Best advice is not trust anyone who contacts you. I don’t know how but these scammers have my phone number and no matter if I block that non existence number, they call me again with another non existence number. I just hung up on them as there’s no other way I know to reduce the number of scam calls I receive. One of my ex-work colleagues had to change mobile numbers to stop it, but that only worked for a little while before the scammers started calling their new number.
The amount of bravery this took was INSANE. These people all had their lives in danger, but still decided to go through with the recovery for the sake of busting bad scammers. True respect *Strong widget on the internet!* If the FBI was half as dedicated and ingenious (and honest) as you guys are, the USA would be a much safer country. Amazing work!
Exceptional works, *STRONG WIDGET* -I'm glad you're battling these jerks out there. We must take every precaution to safeguard the elderly and the general public from these disgusting scam artists! You've earned it!! You deserve the Nobel Peace Prize for keeping us safe, brother.
Great work *Strong widget* - so glad you are out there fighting these lowlifes. We need to do all we can to spare the elderly and the general public from these despicable scammers! Kudos to YOU!! You deserve the Nobel prize for keeping us safe big up brother.
Just a reminder: the "con" in "con man" is short for confidence. The scam begins with gaining your confidence so that you willingly give them what they want.
Exactly what I had to remind my father of when someone recently tried to scam my father with a short sale on his house. He told me how honest & straightforward he seemed. So I stressed how he had managed to gain his "confidence." My family and I will be keeping a much closer eye on him & his finances.
I never get past phase one because when ever I get text messages for someone else, I just assume its some sort of phishing scam and I ignore it...the same reason I don't answer phone calls if I don't recognize the phone number
Yup. Hard lesson learned by many of us. If I don't know the number, they can leave a message. It's hard for businesses, though. My son says he gets about 20 scam/spam calls a day.
@@Victic005 answering doesnt confirm, they will get you VM if you dont answer and will still see it is real. Also, call centers will pretty much only remove the number from their list if they get the 3 tones followed by the message about the number not existing... I used to have that set up as my VM and my phone would auto reject any unknown call to VM where they would get those 3 tones followed by that message the phone number is not available/disconnected.. after a pause i would have my real message. I would tell people what i did so they were aware... After a month i changed back to my normal VM and my spam/scam calls were pretty much eliminated...
Actually this kind of scam has been going on for years by now. Not many have been using it though, because most scammers think it's not something to profit out of it very quickly or you don't get any profit at all. It's sad, but people randomly messaging you "by mistake" don't just want to be your friend at all.
Anyone messaging me "by mistake" is going to get told they have the wrong number, and if they keep on bothering me, that's why my phone has a "block number" feature. 😀
I've recently been getting texts from random out of state numbers just saying hey or hi. I have friends all over the place so it's plausible that someone could have gotten my number from somewhere but unlikely. Each time it's happened I've texted them from a Google voice number and said that in case this is a scam I'm texting from a burner number but to let me know if you were actually trying to reach someone. It's a completely different area code from a different part of the country that way if it's a scam and they texted a bunch of people it's less likely they'll know it was me. Most of the time I get no reply but once I got a response saying the person was trying to "contact a friend". Nothing after that.
One major red flag is someone who tries to be too friendly, and get too close to you emotionally, when he or she lives thousands of miles away. I tend not to trust anyone too much, unless I have had a face-to-face relationship with that person at some point.
@@mildredpierce4506 that isn't actually the only problem since these people will often pretend to be family kidnapped or in jail and whatnot as well. Playing a stranger is actually much riskier because stranger danger is nonsense. Your friends and family (and therefore someone pretending to be your friends and family) are the most likely ones to get you because you trust them and you shouldn't. You shouldn't send money you aren't able to just burn to literally anyone. Not only could they be a scammer for all you know, even if they're not, they might just not be worth trusting and you'll never see it again either way.
Sounds easy but sometimes they hit you where your vulnerable as i was looking to invest and learn crypto. And bam right there. And with this one... your not giving them money per se. You think your investing into crypto and making money.
this is actually happening to me right now, like the last 3 months happened 2 times or more some random Chinese girls starting to chat as wrong number ....wow thanks
@Inconnu 49 no problem here , actually i have good idea and iam very cautious person , in the first time i walked along with her .... suddenly she backed out LOL , like she was hi khalid how the business? And i kept going its good .... she asked more related questions , i kept answering like am her guy .... until she confessed maybe this is wrong number but i was no ...LOL
For my case that is from Africa. I already blocked some number but they keep chatting to my mom number. But my mom really keen chatting more, even after blunder they make to send some money. Flying some argument to convince mom not send any money
Yes, I got the same thing hot looking Chinese women, small talk first like cooking and then they get into economics. That raises a red flag for me and I cut them off.
I’m lonely since my wife died, but I’m not stupid. As you said, when someone gets a wrong number and you never hear from that person again everything is cool. When that person tries to start a conversation, I hear alarm bells going off and I know right away this person is up to something. Whatever that “ something “ is, I want no part of it. Just use common sense, and if something doesn’t feel right, a gut instinct, listen to your gut and block the person. If the person persists, I’m going to say a few things that I can’t repeat on your channel. Too put it politely, don’t mess with me. Thanks ThioJoe for the heads up. I appreciate it.
TJ, I saw the clip of you when you first started out on RUclips, and you've come a long way. You're a total professional now and I love you for it. I love your videos and the knowledge you drop. Thanks for all you do.
Hard to believe people are as vulnerable as they are. Me, I only communicate to sites I know well and it something looks funky, I'm out of there. As the scammers get more and more devious, we need to be alert, aware and informed. Thx Joe.
Thanks, ThioJoe; it's surprising and sad that so many people fall for this scam. As for the scammers, the more I learn about people, the more I like animals.
really weird to hear there's people who actually engage in conversations with the wrong number. i'd probably not even bother answering. i don't even pick up calls from numbers i don't have saved
I have been on financial sites where the scammers post a comment telling everyone to click on to make money...pretty brazen, and SO easy to spot. Desperate measures, for sure.
