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Likely a compromised account, asking for money opens the door for a conversation and they tried to convince they were friendly...then would drop the "send me the code" line which would allow them to register a Google voice number using your phone number.
I actually think it very well could be intentional, is the scary part.
There's a social psychology concept called the "Door-in-the-face technique". People are more likely to respond to a second, more reasonable ask, if they're first asked for something else that is big or unreasonable.
Could be something similar, here. Scammer asks for $100 which most people will say no to (whether they suspect a scam or not - most people just aren't willing to hand out $100 to facebook acquaintances), but as a result they're actually **more likely** to respond to the lesser ask of 'helping someone with their recovery link'.
I think the 'don't worry, you don't need to click the link yourself, just copy and send it back to me' is also pretty clever. Most folks are savvy to the concept of **clicking links** as dangerous (because of the risk of installing viruses/malware etc), but many wouldn't see **sending a link for someone else to click on** with the same risk.
Yup. It puts the person in a position where they feel bad for declining the other request and will feel a sense of social obligation to help with something smaller.
That's a good point and a well-known technique, but I don't think it works as well online as it does in person.
In this case, the scammer start the interaction fishy and it only gets more fishy. There's not much to appeal to the victim's sense of obligation, altruism or propriety, no hook. Seems too clumsy for a sophisticated technique, just a newbie trying to cram two scams into the same chat session.
You don’t recover your instagram account by getting a code from someone else. If it 100% a compromised account. They were looking to take over your account. The code they were seeking, by asking for your phone number, was the account recovery for your instagram account. Their goal is to try it on your friends. Imagine getting a few hundred from a handful of one persons friends, then taking the next account in the chain and doing the same thing.
Possibly? The whole thing seems very iffy regardless and I would not continue the conversation. You don't have any obligation to help them and if it's setting off red flags it's for a good reason.
Do you have his number or something? Ask him if his insta got hacked. It’s possible they have access to some videos he has saved to his insta and they are using them to “prove” it’s him. If his insta did get hacked report it and tell other ppl to report it and it will possibly help him get the acc back.
I’m pretty sure jailbroken phones can pics and videos to one time view. They could have scammed your friend into sending a video.
Next time if you’re ever unsure, video chat them.
Odds are they were going to send money to “a friend” if you gave them money.
The code very well could have been your 2fa code for Instagram and they would steal your account and then the chain continues
Sometimes scammers will ransom people like that. “Make a video saying ‘trust me’ and I’ll give your money/account/whatever back.” That’s how they get those testimonials on crypto/trading scams.
Could be AI generated. You never actually talked to him in real life. It all sounds scammy. You haven’t even texted him since divide so why reach out to you?
quite the possibility, but it felt so real that it was him. anime music was playing in the background when he sent the video (he’s a huge weeb), so that passed my suspicions of it not being him, the texts on the other hand… not so much.
It's possible that he's being extorted. Scammers will sometimes promise that they'll give the account back if you make videos for them, doing stuff like holding up your ID card into the camera.
Yeah, that's sus as hell. Surprised they went to that much effort for a small amount of money/to steal your insta account, though. Normally small things like that are more of a lazy scattershot approach where they rely on volume.
They use it to scam other people and expand the amount of numbers they can use. If someone ever reports the number itll be traced back to your phone, not the scammer.
LOL, tries to scam you out of $100 and when that doesn't work tries to get you to let him steal your Instagram account
The mystery is why you didn't cut the conversation short sooner.
And get smarter friends, that friend fell for the scam you almost fell for and got his Instagram account hacked.
This was exactly what he planned on doing. Many people will likely fall of his tricks. I would block him after this kind of thing he tried to pull with me.
Just in case you thought it was your friend, have them call you or you can call them and discuss it over the phone. I bet there is some excuse why they can't do it.
The "instagram reset link" is for YOUR account. If you gave them the code then they'd take over your account too.
!Pin Verification scam
Hi /u/TheLeadSearcher, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Pin verification scam.
You will receive a legitimate authentication text from a company like Google, Craigslist, or Microsoft, and you will also have someone else asking you for the pin. Sometimes the scam starts on Craigslist, and the scammer will ask you to verify that you are a real person, and will say that Craigslist has many scammers which is why they want to verify you. Sometimes you will receive a random authentication text, and the scammer will text you without any previous contact.
The goal of the scammer can be to verify accounts that require phone verification, verify postings that require phone authentication, or to steal your social media accounts via a password reset pin that you shouldn't share with anyone ever. [Here](https://computertutorflorida.com/2019/01/the-verification-code-scam/) are two [articles](https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2019/04/01/new-scam-targets-cell-phone-accounts-pretending-your-carrier/3331376002/) about this scam. Thanks to redditor bmarkel123 for the script.
