1/ Ever received a random text or DM from a stranger looking to befriend you? Here's how a simple message could be a small piece of a global fraud machine that exploits some of the world's largest banks. THREAD 🧵
Replies
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jul 6, 2025, 8:41 pm • 1 0 • view
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jul 6, 2025, 3:11 am • 1 0 • view
Sorry is this for Americans?
jul 6, 2025, 9:43 am • 0 0 • view
nope financial scams know no borders
jul 7, 2025, 4:50 am • 0 0 • view
No not ever, who tf would just start chatting to a random
jul 6, 2025, 9:42 am • 2 0 • view
I've had a few and I block and report them immediately.
jul 6, 2025, 3:05 pm • 0 0 • view
And behind this scam is no other than…. Drumroll please. tRump
jul 6, 2025, 12:59 pm • 2 0 • view
@gallego.senate.gov @markwarner.bsky.social @alsobrooks.senate.gov @warnock.senate.gov @fetterman.senate.gov @kim.senate.gov @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social @slotkin.senate.gov Just a few of the 18 complicit Dems who enable this crap with Genius Act votes. #DOBETTER @democrats.senate.gov
jul 6, 2025, 1:55 pm • 5 3 • view
Not sure where your logic is that this act empowers scammers. The act was recently passed, financial scams have been going on for years. I don’t see any connection between the two. Don’t let your hate drive you to lie. That’s a Republican quality.
jul 6, 2025, 6:01 pm • 1 0 • view
Ok Dave, thanks for your reply. You don't see a connection because you don't want to see one. There are numerous examples and the Genius bill relaxed oversight and regulation and was bought and paid for by crypto lobbying and PAC money, pouring millions into the effort to buy votes.
jul 6, 2025, 6:39 pm • 0 0 • view
Ah the ole blame crypto, crypto is a scam, for what the owners of facebook, twitter and the rest of social media has done.
jul 6, 2025, 7:41 pm • 0 0 • view
You get a text asking about your scheduled dinner like, we still on for Friday, stuff like that. If you’re kind enough to tell them they texted the wrong person they start with pleasant conversation like you’re budging friends. They don’t stop with nice questions. Don’t respond!
jul 6, 2025, 2:29 am • 9 0 • view
There is a Netflix special out on some of this now. Not based on China, but same deal. It's scary The perfect boyfriend.
jul 6, 2025, 11:18 am • 8 0 • view
It’s when I block. 🤷♀️
jul 6, 2025, 6:42 am • 0 0 • view
When that happens I immediately block them & delete conversation w/o opening it. (No DM’s mean no DM’s)
jul 6, 2025, 1:42 am • 13 0 • view
I usually just send them a dick pic as a reply.
jul 6, 2025, 11:37 pm • 5 0 • view
BLOCK!!!🤬🤬
jul 6, 2025, 1:55 am • 2 0 • view
Constantly. “Hi is this Jane, are we still on for lunch?” Or some shit like that. Every week or two. I send them a GIF saying wrong number and block and report them.
jul 6, 2025, 3:07 am • 6 0 • view
I always play along and say “great, same place as last time. And don’t forget to bring me the money you borrowed and you are buying lunch”
jul 6, 2025, 4:30 am • 8 0 • view
Perfect!
jul 6, 2025, 5:45 am • 2 0 • view
😂😂😂😂😂😂
jul 6, 2025, 5:00 am • 1 0 • view
Delete and call it junk Do Not Open
jul 6, 2025, 2:54 am • 10 0 • view
I ask them to send nudes, if they don’t obviously they dnt want to be friends.
jul 7, 2025, 3:32 am • 4 0 • view
Oh, well it exploits some of the world's largest banks, then maybe I should respond.
jul 6, 2025, 1:16 am • 6 0 • view
(I wrote this knowing that I shouldn't *really* respond, because it would be exploiting me too, but I think they mean that it's exploiting a weakness in banking regulations and not the banks themselves. Just the marks. So don't do it.)
jul 6, 2025, 1:38 am • 4 0 • view
John Oliver covered this last year. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLPp...
jul 6, 2025, 1:40 am • 87 26 • view
That was so excellent I have to watch it twice and send it on to friends! Hilarious yet serious.
jul 6, 2025, 10:49 am • 1 0 • view
I’m glad you shared this. I’ve shared it with so many - including my stubborn neighbor who refuses to listen. You have to watch it till the end for the twist.
jul 6, 2025, 5:11 am • 10 0 • view
That was informative and hilarious! 👍👍
jul 7, 2025, 5:29 am • 1 0 • view
I don't befriend people i don't know. It's very relaxing.
jul 6, 2025, 2:54 am • 5 0 • view
As long as it’s not individuals money, I’m all for exploiting the banks. It’s all they do to us.
jul 6, 2025, 2:38 am • 3 0 • view
Except that it will always be individuals’ money. Whether the scam victims are individuals or the banks socialize the fraud losses by exploiting us even more. Same as how when shoplifters stick it to the man, the man sticks it to everyone to make up for it.
jul 6, 2025, 4:23 am • 10 0 • view
Lucky for me I'm such an introvert I don't need befriending. When I get these types of messages, I think "better luck next time sucka" and then I report them.
jul 6, 2025, 2:39 pm • 0 0 • view
@propublica.org I recently got a DM from someone claiming to be a fellow traveler wanting to be friends with me, but I blocked the account because I had a feeling it was a scam.
jul 6, 2025, 1:46 am • 2 0 • view
I pretty much ignore all messages and texts...in fact, I don't think I have a single text on my phone at the moment, I delete everything.
jul 6, 2025, 1:05 pm • 5 1 • view
I work closely with a woman whose husband lost 400k of their retirement funds this way.
jul 6, 2025, 1:44 am • 6 0 • view
How can you be sane enough to earn that money and simultaneously naive enough to blow it on obvious scammers?
jul 6, 2025, 2:55 am • 7 0 • view
I think the scam handlers quickly attach themselves psychologically to the marks who show an interest. And we are all more distanced these days than we care to admit. Plus crypto has created its own sort of ‘wild west’ mentality of get in on the ground floor or you’ll be left behind. It’s complex.
