Wildest Scams I Found on Reddit

[@Myder_Dragon]

The biggest scam I ever found on reddit was people telling me that I'd grow up happy and comfortable if I just went to college and worked hard.

[@CroissantsSlay]

OOF that's TOO REAL

[@timfunnydragon]

Derg

[@Miaonoo]

Real

[@Myder_Dragon]

@@timfunnydragon Hii

[@Lucyfurrrr]

Or if you “find god”. Like I don’t care if someone is religious or not, that’s their life not mine. But I do care when they try pushing it on you or say “well your life wouldn’t be like this if you let god into your life” or “you wouldn’t feel this way if you had god”. I was religious for a while, I even attended different religious churches. But that never did anything for me and if anything pushed me away. I attended youth groups and occasionally read some of the stories in the Bible, but now I just want to learn about other religions, and have some knowledge from the book to refute crazy religious people twisting the Bible’s words.

[@tolotos95]

Therapist: "Scammer-Click doesn't exist, he can't hurt you." Scammer-Click:

[@18Hongo]

"EVERYONE LOVES FEET PICS!!" - Scammer-Click

[@mo-s-]

Click bait

[@SaviorSen_]

Sclick

[@MemeAnt]

It’s sclick

[@MemeAnt]

@@SaviorSen_DAMMIT YOU BEAT ME TO THE JOKE

[@Finnley-supports-translives]

I read that as "wildest sarcasm" and was like "oh no the autism is going to struggle here for me"

[@alicebthegachaweirdo8378]

I read it as “wildest dreams” and was like “Oh, this sounds fun” It’s not that I don’t find this video funny

[@Manthab]

Real tho.

[@LusindaBlu.3]

Same lol

[@aliceramdom.s]

lol

[@BigAlexgator]

Hahahahha Jesus Christ yet another thing that makes me think “fuck I am neuro spicy for sure. It’s too relatable” 😅😂😂😂😂 just the fact that I had to learn to realize what was sarcastic and what wasn’t. It didn’t come as easy to me when all the other kids started to use it in grade school

[@MichaelZimmerman-zl8zz]

Once, I got a text from a scammer saying that my car was stolen. I responded with "Oh yeah, that makes complete sense despite the fact that I've never owned a car and the cars my family does own are both in the garage." But the wierdest part is that they requested I buy a car and give it to them so they could get my non-existent car back. Worst scammer ever.

[@meredithmitchell8921]

Omg that reminds me of the time I got a scammer calling me saying that I needed to update my car insurance and when I said that I didn’t own a car(I was 16). After stuttering for a few moments, he hung up lol

[@schrodingerscat3741]

Cop: Trust the system! Also cop: Won't give you any information. Drops case with no notice.

[@richardarriaga6271]

You can bet they will beat civil rights protestors

[@AroWolfArts]

10:21 Don't forget people: Having adblocker for youtube will always be morally correct as long as youtube doesn't even care what kind of ads they have on their site.

[@keonmerrill1941]

To be fair, I don't think YoutubER's earn money from adblocking users. But yeah, KZbin sucks.

[@SpamEggSausage]

even if they're not scams ads suck

[@PensiveOmen]

If the ads would stop JUMPSCARING me in the middle of me relaxing when i just get YELLED at out of nowhere, id let them play. dont really mind ads tbh... but i do mind heart palpitations and ptsd triggers

[@katie17330]

​@@PensiveOmen Yes! I hate getting ads for horror movies. I've never watched horror shows because I can't handle them, but they keep showing up when I'm trying to unwind for the evening.

[@PensiveOmen]

@@katie17330 yup... and at 200% volume, which i believe its illegal for ads to be a significantly higher volume than the content (it might only apply on regular tv or something) but obviously they just pay the fines and keep doing it... and all the horror movies all night

[@jordanenby9734]

Hearing Click scream "EVERYONE LOVES FEET PICS" is something I never thought I'd hear, but now I have.

[@TheSkyGuy77]

😂

[@vidareklofvonrosen2442]

HE DOES WHAT!!!!!

[@rdtripler5604]

Was he lying tho..?

[@hauhause2867]

Honestly I'm not surprised anymore

[@sir_aminita_verna]

fr

[@alphons1456o]

"How do I convince my brother there's no 20 year old virgin gf in romania?" Tell her Andrew Tate got to her first. Just break his heart

[@riverstyx7251]

As someone that has a grandma w dementia who frequently falls for scams, it’s easier to just follow their logic and come up with a new lie

[@fruityfruitpunch]

Normally I wouldn't wish being scammed on anybody regardless of how stupid they are, but if the 60 year old is specifically seeking out a "virgin" 20 year old with barely any adult experiences of their own he probably deserves to be scammed. But yeah, you're right. Just break that dumbass' heart.

[@blindbrad4719]

😂 brutal. Although I could talk, I'd be going down the route of scamming him myself just to show him how it's done

[@Spooky_Platypus]

💀 savage but probably true 😂

[@zenith5844]

Funny enough, the tea house scam seems like a genuinely nice service you can provide. Like, tourists able to meet with a nice local and ask a bunch of questions while having traditional tea sounds kind of nice

[@FunkyLittlePoptart]

I don't see how it's actually a scam. They have to take extra time to explain things to tourists and give them a nicer experience than they would get somewhere that caters to locals. To me, that means you pay a little more.

[@qwinlyn]

@@FunkyLittlePoptartit’s usually not a little. I’ve read stories about people falling for this scam at bars instead of tea houses and ending up with hundreds of dollars worth of debt.

[@FunkyLittlePoptart]

@@qwinlyn That's not tourists. That's drunk idiots. I had a badly behaved friend who thought she was hot poo who used to do this sort of thing to men. They ask to buy her a drink and she'd order a bottle of champagne. It backfired on her one night when she pulled the scam without bothering to think that maybe the dude didn't have the $80 for her bottle. He said he offered to buy her a drink, not a bottle and refused to pay. Her friends all wound up chipping to cover it, and everyone was pissed about it.

[@qwinlyn]

@@FunkyLittlePoptart yes, this also happens to drunk people in their own area. But once you add in a language barrier, exchange rates and “I’m on vacation” feelings, the scale increases. $80 is a very big amount of money, and I’m not discounting it, but you’ll notice I mentioned hundreds of dollars. That’s a bit different.