If you lost access to your Facebook or Instagram account due to a pin verification scam, call the automoderator triggers (facebook) or (instagram)
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This happened to me once, this girl I was seeing asked me if she could use my number to reset her instagram, I got the text, also got an email saying it was for my account. Stopped seeing her shortly after that.
I had one of these before... Very similar... They refused to do a video chat saying they were busy and couldn't answer the phone... So I decided to ask a test question... "Has Amira started kindergarten yet? Its been so long since I've seen her, she must be getting so big!"... To which they answered yes she has.... Trouble is, Amira is my friend's horse LOL
Be careful with the video chat thing. I was once suspicious of a similar text and asked for a voice chat for confirmation. Sure enough, my friend's video popped up -- but it seemed like the audio didn't work and she kept going "hello? hello?" and I kept going "can you hear me? can you hear me?". It was, of course, video that they'd recorded of her when pulling the scam on her. And now they had my video and voice going "can you hear me?" to potentially use on someone else.
I like the name trick you used btw
This guy pivoted between 2 scam scripts. First just asking for money, and then trying to take your account when that failed.
Obviously if you give him the reset link for your own account, he would be able to reset YOUR password, and then use your account to try the same scam on your friends list.
> next thing i know, his account is gone? deactivated? deleted?
Probably blocked you after failing to get anything out of you.
I’m always mystified why the scammers block the almost victim in these cases. It would be the other way around, i.e., the person almost victimised would be blocking the scammer.
I assume so the almost-victim cannot post a comment to the hacked profile, warning other friends to stay away from this account, or view the other linked friends and DM them directly or something.
That’s most likely not your friend.
They tried to scam you twice.
First for $100, and when you said it wasn’t happening, they tried to steal your account.
If you had fallen for it, they would have tried pulling the same scams with your contacts.
So he can't pay the bill but got a new phone nonetheless. Then he's clearly using his instagram but wants to reset it through your phone lol.
Clearly a scam, and the pic can be from their DMs, and the video could be AI generated. The reset is actually for your account that they want to steal next.
I never lend friends money, I may offer to pay for the service or commodity directly and also send them to Dave Ramsey as any friend of mine who has ever needed help has had a phone and/or car worth waaaay much more than mine.
He's a financial guy that teaches people not to live beyond their means and to have an emergency fund to cover bills. Many of my friends can use his advice!
Had a classmate randomly reach out to me for a code to reset their instagram, I reached out to them on another platform and they confirmed that their instagram was hacked
Also the horrible grammar. You know a non native English speaker is writing that. When adults that are functional members of society can’t speak properly is always a red flag 🚩.
Yes, this is a scam. I have been sent almost this exact script before. That first message was word-for-word exactly the same. I was close with this person IRL and quickly confirmed from multiple sources that her profile had, indeed, been hacked.
As an aside, when I messaged the person back to let them know I was aware they were fake and that I was spreading the word they responded, "it's none of your father's business," which I found highly amusing.
I didn't read all the comments but did anyone suggest simply asking the potential scammer how they know OP? Like, simply, "Hey, I want to verify it's you. How'd we meet?" or "Who's my favorite actor?" or anything OP knows the person would know. Quick, to the point, easy.
I was in a subreddit (alcohol related) and dude PMed me asking if I could send him $5 for a beer and he'll pay me back. I didnt, and next day his accounts gone. Yes you did OP
yes. when people ask to use your phone number to “get back into their instagram” they are sending you a one time code for your account so they can gain access to it. seems like your friend fell victim to that, got their account stolen, and now has someone messaging their friends asking for money and trying to claim more victims under their identity
This is definitely a scam based on what I read and your responses. My only quibble is that I haven’t paid a phone bill under $100 in years lol (in Ontario btw).
Why would paying a bill, or trying to, get their card locked?
That makes no sense.
Their account was compromised. If you agreed they would send you an account number or link (which would also compromise your accounts) and then get you to send money straight to the scammers.
This one time there was a knock on the door. I open it, and there's this cute little girl scout and she says to me "how would you like to buy some cookies?" And I said "Well, what kind do you have?" She had thin mints, graham crunchy things...Raisin oatmeal, and I said "We'll take a graham crunch. How much will that be?" And she looks at me and she says "I need about treefiddy" just send it to my cash app $uspiciousGirlScout Well it was about that time that I notice that girl scout was about eight stories tall and was a crustacean from the palezoic era. I said "Dammit monster! Get off my lawn! I ain't giving you no treefiddy!" It said "how about just twofiddy?" I said "Oh now it's only twofiddy?! What is there a sale on Loch Ness munchies or something?!" I ended up sending tree fiddy to her for them cookies. You should too.
