Hi everyone,

I'm posting here because I genuinely think I may have been scammed, and I want to know whether anyone has experienced something similar.

I wanted to start an e-commerce business and was looking for ways to get started. Someone approached me on WhatsApp and offered to help me for free at first. Honestly, I already found that a little strange. I wondered why a stranger would spend time helping me for nothing, but I decided to trust them and see where things went.

As we continued talking, they recommended a product and connected me with someone who was supposed to create a Shopify theme for my store. They then directed me to Fiverr to pay for the service.

Here's where things started getting really suspicious: the Fiverr order was actually listed as “AI UGC Video Creation,” even though the service I was expecting was Shopify theme development.

I went along with it because I trusted the person who had been guiding me, but the work I've received so far looks unfinished. The homepage still contains generic placeholder text and sections, and the product page hasn't even been completed.

Then the person on WhatsApp started asking me to mark the Fiverr order as completed so I could leave a review. They even sent me a long, extremely positive review and told me to copy and paste it, despite the fact that I'm not satisfied with the work.

I also noticed that several reviews on the seller's profile sound very similar and mention AI videos, UGC ads, and Shopify themes.

At this point, I'm almost convinced that something fraudulent is going on. Looking back, the fact that a stranger approached me and offered to help me for free was already suspicious. The mismatch between the service I expected and the Fiverr order, the unfinished work, and the pressure to leave a positive review have made me seriously doubt the whole arrangement.

I've only paid part of the amount requested in connection with this arrangement, and fortunately, I haven't marked the Fiverr order as completed.

I'm worried about losing my money and want to protect myself before making any further decisions.

I'd really appreciate advice on a few things:

1. Does this sound like a known scam involving WhatsApp contacts and Fiverr?
2. Why would someone direct a customer to pay for an AI UGC video service when the actual agreement is supposedly for a Shopify theme?
3. Can I still request a cancellation or refund since I haven't completed the order?
4. Should I report both the Fiverr seller and the person who contacted me on WhatsApp?
5. Has anyone experienced a similar situation? What happened when you reported it?

I have screenshots of the conversations, the Fiverr order, the requested review, and the unfinished work.

I'm not comfortable sharing names or identifying details publicly, but I'd really like to hear from anyone who has dealt with something similar.

Thanks.

So i stupidly fell for a scam and mobile deposited a most likely fake check. I realized they were trying to scam me after they asked for the $225 i got right away from the deposit so i never sent any money back but now im just scared if im gonna have a problem with my bank. I tried to call twice and both times they told me they had to transfer me to someone else and then i was on hold for an hour before i was told by an automated voice to call
back again later. please help what should i do?

tldr: i fell for a scam, deposited a fake check, and i can’t really get ahold of the bank, what should i do?

Hello all. Probably not a legal question but i was recently scammed doing facebook marketplace.

He was using a fraudulent app to send money such as zelle. It showed sent on his phone but never actually showed in my app that the transaction went through. Took my item. This was a physical transaction in-person. I hear theft by deception is a crime.

My next steps would be to contact the police and let them handle it. Sound about right?

guys yesterday this random guy started swiping up on all my cute stories on snap practically BEGGING me to let him send me money. i eventually gave him my number so he could zelle me cuz he said his venmo wont work , and he sent me $50. after i sent him literally a pic of the sweatshirt i was wearing, he sent another $50. then today he sent me $50 twice again (sent a little bit more spicy stuff today), so i’ve made $200 in two days just from sending pictures and videos of me in a bra 😭

for context, he’s 27m and works at a help desk, so it’s not like he’s some super-rich old guy. i’ve seen his face he’s actually kinda cute and looks like he could be my age bc he has a baby face (not rlly comfortable being in a relationship w someone that much older than me tho). he told me he doesn’t spend much money on himself, but when he really wants something, he’ll splurge on it. apparently that something is me??? 😭

he originally wanted to meet up someday, but when i said i wasn’t comfortable with that, he was surprisingly understanding and said we could just keep doing this. and i asked him if i wanted to stop doing this at anytime if it would be okay and he said yes. he literally wants nothing from me just pics of me 😭which makes me even more confused because why are you so willing to send a random girl hundreds of dollars just for pictures??