[@TheBluestflamingos]

​​@@FunkyLittlePoptart the main problem is the dishonesty. If the woman introduced herself as an representative of the tea house or tour guide, no scam. If she lies to you and pretends to be a new friend, scam. Also, it doesn't strike me as a coincidence that they sent a pretty young woman and she chose to single out a man traveling solo. So, the con would probably usally be inviting the man on a date so he will feel pressured to act cool and not make a fuss when they surprise him with the bill. Plus, in most primarily English speaking countries, it's customary for the man to pay when he's on a date, especially a first date. So now thats an extra $40 to the teashop that he wouldn't have paid if he wasn't lied to.

[@endslayer6603]

My dad’s favorite technique for dealing with scam callers is to mess with them. One of his personal favorites is posing as a old German girl named “Ima Fraud”, and he gets the scammer to say that name, and he responds with “yes, I know you’re a fraud.” It is always hilarious.

[@trebaneconapise7793]

oh my god this is so good. reminds me of james veitch's shenanigans.

[@angelikaskoroszyn8495]

The more time they waste on you the less time they have to scam vu people

[@turgid_member8717]

It needs to be said, ANYONE can fall victim to a scam, no matter how smart or aware you are. They just have to catch you at the right time, when your guard is down. People who deal with scammers and know their tricks have gotten scammed, myself included. We can laugh at how silly they are all day, but their scams work for a reason. If you fall victim, don't feel dumb or ashamed. It happens. Just take the steps necessary to get your life and finances back in order.

[@Shinigami2c2]

You are absolutely right. I partially fell for a scam, even when I was aware of scams like them going around. I fell for it because I had just linked a card to my Amazon account and they called me the next day saying my account was hacked and a large purchase was made. It was just the timing. I'm just glad I wised up (and calmed down a bit) before I did anything too damaging and irreversible. Like you said, it happens. Even to the best of us. The shame is all theirs.

[@jamiefrontiera1671]

I'd also like to point out, many of the scams that work are where they get their victims emotionally involved like angry. The more emotional you are, the more the logic part of your brain stops working/or being listened to by the rest of the brain.

[@lazykbys]

IMO, people who think they are too smart for scams are just as vulnerable - possibly even more so.

[@Daelyah]

Con-men is short form of "confidence men"; the successful ones exude enough confidence that they can fool almost anyone.

[@enerioffutt1881]

I almost fell for a scam once. It was the won a trip to a foreign county, didn't tell anyone and now I need money. Of course i was freaked out and scrambling trying to figure out what to do, until she e-mail everyone said, "It's not me. Trust me, if i won a trip, I would have told EVERYONE." Whew. (not real) crisis averted.

[@OfficialAlakazypnoProductions]

Scammer: Give Money. Me: W-Why? Scammer: **hangs up**

[@BoxOfToasters]

"I-I can't give you money yet, s-senpai~" - I dunno someone probably

[@Thenoobestgirl]

You fooled them!

[@tiraXpyrrha]

Give me money. Money me. Money now. Me a money needing a lot now. - Scammer maybe

[@lionsexist]

@@BoxOfToastersI’m totally trying that next time I get a scam call

[@orelliaorellia142]

One day, my uncle was fed up with commercial calls (you know, those who try to sell you something which half the time is a scam). It was the week before mother day. The person at the other end of the call started with something like '' Hello! To make your wife happy on mother day have you thought to buy her.... '' My uncle interrupted him with '' Thank but she died two weeks ago''. The poor guy on the phone didn't know how to apologise. My very alive aunt who was in the room was desesperate trying not to burst out laughing 😂.

[@erin1569]

I have reported 5 "Mr Beast is gonna give you money" ads, and google stood by their decision to keep them.

[@Green24152]

they have a hidden disclaimer in their sites that says "we are not actually affiliated with the person we're using to scam people lmao"

[@anikanele7958]

that one scammy mobile game with fake ads is now having an ad starting with "man, those fake ads for games that look nothing like the ads sure are annoying." and I both find it hilarious and super annoying

[@tinymittensdesign]

My mom works in a store where she sees the gift card scam all the time. She tries to warn people. Sometimes she gets a win, sometimes the people refuse to believe her, which sucks...but hey, she warned them.

[@MichaelRainey]

Scammers tried to get my grandmother with that, "Help, Grandma, I'm injured/in jail in a foreign country" scam. I reminded her her name is not "Grandma" and that if I had the money to travel internationally I would have stopped in for a visit on the way out of the country.

[@SpamEggSausage]

some scammer tried to tell me my son was in jail. I DON'T EVEN HAVE A SON!!!

[@Rina-the-Polyglot]

lol when I was a schoolchild I got an SMS that told me my bank account was being hacked and my money I was being stolen from my credit card. I was so happy to learn that I had some mon… that I had a credit card, although I thought I had never had one!

[@chastitymarks2185]

They tried the same scam with my elderly neighbour, a guy said he was her grandson and asked her to send him some money, joke was on them as she only has granddaughters.

[@lostshadows768]

I once got a call from my "nephew" that I assume was going to eventually ask for money. He seemed too flustered by me mentioning that I didn't have a nephew to have been a wrong number.

[@dragonfliesnh4204]

This is a very common scam and they specifically prey on older adults. Usually it's in the middle of the night where they aren't fully alert. They pretend to be an estranged family member because chances are they won't be able to guess any real family names. Unfortunately many scammers prey on older adults.

[@RGC_animation]

"I hope this email finds you before I do." Is such a threatening line, and it conveys to the other party your intentions perfectly. This line is awesome!

[@DonnaLang42rockglobally]

That guy who got the scammer to block him is a prime example of how to traumatize someone back! ^_^

[@chesneymigl4538]

I can see myself responding to one of those "we have all your info" scams with a "Really? Yay! I'm currently living out of my car. Please tell me what address I can claim as my own"

[@chidoalex0742]

the tea house scam just sounds more like you are paying to have someone to talk with and a speech about tea

[@crowdemon_archives]

Tea lecture

[@Doc_Trancy]

Paying for tea, a lecture, and company? Thats not a scam, just a wholesome good time.