This is hilarious, I got precisely this scam like 2 months ago. The person texted me randomly, and indeed they are very friendly! Of course, you can tell it's a scam, but you almost feel bad to tell them to get lost because of how nice they'll act. Oh yeah and that infamous 'acquaintance is fate' phrase seems to be like their trademark.
I think most skilled and experience people on the internet will have a lot of fun making the Black Hat wasting a lot of time, just hinting but never putting any money. I would probably make a RUclips video out of that, mocking them for a very long time. I always enjoy seeing videos when a guy makes a random Indian scammer scream out of rage.
@@roseywinter It's fun to toy with someone who believe he's smart enough to mess with me. I get a lot of enjoyment seeing them go MAD when I waste their time. It's fun, believe me.
The "I work with crypto" or "I own a beauty salon" thing happens pretty much every time I match with women from Hong Kong who say they live near me (i'm northern european). You are right that they are clever, but there is also a lot of them and so you'll see a pattern arise pretty fast. I worry about others, it's so important not to stigmatize "falling for it", if we do we end up people not sharing their mistakes with others and thereby let the scammer win. So let's remember to show as much empathy for victims and try and reduce the "falling for" wording as its to many is synonymous with dumb or stupid, and let's instead refer to it as victimized, conned or deceived. This may help people to open up about their experienced and not be ashamed which can help save the next person whom is less informed about this topic. Great video.
I've had a couple wrong number texts this year that were probably the beginning of scam attempts as described in your video. One of my conversations that arose from a wrong number text eventually involved cryptocurrency, and I expressed a healthy skepticism at what she was talking about. I might have been too smart for her, because she started insulting me personally, and then I just blocked her. What a weird interaction. I had another wrong number text last month. However, as soon as I confirmed with her that she had the wrong number, she still continued on, asking where I was from. I stopped responding right there. And that's my policy now; once I've established that the person had the wrong number, I either terminate the chat or just don't respond anymore. Maybe I should go further and just not reply at all. Anyway, thanks for your video, since it makes me realize I was probably targeted for this scam.
This man spends hundred of thousands of time just to help us. He helps those in need while also helping us. He always puts a smile on our faces and we should appreciate it. Hats off to Him! I love you dudes. Crazy I've never payed attention to the *Apexnotch* movement when I say ancestral your a gift to our peoples
Great info, I've been getting random SMS text messages and social media follows that fit perfectly into your description, for a long time. I've always been suspicious but knew nothing about the nature of the scam behind them.
This can't happen to me cause I don't trust no one even in person 😂. I don't even trust my boss when he says he's gonna pay me to "be there 8 hours a day and do what he says", so far he has but I'm waiting for the moment in which the checks stop coming and he skips town.
I think someone tried to do this to me yesterday. Someone DM'd me on Twitter and out of the blue asked me where I'm from, and immediately told me they were from the UK, but had moved somewhere else for work reasons. I blocked them, because I don't remember asking, and I certainly don't remember caring.
Weirdly I’m resistant to this cause I’m too lazy to reply to random messages. I can’t be bothered to reply to those messages. They either just sit there and I observe what happens or they go straight to the bin.
I had several texts from different "women" within a few days several weeks ago. When the person wanted to continue the conversation, I thought she was just being nice. Eventually I felt something was off so I blocked the number. Within the next week, I received at least five more such texts from different numbers and even a couple calls. Be careful
This scam is actually really devious. In the past scammers have relied and pray and spray tactics designed to weed out smarter people but then those people they hook have trouble getting the crypto or play cards or whatever. This scam uses a lot of psychology tricks and I'd imagine it would work on a lot more people
I just had this done, but by someone’s profile that I knew .. that I haven’t heard from in awhile. They left automatically when they asked if they could add my phone # to their list & I said NO. I went to the profile & it wasn’t an active account… the real person had a new account. They were scamming to go to a site for money.. they said they seen my name on “the list” & were asking if I received my money. I knew it was a scam from the start.. I snap shot the whole conversation and told others.. I will certainly share this. Thank you ! ♥️
I am so tired of scammers. I used to be on Instagram, but it has so many scammers. It got to the point where every time I got on Instagram, a scammer would disturb me while I was trying to post. I quit using IG. I also have received many unknown emails, texts, and calls. Thank God, so far, I have noticed they are scammers. The scammers have grown in number and are now much bolder and more aggressive. They make me so angry. Thanks for the great information. I would list all their scams, but it would take too long.
This happened to me in the past and they've stolen ALOT from me, my Intellectual properties my time and money, I can't go into detail and they will GET exposed eventually,I have many names.... thanks again for sharing enjoy your holidays 🎈
Con men haven't changed over centuries. They communicate with you by the latest technology. Don't invest in things you don't understand. They are counting on you to be a Greddy Gus...😮
I have had this happen before - and they target the lonely. After a few weeks they will tell you how much they like you and how you are their ideal person and all that stuff, and if you arent careful, not only will you lose your money you may get your heart broken too, because they will make you try and fall in love with them. Its horrible.
I got hit up by this exact scenario. I made it out as a scam right away but “flirted” with the nice young “Singaporean” woman for a week or so. You’ve described it perfectly.
I get this kind of scam at least once a week. I like talking to them though. Its nice to have someone to pour your feelings in to to watch them slowly crumble into madness until they stop texting you.
@@Leonhart_93 oh yea there's no doubt they have my phone number. I grew up on the Internet and I've been a big part of social media and gaming. Fortunately I work in the tech industry so I know how to avoid them and not get scammed.
@@stxejn Everyone's phone number is probably compromised by this point but I think yours stands out somehow. Like a specific site that hackers commonly use to steal data. Maybe even a public thing like social networks.