my biggest concern is that he’s constantly asking for more pictures (understandable cuz he is paying me for them), and i’m starting to wonder if he’s secretly selling them online and giving me a fraction of what he makes to lure me into sending more stuff. we use snapchat so typically it would tell you if someone saved your stuff but i know there’s ways to save stuff without notifying someone. my face isn’t visible in anything i’ve sent, but i’m still a little paranoid.

the thing is, i’m a broke college student whose parents aren’t financially supporting me (literal screaming match if i even dare to ask them for 20 bucks meanwhile this man sends me 50 bucks just for a simple picture of me) and i keep applying to so many jobs but they all reject me (either way don’t rlly wanna work right now bc my major is rlly hard so my classes are beating my ass and i’m failing a class so i don’t think i should be working rn) so being able to make this money with no effort genuinely means so much.

i’ve been saving it to buy nail supplies bc i have a huge amazon cart that comes out to like 400 bucks so i can start doing people’s nails in my dorm and make my own money since i used to do them myself at home. that way at least if he disappears one day at least i have something to lean on yk? i’m honestly so happy and appreciative of him because i never thought i’d be able to afford everything i needed to start
so i’m extremely grateful, but i also can’t shake the feeling that this is too good to be true. like am i missing something here?? 😭 should i just save up enough for the amazon cart then end things?

but honestly if he is putting me on the dark web genuinely what’s the worst that could happen? my face isn’t even in anything and this money is amazing so likeee…

edit: i had him send me a pic of his id and it was the same person in his pics and same name that popped up when he sent a zelle payment + he hasn’t asked me to send him any money back (yet) so i dont rlly think its a scam guys

My friend in Virginia was contacted on Indeed by True North Commonwealth for a full-time fundraising associate role. They promised $24/hour and the website advertises paid training.

On her first day, they told her she'd have to buy the backpacks herself (the fundraiser supposedly collects bags for foster kids), that pay would be based on how much she collected rather than hourly, and that she'd be paid "under the table" through Zelle. For working 8am–6pm, they offered $50, about $5/hour.

They also had her fill out a tax form with her Social Security number and signature, which doesn't add up if they're paying off the books.

I can't find anything about this company online. Has anyone dealt with them or seen similar postings?

(edit: i realized I misheard her and she actually didn’t have to pay for the bags herself)

I have heard of people scamming using authority figures like police, banks etc as a method. I also know someone who had lost money because of similar scam. I know that the scammers use urgency and panic or whatever psychological method to bypass your rational mind. Because of work, I also had to take some trainings on data and identity theft and cybersecurity risks. So, I am aware of scams and how they work.

But man I wasn't ready when I was being pulled into an actual scam call. I felt really super charged throughout the call and I still didn't know if it was a scam or not when the call ended. It was not until I went to the police station to report about the call that the police officer confirmed that I was in a scam call. The police officer at the police station knew about that exact modus operandi as well. I didn't know what will happened to me if I just didn't took the time to go to the police station.

It was a crazy experience. I remember in the call (it was long... it was an hour or more) saying to myself a few times, "Take a deep breath, calm down!!!". I can feel the adrenaline throughout my body. I never really manage to feel calm during the call but I was constantly agitated. And the adrenaline didn't go away after the call either. I couldn't sleep that night because my body was still racing. I become chattier to get things out of my system. I am an introvert and suddenly I become a super extrovert. I told random people about the scam story to just get it out. The next day my body was no better and it took some time for the adrenaline to dissipate, the mental and emotional weariness to go away and the emotional processing like shame to happen.

But I do understand now how people can easily be dissuaded to give out money in such situations. You are put in a heighten state like an emergency. For some people they panic and cannot think clearly in that situation. And I understand how it affects people not just financially but emotionally as well after being scammed. It was scary.

