You Will NEVER Stop Scam Texts… Unless

[@likebot.]

I got thinking about this video and just had to come back. "Never click on a link from a stranger" should be "Never click on a link without verifying off-line". Your friends, family, empolyer etc. can already be hacked. Yes, I've seen it and nearly fell for it. I fell for a ploy once and while I'm more difficult now, I believe I can still be taken in because I almost clicked on a link from my brother, whose business e-mail was hacked. Any entity that has your contact information is a weak point, even your friends and being aware of this gives you the heads-up you should have.

[@ElicBehexan]

I got a call about 3 months ago. The guy asked how I was, I told him I was depressed, he asked why, I told him that my wife died. He got all defensive said I sounded like a woman, I told him I was, he asked why I had a wife, I told him why not, it was legal. He then asked why I didn't have a man, I asked why I would want a man, he said men were beautiful (English wasn't his first language.) I asked if he wanted a man, he asked why I would ask that, I said that he said men were beautiful. He sputtered and hung up on me. My wife loved to keep hackers on the phone and if they hung up she won... so, I guess I won.

[@TraceDominguez]

if the first bit of the story is true I'm sorry for your loss (tragic!) but I'm glad there's some solace in screwing with a scammer ESPECIALLY because you used his own logic against him. I'm going to remember this for the future 💕

[@ElicBehexan]

@@TraceDominguez Yes, she passed in February and I had just watched a video that she would've enjoyed (Tasting History with Max Miller) and it made me sad. I have to say I got such a good laugh out of him that it instantly improved the rest of my day.

[@ianianianianian]

Well that’s a strategy I’ve never heard of before! I’m sorry for your loss.

[@ElicBehexan]

@@ianianianianian Thank you Ian. If I knew it would work as well as it did, I'd'a done it years before. LOL

[@ItsNorman]

I absolutely love your mom. I taught my gran to avoid those kinds of things too and she pretty much has the same response now

[@TraceDominguez]

I love my mom too!

[@johnnyboi5941]

I think I’m usually vigilant towards scams, but I’ve once received a scam call that was so convincing that I genuinely believed the scanner for 15 minutes before I realized something was up. The circumstances described in the scam matched up almost perfectly with what I had been doing in the past week that the possibility of a scam never even crossed my mind. A lot of times stories in scams fall apart almost immediately, but with the right conditions, they can be scarily convincing.

[@TraceDominguez]

Woaaahhh that’s wild.

[@BeckyStern]

What a public service, THANK YOU TRACE! 🙌

[@TraceDominguez]

🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

[@Corporis]

I appreciate that **leave Britney alone** reference

[@TraceDominguez]

Thank you fellow elder millennial

[@Mallory-Malkovich]

The sheer volume of these scam calls and texts and emails makes it almost certain we will fall for one eventually. Things you'd normally see coming a mile away can trick you if you're tired or depressed or just having an off day. But I wonder, have the number of cons and scammers gone up, or do they just have more reach than they did in the past?

[@TraceDominguez]

Great question! Rachel would know, I bet

[@Rabbit-the-One]

I had one waiting when I got the notification for this video. My Amazon account has been suspended for the 5th time this week.

[@TraceDominguez]

Oh no!

[@Rabbit-the-One]

@@TraceDominguez my heavens, what ever shall I do? 😉

[@AaronOfMpls]

And now I see that pic of Jeremy Clarkson going "Oh no! ... Anyway..."

[@npotufsstrugas6390]

This video made every hacker happy.

[@Wislex]

I chat with these people and waste their time. It's fun. And they all are pretty quick to leave once you flip em off, so instead try to listen and hold up the mirror and try to scam them back :D

[@TraceDominguez]

I'm so jaded, but I really wanna be like you and my mom and screw with them sometime -- if nothing else while they're on the phone with you they can't be off scamming other people!

[@Wislex]

@@TraceDominguez exactly it's a battle of attrition.

[@dabbingperson9236]

I get spam texts and calls in one go at certain times of the year. It’s so annoying and I’ve blocked about 30-40 of their numbers and have so many unchecked voicemails from scam numbers probably. Thanks for explaining all of this stuff.

[@TraceDominguez]

30-40 !! wow! (and you're very welcome~)

[@AliciaWag]

Thanks for another great video, Trace. I sent in some of my spam texts when you asked for them, & I think I spotted one or two in your video! Also, you totally turn into a little kid when you’re talking to your mom, & it’s adorable. 😊

[@thecatlady-n3n]

It's not just a matter of changing your password, you also need to activate 2FA if you can and/or if it applies to your device or account. It's important to research how to protect yourself and your family online. It's a crazy world we're living in.

[@ben455358]

5:44 CITI AL3RT: We are CLOSED your ACCOUNT because all your bank are belong to us

[@JustMeJH]

Great video! Also, I’ve watched half of your Franklin Institute videos so far, and they’re great! Very fun and informative!