jul 6, 2025, 8:50 am • 1 0 • view
Not really, though. It's all the same old high-pressure sales tactics just with some new toys and tools. The basic cure is the same as it ever was.
jul 6, 2025, 10:26 am • 2 0 • view
I guess people are just always more susceptible than others too.
jul 6, 2025, 11:19 am • 1 0 • view
Block and delete
jul 6, 2025, 11:59 am • 10 1 • view
Funny enough, just got one today on Signal. Since the only place I've put my username up in public is Operation Blazing Sword, I immediately went into a discussion about the when and how of basic handgun training. They didn't respond for some reason. 😂
jul 6, 2025, 1:15 am • 37 0 • view
📌👀
jul 6, 2025, 3:03 pm • 0 0 • view
Well, often, but I've never replied unless I am deliberately wasting their time.
jul 6, 2025, 4:47 am • 0 0 • view
I block them all and report as junk.
jul 6, 2025, 3:34 pm • 14 1 • view
Fortunately I am antisocial.
jul 7, 2025, 4:28 am • 1 0 • view
A while back I got a text saying hey Peggy were meeting at the marina at 10 tomorrow. Well I'm not Peggy and it felt scammy but what if it really was just a wrong number and Peggy needs to know where to go, so I replied back, hey wrong number. Got a reply oh thanks and how are you doing today? BLOCK
jul 6, 2025, 1:43 am • 15 0 • view
“You’re so kind. Can we be friends?” BLOCK
jul 6, 2025, 2:26 am • 14 0 • view
I've experienced this. But as soon as the learn I'm an average American with no money, gone.
jul 6, 2025, 5:11 am • 5 0 • view
This is an incredible story! Thank you for your reporting!
jul 6, 2025, 2:05 pm • 0 0 • view
📌
jul 6, 2025, 9:01 am • 1 0 • view
The advantage to not having money is you laugh at anyone asking for money and block them.
jul 6, 2025, 2:04 am • 84 1 • view
People have been talked into taking out loans, maxing out cards and borrowing money from friends, it's really not so simple.
jul 6, 2025, 9:56 pm • 2 0 • view
This is prevention. Give them something else to do that gets them out instead of depending on these online relationships. Don’t give them a chance to be talked into anything. In-person scams happen, too, but they tend to happen more publicly with others going, “That’s shady AF.”
jul 6, 2025, 10:12 pm • 0 0 • view
People with social lives fall for amazon, IRS, inheritance, get rich fast etc themed scams all the time. Even people with loving relationships fall for romance scams.
jul 6, 2025, 10:23 pm • 2 0 • view
Why? Ask what these non-people are providing them that they are not getting elsewhere? Heck, ask the people who have AI companions. What is missing in these people’s lives that they need some AI or scammer to fill the void? Once again, I’m talking prevention. Basically therapy would help.
jul 6, 2025, 10:30 pm • 0 0 • view
We’ve all been through shitty relationships. You ask why you ended up in them and figure it out or just repeat the pattern. How is it that people aren’t asking the same questions about someone they’ve never met in-person as they would about someone they’ve met in person? Once again, prevention.
jul 6, 2025, 10:41 pm • 0 0 • view
I’ve been on dating apps. They aren’t much different than these AI girlfriends/boyfriends. They ask questions and tell you what they think you want to hear. It’s like having someone smile and nod while you saying you’re right. Oh, and they all call you beautiful and/or compliment your smile.
jul 6, 2025, 10:18 pm • 0 0 • view
It's like a super power
jul 6, 2025, 2:49 am • 37 1 • view
Who are these naive, bored, vain, or vulnerable folks falling for such nonsense? They are the real story here. The scam itself is mundane, the victims are baroque.
jul 6, 2025, 2:59 am • 19 0 • view
My friends start the message with stuff like "hey fuckface, been a while". Also I have their numbers so, ya know, caller ID and all that
jul 6, 2025, 10:25 am • 1 0 • view
That’s how they identify marks… they’re fancy, frilly, and overly decorated. Much easier to pick out from those modernists.
jul 6, 2025, 3:10 am • 1 0 • view
Ignatius Reilly, is that you?
jul 6, 2025, 3:13 am • 3 0 • view
No, I’m his sock.
jul 6, 2025, 3:15 am • 2 0 • view
I thought that sock had been stolen by inferior thinkers. Good to know it turned up.
jul 6, 2025, 3:21 am • 1 0 • view
Look, millions of people were gullible enough to vote for trump, so there's no limit to what people will believe.
jul 6, 2025, 4:53 am • 59 1 • view
Yes, for sure, MAGA has millions of them. They fall for his lies and scams every time, and buy his overpriced products not made in the US .
jul 6, 2025, 12:39 pm • 5 0 • view
Well said
jul 6, 2025, 5:37 am • 9 0 • view
It's a normal probability curve. You contact enough, you'll get a few bites. Humans are vulnerable in different ways and they find that way. But I'm with you, I get a random "hey" and I'm just repulsed. Why someone else isn't is beyond me.
jul 6, 2025, 3:15 am • 13 0 • view
Yes, it's the "differenr ways" that are bizarrely fascinating and would make good cautionary tales. Even drunk and depressed I ain't sending you money for your "dire emergency".
jul 6, 2025, 3:20 am • 9 0 • view
My mom. She’s fallen “in love” with three separate romance scammers in the last year. Put her in the vulnerable category.
jul 6, 2025, 8:42 am • 4 0 • view
Get her a therapist or get her offline. If she is able, help her find a hobby she likes and find an offline group to socialize with. People gripe about social media but it’s one way to find people who share your interests in real life. Or just sign her up for pickleball.
jul 6, 2025, 2:07 pm • 0 0 • view
If she is meeting these men on FB, go into her settings and make it so she can’t receive messages from anyone but her friends. Also set her profile to friends only. That will cut down on ways she can be targeted.
jul 6, 2025, 2:10 pm • 0 0 • view
That's horrific, I am sorry. Can you grt her detoxed from the tech?
jul 6, 2025, 10:25 am • 2 0 • view
Old folks are especially vulnerable. Early stages of dementia affects their critical abilities.
jul 6, 2025, 9:36 am • 4 0 • view
I cannot believe many people fall for this it is so obviously a scam. How stupid do you have to be?
