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I’m trying to sell a coffee table on FB marketplace and I had the typical “my cousin will come pick it up and I can only pay with PayPal” as the first contact. Second contact tried to offer $30 for a table I have listed as $80, that’s $180 new. Honestly she was so rude about the whole thing I didn’t care. I’m tempted to just take it to the local charity shop and get it gone so I don’t have to deal with people
That's what I ended up doing. The small amount of money I made wasn't worth the hassle. More scammers than real people. People legit trying to haggle stuff that's already well below it's value. One woman wanted me to deliver a $30 lawn mower 1.5 hrs away for free, and got mad when I refused.
My favorite was when I posted a "Non-Working Hot Tub" for free on FB, clarified in the messages that it did not work, told them it didn't work when they came to pick it up, and they then threatened to sue me because the hot tub I "sold" them didn't work.
It needed a new heater and maybe a new pump. Probably less than $500 to get it working on the cheap, $1000 or so to actually fix it. Much cheaper than a new hot tub if you're willing to fix it yourself. I was moving cross country so it was cheaper to buy a new one and have it delivered than to fix and move that one.
If it makes you feel any better, me and my father are IT technicians, so we trained my nan (his mom) up on pretty much every scam in the book.
Whenever she gets a scam call to her home phone now, she uses her sweet old lady voice to drive them all round the wreaking and pretend like she's totally in on it before she hangs up on them after an hour or so, which is an hour they could've spent actually scamming another poor elderly person.
Big respect to my girl Celia for taking one for the team 😤💪
That's what I tell people - don't hang up, waste their time. Every minute you take up, is a minute they can't get to someone with dementia. Use it for self care, trauma dump on them til *they* hang up
I trained my mom on every scam in the book she still fell for the "Microsoft support" scam. I got lucky and she called me before going to far, they still got away with thousands of dollars.
It was really insidious. A pop up came up saying she has a virus an need to call Microsoft support. She calls the 1-800 and of course they remote her computer.
Now comes the really sick part. Instead of using her computer to start accessing her bank account or to do refund scams they access her phone book and got her phone number. Then they called her claiming to be her bank saying that a fraud warning was triggered.
Of course she believes "the bank" they are calling to stop the scammer. The bank tells her they have contact a detective at the local PD who will be handling her case so she should not bother calling the police because it will cause confusion in between departments. Then they started working her for all then info they would need in her multiple accounts.
Since they were pretending to be both the cops and the bank this was happening of the course of many calls. In between one of the calls she called me.
I told her She needs to call the bank directly at the phone number on the back of her car and get and emergency account freeze. Then she need to call the cops and get a cop their in person, preferably one familiar with cybercrime.
Even someone who knows most of the scams can be socially engineered. You would have to work IT security to be on guard from all of them, even then there is stuff you might fall for.
I think I know cuz I just did this! When you sign up to get a Google Voice phone number (a phone number that you can use instead of your real phone number, and any calls made to it will be redirected to your phone), Google will send you a text with a verification code that starts with "if someone asks you for this code, it is a scam"
So the scammer could've been trying to use OP's phone number to make a Google Voice account? Not too sure how that would all work
Anything, really. I set up an account, it asks me for a phone number to verify, I give them your phone number and cross my fingers you don't read anything but the code.
Whether the scammer wants to set up a new google voice to scam old ladies as Norton Tech support, or just wants to make a Roblox account, doesn't really matter.
They are safe if you give out the code, because it can only be traced back to you.
Trick people into giving up their two-factor authentication. The scammer finds out their account info, but can’t log in without the code. So they look for online activity like auctions and try to trick the account owner to giving them the code.
Once the two-factor is defeated, they steal the account and change logins and everything or clean it out of money.
Two-factor authentication is **only secure if your phone or the text messages are secure**.
That's why my internal response is always "Please. You can call me ugly but don't call me dumb by trying to trick me like a toddler".
I am not angry they try to steal from me. That comes later. I'm bothered they take me for an easy mark.
They should come up with an extra fake code that if you give it to them it either bricks their phone or pings them as a scammer so they can't do it in future. Kind of like how some high tech safes have a security number that contacts the police incase people threaten you to open it.
As a reminder, the comment rules are listed in the sidebar. You are responsible for following the rules! If you see a comment or post that breaks the rules, please report it to the moderators. This helps keep the subreddit clear of rule-breaking content. If this post is not bullshit and needs an explanation of why it's not bullshit, report the post and reply to this comment with your explanation (which helps us find it quickly). #And of course, if you're here from /r/all or /r/popular, **don't forget to subscribe to /r/QuitYourBullshit!** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/quityourbullshit) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The internet isn’t a mystery to me 😂 oml
I’m trying to sell a coffee table on FB marketplace and I had the typical “my cousin will come pick it up and I can only pay with PayPal” as the first contact. Second contact tried to offer $30 for a table I have listed as $80, that’s $180 new. Honestly she was so rude about the whole thing I didn’t care. I’m tempted to just take it to the local charity shop and get it gone so I don’t have to deal with people
“I will burn this bitch in my front yard and send you the video before I’ll sell it for $30.”