[@TraceDominguez]

Awesome, thank you on BOTH COUNTS!! 10/10

[@treavormiller9552]

It’s cool seeing the spam text I shared with you, glad it was helpful!

[@TraceDominguez]

Thanks again for sharing it!

[@Sluie92]

Another great video, Trace! We got scammed on gumtree years ago, back when sites like that were pretty new. We transferred £200 to someone for a laptop and then the scammer disappeared. Looking back it seems really dumb, but humans are trusting by nature and it didn't occur to us that someone would behave that way. We never got our money back, but the scammer duped too many people and ended up getting arrested and going to court. I hope they learned their lesson, and I hope everyone I've told about it since has learned to be a little more cautious! It sucks being scammed, but knowing that you were able to prevent it from happening to others helps lessen the sting ☺️

[@TraceDominguez]

I get it! Scams can happen, sorry that one happened to you. I hope the £200 didn't break the bank (too much). My pops is REALLY cautious and didn't even put his credit card on the internet into the 21st century so I've been lucky (so far), but like Rachel said -- it's only a matter of time.

[@StupidRaisins]

Haha! Great video. I like to reply to the spam texts and lead them on and act stupid. They eventually get mad and leave.

[@TraceDominguez]

HA!

[@JohnGlennSpace]

The number of views on this video is criminal! Love your content Trace!

[@TraceDominguez]

Thanks John! Yeah the algo robots don’t love me 🤣

[@JonathanBates]

I get a lot of offers to buy my real estate. Even properties I don't even own! I wish they allowed you to block all texts from people not in your contacts, but so far haven't found a way to do that and filter them out. Blacklisting doesn't help when they use a new number every time.

[@TraceDominguez]

it's maddening!!

[@AaronOfMpls]

And it's probably not even the number they're calling or texting from anyway, since caller ID spoofing is a thing. (I've seen some where the claimed phone number starts with a 0 or a 1 after the area code -- which is impossible for a North American phone number.)

[@tinyophe]

I'm here from Lateral to see what you're about.

[@TraceDominguez]

I hope it was worth your time

[@npotufsstrugas6390]

No social media is privacy.

[@resourceress7]

Excellent video, as always. I enjoyed your guests and the hacker who had a puppy. And positive, actionable steps. I never would have imagined the USB in the government parking lot ploy. Very interesting.

[@TraceDominguez]

Don’t steal the parking lot idea

[@resourceress7]

@@TraceDominguez I wonder if somebody thought "hey I know the DOD computer's going to have a better virus protection than my home computer so I'll just check what's on this at work."

[@SilverCuz]

I"m so happy you referenced Sneakers.

[@TraceDominguez]

First thing we both thought of!

[@SilverCuz]

@@TraceDominguez Thanks to you both, I now HAVE to go watch it again. My plans have been cancelled.

[@amicaaranearum]

Stay off of real-name social media; you are the product, not the customer.

[@TraceDominguez]

You’re the product with any free service

[@AthAthanasius]

16:30 - Ah, you get those mandarin (I assume) phonecall scams too. I get a few a month here in the UK. Very little text/SMS spams though.

[@theunknown4834]

If you are curious about what they said, "China Government has a notification for you, pls press 9 to answer" "No thank you" says the scamee

[@TraceDominguez]

THANK YOU. I've always wondered!

[@theunknown4834]

@@TraceDominguez btw, if you are curious why you keep getting it, they claim to be the China customs government (I think?) so ya

[@likebot.]

@@theunknown4834 I've always assumed they were scammers targeting immigrants.

[@meander112]

Engagement for the engagement god!

[@Petch85]

13:00 I am so glad you included this part.

[@TraceDominguez]

Thank you!

[@timtomnec]

once heard about a big CORP get a fishing email with malware in a photo, company had all photos turned off for external emails, coworker forwards the email to IT saying they thing its a came, IT gets an internal email that shows the photo

[@cassinipanini]

when i was younger i fell for a car warranty scam :[ the urgency mentioned in the video was so intense, heightened by the fact i was in a checkout lane at the store. my dad also fell for a scam where his boss's email was compromised and sent out an email asking for Google Play giftcards. Luckily he asked me and I told him not to do it. he had already purchased the cards so that was $200 lost still BUT at least we didnt give them the codes so they never got the money :[

[@MollyBurke-d5q]

also got 👆same issue but reaching out to 2𝗙𝗮𝗿𝘆𝗮𝗻 got all my lost funds recovered successfully…

[@gxurma]

I love playing this game with the "microsoft" guys. I succeed to keep them hooked sometimes more than 20 minutes. Just let them exactly repeat their instructions again and again, trying to make that remote connection, and when they realize, that I have no internet connection on the PC, or that it is a Linux OS, they hang up. At least, for 20 minutes they can not fool others.