jul 6, 2025, 1:46 pm • 1 0 • view
You don’t have to be stupid. Not being tech savvy isn’t stupid, nor is being elderly, lonely, housebound or vulnerable. Being judgemental is stupid, however.
jul 6, 2025, 3:12 pm • 4 0 • view
Sorry but if someone you don't know and have never met asks you for money and you send it you're stupid. On line or off line. But it's how we ended up with Trump so plenty of people are. Some scams are VERY clever & I have huge sympathy for people then but this is ridiculous
jul 6, 2025, 4:55 pm • 0 0 • view
Sorry, you’re wrong. Maybe you should take a really hard look at yourself.
jul 6, 2025, 4:59 pm • 0 0 • view
Been getting lots of these.
jul 6, 2025, 3:54 pm • 1 1 • view
And Cryptocurrency provides the Means
jul 6, 2025, 2:50 am • 5 0 • view
Wheres the news on this? I have posted this to every news outlet and large name independent news group and I have yet to see ANY one report on it. Yall... they want it quiet. Get it out there. He shouldnt even be in office at all. youtu.be/v5p1urol9uk?...
jul 6, 2025, 3:17 am • 2 0 • view
Pig butchering scams target people who are unsuspecting and vulnerable to exploitation. Here’s some advice. If a random person sends you a text or calls you about something that you aren’t interested in or familiar with, hang up or delete the text messages.
jul 6, 2025, 5:21 am • 5 0 • view
I block them. I don't need new friends.. I'll meet them in person if I want.
jul 6, 2025, 1:46 am • 6 0 • view
I was a carnie, these scans are deleted upon arrival 🙄
jul 6, 2025, 1:27 am • 15 0 • view
yeah, I reject the idea that "anybody" can fall for these.
jul 6, 2025, 1:35 am • 10 0 • view
I don't understand how anyone can still fall for this stuff in this day and age. Don't give money to randos on the internet seems like rule #1.
jul 6, 2025, 1:46 am • 21 0 • view
Perhaps both of yall are disregarding just how long these cats butter one up for? They are no longer just randos on the web by the time the end goal is pushed for. Thinking you're immune to social engineering is a dangerous mindset to have IMO. We all are.
jul 6, 2025, 2:15 am • 14 0 • view
Well, and you mentioned CATS. On this site in particular, one of the "butchers" could get awfully far with some cute pics of cats. Surprised I haven't seen any in my DMs, come to think of it...😆
jul 6, 2025, 3:17 am • 2 0 • view
On the contrary, it's the awareness we can all be manipulated that motivates to not engage at all. You can't lose a game you don't play.
jul 6, 2025, 2:19 am • 12 0 • view
Maybe it's because I don't have any extra money laying around to lose, so I'm pretty freaking stingy with it, so it's hard to fathom. Benefit of being broke, yay?
jul 6, 2025, 2:31 am • 10 0 • view
How are you sure you aren't playing a game?
jul 6, 2025, 3:04 am • 0 0 • view
I will not continue this conversation. Bye. (That's how you do it.)
jul 6, 2025, 3:09 am • 1 0 • view
That's how I do it? What?.. I'm not afraid of talking to anyone.
jul 8, 2025, 2:25 am • 0 0 • view
They just don’t ask for money right away. I read about romance scams on news articles. They take time to nurture the romance and when victims fall for it, then they ask for money. By that time, victims believe they are in love. Of course, some of them will hand over money. There have been so many.
jul 6, 2025, 5:03 am • 2 0 • view
Then you are at high risk of becoming a victim. Human brains are very malleable. It’s important to know our weaknesses to protect ourselves. If not an online scammer then a narcissist. Beware of skilled manipulation
jul 6, 2025, 1:59 pm • 2 0 • view
This is incredible timing, as I have been texted from a random # twice in the last hour, seeking to connect.
jul 6, 2025, 1:15 am • 16 0 • view
The funny thing is the Telegram app is monetizing this, by not letting you block messages from stranger’s numbers unless you subscribe to their paid tier.
jul 6, 2025, 12:36 pm • 17 3 • view
2/ First, some background: A pig butchering scam is a sophisticated, long-term con in which scammers present themselves as attractive, successful people to befriend you, win your trust and get you to deposit huge sums to fake online brokerages.
jul 6, 2025, 1:09 am • 393 81 • view
3/ Any kind of person can fall for this con. Reporter Cezary Podkul interviewed dozens of victims from all walks of life: a C-suite executive, PhDs, a scientist, small business owners, a parking lot attendant and everyone in between. It’s a hugely potent and financially devastating scam.
jul 6, 2025, 1:09 am • 339 33 • view
I'm not so sure about this, have you met a millennial we have no money to steal
jul 6, 2025, 1:32 am • 2 0 • view
"Any kind of person can fall for this con." Except the millions of Americans with zero money to invest.
jul 6, 2025, 4:56 pm • 0 0 • view
"Any kind of person" or only naive, vulnerable people? Let's rather have a story about the victims. I was never taught explicitly to avoid scammers but I can see their nonsense a mile off. What's fascinating is those people who can't.
jul 6, 2025, 2:57 am • 6 0 • view
Naive and vulnerable, maybe. Greedy, sure.
jul 6, 2025, 8:12 am • 0 0 • view
I so struggle to understand how people fall for this. I've had messages out of the blue (usually from an account with a pic of an attractive young woman) and I know 100% the convo is gonna go to investments. They're screaming SCAM. I accept my lack of understanding is a me problem but hey people!
jul 6, 2025, 11:15 am • 0 0 • view
4/ The scam is so successful that one estimate pinned its annual take at more than $44B. That’s just for scammers based in Asia, who often operate out of huge, fortified compounds in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar like this one👇
jul 6, 2025, 1:09 am • 352 58 • view
5/ Important note: Many of the workers are also victims of human trafficking who’ve been tricked into working inside these fraud factories. Here’s Cezary's report on the crushing cycle of victimization involved in pig-butchering scams:
jul 6, 2025, 1:11 am • 415 97 • view
I’ve been considering if there’s any useful resource I could point the pig butchering scammer to before blocking them. I’ve used random articles about the compounds in Myanmar, but it would be better to have something written for the potential trafficking victims.
