oh really?" in a facetious voice (I don't have a commonwealth bank account) she hung up lol.

    • Croshema on 30/11/2024 - 15:32

      I got this recently, I told them not to worry that I had a dynamic IP that changed every reboot.

      They actually got snarky with me,
      gave me some attitude, like I was the problem!

      Anyway I knew my IP didn’t need resetting.

  • Trying2SaveABuck on 28/11/2024 - 10:13
    +8

    had a tradesmen say he was going to do a job for me - convinced me he need a upfront payment for the materials - paid him around $600, he never turned up to do the job the police couldnt help me as it was civil matter they did try contact him he had f—ked off to NZ

    i have never paid more then $50 upfront to a tradie since - but it was a harsh lesson for me as that was a lot of money for my back then but it is life

    • pegaxs on 28/11/2024 - 10:34
      +18

      I've never understood how this is a "civil matter"… it's theft. It's fraud. It is most certainly a criminal matter.

      • Seraphin7 on 28/11/2024 - 11:06
        +16

        Anything where the popo can't just issue a fine seems to be classed as a "civil matter". I understand this is the lingo taught at police school that civilians would better understand as "can't be ar$ed".

      • Crow K on 28/11/2024 - 11:39
        +3

        More likely to be a civil case of disputed contract ("he didn't do what we agreed") than criminal case of fraud ("he used deception to obtain things from me"), which is why it gets batted to the civil courts.

  • Dollar General on 28/11/2024 - 10:20
    +27

    Private health insurance

    • AnotherRedLight on 28/11/2024 - 14:56

      Seconded! Its an absolute rort unlesss you are "lucky" enough to claim frequent surgery.

      I pay a small Medicare surcharge now and put the $400 something (couple) premium into a separate HISA for a rainy day.

      Am no longer scammed $5000 per year.

      • bejahi on 30/11/2024 - 05:35
        +1

        The surcharge is 1.5% of household income over $300k.

        If you're at that $300k 1.5% is $4500 which is pretty much the same cost as getting shitty private health insurance, so most people just do that.

        Kind of a dumb policy because that cash would possibly be better spent going into Medicare than a private health insurer

  • MrThing on 28/11/2024 - 10:28
    -4

    Women

    • HamBoi69 on 28/11/2024 - 10:36
      +1

      Username checks out.

    • ihfree on 28/11/2024 - 11:20

      Got a story?

    • Some Human on 28/11/2024 - 11:41
      +4

      As a woman, can confirm.

    • try2bhelpful on 28/11/2024 - 18:24

      Probably not a problem for you though.

    • SolidlyIrresponsible on 29/11/2024 - 19:41

      What's the scam though? Women aren't real?

  • Slippery Otter on 28/11/2024 - 10:28
    +1

    Paid $150 for $250 Steam gift cards on classifieds here. The user is still active on here and got away with it. He keeps changing his username..

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/303763#comment-4637668

    Thankfully I had a sugar daddy at the time who brought me an AMD RX 480 when I complained about it, sold it later on for a little profit of $150 on top of the GPU he paid for hehe.

    • nicksinternet on 30/11/2024 - 08:39

      There is a red flag here, avoiding Paypal with some bs reason:

      Selling 5x cards worth $250 for $240 recently bought on the 22/4/16 all unused. We can either meet up or we can do bank transfer through skype as I've found many people have been scammed through paypal.

    • nicksinternet on 30/11/2024 - 08:45

      …..then again, it's a bit of a pot calling the kettle black.

      Scamming some guy for sugar and thinking it's cool, even bragging about it on an Ozbargain post about scamming (how ironic).

      You pretty much used him emotionally to pay for your stuff which you later sold.

  • pegaxs on 28/11/2024 - 10:33
    +31

    Having kids… Who conned me into that?? "They are great! they are so much fun… They are like the best thing to ever happen to you…" only to have kids and find out that they are the opposite, while everyone who had kids before me are all laughing and saying "sucked in, we got you too!! Welcome to hell!"