Well, hell. I get some sort of text scam a couple of times a month; I suppose my number is on one of these lists. Usually it's one of those 'your Netflix or Amazon account has been suspended for blah blah blah' texts. Idiots. Anyway, I'm no tech expert but I am an intelligent, grumpy-a** old woman. (Don't let my cat's adorable face fool you.) I would love to play with these idiots but after doing it once, stringing some fool along for days, my tech-savvy son said I should stop. I would love to "watch them slowly crumble into madness" but, alas, my son usually knows best.
The worst thing is, the moment when chatbots on the level of ChatGPT's gets penetrated, these scams will be automated. Of course, they will need to train their own instance of chatbot with a more life-like manners text database but they will do it, it's obvious. (Perhaps you mentioned this thought in you video, I just made this comment in the middle of the video.)
Sometimes, if they are successful scammers they will actually give you a small payout if you only "invested" a small amount. Of course it will come with a lot of pressure to "re-invest" it and if you have already taken the bait, probably will do so.
I had this happen to me, was on a dating site, even video chatted the person. She was really nice. Maybe day 4 she dropped that she had insiders knowledge from her uncle. By day 7 she was having an emergency and needed me to log in to her account and make some trades. I declined and ghosted her. Felt like alternative motives. Maybe a month passed and she messaged me on a new number asking if i was still interested in her. Wasn't even aware this was a scam, but I can 1000% guarantee she's done this to many guys by the things she owns.
She might have used the emergency lie to "unintentionally" let you see how much money she was making. Or could have been trying to get you to manipulate legit accounts so they could avoid criminal responsibility.
I thought I was really smart regarding scams but last year got caught in a scam that cost me nearly $1000 from an alleged fiduciary company. The internet was supposed to bring people together but I've been approached by so many scammers I trust no one anymore. I don't make new friends on Instagram or Facebook unless they know someone that I'm friends with. Oh and this scammer hijacked my Facebook account.
I also heard of a scam where by the scammers will ask you to guess who they are and then when u guess correctly they will say stuff like they lost their phone and this is their new phone number so the victim would assume they changed phone. Then they will ask for money like a loan or something and then victim only realized it's a scam when they call the real person and find out they did no such thing.
I had this scam sent twice to me before but the second one IS VERY SCARY, it’s because they Will use your CITY as where they are from, so it looks even more legit. Thankfully I caught on after she started the convo. One thing to notice is that they use a lot of the same prompts but may word some stuff differently. They probably do a lot of people at once so being original is gonna be tough for them. Also sometimes they may use the same name they mistake you with. So you may get a different prompts but with the same name. I have gotten a lot in the past year or so. Maybe a dozen. So he careful! You could also though go along and waste their time. I suggest this
I must admit the fact that in 2018 or 2019 (can't remember exactly), I came close to being scammed. It was the scam in which your screen is frozen (it seems), and the scammer has set up this flashing warning with a phone #. I called it and did the whole thing. It was when they were asking for money that I realized the fact that it was false. Just in time. I tell everyone I know when the subject comes up: Task Manager, End Task, and close that browser!! It's embarrassing to admit the fact that I almost fell for it, but all is well that ends well. And channels like yours keep me informed about new AND older scams. Great video!!
Many online games have chat boxes that are infiltrated with scammers. They only want to chat, and are only going through the motions of playing the game, and not very well, either. If you refuse to chat, they often will just shut the game down or resign. It spoils what would otherwise be good games to have these predators always fishing for their next victim.
I'm lucky to have never been scammed online, but some of my less tech savvy friends have. It's so annoying that here in South Africa one can't expect any help from your bank or the police to even report it - let alone attempt to get the money back.
Thanks. Exactly what I've experienced. The romance scam. They make you want to believe them. Then pressure. Then disappear. But wait! They also do video chats and respond in real time. Real pros .
This actually happened to me lol. No I did not got scammed, but it did go till phase 2½. They had two international numbers from UK and Singapore. They started dropping hints about their work and why I should invest in their "work" and my friends should too. I did not know it was a scam either, just thought it was a genuine person. I said I'll do it later and just procastinated on it and they started sending msgs like 'hey have you done that thing?' I'm like I'll do it later and then again procastinated on it. (I never planned on doing it lol I'm broke af) and again they resumed normal chatting and again after a few days they reminded me of it and I just stopped replying. I guess they knew I won't be doing them any favours hahaa.
I did that once, while he was asking me for my name, address, etc. I said, "You called me. You told me that there was a problem with some credit card order. You have my street address already. You tell me what address you have and I will tell you if it's right. Then he wanted my credit card number. I told him to tell me what he has and I will tell him if it is right. "Oh, I can't do that, for privacy reasons." I said, "Just give me the last two digits then. "I can't do that for privacy reasons, Ma'am." I said, well, then I guess we have nothing more to discuss here. Sounds like you have the wrong person." And hung up. Let them give you all their info. Usually they have nothing beyond maybe a name, a phone number and that's it. Give them nothing, and hang up.
Thanks a bunch for warning us Joe I really thought they wouldn't rise and actually strike this badly but I guess there's no escape from reality. Thankfully though, I didn't encounter any 😌
Wow! These scammers are really sophisticated. While I was watching this a call came in from Shanghai! 😉 Thanks, Thio, for keeping us informed about stuff like this.
I tell everyone to video chat to make sure they aren't stealing an identity. Most will have an excuse every time if fraudulent. Most scams are coming out of Nigeria and India these days.
@@ThioJoe yes, I noticed some weird hands in hoodie scammer images at 11:05. The funny thing is that I just now realised the title which says "AI Generated Image Prompt:" ! Something about those images really caught my eye &caused me to ignore the text. Mind you, that image was also rather quickly gone.
The most widspread scam I have seen is in youtube comments where people brag about how much money they made by some financial advisor or similar (usually by claiming they are trading crypto currency)... And many fake profiles chime in and say yes he is trusworty and telling they made also lot of money or say they know people that also made lot of money by the same financial advisor.