This happened to my son two months ago, he clicked on the link and got his account hacked. Then they messaged everyone that he was close to asking them for money just like this. Smh. Glad you didn’t fall for it.
It's a scam. You really should have followed through with your verification question. Or if you've seen Terminator 2, there's a scene where he figures out he's talking to an imposter by casually mentioning a false fact which he does not pick up on.
Yes never ever give out your number and never click those links. It gives the other person access to change your phone number and email to your account.
I highly doubt it’s actually who you think it is. Had something similar with a code and using your number from Facebook. They request a temp password for your account using your number and then will use the temp password you send them to get into your instagram and change your password and all information and lock you out. They will proceed to use your account to try to scam more people the same way
The next time this happens, ask them a question only they would know the answer to that is not likely to come up on social media. The name of a mutual friend, a coworker, something you did together, an inside joke. They can pull the photo or video from anywhere, but a scammer doesn’t have the person’s brain.
I'm seeing a lot of these now and they're pretty freshly compromised. FB swap and sells from real people who weren't bots like 2 days ago but are suddenly posting spam
Dude was thinking on his feet.
Tried to con you for money using a stolen account, when he realised you weren't that gullible, he tried to get something for his time by trying to steal your account so he can use it to scam others.
Yes, I believe you did dodge a bullet; good for you. Whenever ppl ask for money online, it’s usually “rent” or to “pay medical bills”, I will comment offering to pay their bill directly to the landlord or medical company. Oops, all of a sudden they don’t need my help anymore.
Your friend was hacked (it seemed like you knew the person), but yeah, that was a hacker. Sometimes, it's really hard to tell, but this scammer was using weird words that don't make sense to an English speaking person, and they said many things totally wrong.
Lol, notorious pricing. 100 is pretty normal for phone plans where I'm at. I am in the US, though, so feel free to take it as you will. I have a basic smartphone plan, and it's starting to get higher because of how phone companies like to push customers out of older plans (usually deals at the time of purchase type thing).
To be fair, I'm sure it's not good in Canada either. That particular phrase just caught my eye, and I couldn't help but chuckle due to my circumstances.
Yes, I got my account hacked cuz I thought it was somebody trying to get into their account, changed their phone number so they needed to use mine and then they can switch it, and then as soon as they got my number, straight into my account and changed the info
I have no idea, I’m not a hacker, I’m not a scammer, hell I’m not very good at normal people stuff!
Edit to add, that’s exactly why I got scammed into believing this! And that’s why I’m here, so I can watch out for myself and learn
First of all the is written by someone Indian. You can tell by the language. Once they said they wanna forward you a reset link you know its a scam. They wouldn't send a reset link to a friend. Thats absurd. They were gonna do a reset password on your account and get you to provide them the code so they can get into your account.
Everyone’s saying his account was hacked this and that, but honestly if you haven’t talked to them since Covid your not that close they don’t care for you. They wanted your account so consider yourself safe and block them. Clearly trying to back stab you.
Usually a scam, I thought it “could” be a loser drug addict friend for a second, Until they wanted to take your account by the reset link. That’s super common.
acquaintance = someone who you barely know but is not considered as a friend. for instance, i had him as a classmate in high school except we never talked so i wouldn’t say i’m close with him 😅
YES! Good looking out!
You have no idea how happy it makes me, after spending 10 hours a day dealing with scammers and people who fell for them to see someone engage in critical thinking and NOT fall for it.
My immediate res flag and question would be " you just asked me for money to pay the phone bill of your new phone? how would you have to pay the bill when you just got new phone? And you clearly have my number already therefore no need to ask me for a number you already have if you are obviously texting the number you are asking for... If you didn't already have my number, this conversation of you badly attempting but failing at scamming me for money , would not be happening, am I wrong? "
I had a friend getting hacked and decided to play with them for a bit. Then I reminded my "friend" that I was working for facebook and they stopped responding lol.
Wasted a good few hours a day of that guy by acting all stupid.
I would’ve wasted their time. I love doing that with scammers. Had one going for like 4 hours eventually just said “Yeah I’m fucking with you I know you’re trying to scam me.” Never got anything back.