    What a scam they are… They eat all your chocolate, use up all your toilet paper and get to a certain age and everything wrong in the world in somehow my fault… And it's all "OMG DAD! I hate you!!" because I wouldn't buy them a $2,900 iPhone for their birthday. :D

    Oh and my first trip to Viet Nam and I got scammed by an old lady selling bottled water on the street… I paid about the equivalent of $0.80AU (About $12,000VND) for it and my wife called me an idiot and that I got scammed because it shouldn't have been any more than $10,000VND (or about $0.60AUD)

    • Ash-Say on 28/11/2024 - 12:16

      This is best story so far lol

    • freekay on 28/11/2024 - 13:14
      +1

      I'm rolling at your wife's comment! This is true of every Vietnamese lady I've met. (don't @ me, my mum's Vietnamese)

    • jackspratt on 29/11/2024 - 19:36

      VND don't have a $ sign before the number.

      • pegaxs on 29/11/2024 - 23:17
        +1

        No, it has Ð… but on my PC I don’t have a Viet keyboard installed like to do on my iPad, so I just used the $ sign to get the point across.

  • dirtybigbjelke on 28/11/2024 - 10:36
    +2

    I got scammed at a money changer window overseas. Someone standing out the front of the window acted like an employee, changed the money for me, and by sleight of hand pocketed a small amount of my local currency. Lesson learned.

    • SlickMick on 29/11/2024 - 11:00
      +1

      Oh yeah, I voted "never been scammed" but did fall for this scam, despite being prewarned. But I went back and made a fuss and over a really weird couple of days had the stolen money returned.

  • Benoffie on 28/11/2024 - 11:43

    FB post for a game rhat was within the legitimate post of the game company. Long story and caught lots of people. Only email impacted. Ridiculously, the game company only ended up warning people rather than changing their MO

  • ytthr on 28/11/2024 - 11:57

    Ebay -buyer returned empty box and ebay refunded them as return was marked as delivered. I lost out.
    I hardly ever use ebay anymore.

  • treeman on 28/11/2024 - 12:40
    +1

    I got scammed by some guy selling ticketek gift vouchers around 12 years ago.

    I purchased a few from him through a listing on ebay.

    All seemed fine. I used them originally myself going to a concert myself. All processed fine and I purchased tickets straight away.
    Then I also saw an advertisement on gumtree to buy more gift cards. Then what I would do is buy them for 30% off buy concert tickets then on sell those concert tickets to people for face value and pocketing the 30% sometimes even higher depending on how much he would sell them to me.
    I did this quite a bit with the same guy. He said he worked in the mining industry and got these as gifts for work or whatever. I didn't doubt its validity as they processed fine no issues at all.

    It wasn't until about maybe 3 months into my venture when my parents said someone rocked up on their doorstep wanting their money back for their concert tickets as they were apparently purchased with fraudulent gift cards. They rocked up onto my parents doorstep as sometimes people would pick up tickets from them as they were at a more suitable location.
    I had also sold 2 more lots of tickets to that concert so phoned them apologising and refunding their money.

    My ticketek account was still valid I even had a few other concerts coming up which still seemed valid. These events later however were cancelled once they found out the gift cards were purchased with stolen credit cards. But sometimes people didn't realise and they didn't get cancelled or they realised after the concert was over.

    I contacted police and told them all the details and sorted it out.
    I did make some money on that but in the long run, I refunded money to innocent buyers so was down about $500-$600.

    The person I was buying them from was using stolen credit cards to buy them, however there was someone down the line that was doing all the dirty work so I am not sure if he got into a lot of trouble in the end. I found him on facebook and he looked like a drug addict.
    I also found another person from this forum also buying ticketek gift cards from him but they were yet to have any concert tickets cancelled.

    I think that's all feel free to ask me any questions.

    • ihbh on 28/11/2024 - 13:04
      +2

      however there was someone down the line that was doing all the dirty work

      That would be you helping him launder the stolen funds.

      • treeman on 28/11/2024 - 13:05
        +1

        What are you on about?

        The person down the line was the one supplying the stolen credit card numbers.

        • ihbh on 28/11/2024 - 13:06
          +3

          That's up the line. :)

    • freekay on 28/11/2024 - 13:05

      That is one crazy adventure!

      • treeman on 28/11/2024 - 14:23

        It was, I just had to put it down to experience and move on.

  • Homr on 28/11/2024 - 12:44

    When I was a low level finance clerk doing Accounts payable, I paid a few invoices that were scams like the ASIC renewal ones.

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