I get these texts all the time. Instead of talking me up, I go along with their gag until they’re so frustrated they end up swearing at me and giving up in frustration. I love to waste their time.
Pro tip for anyone who gets to the point where they send you a link to the site where they do there trading, look the domain name up, if it'l was recently created and it expires soon, this should be a red flag.
i have had some one send a text exactly like in the start of this video. i ended up blocking the number because i find it creepy when i tell them they have the wrong number and they try to befiend me. now i know its a scam so thank you ThioJoe.
I always try to scare them. The last time someone called and asked me what I was doing, I cheerfully told them that the day was going kinda slow and I was worried that my next victim was just NEVER gonna present themselves...but it's all good now 🤨
*Apexdeft* your approach and jobtelling is GENIUS and you're establishing yourself as a one of a kind communicators that I believe few have ever seen on this platform. And I think you definitely succeeded in making sense of it to the world! Keep up the good work my friend
Those AI generated images are quite something though. On some of them, the screen is rotated away from the person using it, for others, the keyboard appears way too small 🤦♂️
This seems to me to be an illegal version of what crypto tends to achieve anyway - you parted from your money in the end. Good to know how to look out for this one though.
The takeaway is Crypto is a scam. Period. Maybe there are some legit aspects to it, but the risk of you getting scammed is not worth getting into it whatsoever.
I have fun with these scammers and they are persistent at times. And you are right they all start out innocent and will tell you their "life story" trying to sucker you in. But at some point, money always comes up in one form or another. You see I'm still one of those hardcore "don't believe anything on the internet" kind of people. So, if I do not know you personally like face to face personal, then the games begin. And I always play to win. I have no ill intentions against these people because they are just human after all. But while they think they are stringing me along it is me stringing them along. I get bored at times and these scammers are a great way to break up some boredom.
Don't put your Snapchat username on Tinder. There's scam bots constantly. As soon as I took it off, I stopped getting friend requests from random Snapchat users with zero snap score and weird names.
Hi Thio Joe, you must have read my mind because I was looking for exactly this type of scam that they tried to do it to me a couple of months ago and I had to close my bank account when someone deposited money for me to start the business. The bank manager told me this was a scam, so I immediately stopped. Any transaction or movement with anyone talking to me about crypto coins. Thank you so much for your wonderful video and I felt relieved after I watched it thank you thank you once more.
Be sure to warn friends and family about this one, because it is especially bad for people who don't keep track of new scams 😡
My gf is a scam no way
How did you get crown beside your name?
Thank you for this info, ThioJoe. Have you personally ever learned things the hard way?
Thank you for the heads up on these new more elaborate scams. Really appreciate the proper subtitles.👍
Best advice is not trust anyone who contacts you. I don’t know how but these scammers have my phone number and no matter if I block that non existence number, they call me again with another non existence number. I just hung up on them as there’s no other way I know to reduce the number of scam calls I receive. One of my ex-work colleagues had to change mobile numbers to stop it, but that only worked for a little while before the scammers started calling their new number.
The amount of bravery this took was INSANE. These people all had their lives in danger, but still decided to go through with the recovery for the sake of busting bad scammers. True respect *Strong widget on the internet!*
If the FBI was half as dedicated and ingenious (and honest) as you guys are, the USA would be a much safer country.
Amazing work!
Exceptional works, *STRONG WIDGET* -I'm glad you're battling these jerks out there. We must take every precaution to safeguard the elderly and the general public from these disgusting scam artists! You've earned it!! You deserve the Nobel Peace Prize for keeping us safe, brother.
Great work *Strong widget* - so glad you are out there fighting these lowlifes. We need to do all we can to spare the elderly and the general public from these despicable scammers! Kudos to YOU!!
You deserve the Nobel prize for keeping us safe big up brother.
Just a reminder: the "con" in "con man" is short for confidence. The scam begins with gaining your confidence so that you willingly give them what they want.
Good reminder, thank you
Exactly what I had to remind my father of when someone recently tried to scam my father with a short sale on his house. He told me how honest & straightforward he seemed. So I stressed how he had managed to gain his "confidence." My family and I will be keeping a much closer eye on him & his finances.
CHESTERON IS ONE OF THESE SITES! BEWARE!
Yup true they keep coming for me too. It pisses me off.
Convince with confidence
I never get past phase one because when ever I get text messages for someone else, I just assume its some sort of phishing scam and I ignore it...the same reason I don't answer phone calls if I don't recognize the phone number
Yup. Hard lesson learned by many of us. If I don't know the number, they can leave a message. It's hard for businesses, though. My son says he gets about 20 scam/spam calls a day.
Yup, answering will confirm that your number is real. Use reverse phone search on any number you get that's unknown.
Same, plus I automatically block. So far I don’t get many scam texts/calls 🤞.
@@Victic005 answering doesnt confirm, they will get you VM if you dont answer and will still see it is real. Also, call centers will pretty much only remove the number from their list if they get the 3 tones followed by the message about the number not existing... I used to have that set up as my VM and my phone would auto reject any unknown call to VM where they would get those 3 tones followed by that message the phone number is not available/disconnected.. after a pause i would have my real message. I would tell people what i did so they were aware... After a month i changed back to my normal VM and my spam/scam calls were pretty much eliminated...
@@michaelhanson5773 that's a good idea.
Actually this kind of scam has been going on for years by now. Not many have been using it though, because most scammers think it's not something to profit out of it very quickly or you don't get any profit at all. It's sad, but people randomly messaging you "by mistake" don't just want to be your friend at all.
true if i get a random message illl ignore them
Anyone messaging me "by mistake" is going to get told they have the wrong number, and if they keep on bothering me, that's why my phone has a "block number" feature. 😀
I've recently been getting texts from random out of state numbers just saying hey or hi. I have friends all over the place so it's plausible that someone could have gotten my number from somewhere but unlikely.