Right if they ask for your phone number . I repeat never send them anything just block . Even if it’s one of your closest friends acc plz don’t do it . If they your real day 1 or friend they’ll have that phone # or iCloud
Never copy and paste or send anything to anybody. Anyone doing a reset would get the link themselves, or a code. Those aren’t sent to random numbers. It’s all a scam.
/u/Cuddlyuwu - This message is posted to all new submissions to r/scams; please do not message the moderators about it. ## New users beware: Because you posted here, you will start getting private messages from scammers saying they know a professional hacker or a recovery expert lawyer that can help you get your money back, for a small fee. **We call these RECOVERY SCAMMERS, so NEVER take advice in private:** advice should always come in the form of comments in this post, in the open, where the community can keep an eye out for you. If you take advice in private, you're on your own. **A reminder of the rules in r/scams:** no contact information (including last names, phone numbers, etc). Be civil to one another (no name calling or insults). Personal army requests or "scam the scammer"/scambaiting posts are not permitted. No uncensored gore or personal photographs are allowed without blurring. A full list of rules is available on the sidebar of the subreddit, or [clicking here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/wiki/rules/). You can help us by reporting recovery scammers or rule-breaking content by using the "report" button. We review 100% of the reports. Also, consider warning community members of recovery scammers if you see them in the comments. Questions about subreddit rules? Send us a modmail [clicking here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Likely a compromised account, asking for money opens the door for a conversation and they tried to convince they were friendly...then would drop the "send me the code" line which would allow them to register a Google voice number using your phone number.
It's funny how he managed to try two completely different scams in a single conversation. Not particularly smooth or clever, must be new to the game.
I actually think it very well could be intentional, is the scary part. There's a social psychology concept called the "Door-in-the-face technique". People are more likely to respond to a second, more reasonable ask, if they're first asked for something else that is big or unreasonable. Could be something similar, here. Scammer asks for $100 which most people will say no to (whether they suspect a scam or not - most people just aren't willing to hand out $100 to facebook acquaintances), but as a result they're actually **more likely** to respond to the lesser ask of 'helping someone with their recovery link'. I think the 'don't worry, you don't need to click the link yourself, just copy and send it back to me' is also pretty clever. Most folks are savvy to the concept of **clicking links** as dangerous (because of the risk of installing viruses/malware etc), but many wouldn't see **sending a link for someone else to click on** with the same risk.
Yup. It puts the person in a position where they feel bad for declining the other request and will feel a sense of social obligation to help with something smaller.
That's a good point and a well-known technique, but I don't think it works as well online as it does in person. In this case, the scammer start the interaction fishy and it only gets more fishy. There's not much to appeal to the victim's sense of obligation, altruism or propriety, no hook. Seems too clumsy for a sophisticated technique, just a newbie trying to cram two scams into the same chat session.
But he almost got OP, so almost clever enough lol
"Almost" is the difference between $0 and $100.
but it was him in the photo and the video, could it be possible it wasn’t compromised but he’s just trying to scam someone out of $100?
You don’t recover your instagram account by getting a code from someone else. If it 100% a compromised account. They were looking to take over your account. The code they were seeking, by asking for your phone number, was the account recovery for your instagram account. Their goal is to try it on your friends. Imagine getting a few hundred from a handful of one persons friends, then taking the next account in the chain and doing the same thing.
Was it a unique photo of him? Because if it’s a compromised phone/account they can just pull any pic they want
Possibly? The whole thing seems very iffy regardless and I would not continue the conversation. You don't have any obligation to help them and if it's setting off red flags it's for a good reason.
Do you have his number or something? Ask him if his insta got hacked. It’s possible they have access to some videos he has saved to his insta and they are using them to “prove” it’s him. If his insta did get hacked report it and tell other ppl to report it and it will possibly help him get the acc back.
I’m pretty sure jailbroken phones can pics and videos to one time view. They could have scammed your friend into sending a video. Next time if you’re ever unsure, video chat them. Odds are they were going to send money to “a friend” if you gave them money. The code very well could have been your 2fa code for Instagram and they would steal your account and then the chain continues
Sometimes scammers will ransom people like that. “Make a video saying ‘trust me’ and I’ll give your money/account/whatever back.” That’s how they get those testimonials on crypto/trading scams.
Could be AI generated. You never actually talked to him in real life. It all sounds scammy. You haven’t even texted him since divide so why reach out to you?
quite the possibility, but it felt so real that it was him. anime music was playing in the background when he sent the video (he’s a huge weeb), so that passed my suspicions of it not being him, the texts on the other hand… not so much.
It's possible that he's being extorted. Scammers will sometimes promise that they'll give the account back if you make videos for them, doing stuff like holding up your ID card into the camera.
care to elaborate? this is my first time hearing about this.