[@polish_pigeon]

The police story is too accurate, the authorities never take their job seriously nor care..

[@xakmf]

Sounds like Canada. Had a special unit to try to deal with and counter Scams. Don't think they every really did much. Then disbanded that unit and pretty much said "not our problem. Its your fault if you get scammed"

[@christianhohenstein1422]

If they make your nudes public and, as Click suggested, you made an only fans, sue them for copyright. More likely the police will do something then.

[@desperadox7565]

If they'd care about online threats, they'll never get any real work done.

[@Insertia_Nameia]

Not really. In that case it's more a civial case, yes? And yeah they dont do much unless something illegal already took place and unless you have all the evidence gathered and ready to hand over to them.​@@christianhohenstein1422

[@FederalBurroOfInvestigation]

As if they would anyway lmao. Cops. Don't. Like. Doing. Things. They called the booking paperwork "hell" in jail. ​@@desperadox7565

[@peepopopo7140]

"Yeah, I know you just got threatened, but don't worry! We'll send you a little piece of paper about it, that should fix everything!"

[@desperadox7565]

They know online threats are BS.

[@andromidius]

@@desperadox7565 99% of them. Its just we know about that tiny percentage of threats that are real, and we're not really happy playing the odds.

[@sassylittleprophet]

Police are a scam

[@lisasteel6817]

“You can use the paper over your bullet hole 😊”

[@AIHumanEquality]

​@@lisasteel6817Not an issue when your country has proper gun laws.😼

[@lolitzi47]

The first comment on here was a naughty scam account help irony

[@mimikyubutitsactualyhornet]

Lol

[@BoxOfToasters]

Hehehe

[@Myder_Dragon]

Waiting for all the reply bots with the "my content is better than Clicks"

[@tinawitte420]

I could use some help ironing. Not that I cannot do it, I just don't wanna.

[@tinawitte420]

@@Myder_Dragon What's with those bots anyhow, can you explain? Is it just to get new subscibers for some random small channel, or is there more to it?

[@M1nisat]

a scam my grandma got was a fake call (prob AI voice) from my dad, saying he was in jail and needed bail. she started panicking, then realized his voice was off. she asked my 'dad' and he yelled at her. she hung up and called my mom, who told her he was at work, and she couldn't call him until he left. that was horrifying. even talking to scam callers is enough to make a AI version of your voice. Please, stay safe.

[@richardarriaga6271]

Keffals was impersonated with an AI voice that threatened the town mayor and got her raided. No one knows the SWATer responsible.

[@HeySlothKid]

My mom said she'd know immediately that a scammer was cloning my voice because "you already know I have no money"

[@M1nisat]

@@HeySlothKid Damn

[@beartrixlestrange]

As someone who used to work at a blue store with a yellow spark, we are actually trained to keep an eye out for scams. The training video basically says that people, especially elderly people, who are buying multiple gift cards or gift cards of large amounts, we are to ask what they are for. If they say that they're buying it for family, we are safe to proceed. But if they basically say anything else, we are to send them to customer service, get a manager, or straight up deny the purchase. Granted, this was several years ago, so things might have changed, but this was how I was trained.

[@movielover6840]

This is true. Every grocery store I've worked at tells me to deny the sale and send it to customer service if it's over $500-$1000

[@SebiTheFox]

for the 6:43 in french we have an expression that say : " given is given, taking back is stealing"

[@karowolkenschaufler7659]

we have a saying in german that means the same. with a nice littel rhyme at the end.

[@flowerdream2732]

​​​@@karowolkenschaufler7659 In french that also rhymes: "donner c'est donner, reprendre c'est voler". And I'm curious, how do you say this expression in german? 🤔 EDIT: Something comes to my mind. I think a more accurate translation is "giving is giving, taking back is stealing". But "donner" and "donné" pronounce the same, so I understand this confusion. Also, english isn't my native language, you can correct me about it.

[@LexusLFA554]

@@flowerdream2732 Geschenkt ist geschenkt, und Wiederholen ist gestohlen (double whammy, either regifting something or retaking it)

[@rwandaforever6744]

@@flowerdream2732 In German it's: Geschenkt ist geschenkt, wiederholen ist gestohlen.

[@gracegaylord9025]

Fancy way of saying "nuh-uh! No takesies backsies!"

[@aceofbells]

I read "wildest screams I found on reddit " and didn't realise it was about scams before the first post lmao

[@JDM-is-my-name]

I managed to misread this as "wildest dreams I found on reddit" even though I did manage to read the title of the video correctly, lol

[@aceofbells]

​@@JDM-is-my-name it does still match the video tho, in the scammers wildest dreams, their bad scams work XD

[@CR1MSONACE]

​@@JDM-is-my-name That's Matt Rose territory.

[@JDM-is-my-name]

@@aceofbells XD

[@LusindaBlu.3]

A few seconds in and here is a recipe Custard: Mix a little more than 1/2 cup sugar with 2 tablespoons of corn starch then add 2 egg yolks and 2 cups milk cook in the microwave for 2 min and put in fridge till it cools to however you want Crepes Mix 1 cup ap flour with 2 eggs then pour in 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup water Prob warm it up a bit but suggest using a blinder to be sure you get all the chunks out Take 3 tablespoons of butter and melt it on your pan at just under the middle temp Then mix in the melted butter add the batter to the pan

[@squidcaps4308]

Instructions unclear, dick stuck in too small cup. You do understand that the rest of the world does not measure anything in "cups" because there are many, many different size of cups..

[@3CatsInATrenchoat]

This sounds yummy

[@jamiefrontiera1671]

Yeah, I recently bought a crepe machine, because I kept breaking my crepes when flipping it over using the pan. Best thing for crepes, it actually has you turn the crepe griddle to max, not medium heat. No butter needed on the griddle.

[@kiarastardust]

Thank you.

[@phaedrapage4217]

A microwave custard? I'm in. Screenshot saved.