Each time it's happened I've texted them from a Google voice number and said that in case this is a scam I'm texting from a burner number but to let me know if you were actually trying to reach someone. It's a completely different area code from a different part of the country that way if it's a scam and they texted a bunch of people it's less likely they'll know it was me.
Most of the time I get no reply but once I got a response saying the person was trying to "contact a friend". Nothing after that.
Hey James. How is it going? 😁
One major red flag is someone who tries to be too friendly, and get too close to you emotionally, when he or she lives thousands of miles away. I tend not to trust anyone too much, unless I have had a face-to-face relationship with that person at some point.
Eh, I don't know. I've had some close, emotional friendships you could say, from closed interest websites.
All these scams come to the same solution: Don't ever send money to anyone you don't know, and never met in person.
If they can't show themselves, then they are not who they say they are, they are all fake scammers and thieves. Beware and BeAware.
That is so obvious you would think everyone would already know this.
That’s the part I never understand. Why do people send thousands and sometimes millions of dollars to a person they have never met.
@@mildredpierce4506 that isn't actually the only problem since these people will often pretend to be family kidnapped or in jail and whatnot as well.
Playing a stranger is actually much riskier because stranger danger is nonsense. Your friends and family (and therefore someone pretending to be your friends and family) are the most likely ones to get you because you trust them and you shouldn't.
You shouldn't send money you aren't able to just burn to literally anyone. Not only could they be a scammer for all you know, even if they're not, they might just not be worth trusting and you'll never see it again either way.
Sounds easy but sometimes they hit you where your vulnerable as i was looking to invest and learn crypto. And bam right there. And with this one... your not giving them money per se. You think your investing into crypto and making money.
I got one of those texts. I answered with..'I'm sorry. I’m busy right now helping someone from committing suicide. Are you OK?' They left me alone.
this is actually happening to me right now, like the last 3 months happened 2 times or more some random Chinese girls starting to chat as wrong number ....wow
thanks
Yes! I had heard this was a thing coming from China or Africa! Hopefully they didnt get much out of you! Good luck!
@Inconnu 49 no problem here , actually i have good idea and iam very cautious person , in the first time i walked along with her .... suddenly she backed out LOL , like she was hi khalid how the business? And i kept going its good .... she asked more related questions , i kept answering like am her guy .... until she confessed maybe this is wrong number but i was no ...LOL
For my case that is from Africa. I already blocked some number but they keep chatting to my mom number. But my mom really keen chatting more, even after blunder they make to send some money. Flying some argument to convince mom not send any money
Yes, I got the same thing hot looking Chinese women, small talk first like cooking and then they get into economics. That raises a red flag for me and I cut them off.
I’m lonely since my wife died, but I’m not stupid. As you said, when someone gets a wrong number and you never hear from that person again everything is cool. When that person tries to start a conversation, I hear alarm bells going off and I know right away this person is up to something. Whatever that “ something “ is, I want no part of it. Just use common sense, and if something doesn’t feel right, a gut instinct, listen to your gut and block the person. If the person persists, I’m going to say a few things that I can’t repeat on your channel. Too put it politely, don’t mess with me. Thanks ThioJoe for the heads up. I appreciate it.
Or, test it with a real meet. They will never accept it, and there's no point into a distance relationship based on money alone.
@@ShinryuZensen Why engage at all?
@@sr2291 most people can't help it. So, the test gives the definite response
Robbo. Finely someone with good sense. I nearly got caught twice because I don't send men money . It's sad what people do because of loneliness
@@sr2291 because its fun, I have fun wasting these scammers time and acting like an insane person
TJ, I saw the clip of you when you first started out on RUclips, and you've come a long way. You're a total professional now and I love you for it. I love your videos and the knowledge you drop. Thanks for all you do.
Hard to believe people are as vulnerable as they are. Me, I only communicate to sites I know well and it something looks funky, I'm out of there. As the scammers get more and more devious, we need to be alert, aware and informed. Thx Joe.
Don’t come to me when you fall for it, this is the exact kind of people that are overconfident and get scammed.
@@stuziijj9853 no. He's being cautious lol
Thanks, ThioJoe; it's surprising and sad that so many people fall for this scam. As for the scammers, the more I learn about people, the more I like animals.
The only crime more serious than scamming, is murder.
@@charlesjames1464 No, a scam is basically theft. But if you think about it there are various tiers worse between that and murder.
really weird to hear there's people who actually engage in conversations with the wrong number. i'd probably not even bother answering. i don't even pick up calls from numbers i don't have saved
This is awful, but I'm glad there's as many people like you trying to prevent scams as there are perpetrating them.
Thanks for keeping us up - to - date with corruption and scams.
LMAO UNDERRATED
I have been on financial sites where the scammers post a comment telling everyone to click on to make money...pretty brazen, and SO easy to spot. Desperate measures, for sure.
This is hilarious, I got precisely this scam like 2 months ago. The person texted me randomly, and indeed they are very friendly! Of course, you can tell it's a scam, but you almost feel bad to tell them to get lost because of how nice they'll act. Oh yeah and that infamous 'acquaintance is fate' phrase seems to be like their trademark.
I think most skilled and experience people on the internet will have a lot of fun making the Black Hat wasting a lot of time, just hinting but never putting any money.
I would probably make a RUclips video out of that, mocking them for a very long time. I always enjoy seeing videos when a guy makes a random Indian scammer scream out of rage.
Why even respond, though? I just ignore and block. If I don't know them, I don't know them. Lol.
@@roseywinter Oh I agree with you, I followed up for fun and curiosity, but it was getting annoying.
@@roseywinter It's fun to toy with someone who believe he's smart enough to mess with me. I get a lot of enjoyment seeing them go MAD when I waste their time. It's fun, believe me.
@@ShinryuZensen Kitboga
The "I work with crypto" or "I own a beauty salon" thing happens pretty much every time I match with women from Hong Kong who say they live near me (i'm northern european).
You are right that they are clever, but there is also a lot of them and so you'll see a pattern arise pretty fast.