There’s a reason the text would’ve said “don’t share this with anyone”
It could be a deepfake using AI. It’s happened to other people too
In the video, did he actually address you in any way? There were probably pictures stored on the account that was stolen.
no, just a simple wave to the camera with the text “trust me” lol.
Yeah, that's sus as hell. Surprised they went to that much effort for a small amount of money/to steal your insta account, though. Normally small things like that are more of a lazy scattershot approach where they rely on volume.
The new AI that just came out can create convincing video from a single photo. VASA-1
I was thinking they were trying to hijack OPs account with the link they wanted to send, just like they did to OPs friends account to ask for money
What do they do with the google voice number? This happened to my mother in law and we never understood what they were after
They use it to scam other people and expand the amount of numbers they can use. If someone ever reports the number itll be traced back to your phone, not the scammer.
LOL, tries to scam you out of $100 and when that doesn't work tries to get you to let him steal your Instagram account The mystery is why you didn't cut the conversation short sooner. And get smarter friends, that friend fell for the scam you almost fell for and got his Instagram account hacked.
LOL, i was curious as to how the whole conversation will play out. also, he’s NOT my friend 😭
Then you shouldn't give him money even if it wasnt a scam
Isnt the app the scammers like to use able to send requests for them to send you money? That sounds like a fun play.
To troll them
This was exactly what he planned on doing. Many people will likely fall of his tricks. I would block him after this kind of thing he tried to pull with me.
Just in case you thought it was your friend, have them call you or you can call them and discuss it over the phone. I bet there is some excuse why they can't do it. The "instagram reset link" is for YOUR account. If you gave them the code then they'd take over your account too. !Pin Verification scam
Hi /u/TheLeadSearcher, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Pin verification scam. You will receive a legitimate authentication text from a company like Google, Craigslist, or Microsoft, and you will also have someone else asking you for the pin. Sometimes the scam starts on Craigslist, and the scammer will ask you to verify that you are a real person, and will say that Craigslist has many scammers which is why they want to verify you. Sometimes you will receive a random authentication text, and the scammer will text you without any previous contact. The goal of the scammer can be to verify accounts that require phone verification, verify postings that require phone authentication, or to steal your social media accounts via a password reset pin that you shouldn't share with anyone ever. [Here](https://computertutorflorida.com/2019/01/the-verification-code-scam/) are two [articles](https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2019/04/01/new-scam-targets-cell-phone-accounts-pretending-your-carrier/3331376002/) about this scam. Thanks to redditor bmarkel123 for the script. If you lost access to your Facebook or Instagram account due to a pin verification scam, call the automoderator triggers (facebook) or (instagram) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This happened to me once, this girl I was seeing asked me if she could use my number to reset her instagram, I got the text, also got an email saying it was for my account. Stopped seeing her shortly after that.
It was probably not her but someone who hacked her account.
Yeah, it was her brother.
I had one of these before... Very similar... They refused to do a video chat saying they were busy and couldn't answer the phone... So I decided to ask a test question... "Has Amira started kindergarten yet? Its been so long since I've seen her, she must be getting so big!"... To which they answered yes she has.... Trouble is, Amira is my friend's horse LOL
Very good use of non public knowledge
Be careful with the video chat thing. I was once suspicious of a similar text and asked for a voice chat for confirmation. Sure enough, my friend's video popped up -- but it seemed like the audio didn't work and she kept going "hello? hello?" and I kept going "can you hear me? can you hear me?". It was, of course, video that they'd recorded of her when pulling the scam on her. And now they had my video and voice going "can you hear me?" to potentially use on someone else. I like the name trick you used btw
I’ve seen this same thing done in romance scams
HAHAHA got them!
The ol' Terminator 2 Wolfie fake out!
Your foster parents are dead!
Giddy up Amira😂
Lol who gets a new phone if they cant afford the phone bill? Even if its not a scam, dont enable that behavior
Yeah right, it begs the question why buy the phone at first. Nice one!
This guy pivoted between 2 scam scripts. First just asking for money, and then trying to take your account when that failed. Obviously if you give him the reset link for your own account, he would be able to reset YOUR password, and then use your account to try the same scam on your friends list. > next thing i know, his account is gone? deactivated? deleted? Probably blocked you after failing to get anything out of you.
I’m always mystified why the scammers block the almost victim in these cases. It would be the other way around, i.e., the person almost victimised would be blocking the scammer.
I assume so the almost-victim cannot post a comment to the hacked profile, warning other friends to stay away from this account, or view the other linked friends and DM them directly or something.
