Advance-fee

The advance-fee scam arises from many different situations: investment opportunities, money transfers, job scams, online purchases of any type and any legality, etc., but the bottom line is always the same, you will pay the scammer and receive nothing. It can be as simple as the scammer asking you to pay them upfront for an item they have listed, or as complex as a drug scam that involves an initial scam site, a scam shipping site, and fake government agents. Sometimes the scammers will simply take your first payment and dissappear, but sometimes they will take your initial payment and then make excuses that lead to you making additional payments. If you are involved in an advance-fee scam, you should attempt to dispute/chargeback any payments sent to the scammer, you should ignore the scammer, and you should ignore them if they attempt to contact you again.

Blackmail email

The exact wording of the emails varies, but there are generally four main parts. They claim to have placed software/malware on a porn/adult video site, they claim to have a video of you masturbating or watching porn, they threaten to release the video to your friends/family/loved ones/boss/dog, and they demand that you pay them in order for them to delete the video. Rest assured that this is a very common spam campaign and there is no truth behind the email or the threats.

Brushing

The scammer is creating and shipping out fake orders in order to both boost order numbers and place false verified reviews. The country most commonly associated with brushing is China, but packages may also come from other countries. If you are a victim of brushing, you do not need to worry. Receiving packages as part of brushing doesn’t meant that your private information is compromised, and you don’t need to do anything.

Calendar

Having spam appear in your calendar does not mean that you were hacked, or that your email account is insecure or compromised in any way. Your response should be to report the event as spam/junk, and then delete the event.

Car

The scammer will list a car on a marketplace site and will ask you to email them. They will tell you that they will ship or otherwise transport the car to you and allow you to inspect it. They may use the name of a company like eBay or Amazon to make the scam sound more legitimate. The scam is that the car does not exist, despite whatever pictures you have received, and you will be asked to pay for the car using gift cards or irreversible wire transfers.

Cartel

It’s a very common scam, and the scammers are not affiliated with cartels or crime groups, they are simply normal scammers using a threatening script. The threats are not real, and there is no risk to your safety whatsoever. The best way to react is to simply ignore the scammer and ignore any of their other contact attempts. These scammers often pose as escorts or sex workers to lure in marks then break out the threatening script once someone has contacted them via their ad.

Courier

Courier fraud situations usually start with a phone call from a scammer who may know lots of information about you. Scammers will impersonate bank employees, police, or other government officials. They will say that your account has been linked to fraud or another crime, and will request your assistance. You’ll be asked to either withdraw money, or purchase gift cards or expensive items, and you’ll be directed to give the money to the scammers in some way. One thing that sets courier fraud out from other phone scams is that there is often a local connection, as victims may meet someone in real life to hand off the cash or items.

Crypto/Forex

Fake cryptocurrency websites and apps controlled by scammers are becoming more and more common. Sometimes the scam begins with a romance scammer who claims that they can help the victim invest in cryptocurrency. Victims are told to buy cryptocurrency of some kind using a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange, and then they are told to send their cryptocurrency to a website wallet address where it will be invested. Sometimes the scam begins with a notice that the victim won cryptocurrency on some website, in this case messages will often be sent through Discord. In either case, the scammer controls the website, so they make it look like there is money in the victim’s account on their website. Then the scammer (or the scammer pretending to be someone official who is associated with the website) tells the victim that they have to put more money into the website before they can get their money out of the website. Of course all of the money sent by the victim has gone directly into the scammer’s wallet, and any additional money sent by the victim to retrieve their money from the website will also go directly into the scammer’s wallet, and all of the information about money being held by the website was totally fake. This scam is also known as the pig butchering scam. If the scammer used Bitcoin, then you can report the scammer’s Bitcoin wallet address here: https://www.bitcoinabuse.com/reports. If the scammer used Ethereum, then you can report the scammer’s Ethereum wallet address here: https://info.etherscan.com/report-address/. You can see how much cryptocurrency has been sent to the scammer’s wallet address here: https://www.blockchain.com/explorer.

Death threat

The exact wording of the emails varies, but they will usually claim that they have been paid to kill you, and will threaten to kill you/your family if you do not pay a Bitcoin ransom. They usually also claim that they will kill your family if you report the email. The emails are spam and can be ignored.