[@Ramberta]

I'm so grateful that I finally get most scam calls as "Scam Likely" on my caller ID, which means that I can answer and say things like "DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?" or "Thank you for calling the Microsoft Fraud Department, this is Amanda how can I direct your call?" The call always disconnects real quick :D

[@genscot]

a lot of these scams target older people, so it's good to make sure your older relatives can recognize a scam! my grandma got scammed by some guy claiming to be a doctor working for doctors without borders. he talked to her for months, had her facetime with his "daughter", made plans to meet with her that all got cancelled last minute, and eventually called saying he was stuck in another country without his passport and needed $5000 to get back home. she took out a bunch of payday loans to give him the money 🤦‍♀

[@MsAubrey]

I’m SO GLAD that my mother in law and my parents are so cynical and pessimistic that they think everyone is trying to scam them, that they call to ask me even when it’s something legitimate. 😂

[@Morghena]

My partner's mother had a scam call recently (in Germany). She got a call from a woman crying hysterically claiming to be her daughter (or rather calling her mama) and pretending to be in trouble and with the police. The phone was then handed to another woman who claimed to be police. Thankfully my partner's mum had her wits about her and kept asking what happened and if she needed to come over, which they couldn't properly answer. After the call was over she immediately called her actual daughter to confirm her suspicions of it being a scam (and to process the scare).

[@edithgruber2125]

My mother also lives in Germany and had a similar call a couple of months ago. A woman was crying and screaming about an accident, pretending to be her daughter (me) and my mum just laughed and hung up. The reason she could immediately tell it wasn't me: we speak a dialect at home and the woman was speaking standard German. It would never occur to me to talk to my parents in standard.

[@lethfuil]

Well done. Both of your mums. My grandmother (Bavaria) had a similar call at year. She too didn't fall for it, but she had some fun wasting the scammers time, asking irritating questions etc, before she hung up and informed the police. The police part also is my advice to anyone experiencing that kind of scam attempt. Do it, call the police, let them know that there's [specific] scam going on right now in X area (it's often certain areas at a time), so they have it easier to warn people and look out for the scammers. Which they both actually do, with the first being more successful than the second. Neither is super successful, but heck, if it saves just one person from falling for it it's worthwhile.

[@Otaku2803]

Grandma/grandpa scam is soooo common in Germany. People always used to call my uncle like this, claiming to be his son. Well, my uncle never had kids!

[@lethfuil]

@@Otaku2803 I have a pretty unusual name, especially for my age. My name's usually found in much older people (from the official statistics I could find I'm actually the youngest person, in all of Germany, with that name. And I'm 39. And, no, it's not THAT name). Those scammers often look up names that sound like they're from an older generation and then go with it. So, I too got a call from my (non existent) daughter, about my (nonexistent) grandkid having an emergency. Showed them my impressive collection of unexpected insults and reported them.

[@mutation333]

The tea scam got me thinking, wholesome scamming. Is that even possible? I mean, yea. The guy was over charged but he had a good time, learned some new words in Chinese, and left the tea house with a smile.

[@qwinlyn]

The scale these can end up at is the only worry. The same basic thing happens in bars and those tabs can get into the hundreds of dollars level.

[@JNMeiun]

I'm not even sure id consider a fair portion of teahouse scams to actually be scams. Tourist tax is just kind of everywhere anyway, in this case 40 for the tea and her company is an absolute steal compared to tourist tax. That's about the only tourist tax I'm willing to pay.

[@HopeHard4062]

Tbf it could be like paying extra for host/ess to talk about stuff not many.

[@JNMeiun]

@@HopeHard4062 many of them are exactly that, they just don't tell you up front.

[@Joey245]

My little brother (20M) literally fell victim to a scam last Thursday. They told him they wanted to make a painting of a picture he'd posted of our family dog, and in order to do that they needed money from him to pay the "art fee" without showing they were working on it. They sent money over to his account, he tried sending two payments over, second one got rejected, person on the other end told him to go to an ATM and follow their instructions. When me and my folks put a stop to it, they sent him the edgiest threats imaginable. People like this are disgusting. I'd hate them, if they weren't so pathetic that they're not worth the energy.

[@Nakia11798]

Imagine being 20 and falling for that. Get him watching Jim Browning

[@erinasnow]

​@@Nakia11798 and he always makes sure not to be condescending to people who fall for scams. Because it can happen to anyone - the wrong moment and the wrong time and all.

[@commandercorl1544]

why is this formatted like a reddit post? "my (___) brother (20m) just got scammed so the other day..."

[@mirandagarcia579]

I had something like this happen to me. I was trying to sell a fish tank and accessories and some ah managed to get $800 from me until the pieces clicked together. I am still ashamed. (It was the "I sent you $200 by accident, can you send it back?")

[@DayDreamingWriters]

@@Nakia11798 In opposite to beliefs 20-yo people are not as smart as you think

[@Serai3]

Whenever I get a scam call, I always answer it. When they start their spiel, I just give a big sigh and say, "Please find a more dignified way to make a living," and hang up. They never call back. Wow, that first scam sounds like fun. I'd have totally played along and made them waste as much time as possible.

[@dreamie3742]

One of my favourite jobs in middle school was working at my friend’s dad’s tech repair shop, smashing all the scam USB sticks people had found with a mallet. This video reminded me of that for some reason.

[@wizardsuth]

That's not a great idea considering a lot of electronic devices contain toxic heavy metals such as arsenic.

[@stompingliger]

Click is here working the long con. We are obviously still in the love-bombing phase (“You smell so nice” etc.). Soon he will reveal his true intentions.

[@CR1MSONACE]

Fortunately all the audience members not attracted to men are immune. We get to laugh at you all :)

[@RuthBhmand]

I hope these intentions include domination or at least some foot stuff. 🤩 fingers crossed🥰😍😘

[@LessThanLucid]

The Click seems like a cartoon supervillain, planning to Take Over the World with an Army of Cerberus Ducks! Mwa-ha-ha! The only ones safe are those that have Click Merch! So very plushie evil. 😂

[@andromidius]

Long term aftershave sponsorship scam? Its so genius it might work.

[@Dazai.Simp.]