I worry about others, it's so important not to stigmatize "falling for it", if we do we end up people not sharing their mistakes with others and thereby let the scammer win.
So let's remember to show as much empathy for victims and try and reduce the "falling for" wording as its to many is synonymous with dumb or stupid, and let's instead refer to it as victimized, conned or deceived.
This may help people to open up about their experienced and not be ashamed which can help save the next person whom is less informed about this topic.
Great video.
You are so right!
I've had a couple wrong number texts this year that were probably the beginning of scam attempts as described in your video. One of my conversations that arose from a wrong number text eventually involved cryptocurrency, and I expressed a healthy skepticism at what she was talking about. I might have been too smart for her, because she started insulting me personally, and then I just blocked her. What a weird interaction.
I had another wrong number text last month. However, as soon as I confirmed with her that she had the wrong number, she still continued on, asking where I was from. I stopped responding right there. And that's my policy now; once I've established that the person had the wrong number, I either terminate the chat or just don't respond anymore. Maybe I should go further and just not reply at all. Anyway, thanks for your video, since it makes me realize I was probably targeted for this scam.
They're good if you think it's a woman on the other end of the conversation 🤣, most probably a guy in his 20s.
This man spends hundred of thousands of time just to help us. He helps those in need while also helping us. He always puts a smile on our faces and we should appreciate it. Hats off to Him! I love you dudes. Crazy I've never payed attention to the *Apexnotch* movement when I say ancestral your a gift to our peoples
Great info, I've been getting random SMS text messages and social media follows that fit perfectly into your description, for a long time. I've always been suspicious but knew nothing about the nature of the scam behind them.
This can't happen to me cause I don't trust no one even in person 😂. I don't even trust my boss when he says he's gonna pay me to "be there 8 hours a day and do what he says", so far he has but I'm waiting for the moment in which the checks stop coming and he skips town.
Internet hugs to you, friend
sad.
Hope that doesn’t happen to you
Highly underated channel.
Respect to you for your research.
A sad indictment on gullible people! Who in their right mind believes some unknown random stranger is trustworthy.
I remember hearing about this from a friend in China a couple of years ago. it's good to see it's getting coverage on this side of RUclips.
I think someone tried to do this to me yesterday.
Someone DM'd me on Twitter and out of the blue asked me where I'm from, and immediately told me they were from the UK, but had moved somewhere else for work reasons. I blocked them, because I don't remember asking, and I certainly don't remember caring.
Weirdly I’m resistant to this cause I’m too lazy to reply to random messages. I can’t be bothered to reply to those messages. They either just sit there and I observe what happens or they go straight to the bin.
I had several texts from different "women" within a few days several weeks ago. When the person wanted to continue the conversation, I thought she was just being nice. Eventually I felt something was off so I blocked the number. Within the next week, I received at least five more such texts from different numbers and even a couple calls. Be careful
This scam is actually really devious. In the past scammers have relied and pray and spray tactics designed to weed out smarter people but then those people they hook have trouble getting the crypto or play cards or whatever.
This scam uses a lot of psychology tricks and I'd imagine it would work on a lot more people
I just had this done, but by someone’s profile that I knew .. that I haven’t heard from in awhile. They left automatically when they asked if they could add my phone # to their list & I said NO. I went to the profile & it wasn’t an active account… the real person had a new account. They were scamming to go to a site for money.. they said they seen my name on “the list” & were asking if I received my money. I knew it was a scam from the start.. I snap shot the whole conversation and told others.. I will certainly share this. Thank you ! ♥️
Need your help to bring these scammers down.
I am so tired of scammers. I used to be on Instagram, but it has so many scammers. It got to the point where every time I got on Instagram, a scammer would disturb me while I was trying to post. I quit using IG. I also have received many unknown emails, texts, and calls. Thank God, so far, I have noticed they are scammers. The scammers have grown in number and are now much bolder and more aggressive. They make me so angry. Thanks for the great information. I would list all their scams, but it would take too long.
This happened to me in the past and they've stolen ALOT from me, my Intellectual properties my time and money, I can't go into detail and they will GET exposed eventually,I have many names.... thanks again for sharing enjoy your holidays 🎈
This is nothing new....I've bbeen getting texts like that for years now. I never reply...once you reply they will never stop talking. BLOCK THEM!
Thank you for informing us for these scams ❤️ The scammers became more personal now. This is scary
Don't talk to anyone you don't know.
Con men haven't changed over centuries. They communicate with you by the latest technology. Don't invest in things you don't understand. They are counting on you to be a Greddy Gus...😮
Thank you very much for making scam awareness videos! The pandemic and post pandemic era have sadly made such scams flourish...
I have had this happen before - and they target the lonely. After a few weeks they will tell you how much they like you and how you are their ideal person and all that stuff, and if you arent careful, not only will you lose your money you may get your heart broken too, because they will make you try and fall in love with them. Its horrible.
It would be hilarious if someone hooked up two of these scammers to talk to each other for months and then they scam each other
I got hit up by this exact scenario. I made it out as a scam right away but “flirted” with the nice young “Singaporean” woman for a week or so. You’ve described it perfectly.
These profiles can go back years and seem VERY legit.
I’ve been called by an “ investment trainer” in AU recently. I suspected it was a scam, thanks for the confirmation.
I get this kind of scam at least once a week. I like talking to them though. Its nice to have someone to pour your feelings in to to watch them slowly crumble into madness until they stop texting you.
That's definitely way too often. They may have easy access to your phone number.
@@Leonhart_93 oh yea there's no doubt they have my phone number. I grew up on the Internet and I've been a big part of social media and gaming. Fortunately I work in the tech industry so I know how to avoid them and not get scammed.
@@stxejn Everyone's phone number is probably compromised by this point but I think yours stands out somehow. Like a specific site that hackers commonly use to steal data. Maybe even a public thing like social networks.
3 biggest scams I’ve heard of are FTX, Ukraine and governments!