Fake check/Fake cheque

The fake check scam arises from many different situations (fake job scams, fake payment scams, etc), but the bottom line is always the same, you receive a check (online or in real life), you deposit a check and see the money in your account, and then you use the funds to give money to the scammer (usually through gift cards, Western Union, or cash). Sometimes the scammers will ask you to order things through a site, but that is just another way they get your money. The bank will take the initial deposit back , and any money you sent to the scammer will come out of your own personal funds. Usually the fake check deposit will be reversed in a few weeks, but it can also take several months. If you do not have the funds to cover the amount, your balance will go negative. Your bank will usually charge a fee for depositing a bad check, and your account may be closed depending on the severity of the scam. Here is an article from the FTC: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-spot-avoid-and-report-fake-check-scams, and here is an article from the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/21/your-money/fake-check-scam.html

Fake payment c The fake payment scam occurs when someone tries to trick you into thinking that you have received a legitimate payment when no such payment has been made. The most common method they use is sending you an email meant to look like a payment confirmation. In some cases the emails will be almost indistinguishable to a legitimate email sent by the payment service. It’s also common for scammers to spoof the ‘from’ email to match an official address. To combat a fake payment scam, verify online payments by logging in directly to the service. Do not check your junk folder, and do not assume a payment is legitimate based on an email alone. If a payment isn’t reflected on your account and the person you are dealing with insists they have sent it, call support and ask about it. There is also a variant of the fake payment scam where you will receive a legitimate but fraudulent payment. If you think you’re dealing with a scammer, you’re probably right. Always trust your gut.

Google Voice

The scammer wants to create a Google Voice account, which allows them to make free calls within the U.S. and Canada. Google Voice requires verification from a phone, so scammers trick people into verifying accounts for them. If you are currently talking to a verification code scammer, just block them and move on.

THE GOLDEN RULE OF ONLINE SHOPPING: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Dropshipping

An ad on reddit or social media sites like Facebook and Instagram offers items at huge discounts or even free (sometimes requiring you to reblog or like their page). They just ask you to pay shipping.

The scam: The item will turn out to be very low quality and will take weeks or even months to arrive. Sometimes the item never arrives, and the store disappears or stops responding. The seller drop-ships the item from China. The item may only cost a few dollars, and the Chinese government actually pays for the shipping. You end up paying $10-$15 dollars for a $4 item, with the scammer keeping the profit. If you find one of these scams but really have your heart set on the item, you can find it on AliExpress or another Chinese retailer.

Influencer Scams

A user will reach out to you on a social media platform, usually Instagram, and offer you the chance to partner with them and receive a free/discounted product, as long as you pay shipping. This is a different version of the dropshipping scam, and is just a marketing technique to get you to buy their products.

Triangulation Fraud

Triangulation fraud occurs when you make a purchase on a site like Amazon or eBay for an item at a lower than market price, and receive an item that was clearly purchased new at full price. The scammer uses a stolen credit card to order your item, while the money from the listing is almost all profit for the scammer.

Instagram influencer scams

Someone will message you on Instagram asking you to promote their products, and offering you a discount code. The items are Chinese junk, and the offer is made to many people at a time.

Cheap Items

Many websites pop up and offer expensive products, including electronics, clothes, watches, sunglasses, and shoes at very low prices. The scam: Some sites are selling cheap knock-offs. Some will just take your money and run.

What to do if you think you're involved with this scam: Contact your bank or credit card and dispute the charge.

How to avoid: The sites often have every brand-name shoe or fashion item (Air Jordan, Yeezy, Gucci, etc) in stock and often at a discounted price. The site will claim to be an outlet for a major brand or even a specific line or item. The site will have images at the bottom claiming to be Secured by Norton or various official payment processors but not actual links. The site will have poor grammar and a mish-mash of categories. Recently, established websites will get hacked or their domain name jacked and turned into scam stores, meaning the domain name of the store will be completely unrelated to the items they're selling. If the deal sounds too good to be true it probably is. Nobody is offering brand new iPhones or Beats or Nintendo Switches for 75% off.

Cheap Amazon 3rd Party Items

You're on Amazon or maybe just Googling for an item and you see it for an unbelievable price from a third-party seller. You know Amazon has your back so you order it. The scam: One of three things usually happen:

1. The seller marks the items as shipped and sends a fake tracking number. Amazon releases the funds to the seller, and the seller disappears. Amazon ultimately refunds your money. 2) The seller immediately cancels the order and instructs you to re-order the item directly from their website, usually with the guarantee that the order is still protected by Amazon. The seller takes your money and runs. Amazon informs you that they do not offer protection on items sold outside of Amazon and cannot help you.