I figured out his true intentions. After love bombing us he will manipulate us into having a happy life. Unbelievable

[@fizzipawp_z]

Shoves my way out of the crowd. *EVERYONE SHUT UP CLICCY POSTED*

[@CroissantsSlay]

Wooooo

[@LusindaBlu.3]

YEYY

[@osheridan]

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[@osheridan]

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[@JDM-is-my-name]

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[@illchangethisifican7952]

35:00 My school gave an assembly on this, and basically said "we can't stop you sending pictures, but we're telling you to do it safely."

[@Przemko27Z]

One thing I think is a very telltale sign of a scam is someone being weirdly specific about the proof of whatever. Like, with the paypal thing, if they specifically mention getting an email (easily faked) and not, ya know, receiving the money, probably a scam. Similarly if they insist on one specific method of handling things, be it payment or something else. Like, someone that's not trying to scam you will generally be fine with you checking your account or handling things whichever way gets the job done.

[@calvinsmith6681]

The guy who sent the $400 I’m just gonna pocket that and block his number and screenshot the whole convo as evidence

[@iamsongforsomeone994]

As an artist to other artists: do not tell them the information in the chat. Make them search for the information and have them tell you what they want. Scammers won't look it up even if you send them the link, real people will. You can also set up a Google form for your commissions. I've gotten the commission scam too many times and I've gotten really good at spotting it. Luckily I've never gotten scammed though.

[@echopeak5953]

It's also worth noting that asking for 33-50% upfront for art to avoid payment dodgers is standard, even when working with professional companies. If people kick up a fuss about this then you know they are looking to get away without paying.

[@voidconcept1269]

I had someone offering me 300$ on Instagram for a commission of a dog. Their English was broken ( which was what ticked me off that something was up because their pfp was a redneck as fuck guy and his golden retriever ) I checked their profile and they only had one picture ( their pfp ) They kept asking for my email, even after I sent them the link to pay me through cashapp. So I thought ok. I’ll just send them a screenshot of my cashapp name. Maybe that’ll work They kept saying it wouldn’t work and they needed my email to send the money. I didn’t feel comfortable at this point so I politely told them I wouldn’t be doing a commission for them. Not sure if it was a scam but I think it’s highly likely.

[@iamsongforsomeone994]

@@echopeak5953 yeah I ask for half the payment upfront but the refund scams featured here dont care about that.

[@ShadowEclipse777]

​@echopeak5953 this, it's perfect reasonable to ask for a partial advance

[@PrototypeSpaceMonkey]

I once did a big commission (figurine) for for a guy that set off all the red flags of a scammer. (poor spelling, over complicated paypal hijinks, "I'm a bit short this month because [dramadump]", "here $13 it all I got", "Can u front the shipping cost, u know I'm good 4 it bro" etc.) So I figured I had basically wasted my time and materials, but he HAD sent me his shipping address, and it was relatively close to me so I just decided to DM him and ask if I could come over. And much to my surprise, he agreed. And to my even greater surprise, I didn't get mugged in a dark alley but he really just was the brokest-ass mofo you've ever met. And a pretty chill dude. We actually became friends and we would sometimes just hang out at his place and play old videogames on his potato pc in like 15fps and watch pirated anime. It took him almost 3 years to pay off his commission in installments, and it was probably the most expensive thing in his one room apartment. What can I say? In the end the guy was just a cultured patron of the arts.

[@tonibellanger8540]

The best scam I ever had was an email saying they hacked my webcam while I was "enjoying myself" to some "adult videos." They threatened to send them to my family and post them if I didn't send them money. They even went so far as to criticize my taste in videos and the face I make during. Funny thing is I'm not a guy and don't possess the part necessary for the scam. It was super funny. Oh, and I don't even have a computer.

[@kikidevine694]

I always tell them to go ahead. I don't have a webcam 😂

[@ZK-ib2wp]

Ha, that's really funny!

[@liad3]

Saw one where the woman being targeted replied “I’m on onlyfans and am a stripper. Share away!”

[@WigglesMother]

I get that one periodically, and all I can think is...yeah, my family's never going to believe that.

[@toryroseharris6153]

I JUST GOT THIS ONE LAST WEEK. I’m not a guy, asexual, unemployed due to disability, have no living family left, and only 1 friend at this time. It was hilarious.

[@flochaos4931]

My great grandma actually got a scam call once and she handled it honestly perfectly. She got told one of her granddaughters caused a car accident (that would either be my mum or my great cousin who are both pretty safe drivers) and they now needed help to pay for that. Thankfully she just ended the call and called the police instead. She actually made it to a local newspaper with that story, probably cause they wanted to warn older folks that this scam exists. I love my great grandma dearly she's the sweetest woman and I am impressed by her ability to spot scammers.

[@rusty_keys]

someone tried to scam me with the stolen phone from a classmate. The thing is, as little as I knew about said classmate (we did a couple group projects together), I did know they had good grammar, which the scammer... did not. They did the usual "I need you to send me X amount of dollars because my card isn't working" (why would anyone contact a CLASSMATE for this). I let them get as far as sending me their info, called them out on it, and they panicked and erased their last messages. Told them to at least learn to write before they try to lie so openly

[@keyblade419]

As someone who waited almost 5 hours for officers to arrive for a civil standby I requested, I feel you on Non-emergency calls feeling useless.

[@youtubeuniversity3638]

18:50 Imagine a scam that's so pleasant that after someone gets scammed and realizes they desperately try and get scammed yet again

[@FegyTheFandomLord]

Or even better: two scammers scam each other, but their scams are so pleasant, that they try to find each other again Scammers to lovers

[@threecards333]

Well i was sort of scammed for over a year. IG message scam. "Lily" gave me daily attention and encouraged me to go to the gym and get healthy. She just constantly needed money as her haircutting business was not going well. Basically over a course of a year i sent her roughly 3k, but i lost 50 lbs and had a conversation partner when i recently moved to a new state. I guess it was a fair exchange. Finally ended when i demanded an actual phone call before sending any more money.

[@nikkafrog]

Sadly, my grandma has been getting bs calls shortly after my grampa died. That was on top of his kids getting pushy so they could get their inheritance. Luckily we were with her the week of his death to help her out and answer calls. People are the worse

[@foxxknight8847]

The Venmo scam: Before that kind of thing, there used to be a thing where a scammer would send you a check, tell you to deposit it, then send them a money order for a portion of the funds on the check, telling you to keep the rest. Once they have the money order, they dispute the check and you end up having the amount of the check yanked out of your account in addition to the amount of the money order you bought.