Well, hell. I get some sort of text scam a couple of times a month; I suppose my number is on one of these lists. Usually it's one of those 'your Netflix or Amazon account has been suspended for blah blah blah' texts. Idiots. Anyway, I'm no tech expert but I am an intelligent, grumpy-a** old woman. (Don't let my cat's adorable face fool you.) I would love to play with these idiots but after doing it once, stringing some fool along for days, my tech-savvy son said I should stop. I would love to "watch them slowly crumble into madness" but, alas, my son usually knows best.
The worst thing is, the moment when chatbots on the level of ChatGPT's gets penetrated, these scams will be automated. Of course, they will need to train their own instance of chatbot with a more life-like manners text database but they will do it, it's obvious. (Perhaps you mentioned this thought in you video, I just made this comment in the middle of the video.)
I laughed so hard at the stock photo for "scammer customer service" 😂
As a complete a-hole I'm always wary when somebody doesn't immediately reject me it's the first sign that something's not right.
When it happens to me, and they bring up money, I say I don't want to chat about money. That ends it in most cases.
Sometimes, if they are successful scammers they will actually give you a small payout if you only "invested" a small amount. Of course it will come with a lot of pressure to "re-invest" it and if you have already taken the bait, probably will do so.
Note: it's very dangerous either way to try and play these scammers. They're always prepared for every scenario
I had this happen to me, was on a dating site, even video chatted the person. She was really nice.
Maybe day 4 she dropped that she had insiders knowledge from her uncle. By day 7 she was having an emergency and needed me to log in to her account and make some trades.
I declined and ghosted her. Felt like alternative motives. Maybe a month passed and she messaged me on a new number asking if i was still interested in her.
Wasn't even aware this was a scam, but I can 1000% guarantee she's done this to many guys by the things she owns.
She might have used the emergency lie to "unintentionally" let you see how much money she was making. Or could have been trying to get you to manipulate legit accounts so they could avoid criminal responsibility.
I thought I was really smart regarding scams but last year got caught in a scam that cost me nearly $1000 from an alleged fiduciary company. The internet was supposed to bring people together but I've been approached by so many scammers I trust no one anymore. I don't make new friends on Instagram or Facebook unless they know someone that I'm friends with. Oh and this scammer hijacked my Facebook account.
Sounds like the phoenix companies here in australia that ASIC has completely ignored for many years (but now pressured to act).
Luckily I'm so incredibly lonely that if someone tries to befriend me I will immediately be suspicious about it.
I also heard of a scam where by the scammers will ask you to guess who they are and then when u guess correctly they will say stuff like they lost their phone and this is their new phone number so the victim would assume they changed phone. Then they will ask for money like a loan or something and then victim only realized it's a scam when they call the real person and find out they did no such thing.
I had this scam sent twice to me before but the second one IS VERY SCARY, it’s because they Will use your CITY as where they are from, so it looks even more legit. Thankfully I caught on after she started the convo. One thing to notice is that they use a lot of the same prompts but may word some stuff differently. They probably do a lot of people at once so being original is gonna be tough for them. Also sometimes they may use the same name they mistake you with. So you may get a different prompts but with the same name.
I have gotten a lot in the past year or so. Maybe a dozen. So he careful!
You could also though go along and waste their time. I suggest this
I must admit the fact that in 2018 or 2019 (can't remember exactly), I came close to being scammed. It was the scam in which your screen is frozen (it seems), and the scammer has set up this flashing warning with a phone #. I called it and did the whole thing. It was when they were asking for money that I realized the fact that it was false. Just in time. I tell everyone I know when the subject comes up: Task Manager, End Task, and close that browser!! It's embarrassing to admit the fact that I almost fell for it, but all is well that ends well. And channels like yours keep me informed about new AND older scams. Great video!!
That’s the tech support scam. Lots of youtube videos on that.
im receiving this up to 4 times a week !!! but i send them a text back with my D**k picture 😂😂
Yes I've heard of this scam before. Thanks for getting the word out so people know what to look out for.
Many online games have chat boxes that are infiltrated with scammers. They only want to chat, and are only going through the motions of playing the game, and not very well, either. If you refuse to chat, they often will just shut the game down or resign. It spoils what would otherwise be good games to have these predators always fishing for their next victim.
I'm lucky to have never been scammed online, but some of my less tech savvy friends have. It's so annoying that here in South Africa one can't expect any help from your bank or the police to even report it - let alone attempt to get the money back.
Thanks. Exactly what I've experienced. The romance scam. They make you want to believe them. Then pressure. Then disappear. But wait! They also do video chats and respond in real time. Real pros .
I almost fell for this scam set up an account, but didn't go thorough with it because the person clearly only cared about money.
This actually happened to me lol. No I did not got scammed, but it did go till phase 2½. They had two international numbers from UK and Singapore. They started dropping hints about their work and why I should invest in their "work" and my friends should too. I did not know it was a scam either, just thought it was a genuine person.
I said I'll do it later and just procastinated on it and they started sending msgs like 'hey have you done that thing?' I'm like I'll do it later and then again procastinated on it. (I never planned on doing it lol I'm broke af) and again they resumed normal chatting and again after a few days they reminded me of it and I just stopped replying. I guess they knew I won't be doing them any favours hahaa.
I’ve had so many “wrong number” texts like that this year it’s insane
I caught on to this right away! I like to drag them on for as long as possible. Just waste their time to prevent them scamming others.
Atomic Shrimp does this a lot.
I did that once, while he was asking me for my name, address, etc. I said, "You called me. You told me that there was a problem with some credit card order. You have my street address already. You tell me what address you have and I will tell you if it's right. Then he wanted my credit card number. I told him to tell me what he has and I will tell him if it is right. "Oh, I can't do that, for privacy reasons." I said, "Just give me the last two digits then. "I can't do that for privacy reasons, Ma'am." I said, well, then I guess we have nothing more to discuss here. Sounds like you have the wrong person." And hung up. Let them give you all their info. Usually they have nothing beyond maybe a name, a phone number and that's it. Give them nothing, and hang up.
