πScam Exam(ination)π updated 5/15/26
Seen as: Verify your account / Your account has been locked
Scam type(s): Phishing / Credit card stealer.
Hello everyone, this is a post going over the new scam floating around on tumblr where users are receiving DM's, asks, and/or are being @ spammed in comments on a blog post by accounts that look like this:
(note: they use around 6-8 numbers but it does vary)
account-update-####
notification-####
system-update-#####
system-updates-#####
account-bot-reply
account-updating-#######
The accounts that are pretending to be [tumblr] staff/staff 'bots', and will make a post with a AI (disgustang) image and post with a message similar to this one, where they will then @ spam users in the comments:
These accounts are not real staff accounts. Official [tumblr] Staff accounts will have a badge on their profile like this:
These fake accounts can also send users messages similar to the following via asks or DM's:
Your Tumblr account has been temporarily locked due to security measures. Verify your account within 24 hours to stop permanent suspension.
Suspicious activity has been detected on your account! Our team has begun an investigation. To continue using your account, you must complete user verification.
Visual examples of this can be seen here:
Image 1 taken from this post, image 2 taken from this one.
Do note that [tumblr], nor its staff, will never, ever contact users via asks, comments, or direct messages with issues related to your account.
[tumblr] will only contact you on the account you used to register your account with, via their official email account that ends in tumblr.com.
[tumblr] will never ask you for money to 'verify' your account, to reactivate your account, to 'fix an issue', or anything similar to the sort.
[tumblr] will never threaten you that if you don't "pay them money" your information will be sent to the police, FBI, ect and you will be arrested for xyz reason.
[tumblr] staff does not use Discord, telegram, whatsapp, or any other social media account method to handle any kind of issue. Nor do they use any other website. If you need to contact them, use their support page!
If you are contacted by a user who tries to get you to contact a staff member via 'email', a website, on discord, whatsapp, telegram, or on any other thing at all that isn't tumblr, this is 100% a scam. Please report the DM, and block the user immediately.
You can also go a step further and report a post the hacked account has made as: something else > unlawful use > phishing, and explain that it is a hacked account trying to perform the <insert scam type> scam.
Providing screenshots is also always a good idea in these situations as well. :)
Now you may be asking: okay, what does this website take you to?
Is it a copy of tumblr to get you to sign in?
Nope! It's much more sad and.. honestly scarier than that.
It's a fake AI help bot plus a generic 'there was an error with your account. give us your credit card information now please :)' page.
If you notice- there's nothing that asks for anything related to your tumblr account. It's literally just "hey there was a issue with your account, click this button" then on the next page it tells users to "give us your credit card and personal information so we can steal your identity- I mean fix the issue."
(note: these images are outdated as of the current and new website they're using. The scam is still the same, however.)
Pause and think for a second: Did you give tumblr- the real tumblr- your credit card information when signing up?
The answer would surely be no. It's 100% free to sign up for tumblr, and costs users nothing to use the platform. The only time a user has to pay for something is when you buy something from TumblrMart, their official store.
Here are the dangers that come with giving them your information...
This is a very.. concerning and worrying phishing scam that can do a lot of damage if you're not careful.
This is honestly no different than those "you have a package from the UPS click here" or "you owe money from a toll both click here" scams you get in texts, and I would think people would know that- by looking at the URL alone, this is not owned nor operated by [tumblr] in any regard.
Please make sure to share this and help others become aware of scams, the more people who learn about scams, the less likely they are to fall for them. :)
Take care, stay safe, and keep helping others.