There is a new tumblr scam going around.
A scammer will mention (@) you in a comment under a post that impersonates a tumblr announcement. This post will falsely claim that your tumblr account has been restricted, and you have 48 hours to follow the link in their post to rectify it.
These comments and posts are fake.
One of the active scammer blogs is @system-blog-help.*
*(If this blog changes their url, the new urls will be added below. Please see the original version of this post for the most current list. These blogs can be monitored despite url changes if you make a side blog, then block them on the side blog. If they change their url, you will see the new url in your block list.)
Other urls: @system--data @system--updater @confirmation--page @account-confirmation @system-profile @confirm--page @verification-support22 @assist-page @system--blog @verification-support9 @notification2346 @new--notification
Here are some of the red flags you may see on these blogs and their posts:
None of their links in the main post go to a tumblr page (do not click on them).
They say you only have 48 hours to take action. This creates a sense of urgency and make you turn off your critical thinking skills.
Tumblr staff never reaches out to people in public for account-related things. Anything related to your account is for your eyes only and meant to be confidential.
If there are problems with your account, especially if it is time-sensitive, tumblr staff will not @ you on a post you might not even be logged in to get the notification for. Notice how you didn't actually get an email from tumblr staff about this apparent account problem; you only got the "mention" email (if you are signed up to receive emails about mentions), which any user can make.
Tumblr staff will never mention a user in a group with other users for matters related to account access.
Staff does not offer premium as an apology if they make a mistake. This is not in the terms of service anywhere.
Here are two screenshots from the offending blogs (note, these may not be exactly the same on future blogs):
You can also see two archived versions of these scam posts here and here.
If you see a blog that looks like this, report the post as "spam/bot", and the blog itself as "spam/bot".
If you have time, you may also comment "scam", or anything else that points out their intentions, on as many of their comments as you can. This slows down the scammer, as they have to either clean up your comments or block you, which briefly stops them from making as many comments to @ more people.
Tumblr also has a handy page with more info on spotting scammers, here.