jul 6, 2025, 1:47 am • 3 0 • view
I have fun. Put them on hold and go about my business. Or Put them on hold and come back with "You have reached precinct # ---. This is sergeant so and so, I hear you have an incident to report. May I have your name, phone# ..." *click* They're gone! 😁
jul 6, 2025, 5:25 am • 8 0 • view
Be careful with that. They can copy and clone your voice to use it for accessing accounts. I just put my phone under a metal mixing bowl and wallop it with a mixing spoon. For some reason they don’t call back.
jul 6, 2025, 3:08 pm • 3 0 • view
😲‼️ 🙊🤐😶 Thanks for the warning
jul 6, 2025, 5:50 pm • 0 0 • view
My niece warned me. She also told me the metal bowl & spoon may be technically illegal, but what’s a scammer gonna do?
jul 6, 2025, 5:54 pm • 1 0 • view
This podcast cured me of the idea of mocking the scammers. These aren’t Nigerian college students in an internet café. Both the targets and the callers are being ruthlessly exploited in this kind of scam. open.spotify.com/show/76SEtNM...
jul 6, 2025, 6:46 pm • 2 0 • view
6/ Scammers prefer to deal in cryptocurrency, but since their typical victim doesn’t own crypto, many pig-butchering scams still unfold with consumers tapping their bank accounts to wire money to fraudsters’ accounts.
jul 6, 2025, 1:12 am • 302 33 • view
Ha ha ha Funnily enough I have been approached three times last week claiming the saw my resume on line.while I’ve searched companies that offer work from home part time work. Smelt funny How do you pay Crypto Bye
jul 6, 2025, 1:20 am • 13 1 • view
I get the “saw your resume online” scam regularly. I’m retired from a job I had 28 years. My resume has never been online.
jul 6, 2025, 3:01 am • 7 0 • view
What part of the phrase: you can't get something for nothing, do people forget is reality? Or? ALL of crypto is a global, multi-national, multi-governmental, Ponzi scheme? 🤦
jul 6, 2025, 2:19 am • 4 1 • view
jul 6, 2025, 7:29 am • 2 0 • view
Yeah, I keep getting them, too. I have NEVER had a LinkedIn (social media tied to either housing or employment is a TERRIBLE idea), and haven’t had a resume in the wild since… 2007, 8ish. Haven’t even had my CV online since 2016. They mention those? They are scamming.
jul 6, 2025, 1:32 am • 12 1 • view
My husband and I get a pretty good laugh at the ones that claim they saw his resume on LinkedIn. He’s a farmer/mechanic. He not only isn’t on LinkedIn, he’s never had a resume in his life.
jul 6, 2025, 1:30 am • 19 2 • view
7/ But wait a second: An international scam operation can’t just have a checking account in its name. And how would these scammers move tens of billions of dollars of stolen money across borders without raising alarms?
jul 6, 2025, 1:13 am • 276 30 • view
8/ Turns out there’s a parallel money-laundering industry that helps scammers do just that. They’re called “motorcades” (车队) in Chinese and they’re incredibly efficient at helping fraudsters collect and move stolen funds.
jul 6, 2025, 1:14 am • 309 44 • view
9/ Here’s how motorcades operate. Once a scam gang in, say, Cambodia, has identified a fraud target willing to wire funds, they hire a motorcade that controls a U.S. bank account. The motorcade gives the account details to the scammers, who send them along to the victim.
jul 6, 2025, 1:14 am • 277 37 • view
10/ This is what it looks like in practice. The fake online brokerage you’re dealing with will give you a “recharge account” to wire funds to, along with a request to send a screenshot when you’re done wiring the money, which then appears in the fake brokerage.
jul 6, 2025, 1:20 am • 250 32 • view
11/ At this point you’ll wonder why you’re being asked to wire funds to some strange-sounding company other than the fake brokerage you’re dealing with. The scammers will tell you that’s just how crypto works and instruct you not to tell your bank you are “investing” in crypto.
jul 6, 2025, 1:20 am • 205 21 • view
Who falls for this crap?
jul 6, 2025, 2:13 am • 11 0 • view
Watch out if you ever respond to these just to be troublesome. Be slightly positive and your number will be sent far and wide for more of the same…
jul 6, 2025, 7:57 am • 17 2 • view
?
jul 6, 2025, 1:14 am • 0 0 • view
📌
jul 6, 2025, 2:47 am • 0 0 • view
👆22-year-old from China who was taken captive in 2021, was sold twice within the past year, he said. He doesn’t know if he was listed on Telegram. All he knows is that each time he was sold, his new captors raised the amount he’d have to pay to buy his freedom
jul 6, 2025, 4:00 am • 2 1 • view
Can you please post the actual physical locations of these places? Much appreciated in advance.
jul 6, 2025, 6:58 am • 0 0 • view
The information is out there on several of the large ones. They operate in Southeast Asia, where I don't want to say governments are lax, but a lot of their crime fighting resources are tied up in endeavours that are more immediate than scammers taking advantage of wealthy foreigners.
jul 7, 2025, 4:45 am • 0 0 • view
Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Laos, Bavet in Cambodia etc. Some of them are just run out of rented office space in big cities though. They catch people with fake job offers and stuff, get them in country and kidnap them.
jul 7, 2025, 4:51 am • 0 0 • view
Yes, I'm just looking for actual physical addresses in order to avoid the awkwardness when you destroy a place only to find out it was a legit business. I've never been good at explaining myself in those type of situations, and I'd rather not have to get better with practice.
jul 7, 2025, 5:00 am • 0 0 • view
Information is always out there, but it's not always reliable nor correct. Is there a reputable listing source?
jul 7, 2025, 4:47 am • 0 0 • view
I mean, unless you are part of an active investigation you aren't going to get specific details. They do tend to thrive in "Special Economic Zones" which are spread all over, usually in tandem with prostitution and casinos. Anywhere you'd expect to find organized crime.
jul 7, 2025, 5:01 am • 0 0 • view
Therein lies the problem: I doubt there are any many, if any, active investigations. I'm just looking for a damn address, and I realize large places are easier to find, but a lot look the same from the outside and I don't feel like trying to explain away a huge mistake.
jul 7, 2025, 5:11 am • 0 0 • view
It is well known that Sihanoukville in Cambodia has many, many people trapped in these compounds.