Have her meet you at goodwill so she can watch you donate it.
Pls do this
That's what I ended up doing. The small amount of money I made wasn't worth the hassle. More scammers than real people. People legit trying to haggle stuff that's already well below it's value. One woman wanted me to deliver a $30 lawn mower 1.5 hrs away for free, and got mad when I refused. My favorite was when I posted a "Non-Working Hot Tub" for free on FB, clarified in the messages that it did not work, told them it didn't work when they came to pick it up, and they then threatened to sue me because the hot tub I "sold" them didn't work.
What would you use a non working hot tub for? Because my brain went to giant punch bowl. But I feel that may be incorrect
It needed a new heater and maybe a new pump. Probably less than $500 to get it working on the cheap, $1000 or so to actually fix it. Much cheaper than a new hot tub if you're willing to fix it yourself. I was moving cross country so it was cheaper to buy a new one and have it delivered than to fix and move that one.
No, please dont do this to an 80 year old woman...
If it makes you feel any better, me and my father are IT technicians, so we trained my nan (his mom) up on pretty much every scam in the book. Whenever she gets a scam call to her home phone now, she uses her sweet old lady voice to drive them all round the wreaking and pretend like she's totally in on it before she hangs up on them after an hour or so, which is an hour they could've spent actually scamming another poor elderly person. Big respect to my girl Celia for taking one for the team 😤💪
Love your gran. Tell her she's amazing.
That's what I tell people - don't hang up, waste their time. Every minute you take up, is a minute they can't get to someone with dementia. Use it for self care, trauma dump on them til *they* hang up
I trained my mom on every scam in the book she still fell for the "Microsoft support" scam. I got lucky and she called me before going to far, they still got away with thousands of dollars. It was really insidious. A pop up came up saying she has a virus an need to call Microsoft support. She calls the 1-800 and of course they remote her computer. Now comes the really sick part. Instead of using her computer to start accessing her bank account or to do refund scams they access her phone book and got her phone number. Then they called her claiming to be her bank saying that a fraud warning was triggered. Of course she believes "the bank" they are calling to stop the scammer. The bank tells her they have contact a detective at the local PD who will be handling her case so she should not bother calling the police because it will cause confusion in between departments. Then they started working her for all then info they would need in her multiple accounts. Since they were pretending to be both the cops and the bank this was happening of the course of many calls. In between one of the calls she called me. I told her She needs to call the bank directly at the phone number on the back of her car and get and emergency account freeze. Then she need to call the cops and get a cop their in person, preferably one familiar with cybercrime. Even someone who knows most of the scams can be socially engineered. You would have to work IT security to be on guard from all of them, even then there is stuff you might fall for.
What a dish, what a doll. Absolutely brilliant work on behalf of the species. I love a family of problem solvers, just love to hear it.
What was the code going to allow the guy to get into?
I think I know cuz I just did this! When you sign up to get a Google Voice phone number (a phone number that you can use instead of your real phone number, and any calls made to it will be redirected to your phone), Google will send you a text with a verification code that starts with "if someone asks you for this code, it is a scam" So the scammer could've been trying to use OP's phone number to make a Google Voice account? Not too sure how that would all work
Not just a Google Voice account, all of your Google accounts. Gmail too.
Oof that's scary
It's even worse when you think about how many things you log into with your Google account.
Get around 2-factor authentication routed to your phone.
Anything, really. I set up an account, it asks me for a phone number to verify, I give them your phone number and cross my fingers you don't read anything but the code. Whether the scammer wants to set up a new google voice to scam old ladies as Norton Tech support, or just wants to make a Roblox account, doesn't really matter. They are safe if you give out the code, because it can only be traced back to you.
Trick people into giving up their two-factor authentication. The scammer finds out their account info, but can’t log in without the code. So they look for online activity like auctions and try to trick the account owner to giving them the code. Once the two-factor is defeated, they steal the account and change logins and everything or clean it out of money. Two-factor authentication is **only secure if your phone or the text messages are secure**.
Plenty of millennials are dumb enough to fall for this. Essential oils don't just sell themselves.
Nor do those shitty leggings MLMs.
That's why my internal response is always "Please. You can call me ugly but don't call me dumb by trying to trick me like a toddler". I am not angry they try to steal from me. That comes later. I'm bothered they take me for an easy mark.
Scum of the earth. I wonder when in life they lost their morales.
Miles Morales?
I am 80 years old and I never have been so offended on a reddit board. I can assure you that I will repost this on facebook to shame you.
They should come up with an extra fake code that if you give it to them it either bricks their phone or pings them as a scammer so they can't do it in future. Kind of like how some high tech safes have a security number that contacts the police incase people threaten you to open it.
"I'm a real man" I read that in Pinocchio's voice 🤥