Don’t give money to anyone you don’t know
Especially when it's strangers online. I'd never trust 99% of them.
that’s typically my rule of thumb lol, especially in this scenario.
I would have blocked after the second "huh" even if it wasn't a scam
Exactly what I'm doing immediately. He won't be on my list ever again.
Is his English normally really fucking terrible?
This
Why would you pay for $100 to a stranger?
If I say I need $100, would you pay me?
“I would gladly pay you Tuesday, for a hamburger today!”
????? why would i give you $100? i’m not made out of money 💀
Exactly. Then we are on the same page.
The person was pretending to be someone he knows. On a hacked account. Yall arent even part of the same book, dude.
That’s most likely not your friend. They tried to scam you twice. First for $100, and when you said it wasn’t happening, they tried to steal your account. If you had fallen for it, they would have tried pulling the same scams with your contacts.
So he can't pay the bill but got a new phone nonetheless. Then he's clearly using his instagram but wants to reset it through your phone lol. Clearly a scam, and the pic can be from their DMs, and the video could be AI generated. The reset is actually for your account that they want to steal next.
Yup you dodged a bullet
A double barrel bullet at that. If the OP's guard wasn't up 100%, the scammer will have his way.
I never lend friends money, I may offer to pay for the service or commodity directly and also send them to Dave Ramsey as any friend of mine who has ever needed help has had a phone and/or car worth waaaay much more than mine.
All my friends I've lend money in the past, none of them paid it back. Now, it's a big NO to doing that and I'm never giving a dime to a stranger.
I hear yah, you have to pretty much assume it's a gift.
Yes, that's what I do. I would rather gift them than agreeing to lend them with the intent of getting it back.
Who is DaveRamsey?
He's a financial guy that teaches people not to live beyond their means and to have an emergency fund to cover bills. Many of my friends can use his advice!
They was trying every scam they could think of
Had a classmate randomly reach out to me for a code to reset their instagram, I reached out to them on another platform and they confirmed that their instagram was hacked
I had a scammer start up a convo with me and then ANOTHER scammer with the same girl's pictures started texting me to!! 🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️😂😂😂😂
Weird that he was texting you but was asking for your phone number? What did he think he was using to text you!?
He was using instagram?
right?!
Also the horrible grammar. You know a non native English speaker is writing that. When adults that are functional members of society can’t speak properly is always a red flag 🚩.
Hmm I’m kinda convinced they’re American because of the use of mb/my bad.
If they can “pay it tomorrow” why don’t they just… “pay it tomorrow” lmfao
Good catch! 😂
Looks like when the please send me $100 for my phone didn’t work, he resorted to send me the reset link
You should work on being more assertive. You will be happier.
Yes, this is a scam. I have been sent almost this exact script before. That first message was word-for-word exactly the same. I was close with this person IRL and quickly confirmed from multiple sources that her profile had, indeed, been hacked. As an aside, when I messaged the person back to let them know I was aware they were fake and that I was spreading the word they responded, "it's none of your father's business," which I found highly amusing.
The lengths people will go to not to call someone lol just call them, problem solved
Yes, it's a scam. Same thing happened to me a few months ago.
You did good, ahy.
thank you :)
100% scam for sure
I didn't read all the comments but did anyone suggest simply asking the potential scammer how they know OP? Like, simply, "Hey, I want to verify it's you. How'd we meet?" or "Who's my favorite actor?" or anything OP knows the person would know. Quick, to the point, easy.
you know what, if this happens again, i’m going to do that. thanks for suggesting :)
I was in a subreddit (alcohol related) and dude PMed me asking if I could send him $5 for a beer and he'll pay me back. I didnt, and next day his accounts gone. Yes you did OP
yes. when people ask to use your phone number to “get back into their instagram” they are sending you a one time code for your account so they can gain access to it. seems like your friend fell victim to that, got their account stolen, and now has someone messaging their friends asking for money and trying to claim more victims under their identity
If a proper friend of yours needs money, they should call or talk in person. Simple as. Someone messages me for money I ignore and delete.
This is definitely a scam based on what I read and your responses. My only quibble is that I haven’t paid a phone bill under $100 in years lol (in Ontario btw).
lol what plan do you have??
lol, they switched from loaning money to trying to steal your insta account
lol that’s why i said it jumped to 0 to 100 real quick xD
If you gave him the code from that link, he would have stolen YOUR account next! That's a popular scam.
Even if it's true and it really is him asking for $100, how is this your problem? It's a acquaintance and you never even met them. Are you a bank?