jul 6, 2025, 8:04 am • 0 0 • view
I'm not doubting the veracity of the claim, I'm literally asking for the locations. I reckon I can't do shit if I don't know where to do it at. But I am admittedly a simple man, and can't be counted on to find locations by guesswork alone. That place just looks like a weird hotel to me.
jul 6, 2025, 8:09 am • 1 0 • view
You haven't explained why someone would respond to a random text from a complete stranger.
jul 6, 2025, 3:09 am • 5 0 • view
How about you just have a rule that you delete all texts from unknown sources for unknown reasons.
jul 6, 2025, 1:30 am • 154 3 • view
Delete AND block, as if the latter matters.
jul 6, 2025, 10:23 am • 7 0 • view
That's a good policy. Usually these scams start out as someone pretending to have dialed a wrong number but then being friendly and chatty with a stranger.
jul 6, 2025, 1:55 am • 1 0 • view
yeah this isn't realistic. some recent examples, not just messages but also calls as those are just as risky. - this amazon message from a random number. showed up as spam. apparently it is legit. - tax office called me from a number not on their site a while ago, was legit
jul 6, 2025, 9:52 pm • 0 0 • view
- one of my doctors works part time from home. she calls with a private number when this happens to not reveal her home phone number to patients. this means I have to accept unknown calls for a few weeks after I see her. last week was such a week, I picked up an unk. num. call, it was a spam call.
jul 6, 2025, 9:52 pm • 0 0 • view
You can absolutely live life so vigilantly, but in my case, that'd make life harder. You have to be vigilant and reject obvious spam of course, but you gain a lot by being open to accepting a call from an unknown number and hanging up at the first sign of a scam (etc).
jul 6, 2025, 9:55 pm • 0 0 • view
but hugh, I really want to be friends with you :(
jul 6, 2025, 2:18 am • 1 0 • view
And how could he resist that username--? 😆
jul 6, 2025, 3:13 am • 1 0 • view
One wonders!
jul 6, 2025, 3:46 am • 0 0 • view
I mark them as spam. (That also deletes their message and blocks them.)
jul 6, 2025, 1:51 am • 5 0 • view
Exactly. I’ve always done this, because why wouldn’t I. And now I have one more reason to do so.
jul 6, 2025, 1:52 am • 44 0 • view
Besides, who in hell would want to be friends with me? I'm automatically suspicious of anyone nice or friendly. I know what a problem child I am.
jul 6, 2025, 5:25 am • 11 0 • view
HA!
jul 7, 2025, 5:01 am • 0 0 • view
When I got a pig buthering text about doing yoga sometime, I knew for sure they did not know me.
jul 6, 2025, 2:01 am • 21 0 • view
But if they asked to meet for tacos? They got me!
jul 6, 2025, 2:57 am • 13 0 • view
A sophisticated one texted me last week, asking confirmation for my reservation at a hot springs spa (I had no such appointment as I live 2 states away!). Thing is, I *used to* live minutes from there. I checked the number; it didn't match any numbers listed online for the resort.
jul 6, 2025, 7:53 am • 3 0 • view
I'm surprised at how many people I'd assume to be smart enough to know better actually fall for these. These scammers are really quite skilled.
jul 6, 2025, 8:53 am • 11 0 • view
It's loneliness. An acquaintance of mine's late father had squandered quite a bit of his money on these scams once her mother died & made him a widow.
jul 6, 2025, 12:33 pm • 6 0 • view
I play along for fun and send bizarre nudes.
jul 6, 2025, 2:14 am • 11 0 • view
🤣
jul 6, 2025, 3:18 am • 3 0 • view
Any dm is evidence of desire. We are the prey.
jul 6, 2025, 6:01 am • 0 0 • view
I've been getting texts like that for years. They always seemed fishy... or should I say phishy?
jul 6, 2025, 1:23 am • 23 0 • view
I received one that said, "Hi Heather, are you available for golf tomorrow?" Golf? Heather? 😂 Why let them know they've reached a live person? Just mark it as spam.
jul 6, 2025, 2:02 am • 28 0 • view
I don’t respond. Not even for the halibut. And that’s before herring about these scams!
jul 6, 2025, 3:58 am • 1 0 • view
I guess I just don’t sea the porpoise. 🤷🏼♀️
jul 6, 2025, 2:19 pm • 1 0 • view
Only by not responding will we cause these companies to flounder. They're very much out of plaice.
jul 6, 2025, 4:35 am • 0 0 • view
Abalone! That’s just being shellfish.
jul 6, 2025, 7:37 am • 1 0 • view
I have all the friends I will ever need. I block and move swiftly along.
jul 7, 2025, 3:57 am • 1 0 • view
I highly recommend the episode of the Search Engine podcast about this. Really great.
jul 6, 2025, 5:10 am • 3 0 • view
I got a number of cell phone texts like this for awhile: messages pretending they had a wrong number was one tactic.
jul 6, 2025, 4:29 am • 12 1 • view
“You think too much” This slew me. Lo, I am slain!
jul 6, 2025, 5:50 am • 5 0 • view
ewe.
jul 6, 2025, 12:04 pm • 0 0 • view
"Ever received a random text or DM from a stranger looking to befriend you?" - like EVERY DAY. I respond by proposing a kinky activity involving an outboard motor, a rubber chicken, and a bottle of Worcestershire sauce. That discourages them.
jul 6, 2025, 4:51 am • 38 1 • view
😂😂😂
jul 6, 2025, 8:10 am • 1 0 • view
Only because they can't pronounce "Worcestershire Sauce"!
jul 6, 2025, 10:54 am • 9 0 • view
It's not that hard.... Worcestershire Sauce... Worcestershire sauce.
jul 6, 2025, 12:37 pm • 2 0 • view
My dad called it “Warchester” sauce and it’s impossible to get out of my head:/
jul 6, 2025, 4:58 pm • 1 0 • view
You sound like fun, I’ll send the DM and bring the donkey, the dwarf and the wetsuit ;)
jul 6, 2025, 9:47 am • 1 0 • view
📌
jul 6, 2025, 2:42 am • 1 0 • view
Idk these strangers always come off as creepy to me.