[@MatthewLodge]

My mom fell for the same scam your mom did! I think I was more angry about it than she was…

[@TraceDominguez]

oh I was pretty upset at them for scamming my mom, but I was proud of her for telling her friends and learning!

[@Nyambui]

Good looking out for your mom! She seems like a cool lady! Great video!

[@TraceDominguez]

Thank you!

[@omegahaxors9-11]

Are you using an antivirus? Most computer experts reccomend Disabbling it so that you can have more fun

[@DenisRyan]

Is answering the call in the first place, even if you know it's a scam, a bad idea? I feel like it let's them know that at least you're a real number.

[@TraceDominguez]

yes, if you know it's a scam don't even bother!

[@edwardskerl5774]

You betcha!

[@TraceDominguez]

Ya sure!

[@AaronOfMpls]

Oh yah!...

[@chrisgomez1840]

i have my phone set up so unknown numbers are silenced n it announces known numbers

[@likebot.]

LOL. Your "Description" area looks like a few scambots were let loose in there. Can you believe it, I've never sent or received a text in my life. After a dozen years away from my telco I threw away my cell phone in '08 and went back to a telephone - different telco because I'll never deal with Ma Bell ever.

[@TraceDominguez]

😅

[@willrobbz]

why never reply? It's how I waste hackers time. I even give up fake information that's useless to them.

[@TraceDominguez]

They know your number is real and that you'll spend time on them so they'll continue to engage. While you might not fall for it the first time, there will be a hack that will trick little bits of information out of you

[@willrobbz]

@@TraceDominguez I've already made hackers very bored and impatient with me. I am aware that it's possible to steal an identity with as little info as zip code, birthday, and gender.

[@vada952]

that kind of gossip spam does not exist in sweden

[@TraceDominguez]

I bet y’all have better infrastructure for it than we do

[@vada952]

@@TraceDominguez Or maybe we dont have as juicy gossip :)

[@crohn6382]

And what if I do respond to them

[@jacqueline3089]

how does a Scammer text message you how do they get your number

[@SimRacingVeteran]

Sometimes it could just be texts they send out to random numbers. Or your number is on file somewhere and that company has a data breach and now they have the numbers of all customers of that businesses. Then that information gets sold on the dark web to scammers so they can start doing what they do.

[@tanyamiller6275]

Just beace you are a rocket scientist doesn't mean you have common sense

[@dakidokino]

Crazy how ppl normalize the new definition of social engineering

[@frednobel303]

Change your phone number. It's simple. I'll change mine every few years now, since this keeps happening.

[@TraceDominguez]

but what about the area code I had from way back in the day that shows I’m still cool

[@frednobel303]

@@TraceDominguez you'll have one of those fresh new area codes that all the cool kids have, so you'll still be cool :) mine makes me feel younger

[@jacqueline3089]

Block text scams

[@JustMeJH]

I hope that your mom was able to get the charge reversed by calling the credit card company. It’s worth a call to them.

[@TraceDominguez]

TBH the credit card she gave them was expired -- she didn't realize, so they might've got a charge, but then they couldn't take any more money from her.

[@JustMeJH]

@@TraceDominguez Thank goodness for small miracles!

[@phizicks]

its not spam but phishing. yeah I find a lot of things and found the owner, where they live, they partner and where they work and so on. just from something they dropped, license, or usb stick. Usually plug it into a vm locked out of the network. Amazon AWS, we had training on phshing and other things to avoid, ie talk about work in the open etc. not sure we got tested though. I got a lot of those chinese ones too

[@J-Vasa]

phishing is a type of spam. its purpose is to phish for details etc, but to the person receiving it it is a form or spam or junk mail

[@phizicks]

​@@J-Vasa spam is to get you to buy something. phishing is isn't like spam, phishing is more evil as spam can be just ads. spear phishing is where your phishing is targeting a specific person or company.

[@TraceDominguez]

Different terms for a similar problem - but you’re right!

[@bif53]

This could be a 3 minute video if you just tell them to forward it to 7726

[@GIR9595]

Rachel looks a lot like Mindy from Drake and Josh and I can't unsee it

[@TraceDominguez]

I don't know this reference, but I hope it's a good thing bc she's awesome

[@GIR9595]

@@TraceDominguez They definitely look like they could be related or something! The actress is Allison Scagliotti

[@MRBLACK1080]

Finally

[@MRBLACK1080]

A new video

[@xor128]

Just use android lol.

[@TraceDominguez]

mmmmmmm nah lol

[@codygoldade3984]

Hey trace are you ever going to admit the mask charade was a complete scam and embarrassing

[@TraceDominguez]

Why do you think that?

[@GloryBeToGodForever]

Don’t be left behind… *JESUS CHRIST IS COMING.*

[@lohphat]

BEST. TROLL. MOM. EVAR!!!

[@TraceDominguez]

Hahahaa