Even now I'm not sure if the trainings I had helped me during the call. What really helped me is I know that I can handle emergency well. I have had an experience handling a baby with seizure. I saw people around me panic but I was the one, who was able to give directions to get the baby to the hospital. And that experience is what gave me confidence throughout the call. But I guess being aware of such scam exists did help.

I am so sorry to those who have lost their money and trust of people and themselves. Eventhough I know things and went to training, until the end of the call I wasn't sure if I was scammed. So those who are scammed, it's not your fault or your weakness. And your response after the scam is also natural. Also, seek help after the scam if you have trouble functioning in your day to day life.

Curse, all scammers!

Hello everyone, I just received a letter in the mail called "Notice of service of request for admissions, production request, and interrogatories, in aid of execution for individuals". It looks to be from a debt collector trying to collect a debt from Chase from 2009. I called and spoke with one of the attorneys and told her that I had no idea what this was regarding and wondered if they had the correct person. She put me on hold to look for the file and the told me that she would speak to the main attorney tomorrow about it since I'm saying the debt isnt mine. This letter came from Florida. I have not lived in the state for more than a decade now. Any advice on whether this letter demands a response and what it even is?

Location: Florida

Basically what the title says. They’ve called twice both times I’ve been unable to get the number they called from but they left a voice mail saying this. Censored stuff that might break rule 2

“The records here. This is (name) calling once again to give a reminder that tomorrow I will be out to the area to deliver your paperwork so please be available um any questions or to reschedule contact (phone number).”

The whole vagueness of it all makes me think it is a scam. They aren’t even telling me what kind of paperwork neither have I ever given them my address so I don’t know how they’d “be in my area” but I’m nothing if not cautious, so anything to really tell me if it’s a scam or not would be much appreciated!

I feel very uncomfortable and bugged out by this situation.

History/context: my husband and I moved into this apartment about 6 weeks ago with our child. Landlord insisted on me skipping the application and background/credit check and only going off of my husband's because I'm a stay at home mom, so I just skipped straight to signing the lease without the application part.

I received an email two days ago from a clothing website (a legit website) with a confirmation for an order that was about $120. I have never seen or used this website before. In the shipping details, my full legal/government name is listed along with my email and my phone number. However, the address and the billing address are both listed as her address. As far as billing information, it only shows up as "credit card". I have been religiously checking my bank statements and my credit statements and there's nothing out of the ordinary that I can see. I'm nervous on confronting her right away as she knows my husband is out of state for work for the next several weeks.

Do I file a police report? Should I confront her? Has anyone ever been in this type of situation before? What kind of scam could this be? I feel extremely unsettled by this and why she would be ordering things for herself using my name and personal details. Any recommendations on how to move forward properly would be very much appreciated.

“Carter Mason and legal paperwork. I'm just there. There's a good point of obviously Carter Mason. I'm trying to get a hold of a car elder, which is called regarding some legal paperwork, I retain to bring to the address that I have on file (my address) tomorrow in between hours of 3 and five. I will need a signature and photo ID for the document if you're not gonna be available. Any questions are pertaining this matter, you can contact the office. Phone number is 855-961-****.…”

Received this voice mail from a 615-991-*** number but they left this 855-961-*** number. They had my correct address. Searched and can't find anything when I looked up those numbers. There was no mention of what legal paperwork was or from or a case number. I don't believe there is anything I would be getting served for either since I have not received any mail about any debt unpaid.

Over the past year, I’ve been recieving scam/spam emails with the same name everytime, listed as someone whom I don’t know, but has my last name. The email always has text listing “Remember this?” With a link to something I have never clicked on. Or other times it’s “reunion -family gathering” with the supposed date included and another link. This has been ongoing for a while and the email listed is always an accredited university, typically overseas. Please let me know if this is occurring to any of you guys aswell, and how they even manage to do this?