[@tiffinylawrie]

Someone tried to get my husband with one of these, only it was a bitcoin thing instead of money orders 😒

[@Kailandra29]

My ex got taken by one of these scams for about $5k. They pretended to be part of a secret shopper program and had a legitimate-looking (to him, I didn't see it) site and phone service and everything.

[@spugintrntl]

They still do this. Pro tip, if a prospective employer offers to send you a check for "the purchase of work materials from approved sellers", that check is going to bounce.

[@njalsand133]

The biggest scam I've encountered is zealots. They insist magic, curses, and the devil is real.

[@sansuusilly]

huh

[@AkayPixy]

Ah! But demons are real! Don't you have your emotional support demon? My demon is so wholesome it glows in the dark :) All jokes aside, yea, those scams suck

[@LaNoireDetruit]

My friend's dad was scammed on ebay once for some electronic part that never arrived. When he contacted the seller to ask for the item or money back they straighht up texted "You got scammed, man, you're never seeing that money again" - which I must say I appreciate and kinda respect. Apart from the fact that we all had a good laugh at the dad's expense bc he is always presenting as so knowledgeable when it comes to buying things xD

[@a-fletcher]

6:27 a very important note about using an old throw-away device: If you do this, make sure it's not connected 2 the internet, as it could use known or unknown vulnerabilities to infect the network, even devices like your router can be compromised.

[@ZackC]

This is extremely important. If you know what you’re doing, feel free to set up a sandboxed, air gapped, expendable computer to check out the drives. Otherwise, not worth the risk.

[@a-fletcher]

@ZackC absolutely, worked quite a few years in IT and man the stuff you learn about just cause you need 2 to help customers oh boi. I remember when that crypto (not the coin) propergated the internet via a security vulnerability (think it was related 2 printers, it was like 4 years ago) all our customers were fine except the 1 that didn't spend money on upgrading their security for like 3 years. They had 3 spend thousands of dollars to try and recover their data and were out for about a week solid.

[@foolsenigma]

45:00 this actually is already a thing at a bunch of walmart/sams club locations. At the store i worked at, we had to do mandatory training on identifying people who were obviously buying gift cards for scams or commiting credit card fraud. It only became relevant once, but that one time turned out to be a situation where a guy whod just won the lottery had given his card to his family to buy as many groceries as they needed, and they repaid him buy trying to drain his account by buying as many gift cards as possible. The police had to get involved and everything.

[@hanakize]

The idea that the editor had to fake the email in the intro is stupidly funny to me lol

[@sayastra]

Got a call at work saying someone had used my credit card in Germany, being it was a work line I asked "what name I on the card" only to be met with silence "I told them to get a job because they suck at scamming" (literally answered the phone as "good afternoon, ")

[@bunnyandcookieofficial5555]

41:14 biggest tip for artists, i send the sketch and give constant updates, then after im finished i send a blurred version ask them to pay then send it and if they want and changes i make them then 👍

[@Aviation1400]

I usually work with the payment upfront, but some people don’t like to do that, so it’s fine to work and pay when you’re done, but I just hate seeing artists getting scammed, even like that shityy scam, they “avoided” the scammed, but they ended up drawing for free, which is just awful to do to an artist That one hit me hard tbh

[@bunnyandcookieofficial5555]

@@Aviation1400 yea def Ive been thinking of doing half upfront half at the end just because i know myself that i can get sluggish on some commissions if the commissioner isnt active

[@Aviation1400]

@@bunnyandcookieofficial5555 yeah, half upfront is like, safer, 697 could still get scammed for half but at least you don’t work for free, so I guess it’s fine

[@krissgopher4129]

The commissions scam is so insane like we are starving artists, what money are u gonna get? I get these messages all the time. Scams are so crazy

[@Omneyvdwatering]

I had one of those "I hacked your webcam and saw you watch prom and will send this to your friends" I replied excitingly that my friends would love that. I was actually able to check their IP and everything and mailed them back what their IP was and let them know to leave me alone.

[@Nakia11798]

I got one of those and laughed bc I don't watch prom

[@BoxOfToasters]

Also, how would you know if a person watches prom from their webcam?

[@restrictedmilk]

​​@@BoxOfToasters The threat is that they've filmed you with your webcam while you were pleasuring yourself. My dad got one of these calls and I told him if I was ever sent a video of him enjoying himself, I would be happy he takes time for that and turn it off immediately. I got an email threatening the same sort of scam a few months later. I don't do stuff like this in front of a webcam, nor do I watch porn.

[@Rina-the-Polyglot]

- I think you sent the money to the wrong number - I would appreciate if you would return the 400 dollars - Nah, I’m keeping it, I just know how to put it to good use, for I can barely make both ends meet - No! It’s not how it’s supposed t… - Blah blah nya nya suka blyat

[@2_strawbinnie]

I like how you said the last one (translated) in Russian, nice work on scamming the scammer

[@8Spikey]

I went to an MLM pitch just to analyze it psychologically. I reported the scam to the police, while 2 of the speakers were actually wanted in several countries. The detective I spoke to was really unimpressed. He said that as long as they don't scam through this "company" he can't do anything. I asked what about the people who were going to get scammed, can't we prevent their loss? Answer was no. Useless.

[@Falany]

My bank and our local government (I'm from the Netherlands) do not put ANY links in their official emails anymore because of scams. You just get an e-mail saying you should navigate to the official site by yourself because of the thing that needs your attention. They also specify you should not click on any links in other emails that may look to be from the same sender.

[@Orchid_123]

Didnt expect to hear click scream "EVERYONE LOVES FEET PICS" at 3 in the morning but here we are-

[@ObsceneKiss6550]

He's not wrong though

[@Erissa]

The one where they switched out the letter "a" for a Cyrillic letter "a" reminds me of when my boyfriend went through and switched out some of my characters in my VS Code. I spent 3 hours trying to figure out what was wrong before I finally just retyped a bunch of the lines because it wouldn't put error lines under the specific character. It just noted that there was an issue in the line, or in a spot further down where the incorrect character caused a problem. Those kinds of switches can be so easily missed. Stuff like that is why a lot of security training courses will tell you to just NOT click the links in the email at all, and to instead go to a known good URL

[@PotPam]

Your boyfriend's must be a coder too, considering he knew that only a few miniscule tweaks was needed to make you spend hours going insane trying to figure what the problem is.