2. The seller immediately cancels the order and instructs you to instead send payment via an unused Amazon gift card by sending the code on the back via email. Once the seller uses the code, the money on the card is gone and cannot be refunded.

How to avoid: These scammers can be identified by looking at their Amazon storefronts. They'll be brand new sellers offering a wide range of items at unbelievable prices. Usually their Amazon names will be gibberish, or a variation on FIRSTNAME.LASTNAME. Occasionally however, established storefronts will be hacked. If the deal is too good to be true its most likely a scam.

Scams on eBay

There are scams on eBay targeting both buyers and sellers. As a seller, you should look out for people who privately message you regarding the order, especially if they ask you to ship to a different address or ask to negotiate via text/email/a messaging service. As a buyer you should look out for new accounts selling in-demand items, established accounts selling in-demand items that they have no previous connection to (you can check their feedback history for a general idea of what they bought/sold in the past), and lookout for people who ask you to go off eBay and use another service to complete the transaction. In many cases you will receive a fake tracking number and your money will be help up for up to a month.

Scams on Amazon

There are scams on Amazon targeting both buyers and sellers. As a seller, you should look out for people who message you about a listing. As a buyer you should look out for listings that have an email address for you to contact the person to complete the transaction, and you should look out for cheap listings of in-demand items.

Scams on Social Media

Reddit accounts are frequently purchased and sold by fraudsters who wish to use the high karma count + the age of the account to scam people on buy/sell subreddits. Accounts on any and all platforms (FaceBook, SnapChat, Instagram, et al.) can be compromised and controlled by a scammer. You need to take precautions and be safe whenever you are making a transaction online.

As a general rule, you should not engage with door to door salesmen. If you are interested in the product they are selling, check online first.

Selling Magazines

Someone or a group will come to your door and offer to sell a magazine subscription. Often the subscriptions are not for the duration or price you were told, and the magazines will often have tough or impossible cancellation policies.

Energy Sales

Somebody will come to your door claiming to be from an energy company. They will ask to see your current energy bill so that they can see how much you pay. They will then offer you a discount if you sign up with them, and promise to handle everything with your old provider. Some of these scammers will "slam" you, by using your account number that they saw on your bill to switch you to their service without authorization, and some will scam you by charging higher prices than the ones you agreed on.

Security System Scams

Scammers will come to your door and ask about your security system, and offer to sell you a new one. These scammers are either selling you overpriced low quality products, or are casing your home for a future burglary.

They ask to enter your home

While trying to sell you whatever, they suddenly need to use your bathroom, or they've been writing against the wall and ask to use your table instead. Or maybe they just moved into the neighborhood and want to see how you decorate for ideas.

They're scoping out you and your place. They want to see what valuables you have, how gullible you are, if you have a security system or dogs, etc.

Miscellaneous Scams

Money Flipping

Scammer claims to be a banking insider who can double/triple/bazoople any amount of money you send them, with no consequences of any kind. Obviously, the money disappears into their wallet the moment you send it.

Begging With a Purpose

"I just need a few more dollars for the bus," at the bus station, or "I just need $5 to get some gas," at a gas station. There's also a variation where you will be presented with a reward: "I just need money for a cab to get uptown, but I'll give you sports tickets/money/a date/a priceless vase."

Gas Pump Scam

Someone will offer to pump your gas or hang up the pump for you when you're finished. They will pretend to do so but instead will sell gas at a discount for cash to people that pull up after you leave, while your card is still being charged.

Three Card Monte, Also Known As The Shell Game

Unbeatable. The people you see winning are in on the scam.

Drop and Break

You bump into someone and they drop their phone/glasses/fancy bottle of wine/priceless vase and demand you pay them back. In reality, it's a $2 pair of reading glasses/bottle of three-buck-chuck/tasteful but affordable vase.

CD Sales

You're handed a free CD so you can check out the artist's music. They then ask for your name and immediately write it on the CD. Once they've signed your name, they ask you for money, saying they can't give it to someone else now. Often they use dry erase markers, or cheap CD sleeves. Never use any type of storage device given to you by a random person, as the device can contain malware.