jul 6, 2025, 1:51 am • 2 0 • view
This is why I am here. Intelligent reporting.
jul 6, 2025, 1:21 am • 12 0 • view
It’s called Pig Butchering and John Oliver did a really good piece a year or so ago 🤙
jul 6, 2025, 10:00 am • 2 0 • view
As a side biz, those Myanmar scam farms create "Palestinian" accounts with the usual sob stories to collect donations. Pretty low key compared to pig butchering, but a steady income until GoFundMe catches up. Of course they're in competition with H*mas there.
jul 6, 2025, 1:46 am • 11 0 • view
I feel like I've seen a couple of those among my new "followers." Pretty gross they'd exploit that situation--gross but utterly unsurprising
jul 6, 2025, 3:19 am • 8 1 • view
Ukrainian too.
jul 6, 2025, 4:42 am • 4 0 • view
Yes--I had one in my DMs claiming to be a soldier in Ukraine, and I later found out that was a common one. (I actually chatted with him a bit at first--! 😆)
jul 6, 2025, 6:04 am • 2 0 • view
A whole infrastructure is around, with vetting accounts and all. Trying to stop that is like playing whack-a-mole as long as the source exists.
jul 6, 2025, 3:31 am • 1 0 • view
"Strays of Ukraine" recently followed me with a link for place to donate in the profile.
jul 6, 2025, 3:47 am • 0 0 • view
Thanks for this info
jul 6, 2025, 4:45 am • 0 0 • view
If you're lame enough to accept any text messages from any messaging app, than you deserve to lose and be titled a loser, because that's what you are.
jul 6, 2025, 2:58 am • 1 0 • view
See one of the above posts pointing out that some of the marks might be people who don't have access to the same life skills many of us have. I think it's harsh to just label them losers.
jul 6, 2025, 3:21 am • 12 0 • view
It’s possible there are cognitive deficits, too, which might be due to anything from disease to trauma to congenital causes. I know my own father became vulnerable to some young women as his dementia progressed. It’s terribly sad to see.
jul 6, 2025, 10:15 am • 4 0 • view
For sure. And I think it could be possible to fall for one even without cognitive deficits. So many different ways to be vulnerable, even if only momentarily.
jul 6, 2025, 5:23 pm • 0 0 • view
Do not respond. At all. Any data point you give them can be used against you later. Your name, city you live in, if the name they use is familiar to you, etc. Just don't respond. No response will drop their interest.
jul 6, 2025, 7:46 am • 8 0 • view
no, but I stand warned
jul 7, 2025, 2:44 am • 0 0 • view
Welp, there's a problem I'm literally never gonna have.
jul 6, 2025, 11:44 am • 0 0 • view
Yeah I get them daily on Blue Sky.
jul 6, 2025, 1:52 am • 5 1 • view
I'm clearly unimportant. I just get young ladies with pneumaticchests. I'm 73 ffs.
jul 6, 2025, 6:36 am • 5 0 • view
So social media is a fraud. Duh.
jul 6, 2025, 1:43 am • 2 0 • view
And I get calls for my dead mother regarding a judgment. When I say,"she doesn't live here," I give them her current address: the local cemetery.
jul 6, 2025, 1:02 pm • 9 1 • view
I've always wondered exactly what kind of scam was being run by hot men who contact me on grindr, and start chatting me up.... But then they all tell me they "work from home" and "invest in crypto as a sideline"... and while I didn't know the specifics, its at that point the scam becomes obvious
jul 6, 2025, 1:40 am • 23 0 • view
That is one. Another one is to yap on Grindr, gain the trust of people, then social engineer them into sending you money because {random emergency}. Or maybe you're really interested in meeting up but need money to procure things for chemsex first. It works, unfortunately, and is a numbers game.
jul 6, 2025, 2:19 am • 6 0 • view
My neighbor said she had been texting with Keanu Reeves! She was so excited. I told her it was a scam but she got mad and said I'm wrong. The joke is on the scammers though, because she is in debt up to her eyeballs. lol
jul 6, 2025, 12:31 pm • 10 1 • view
On WhatsApp, I have conversations with both John Fogerty AND Frankie Valli! I think it's AI but I can't be sure. Fogerty is touring again - OMG, he's 80 - so maybe I'll get a chance to ask if he plays nearby.
jul 6, 2025, 12:44 pm • 4 0 • view
my mother in law refused to believe it wasn't actually ed sheerin friending her on facebook. oh em gee.
jul 6, 2025, 8:13 pm • 1 0 • view
My brother likes to say he doesn’t worry about anyone stealing his credit info because they would be laughed out of the bank for trying to get a loan. He has a good sense of humor.
jul 6, 2025, 2:13 pm • 3 1 • view
I got a text from "Keanu Reeves" and wondered what possible list they could have me on to make them think I would fall for that.
jul 6, 2025, 9:00 pm • 1 0 • view
Superb thread and reporting ProPublica! ALWAYS beware when the topic of money comes up w/ strangers on the internet yall, especially if it involves opening your wallet. These series of tubes can get real gutter ✌️
jul 6, 2025, 2:11 am • 8 0 • view
Were you somehow listening to my conversation TODAY? I was just talking about this with my daughter while having lunch. It started with a conversation about her friend from China refusing to go to Thailand because people get kidnapped to these complexes in Myanmar. Even a famous actor was taken.
jul 6, 2025, 1:32 am • 32 1 • view
A famous actor? Tell me more!
jul 6, 2025, 1:49 am • 7 0 • view
In China he is known but upon further checking, he is a smaller name actor. First article I read made him sound more famous. www.bbc.com/news/article...
jul 6, 2025, 4:07 am • 9 2 • view
Thank you! I hope his story brings attention to the issue.
jul 6, 2025, 3:50 pm • 2 0 • view
So hear me out… bunches of DMs to me-people posing as Ukrainian soldiers who don’t get enough food in the war, want money. I take in days of DMs, all the BS. They offer compliments, which may flatter certain subscribers. but I always end up telling them NO money, but I will write to Zelensky.
jul 6, 2025, 5:05 am • 4 0 • view
I usually just string them along for a bit before segueing into how the neighbor’s black lab tells me to do terrible things, or about the people living in the walls of my house. Usually does the trick.