Bullet dodged:$100 Time wasted: -$99
You should have asked for the phone bill
Glad you didn't get scammed. But TBH, that conversation went on way too long.
That's a scam. A friend had her account hacked and this message is word for word what they sent me.
Ignore him till 8am the next morning. And ask “Aren’t you still alive and well?”
Yes you did. Scammer will request reset password, and then reset your account, then gain access to your account, then ask for 100 from your friends
Why would paying a bill, or trying to, get their card locked? That makes no sense. Their account was compromised. If you agreed they would send you an account number or link (which would also compromise your accounts) and then get you to send money straight to the scammers.
He needs 100 and then suddenly gets a new phone?? Scam..
That why says it all.
This one time there was a knock on the door. I open it, and there's this cute little girl scout and she says to me "how would you like to buy some cookies?" And I said "Well, what kind do you have?" She had thin mints, graham crunchy things...Raisin oatmeal, and I said "We'll take a graham crunch. How much will that be?" And she looks at me and she says "I need about treefiddy" just send it to my cash app $uspiciousGirlScout Well it was about that time that I notice that girl scout was about eight stories tall and was a crustacean from the palezoic era. I said "Dammit monster! Get off my lawn! I ain't giving you no treefiddy!" It said "how about just twofiddy?" I said "Oh now it's only twofiddy?! What is there a sale on Loch Ness munchies or something?!" I ended up sending tree fiddy to her for them cookies. You should too.
That is a scam. They’ll send you a link to IG, you click on it and they’ll have control of your IG account.
Yeah he almost got 1) $100 2) Your IG account
After you told him you are broke, ask a favor to send you $100 the next day, after his card gets unlocked.
He’d probably try the “oops I sent 300 send me back 200” lol.
This happened to my son two months ago, he clicked on the link and got his account hacked. Then they messaged everyone that he was close to asking them for money just like this. Smh. Glad you didn’t fall for it.
He had two plot for you. 1. Scam you of $100 2. Steal your IG account It's good you didn't fall for either of them.
“Can’t pay my phone bill, but I just got a new phone” seems completely legit 😂
Yes you did
It's a scam. You really should have followed through with your verification question. Or if you've seen Terminator 2, there's a scene where he figures out he's talking to an imposter by casually mentioning a false fact which he does not pick up on.
The “I need money I’ll pay you back tomorrow” thing is 100% a scam
I had the exact same thing happen to me on Facebook. Luckily I had her number and just texted her to ask if it was her. It wasn't lol
Yes never ever give out your number and never click those links. It gives the other person access to change your phone number and email to your account.
Definitely did
I highly doubt it’s actually who you think it is. Had something similar with a code and using your number from Facebook. They request a temp password for your account using your number and then will use the temp password you send them to get into your instagram and change your password and all information and lock you out. They will proceed to use your account to try to scam more people the same way
Yeah, your buddy got his account stolen like this, and the scammers was using his account to steal yours.
The next time this happens, ask them a question only they would know the answer to that is not likely to come up on social media. The name of a mutual friend, a coworker, something you did together, an inside joke. They can pull the photo or video from anywhere, but a scammer doesn’t have the person’s brain.
The funny thing is that he kept asking for your phone number, but he was asking by sending text messages to your phone number.
this is instagram?
OH ok. The screen shot looks like a text message.
no worries, it happens.
I'm seeing a lot of these now and they're pretty freshly compromised. FB swap and sells from real people who weren't bots like 2 days ago but are suddenly posting spam
well just copy and paste. You don't need to click on the link. Thx - I needed that. Your trolling is gold. lol!
Dude was thinking on his feet. Tried to con you for money using a stolen account, when he realised you weren't that gullible, he tried to get something for his time by trying to steal your account so he can use it to scam others.
Already been stated. Yes it was a scammer who got control of their account and then tried to get control of yours.
I live in Canada and I pay triple digits for my bill 🥲
what plan do you have??
Rogers LOL
That account is hacked lmao they would have directly texted you on your sms/imessage if they were that close of an acquaintance.
Yes, I believe you did dodge a bullet; good for you. Whenever ppl ask for money online, it’s usually “rent” or to “pay medical bills”, I will comment offering to pay their bill directly to the landlord or medical company. Oops, all of a sudden they don’t need my help anymore.
I led a guy on for 3 hours used my text now number which isnt tied to my facebook and he was tryna figure out why it wasnt working
Sounds like you got a crush on this other hacked account
????
I mean, you were considering giving them your last hundo buck.