Hi, im from Colombia, an elderly family member was scam in this now classic "tasks scams" or "likes farm scam"

You already know the story:

first they pay small amounts of money for likes in some post, them lure the victim to "VIP" rooms in telegram and later to withdraw the money the stage a fake blockage in the account and demand 90% of the money to have a chance to withdraw again, but they stage another failure to withdraw always blame the victim, and thats how they get thousands of dollars from vulnerable that really don't understand crypto and other tech, people like in my case, my family member. Stay safe, I know it smells like scam from a mile away but not everyone is able to recognize this kind of stuff.
I post to leave some trace if someone is looking the name in google i hope they see scam attached in the first results.

My elderly mother lives in another state. She's fairly tech savvy. She recently noticed a $5,000 charge on her credit card and immediately called the company about the fraudulent charge. They are "investigating". Meanwhile, a large/heavy piece of auto equipment (She believes a clutch for a 4x4 vehicle she does not own) arrived at her home in her name. She contacted the company; they will issue a refund, if she returns the item, shipping at her expense. They sent her a UPS return label.

This entire thing seems suspect to me. I have no reason to believe that she accidentally ordered the autoparts. Is this some type of a scam? Should she return the item and accept the loss (likely several hundred dollars)? The company says she has to return the item in the next two days or they will not accept it.

Several months ago a family member met someone on a dating app and they built trust with them. To my knowledge they never met, don’t have social media, and convinced them to invest in this website. For the last month they’ve been trying to withdraw their money but the site keeps bringing up ridiculous withdraw and random fees. I’ve tried explaining to them what happened but they’re too deep into it and don’t want to admit they got scammed and have hope it’s still real if they keep paying their “one last fee”. When I found out about the website I did my own background check and almost everything was redacted and ticked off so many red flags but they still didn’t want to believe me. Spreading awareness so hopefully others don’t go on here.

​

Hey, im 16 and this isnt for me. One of my relatives heard about TAG Markets from a coworker and im worried they might lose their money if its a scam.

I checked some stuff and found a few weird things:

\- Their company is registered in Mauritius under C185265.

\- Their client agreement also mentions a different number, 138336C1/GBL.

\- An FSC notice says licence GB21026474 was terminated under another company in 2024, but TAG Markets claims to have that licence.

\- The addresses on their documents are also different.

Idk if theres an explanation for all this or if its actually suspicious. If anyone has proof or knows more about this please share it, it would really help me convince my relative before they lose money. Thanks!

So I got this message that this person made me a sketch when they read my story on AO3 and I was a little suspicious before, but unfortunately Discord doesn’t let you look someone up if you don’t share a server or aren’t friends already. So I messaged them and they showed me their previous artwork from an Instagram account that’s private, then asked if I wanted to commission them. I assumed that they were just going to show me a cute little sketch they made (without having to commission them), and now I feel like this is one of those art scams where the person takes your money and doesn’t give you the art they promised, but I’m not exactly sure.

I received this email two days ago-

Grivetti et al. v. Dental Intelligence, Inc.
Case No. 1 :25-cv-02464
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division
If you are in the United States and used the LocalMed Portal to schedule, modify, or re-schedule an appointment between March 2022 and June 2025, and any information you shared was allegedly disclosed or transmitted to Google or any other unauthorized third party, you may be entitled to a cash payment from a Settlement.

For context, I have lived in Pa my whole life. I would have gone to two dentists between March 2022-June 2025. I was trying to figure out if they used LocalMed Portal. The class action lawsuit seems legit, but would they send an email about it?

So, one of my coworkers just had their bank accounts emptied yesterday. The cash they got amounted to about 131K PHP. Take note that my coworker is kinda old. They said they received a call on Messenger from their relative whose account had been hacked (they were unaware during the call), and it seemed like a normal conversation to them. But during the call, their bank account and GCash were emptied.

After the incident, the scammers even used their identity to solicit money from their Facebook friends. By then, my coworker asked for assistance to change their password and I turned on their two-factor authentication. Another strange thing was that the scammer, at around the same time, called my coworker and tried to gain access again. Everything's been reported to the authorities, but I'm just curious if anyone knows how this works. And what else should I tell my coworker about?