jul 6, 2025, 3:50 am • 17 0 • view
I just suggest something super naughty ... works every time!
jul 6, 2025, 4:54 am • 5 0 • view
I would advise anyone here to check on their elderly parents not an exaggeration to say possibly half of them are involved in some kind of scam & not knowing. In addition some when told by family it isn’t real-scammers are ready for this. They are so clever on alienation & working them even w/ bank
jul 6, 2025, 3:48 am • 35 1 • view
That’s my next door neighbor. She’s 76, and has been married 6 times. Now she’s “engaged” to a 76 yo 4-star general stationed in Syria. She “talks” to him all the time — turns out it’s just messaging on WhatsApp. She knows more than anyone, and she refuses to listen to reason. Very sad.
jul 6, 2025, 5:02 am • 17 0 • view
Can I get her email? ;)
jul 6, 2025, 5:30 am • 5 0 • view
Scammers tell them their family or friends just don’t want them to be happy they don’t care about them Many act as money laundering unknowingly using their banks for other people to send money and that person sends the money to the scammer in bit coin Crazy! Cash shows up at their house deposit it
jul 6, 2025, 4:33 pm • 1 0 • view
Usually what the relationship turns out to be is just messaging for various reasons they cannot talk on phone or video call or visit. And there is always health emergencies Starts out they ask for pretty large amount & pay them back fast this sets up “trust” its only one way money to scammer after
jul 6, 2025, 4:31 pm • 1 0 • view
They have my neighbor listing her condo to sell it. Once it’s sold, they will have that emergency, and get her to send/lend the $. And because she’s so emotionally excited, she will do it. I wish she would listen to me, but she won’t.
jul 6, 2025, 6:02 pm • 1 0 • view
I confronted her if even a woman. She removed ability to leave message on profile. She goes private when she needs more victims then goes public. I found another victim a man who was scammed as well & he had no idea about my sister thought was in love with scammer too So very sad. I felt for him
jul 6, 2025, 7:33 pm • 1 0 • view
Didn’t happen to sis she never questioned why they wouldn’t talk on phone even tex It was all through apps. They remove them from platform ask them to download other app. Made her use apps like cash app I think & bit coin! Some of it I can’t trace. The women who scammed her on IG doesn’t care
jul 6, 2025, 7:31 pm • 1 0 • view
My neighbor has never "talked" to her "finance". She is broke, but if they convince her to sell her condo, then she will have some $ to send "him". As it is, she's telling us how she is planning an August wedding, and will be adopting his 16 year old daughter. She is so wrapped up in this. Sad!
jul 6, 2025, 8:54 pm • 1 0 • view
Oh how terrible 😭
jul 6, 2025, 9:34 pm • 1 0 • view
This is what I keep trying to tell people who make fun of them or think it couldn’t happen to them or someone they know. It’s so sophisticated and they get better now with AI when the women demanded to talk to them or see them they used AI with man pics to make video of him talking!! Kidding me?
jul 6, 2025, 7:29 pm • 1 0 • view
Oh no. Not help from adult protective services? This happened a women in Germany Sold her parents home lost all the money $500k to scam she has given total of maybe $1m to them The scam using a man in Cali profile & pics. He used FB for a business. Scammers took his name reported HIM as fraud!
jul 6, 2025, 7:28 pm • 1 0 • view
Scam is need money to come home to them leave military. This was early scam got my sister for nearly $10,000 maybe more it’s hard to trace where all the money went banks kept shutting down her bank accounts for fraud. The emails are so fake it’s crazy. We are military she wouldn’t listen to us
jul 6, 2025, 4:24 pm • 2 0 • view
so sad. Read this article where children of a super smart man large in the community who is giving away tons of money to women he thinks are his gf. Fam tells him he doesn’t care he says maybe it’s fake but he feels something. They stay connected with him constantly check in every morning night
jul 6, 2025, 4:21 pm • 1 0 • view
At the bank for yearly check-in last year and they suggested having a trusted outside name for contact should we ask to remove/transfer significant funds. Good idea for banks to pro-actively try to protect customers.
jul 6, 2025, 10:21 am • 11 1 • view
Great idea!
jul 7, 2025, 5:31 am • 0 0 • view
Agreed! More needs to be done. Watched documentary where bunch of people were scammed by those using same profile of an innocent man who life was impacted. The scammer was so skilled they knew banks would try to stop them sending wire or money order that they stayed on phone or told th what to say
jul 6, 2025, 4:17 pm • 0 0 • view
Pretty sad world when you have to be suspicious of every call, text, message. But here we are.
jul 6, 2025, 6:47 pm • 1 0 • view
Yes I get it. The whole idea of SM is supposed to be we join & meet others. Instead gangs of scammers preyed on the most vulnerable
jul 6, 2025, 7:24 pm • 1 0 • view
My sis was a very happy intelligent person who with a Masters. She was just lonely she truly believed she was in love. It’s so skilled how they groom & do the butchering. I can’t think of another word. They KNOW what they are doing. It’s not obvious & remember these are vulnerable lonely people
jul 6, 2025, 3:45 am • 21 0 • view
I have read up on this extensively. Because after my sis died of advanced cancer we found all the people in her phone she thought she was in a relationship -over years who took so much money from her. Thousands. I still can’t find an account that had $98k in it, we think it was liquidated. So sad
jul 6, 2025, 3:43 am • 11 0 • view
I am so sorry that is so sad
jul 6, 2025, 5:12 am • 3 0 • view
Thank you. It’s was heart breaking to read the messages and emails. Heartbreaking. And I still got messages from scammers after she died on her phone. A few were when she messaged famous people on Instagram. Just commenting on singer profile would lead to tons of private messages from fake accounts
jul 6, 2025, 4:25 pm • 0 0 • view
I could go on & on scammers that got her for years and years in different ways not just love scams. She got my 80 year old dad believing it -he was just happy she found someone he gave her $5,000 to help her “GF get out of military in Syria in peace keeping mission” there is NO US military there 😔🥲
jul 6, 2025, 4:29 pm • 0 0 • view
She believed it was them. They would tell her their spouse “wynonna Judd” wouldn’t let her touch her own money he was abusive so my sister “had to send her” iPhone gift cards all kinds of things she believed they were starting a charity sis spent hours & hours working on the business plan sent $$$$
jul 6, 2025, 4:27 pm • 0 0 • view
Not simple as what some here say- just delete There are far too many lonely people who want friends GF or BF & people that target them are so skilled. They have scripts-proven & used. They improve them constantly. AI to create fake videos. My sister was target, believed it and lost so much $.