[@Erissa]

​@@PotPam yup he was already at what most would count as a lead / senior engineer level.

[@crowdemon_archives]

​@@Erissa also a great troll huh 😅

[@alexstevens8861]

KZbin does not demonitize for advertisers. It is profitable to demonitize as much as possible and run ads anyway, keeping 100% profit.

[@EtrnayDad]

Im so used to people trying to scam on discord, whenever someone i dont know msgs me i just go "i dont know you, lets get this over with, whats your scam?". Usually the person comes back a day or so later like "im not a scammer" and i never hear from them again

[@bshap495]

I think we should be grateful that scammers are often bad at grammar, spelling, and photoshop.

[@wizardsuth]

Sometimes it's deliberate. People who notice the spelling is bad or the images are fake are less likely to fall for the scam when they hear the details. The scammers don't want to waste time trying to fool skeptics -- they prefer easy marks.

[@alphons1456o]

That first scam story got me like My friend: "The worst she can say is no" Her: *is actually a decoy for some weird scam

[@macklinillustration]

I used to get a lot of scammer calls, the "we seen you've recently been in a car accident" were common enough that i came up with more absurd things to tell them to see how quickly they'd hang up. The quickest hang up i ever had was to "well I'm blind so-"

[@unapologeticallylizzy]

I was looking for somewhere to live in January. I asked in a Facebook group and had someone direct message me, except I think they forgot what time zone they were supposed to be in because I messaged back and asked for some more information about the place. I was already suspicious but thought I'd ask just in case and they were like "okay, I just got off the phone with the landlord and it's available" and I was just like "dude it's 1am in that time zone" and he basically went "okay yeah, you got me."

[@SanjayMerchant]

Scammers getting angry when you call them on it is always hilarious to me. You're the one doing it, dude, not me.

[@justsomepeach]

I got hit by one of the extortion scams something like two years ago. They threatened to send my very questionable search history to my family members, coworkers and employer, unless I’ll give them x. I answered that everyone who even remotely knows me is already aware that I’m a deranged freak, so to go ahead and send it and that it would be actually nice if they could also send a copy to me too. Never heard from them ever again. I’m a little disappointed.

[@Rina-the-Polyglot]

My city has been covered with multiple ads that say “don’t take calls if the number is unknown to you” and so on and so forth lately, but as I am afraid of scammers or worse, that my father would try to get through, I never answer the calls from identified numbers But some of these ads say “if the police/your bank/your doctor/your dog is said to be getting through, pull down the receiver and call them yourself” which is perfectly fine until one of them says “military service calls? Well go there and check by yourself!”☠️

[@MystLunarabne]

12:58 "I will never toy with you or your feelings" *Immediately tries to toy with the feelings of the person provided they are religiously christian*

[@kikidevine694]

Banks are now able to triangulate names, sort codes, and account numbers; if ANYTHING flags the payer gets a warning message so the 'oh I sent this in error ' no longer flies

[@kitsunemusicisfire]

I remember at one point a scammer wanted me to "try out" a sex toy, so they would "give me money to buy it". They did and I basically held their money hostage saying that I couldn't buy it, and when they demanded their money back, I kept delaying it by telling them I'm busy. They got so mad and eventually I sent them their money back and they blocked me. Funniest shit.

[@jacksonbarkerthebluehairedfox]

That intense "EVERYONE LOVES FEET PICS" at the start killed me lmao

[@DragonLandlord]

I got one of those paid-to-shop "jobs" in the post. There was a letter explaining you spend $10 anywhere and wire the leftover - almost 2000 - to a Facebook account in a foreign country. The address on the envelope was different from the letter. The money order was from the USPS but only the dollar amount was printed. Luckily the USPS website has a page to check if money orders are valid, it wasn't. I took it to my post office, they told me this scam was just reported to them yesterday.

[@DanPantzig]

Pro Tips for Avoiding Scam E-mails & Texts: 1. Do not ever check your e-mail. 2. Respond to all texts from numbers you don't know with "show me your butthole" or some variant. And you're done.

[@RhodeCasaway]

Is there a version of step one for people who check their emails for Duolingo threatening them 😊? X

[@jodilewis5593]

My husband gets rid of phone scammers by telling them what a terrible day he's having. For whatever reason, the can't handle that (not in their script, I guess).

[@DanPantzig]

@@RhodeCasaway just stick to the app notifications

[@cecile886]

I once responded to a scam text that asked for my name with "Shia LaBeouf" (I had recently been listening to "Shia LaBeouf" by Rob Cantor) and they didn't catch it, so I assumed it was a bot.

[@Rina-the-Polyglot]

@@RhodeCasawaystep one for Duolingo users: just do that f-g lesson in Spanish or Vanish

[@a.r.mproductions5616]

The most annoying scam I’m being bombarded with is some emails pretending to be PayPal thanking me for spending $300-$500 on crypto currencies. The phone number is what they want you to call because they want you to panic.

[@jonusaguilar8156]

I got two of those recently, and they had pdf receipts I think, though I didn’t bother to try to open them.

[@jamiefrontiera1671]

Yeah, never use the phone number in the email, if legit you should be able to find it on their official website. At this point if a real person actually answers and not 10 minutes worth of ai/robot call, it's like a red flag it's a scammer phone number

[@a.r.mproductions5616]

@@jonusaguilar8156don’t open them and don’t call the number

[@sintanan469]

​@@jonusaguilar8156 That's good, as pdfs can carry executable code embedded in them to run background functions on Windows.

