Hey guys let me tell you about advance fee scams
I hope y'all are familiar with these in this day and age, especially my artists out there, because they're incredibly common.
TL:DR: ANY kind of structure where you supposedly get money but have to give some of it back to someone should twig your scam radar, frankly. (re: @elljayvee)
About half an hour ago I posted a drawing and tagged it #artists on tumblr, and very quickly received this comment.
My scam radar went off immediately, due to the generic blog name and lack of any emotion in the comment, but I decided it might be an entertaining venture so I dmed them. They asked for a drawing "of these", and sent me a random selfie. I got the details and told them it would be $15, and they promptly offered me $300. At this point I know it's a scam, but I play along for funsies and give them my paypal. Shortly, they send me this image for "confirmation" (I blocked out my email)
And they began to insist that I checked my email. I looked in my spam folder and found the following email.
This is fake. This is not a thing. And the "you're to refund the $200.00 back" is the scam. They send vaguely official-looking emails at you to "prove" that they sent you the money, then have you send them $200 (or however much the scam is for). Then, surprise surprise, you're out $200.
I continued to play along for a bit, and in the second email "Paypal" told me that I had to refund the $200 before they could "credit the $300 to my account", along with these lovely threats.
And yeah, it's silly. But it's not silly if you don't know and get scammed. So. Spread, please! And thank you very much to @mlaurel for the opportunity to get these screenshots.
Anyone can be scammed, police, doctors, professors, cynics. The only thing they have in common is that they dont believe they could be scammed because they're too smart or savvy. ALL it takes is the right bait at the right time. (re: @evercaptor)