jul 6, 2025, 3:38 am • 21 1 • view
But the Big Brutal Budget cut funds for Meals on Wheels and other social services, which help combat loneliness. Makes me sick.
jul 6, 2025, 12:42 pm • 6 0 • view
Funny this popped up. I had a call from some guy that actually knew my name. And he started rambling right off the bat. I asked who this was and it was someone selling stocks. Over the phone. I think not. I just said I wasn't interested and hung up.
jul 6, 2025, 3:12 am • 6 0 • view
I'm one of those weirdos that will go along with the con right up to the point where they ask for money, then I string them along.
jul 6, 2025, 4:40 am • 5 0 • view
Fake SM accounts are easy to spot. Learn to spot them. And my definition of "friend" is different from Facebook's.
jul 6, 2025, 11:19 am • 1 0 • view
In BlueSky you can turn direct messages off in settings.
jul 6, 2025, 1:30 am • 17 2 • view
I got sick of all the beautiful young women who were only after me for my body.
jul 6, 2025, 3:07 am • 22 0 • view
Really? I thought it was only me they were chasing after.
jul 6, 2025, 4:57 am • 2 0 • view
Lots of handsome men with gray facial hair who are pilots, architects, or surgeons follow me.
jul 6, 2025, 3:43 am • 20 0 • view
No Marine Biologists?
jul 6, 2025, 8:05 pm • 1 0 • view
And they usually are widowed…
jul 6, 2025, 4:37 am • 10 0 • view
Of course, casting a wider net.
jul 6, 2025, 5:45 am • 1 0 • view
😝🤣you did right to spare them, would’ve probably been too much for any one of’em 😉😂.
jul 6, 2025, 6:16 am • 2 0 • view
That's why all DMs are blocked.
jul 6, 2025, 11:22 am • 7 0 • view
My typical answers to unwelcome messages are. All caps. **WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?** **WHY HAVE YOU TEXTED ME MOTHERFUCKER?** And if they continue. **DO YOU UNDERSTAND ENGLISH? SICK BASTARD** **GET THE HINT AND STOP TEXTING **
jul 6, 2025, 1:56 am • 4 0 • view
"Delete and Report Junk" if your phone has that feature.
jul 6, 2025, 5:12 am • 5 0 • view
It's more fun to curse them.
jul 6, 2025, 5:22 am • 0 0 • view
I don't understand how people fall for these
jul 6, 2025, 1:38 am • 4 0 • view
Old people. People with autism or ADHD. Young people who were never taught financial literacy. I’m sure there is more. Not everyone has access to the same life skills as you.
jul 6, 2025, 1:41 am • 11 0 • view
On a flight, I was seated next to a lovely older gentleman. He told me his computer was hacked/ransom was demanded to unlock it. Told me he lost a fortune and felt so foolish. When *my* computer locked with a similar message, I immediately hit Ctrl Alt Delete, and was able to reboot.
jul 6, 2025, 1:56 am • 11 0 • view
I feel like I'm always scared to say to myself that I couldn't imagine falling for scams, because I'm technically already a senior citizen myself. Some sophisticated scam could potentially get me in a few years.
jul 6, 2025, 3:23 am • 0 0 • view
People who feel so lonely, who want to be in a relationship desperately. I read an article about the romance scam. Mostly old people who feel loneliness.
jul 6, 2025, 5:09 am • 0 0 • view
A lot of people are lonely. They get socially-engineered into thinking they've found love, and that love has a great money-making opportunity.
jul 6, 2025, 2:21 am • 3 0 • view
📌
jul 6, 2025, 5:31 am • 0 0 • view
Just give them your health insurance company CEO's information.
jul 6, 2025, 1:53 am • 26 0 • view
Do not EVER respond. Block immediately.
jul 6, 2025, 4:43 am • 10 0 • view
Yes but I disengaged after a couple of texts. It was only 1 time.
jul 6, 2025, 9:40 am • 0 0 • view
But then a bad government could shut a freedom site down ...there is no winning with Homo sapiens
jul 6, 2025, 6:17 pm • 0 0 • view
I would like for humans to invent process by which a bad website can be destroyed,ex, a fraudulent theft site, or intellectual property theft: have the ability to backwash through the signal to reach source and neutralize by any and every means to utterly destroy that node; this is the safety I want
jul 6, 2025, 6:16 pm • 0 0 • view
I automatically block and don’t engage.
jul 6, 2025, 1:54 am • 18 0 • view
Basically, trust no one.
jul 6, 2025, 6:53 pm • 6 0 • view
I get random replies to replies on facebook lately from men who appear to be in the military or are widowers. They are posts like this: “I just noticed you here on facebook, can you friend me….. etc.” Also friend requests. I just block and report. And I am over 65 yoa.
jul 6, 2025, 11:32 am • 35 1 • view
Yes, I get these too, usually on reviews I have done for businesses. I'm a similar age to you.
jul 6, 2025, 12:47 pm • 0 0 • view
Yes, I used to get those before I left FB. I also get random texts from people I don't know, referencing business I never heard of, or some cutie with a come on. Block 'em! (That's pronounced with an F at the front.)
jul 6, 2025, 12:39 pm • 1 0 • view
Thanks for the warning.
jul 6, 2025, 12:32 pm • 1 0 • view
All. The. Time. Block them all.
jul 6, 2025, 11:40 am • 29 1 • view
I see them here, too.
jul 6, 2025, 3:36 pm • 0 0 • view
Yep, especially on "public" FB pages (ie: news, sports, etc.) I block them. Unless you're my "friend" ya can't see anything on my page.
jul 6, 2025, 12:55 pm • 0 0 • view
I work in accounting and my company’s IT team is always having us watch videos on the latest scams. Some scams are more obvious than others and it nearly always comes down to this : Trust your gut. If it feels shady, it is.
jul 6, 2025, 1:59 am • 9 0 • view