[@Storming_edits]

37:12 OH MY FUCKING GOD THATS MY POST!! Tysm for sharing my stupidity ❤

[@Adraeth]

*Scammer :* "I will never lie to you or try to toy with your feelings..." *My brain :* "Never gonna tell a lie... and hurt you~"

[@jeffafa3096]

I've worked for a sewage maintenance company on the planning department (planning the appointments for unclogging and repairing services and such). I've spoken to hundreds of people calling us saying they were scammed, in the two years I've worked there. Some got ripped off for thousands of euros and were blaming our company for it, even though we weren't involved at all. People really stop thinking rationally when there's a sense of urgency...

[@MUNMOMUU]

Honestly, I really admire your sympathies to scam victims. I haven't fallen to any serious scams, but I know there's a lot of shame and regret for scam victims, and it's not serving anyone good to start shaming them more because the scam "is so obvious" or something like that. Sometimes people have a bad day, aren't thinking clearly or aren't paying close attention and the scam happens at the right time. People getting shamed is making scams less reported, and makes them harder to be resisted since we don't have enough knowledge about them.

[@kitty_lol4879]

I JUST WATCHED CLICKS LAST VIDEO AND AUDIBLY SAID 'Damn, i need more' AND BOOM?!?!?! YES!!!

[@xyzK05]

Sameeee😅

[@Eclecticompany]

I had so many people approaching me in China and inviting me to a teahouse. Eventually I agreed to go for a beer with someone, because I knew it was a scam, and after following then and watching them go into a teahouse I said "I thought we were going for a beer; I hate tea", and walked off.

[@pasheka777]

I got scammed at work and lost my job over it, so watching stuff like this is bittersweet. Thinking back when I was a teenager and young adult, the number of times I got scammed or just bought expensive products/services that I could have easily lived without disgusts me, both with myself for being gullible and with people for being so low down and scummy. I mostly just keep to myself and don’t answer the phone, email, or engage with strangers in general online or in person because so many times, people trying to take you for a ride in one way or another. I wish that I could completely shake the shame, but it lingers in the depths and resurfaces when I’m reminded of what happened.

[@Just_a_commenter]

Woo! More Clicky! Anti-scam education is always awesome. :3 Especially when it's dolled out by such a fantastic plushie salesman.

[@someonehavinganidentitycrisis]

Your profile picture is a scam

[@rinkehibma252]

hi again :)

[@blaireshoe8738]

​@@someonehavinganidentitycrisis idk your username makes you sound unsure, pregnant Latias isn't asking for child support (yet), I'm not worried (yet). Besides, its coloring is suspiciously similar to the emotional support demons. Let's hear them out. 👀

[@someonehavinganidentitycrisis]

@@blaireshoe8738 it scams me of my joy

[@isaackelly9445]

A few years back there was a scam call where the person was trying to say my brother had gotten into a car accident ( there were details that didn't make sense and such that pointed to it being a scam ) I laid into the person and they tried to chastise me about cursing before i hung up

[@Thelocaltransmascidiot42]

That was the most aggressive "Ladies lassies and lassos" to date 😭😭

[@Heathenfidel]

"I don't actually remember how much money I have. And I'm not going to take your word for it that I have $400 more than I should."

[@nixymew987]

39:08 for any artists who are new to the commission game you NEED to have them pay before you give them the art I like to have them pay half before I send the sketch then the rest before the actually finished drawing this keeps people from stealing and scamming artists

[@yomiyuarts]

YES EXACTLY

[@thaostrich]

Thank you for using your platform to cover such an important topic. It is good to familiarize people with scam techniques. I always tell people "Nobody is going to reach out to you to randomly help you. They will nearly always be trying to get something from you. There are very few exceptions."

[@Sinovian]

45:04 Retail worker here. At least where I work we are required to have management come over and approve any gift card purchases over $25. Management is also instructed to conversationally ask what the gift cards are for if it is large amounts (but never push anyone for information). We also have to keep posted signage about gift card scams. I've never seen anyone in an active scam but hopefully some of these deterrents have helped someone.

[@LillyRose.creates]

The typos to make it sound like it’s a person typing and not repeatedly sent to everyone is so accurate

[@alabastergiant]

A number from India once texted me claiming they were a woman I had gotten pregnant. The biggest give away this was a scam was a) I had never been to India b) I was in *middle school*.

[@diediedice]

LMAOOOO That's so funny. Last year, I got like 5 different messages about how my son/daughter had gotten a new number and I needed to text them over whatsapp. Mind you, I had only turned 20 and I literally can't have children (lesbian lol). Every time I got another one, I just went "Oh wow, I didn't even know I was a mom!" and blocked them

[@purplealpaca9278]

Side note for the commission one: Don't let people say your commissions should be cheap. If a skatch takes 1-3 days, the background and lighting likely take more, sure 100 for that small of a canvas is maybe too much, but like think of YOUR LABOR as well when pricing

[@TheImaggine]

Whenever I'm not sure if X thing is actually happening to my account I always check my messages and go DIRECTLY to the site, avoiding the '''link'''' they provided like the plague.

[@lizzykayOT7]

Thanks for covering scams Click, being reminded of the case with the young lad getting affected by scammers was really sad. While these scams seems mostly harmless because they are frequent they do cause real world damage to vulnerable people.

[@ian0geller]

Just felt like pointing out that "good cop bad cop being done by the same person" can actually work - it's basically how an abusive relationship goes. Great content as always, Click. Oh, and another thing: you and the person reading this smell absolutely amazing today. ❤

[@MattBotor]

I once bought a set of TMNT figures from a shady guy with "fart" in his username. Had one good review, probably a bot. Payed about 100 USD I think, together with the international shipping. It arrived, good condition, unboxed original and we even texted "thank you for the good business" to each other. I was both happy and shocked that it wasn't a scam. I needed my turtles, was just glad someone was selling a full set.

[@FluffyEclairs]

Are you sure it wasn't a knockoff?

[@MattBotor]

@@FluffyEclairs Fairly sure, all the details are on point, but all I really care about is that it's quality and is still in good condition on my shelf.

[@FluffyEclairs]

@@MattBotor okay 😄

[@tim_the_traveler]

I just imagine being Clicks neighbor, you come home after a long days work, and off in the distance you hear "EVERYONE LOVES FEET PICS!!!"

[@CharaDreemurr_TheyThem]

Wdym? That isn't normal neighbor behavior?