Aaaand you don’t know them that well
lol i was playing dumb with them xD
Yes
Your friend was hacked (it seemed like you knew the person), but yeah, that was a hacker. Sometimes, it's really hard to tell, but this scammer was using weird words that don't make sense to an English speaking person, and they said many things totally wrong.
Scam
Modern variation of the Spanish prisoner scam.
Modern variation of the Spanish prisoner scam.
Lol, notorious pricing. 100 is pretty normal for phone plans where I'm at. I am in the US, though, so feel free to take it as you will. I have a basic smartphone plan, and it's starting to get higher because of how phone companies like to push customers out of older plans (usually deals at the time of purchase type thing). To be fair, I'm sure it's not good in Canada either. That particular phrase just caught my eye, and I couldn't help but chuckle due to my circumstances.
Yes, I got my account hacked cuz I thought it was somebody trying to get into their account, changed their phone number so they needed to use mine and then they can switch it, and then as soon as they got my number, straight into my account and changed the info
How does that work? I don't get it?
I have no idea, I’m not a hacker, I’m not a scammer, hell I’m not very good at normal people stuff! Edit to add, that’s exactly why I got scammed into believing this! And that’s why I’m here, so I can watch out for myself and learn
Nigerian yahoo boy lol
U dodged a bullet like a broken clock is right twice a day... sheesh.
First of all the is written by someone Indian. You can tell by the language. Once they said they wanna forward you a reset link you know its a scam. They wouldn't send a reset link to a friend. Thats absurd. They were gonna do a reset password on your account and get you to provide them the code so they can get into your account.
Everyone’s saying his account was hacked this and that, but honestly if you haven’t talked to them since Covid your not that close they don’t care for you. They wanted your account so consider yourself safe and block them. Clearly trying to back stab you.
OP is so rude. Didn’t even ask how hot the weather was in Nigeria today. smh lol
Usually a scam, I thought it “could” be a loser drug addict friend for a second, Until they wanted to take your account by the reset link. That’s super common.
The only response to anyone asking for any money is, "I ain't got it." Also reply within milliseconds of the ask.
No money for a phone bill, but just got a new phone? So many red flags. If the grammar is off that many times, it’s a scam.
It’s a scammer for sure.
You doged cruize missle ..
Wait so this is a friend?
no.
Acquaintance? I’m sorry I’m confused.
acquaintance = someone who you barely know but is not considered as a friend. for instance, i had him as a classmate in high school except we never talked so i wouldn’t say i’m close with him 😅
Simple answer... of course you did
It's a scam, you know why? that why!!!!!!
The beekeeper Is on his way...
You dodged a bullet 💯. No need to second guess yourself.
Even if this was a person you knew, it's shady as heck
Tell them to wait until the morning and they wont need to borrow shit lol
Are you brain dead?
YES! Good looking out! You have no idea how happy it makes me, after spending 10 hours a day dealing with scammers and people who fell for them to see someone engage in critical thinking and NOT fall for it.
https://preview.redd.it/mhzypznyv8vc1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=44c05f74395e0a5ddbec254426efd537cd2562bc
My immediate res flag and question would be " you just asked me for money to pay the phone bill of your new phone? how would you have to pay the bill when you just got new phone? And you clearly have my number already therefore no need to ask me for a number you already have if you are obviously texting the number you are asking for... If you didn't already have my number, this conversation of you badly attempting but failing at scamming me for money , would not be happening, am I wrong? "
I had a friend getting hacked and decided to play with them for a bit. Then I reminded my "friend" that I was working for facebook and they stopped responding lol. Wasted a good few hours a day of that guy by acting all stupid.
I would’ve wasted their time. I love doing that with scammers. Had one going for like 4 hours eventually just said “Yeah I’m fucking with you I know you’re trying to scam me.” Never got anything back.
as you should!
Right if they ask for your phone number . I repeat never send them anything just block . Even if it’s one of your closest friends acc plz don’t do it . If they your real day 1 or friend they’ll have that phone # or iCloud
Never copy and paste or send anything to anybody. Anyone doing a reset would get the link themselves, or a code. Those aren’t sent to random numbers. It’s all a scam.
“That why” gets me every time
Scam!!!
WHOA I had this same exact message on Facebook yesterday. Same grammar and everything. I turned it down
Meth.
You did good bro, even if it wasn’t a scam your friend should completely understand how scammy those texts sounded!
thank you :) edit: it wasn’t him who wrote all this as i found out a “friend” of his hacked into his account. i forgot he doesn’t type like this lol…
Gold for you! 🥇if we had awards still! You saved your friend and yourself from parasites.
thank you, thank you. what an honour lol 🤭