About
Common Internet Scams
Cryptocurrency
Online Dating Or Merely Dating Adjacent
Politics
Recovery Scams
Scam Awareness: Concepts
Scam Awareness: Tools
Timeshares
Television And Related Technology
Employment And Small Business Topics
Financial Literacy
If during telephone or internet communication you come across any of the words in the list below, you should understand that it is extremely likely that someone is trying to con you.
Scammers absolutely LOVE using the word "blessing".
I entertained myself during the Covid-19 lockdown listening to podcasts of Coast To Coast AM about the paranormal and actual science.
My takeaway from those podcasts is an appreciation of the Niels Bohr quotation:
"If quantum mechanics hasn't profoundly shocked you, you haven't understood it yet."
I am not sure where I heard it first, but I copy/pasted the excerpt above from:
https://www.azquotes.com/quote/30759
I do not profess to have any profound revelations regarding the origin of the universe, but I can tell you that if someone online uses the word "blessing" there is a significant chance that he or she is a scammer.
Among the celebrities that scammers are particularly fond of impersonating are:
Especially on internet dating websites, references to cryptocurrency are red flags.
Much like "blessing", references to God are red flags.
Why would someone refer to him or herself as being "honest"?
The most likely reason is that because there are credible reasons that the person is in fact NOT honest.
If I were to find myself in a possibly dangerous situation, I might cautiously look for how to best exit.
However, if someone says "there is no reason to panic" then the time for cautiously looking for exits is gone, IT IS TIME TO RUN!!
Why would someone say that something is "legit"?
The most likely reason is that because there are credible reasons that something is in fact NOT legit.
With respect to financial scams, a scammer wants prospective victims to believe that the scammer is going to cause the value of something to be "inflated" aka "pumped" and that if the prospective victims buy now, they will be able to cash out at the inflated price.
The term "spoil" can have several possible meanings, depending upon context.
For example, food that was left unrefrigerated may spoil.
However, with regard to this web page I am referring to the following two usages:
With regard to either of the two points above, you would be best served not by proceeding with caution, but rather by not proceeding at all.
If you come across the words in the list at the top of this page, whether the following words are audibly enunciated or not, I want need you to also hear:
"I may be in a cafe in Lagos, Nigeria or in a call center in New Delhi, India, but right now my job is to scam you and the other marks that I am communicating with.
It may be daytime where you are, but it may be nighttime where I am.
I might be a man pretending to be a woman, or I might be a woman pretending to be a man.
I might be being held against my will, or I might just be saying that to earn your sympathy.
Even if you were to know where I live, I am quite likely outside the jurisdiction of your country's law enforcement.
It is very important that you understand that I am trying to scam you.
Do. You. Understand?
After this scam has run its course, someone else or I will then perform a recovery scam.
Do I have your approval to continue to scam you?"