White Van Speaker Scam

You're approached and offered speakers/leather jackets/other luxury goods at a discount. The scammer will have an excuse as to why the price is so low. After you buy them, you'll discover that they are worthless.

iPhone Street Sale

You're approached and shown an iPhone for sale, coming in the box, but it's open and you can see the phone. If you buy the phone, you'll get an iPhone box with no iPhone, just some stones or cheap metal in it to weigh it down.

Buddhist Monk Pendant

A monk in traditional garb approaches you, hands you a gold trinket, and asks for a donation. He holds either a notebook with names and amounts of donation (usually everyone else has donated $5+), or a leaflet with generic info. This is fairly common in NYC, and these guys get aggressive quickly.

Friendship Bracelet Scam

More common in western Europe, you're approached by someone selling bracelets. They quickly wrap a loop of fabric around your finger and pull it tight, starting to quickly weave a bracelet. The only way to (easily) get it off your hand is to pay.

Leftover sales

This scam involves many different items, but the idea is usually the same: you are approached by someone who claims to have a large amount of excess inventory and offers to sell it to you at a great price. The scammer actually has low quality items and will lie to you about the price/origin of the items.

Dent repair scams

Scammers will approach you in public about a dent in your car and offer to fix it for a low price. Often they will claim that they are mechanics. They will not fix the dent in your car, but they will apply large amounts of wax or other substances to hide the dent while they claim that the substance requires time to harden.

Gold ring/jewelry/valuable item scam

A scammer will "find" a gold ring or other valuable item and offers to sell it to you. The item is fake and you will never see the scammer again.

Distraction Scam

One person will approach you and distract you, while their accomplice picks your pockets. The distraction can take many forms, but if you are a tourist and are approached in public, watch closely for people getting close to you.

Resources: Site to report scams in the United Kingdom: http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

Reporting scam calls/text messages in the UK: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/scams/7726-reporting-scam-texts-and-calls

Site to report scams in the United States: https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

Site to report scams in Canada: www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/reportincident-signalerincident/index-eng.htm

Site to report scams in Europe: https://www.europol.europa.eu/report-a-crime/report-cybercrime-online

Site to report scams in Australia: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam

Site to report scams in New Zealand: https://www.dia.govt.nz/Spam-How-to-Report-Scams

FTC scam alerts: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/scam-alerts

Microsoft's anti-scam guide: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/protect-yourself-from-tech-support-scams-2ebf91bd-f94c-2a8a-e541-f5c800d18435

Trend Micro Check, website evaluator: https://check.trendmicro.com/

IF YOU RECEIVE A BLACKMAIL EMAIL, PLEASE REDACT THE PERSONAL INFORMATION AND POST IT AS A COMMENT ON THIS THREAD SO THAT OTHERS WHO RECEIVE THE SAME EMAIL CAN FIND IT THROUGH GOOGLE.

BLACKMAIL EMAIL SCAMS ARE ALSO SENT VIA SMS (TEXT) AND PHYSICAL MAIL. REGARDLESS OF THE METHOD, THEY ARE SPAM AND THE POST BELOW GIVES YOU INFORMATION AND ADVICE ABOUT WHAT TO DO.

Blackmail email scams have that name because they started out as emails, however they have also been sent out via SMS and physical mail. If you are reading this because you have received one of these emails and you're worried, you can stop worrying. The blackmail email scam is an email spam campaign that is sent out to thousands of email addresses at a time, the emails are completely false. In many cases, the emails will contain some sort of privileged information about you such as your name, part or all of your phone number, and your password. The data they use is collected from data breaches. Some emails may also include a screenshot of your desktop. The screenshots are acquired through malware often distributed through cracked software. If you received a screenshot of your desktop you should run a virus scan with something like Malwarebytes.The emails may also look like they were sent from your own email address due to email spoofing. You can use the service Have I Been Pwned? to see if you are in any publicly known data breaches. If you receive an email that contains a password that you currently use, you should immediately change that. Current recommended password guidelines say that you should use a different, complex password for every account. You can generate and save passwords using a password manager for convenience. You should also be using two factor authentication using an app like Google Authenticator instead of receiving codes through SMS.

Here are some news articles about this scam. Here is a story from Brian Krebs, and here is a story from the New York Times.

Below in the comments section are a few examples, but if you receive an email that is similar but not the same as the examples you see, that does not matter and does not mean that the email is real. The spammers constantly change up their templates in order to bypass spam filters, so it's normal to receive an email that hasn't yet been posted online.