IRLrosie is voice actor and her Alexa and Siri impersonation messing with scammers made my sides hurt from laughing she is awesome
Thanks a bunch for warning us Joe I really thought they wouldn't rise and actually strike this badly but I guess there's no escape from reality. Thankfully though, I didn't encounter any 😌
Wow! These scammers are really sophisticated. While I was watching this a call came in from Shanghai! 😉 Thanks, Thio, for keeping us informed about stuff like this.
I tell everyone to video chat to make sure they aren't stealing an identity. Most will have an excuse every time if fraudulent. Most scams are coming out of Nigeria and India these days.
These social engineering scams are the worst!
Some of the Ai Generated Images Look Very Creepy!
@Rohith M, yes, the weirdly-fingered scammers at 11:05 caught my eye.
thank you for boosting awareness about scams!
So fun using Stable Diffusion images 😂 It's your new illustration scheme?
For some images yep lol
@@ThioJoe yes, I noticed some weird hands in hoodie scammer images at 11:05. The funny thing is that I just now realised the title which says "AI Generated Image Prompt:" ! Something about those images really caught my eye &caused me to ignore the text. Mind you, that image was also rather quickly gone.
I received quite a few of those in 2021-2022. None in 2023... Maybe they catch on to people's awareness. Keep up the good work and stay vigilant!
The most widspread scam I have seen is in youtube comments where people brag about how much money they made by some financial advisor or similar (usually by claiming they are trading crypto currency)... And many fake profiles chime in and say yes he is trusworty and telling they made also lot of money or say they know people that also made lot of money by the same financial advisor.
True hopefully RUclips is working on it it's been a while since I saw something like that
Those are bots...the og bot lays an initial placeholder comment, and the other bots react in kind...
I get these texts all the time. Instead of talking me up, I go along with their gag until they’re so frustrated they end up swearing at me and giving up in frustration. I love to waste their time.
Pro tip for anyone who gets to the point where they send you a link to the site where they do there trading, look the domain name up, if it'l was recently created and it expires soon, this should be a red flag.
Great info. I’ve got a scammer right now working me off Facebook we’re in that first stage. I’ll never give them anything but just wasting their time
I also play their game till it's time for me to catch them using my own tools. Thus far 95% of them are in Nigeria 🇳🇬 why am I not surprised.
Ironically, habits of ignoring notifications reduce one's vulnerability to scams.
Or, just making up stuff and playing along, making them waste a lot of time ( and basically protecting other people for a while ).
@@ShinryuZensen Why give them a chance to scam you? Just block and delete their number.
i have had some one send a text exactly like in the start of this video. i ended up blocking the number because i find it creepy when i tell them they have the wrong number and they try to befiend me. now i know its a scam so thank you ThioJoe.
I never understood why hackers always have their lights switched off and always wear a hoodie. I mean, does it rain into their appartment, or ... ? 😉
I always try to scare them. The last time someone called and asked me what I was doing, I cheerfully told them that the day was going kinda slow and I was worried that my next victim was just NEVER gonna present themselves...but it's all good now 🤨
I wished I had seen this a year ago. It's right on the mark. Got me good.
*Apexdeft* your approach and jobtelling is GENIUS and you're establishing yourself as a one of a kind communicators that I believe few have ever seen on this platform. And I think you definitely succeeded in making sense of it to the world! Keep up the good work my friend
Those AI generated images are quite something though. On some of them, the screen is rotated away from the person using it, for others, the keyboard appears way too small 🤦♂️
This seems to me to be an illegal version of what crypto tends to achieve anyway - you parted from your money in the end. Good to know how to look out for this one though.
Don't be shy, talk to them and waste their time.
They will learn not to call you.
These warning videos have always been helpful.
I am completely invulnerable to any of these scams for the simple reason that I am not interested in any form of pointless social talk.
feels illegal to be this early
Imagine playing their trick on the scammer!
The takeaway is Crypto is a scam. Period. Maybe there are some legit aspects to it, but the risk of you getting scammed is not worth getting into it whatsoever.
THANK YOU!!!! ❤❤❤Yes my brother s laptop was frozen black for not paying false scam.❤❤
I have fun with these scammers and they are persistent at times. And you are right they all start out innocent and will tell you their "life story" trying to sucker you in. But at some point, money always comes up in one form or another. You see I'm still one of those hardcore "don't believe anything on the internet" kind of people. So, if I do not know you personally like face to face personal, then the games begin. And I always play to win. I have no ill intentions against these people because they are just human after all. But while they think they are stringing me along it is me stringing them along. I get bored at times and these scammers are a great way to break up some boredom.
ive been getting these phase one messages for a while now. knew these were a scam, but I didnt realize how big of a thing it was
Don't put your Snapchat username on Tinder. There's scam bots constantly. As soon as I took it off, I stopped getting friend requests from random Snapchat users with zero snap score and weird names.
No worry, the honorable FBI is on their tails!
Oh wait, the FBI is busy looking to ban meme in Twitter....
Exactly! They have more important things to do that keep us safe from the 'bad guys'!!
I remember those long email scams with a back story on top. They get mad when they realize that i am wasting their time lol.
If you're getting scammed and are clued up on what's happening, you should string them along right till the last minute to waste their time.
And make a RUclips video about it. It's a win lol.
check out IRLrosie she hunts scammers and is voice impersonation expert, her Siri and Alexa ones about made me wet my pants laughing
Hi Thio Joe, you must have read my mind because I was looking for exactly this type of scam that they tried to do it to me a couple of months ago and I had to close my bank account when someone deposited money for me to start the business. The bank manager told me this was a scam, so I immediately stopped. Any transaction or movement with anyone talking to me about crypto coins. Thank you so much for your wonderful video and I felt relieved after I watched it thank you thank you once more.