I ordered an item off of eBay, seller had substantial feedback, over 90% positive. Once I got my tracking number, alarm bells started going off. It was shipping from right next to my town, the tracking said there was an exception and that the zip code had changed. I thought for sure that I had fallen for the "wrong address, right zip code" scam. I checked the user's reviews again and the few negative reviews were not re-assuring. There were several positive reviews that said that the item was shipped to the wrong address but eventually arrived. Some said that it had been left at a neighbor's address. At this point, I email the seller asking for a refund (no response) and check with UPS who confirmed that the package was not going to my address. Well shit.

Delivery notification comes and goes and no package at my house, however, the UPS van was making rounds in my neighborhood at around the same time tracking said it was delivered which I thought was a pretty big coincidence. I check the delivery photo attached to the tracking number and it sure does look like a house in my neighborhood. So, I look at houses on Google Street View and find what I think is the house a few streets down. Sure enough, they have the package, addressed to me, totally different address. No way to mistake it for my address.

So what is this? Surely its some sort of scam? Do they have a stolen credit card or something and are buying from a local business and shipping to a different address in hopes that the buyer will find it? How will this come back and bite me in the ass? What should I do?

I’ve been getting like 20-30 scam calls a day, out of curiosity, I called one back because the area code was from Vegas, and I have family in Vegas, and there was barely any rining but the immediate voicemail was super strange

“This is a scam, do NOT leave a message, just hang up, this is a SCAM number, do NOT call back"

Wtf??? Has anyone expeirenced this before

(Edit) Finally got why she was getting the money! This absolute winner she found online was sending her checks from his work to cash, and getting the gift cards from her with his "paycheck" on them. I asked her why he couldn't go to a Walmart to cash his checks, why it was easier for him to send it to her instead of going to Walmart or using PayPal to upload the check? I also asked why someone his age didn't have a bank account. She gets it, but it really is her trying to be overly helpful and not seeing she is being used.

So after a very anxious night and a visit to my bank with her this morning, I now have the full story. So mom, while not knowingly complicit in the scam, did take money out after he sent it, put it on gift cards and sent it back.The amounts weren't a $10,000 check, but all of the returned checks, the bank covering payments, and the fact that the checks were fraudulent. So it all added up to about a month of her doing this, all coming to a head when they started getting flagged on the 20th. She says that she was talking to him for a while so it felt like a relationship, the guy has obviously disappeared once she said she wasn't sending money again.

We are signing a document with the bank tomorrow stating she is taking full accountability and I wasn't involved or aware, and the fraud specialist is signing off saying they won't come after me since she is having an automatic withdraw set up for them to take a set amount out each month. They also said they wouldn't be able to take money from my account for it because it is only my SSDI that comes in, and they can't touch disability funds. Speaking of, I wasn't able to change my check to a new account this close to the end of the month, so I have to leave it there for this coming month, but I can get everything in order to switch it before the 18th of next month.

For now I guess this is as good as it can get. Also sorry if I offended anyone calling 65 old, in the grand scheme it isn't, but she is now viewed as a senior and it does come into play with her finances and options. Also for anyone claiming I am neglecting dementia, please know that I keep a close eye on her mental state, this is not dementia. It is unfortunately a lifetime of trauma making her self esteem virtually non-existent, she sees the good in people, is definitely naive to the online world (despite my best efforts to warn her), and was hoping that a man would love her again, so she got rose colored glasses and didn't take them off until this happened. I don't want to get into her personal life too much, but this is very much her issues with fawning making her blind to red flags. She will be talking about it in therapy, I will continue trying to push for healthier outlets.

So my stepdad and I have established that my mom is engaging with a scammer. Basically having an online emotional affair with someone she’s convinced herself is a real person. UK pilot romance scam, to be specific. Out of concern (because she has been nonstop lying to both of us), my stepdad put a tracker on my mom’s car. Yesterday, she told us that she was taking a trip to the beach by herself for a few days…

There’s a commercial international airport about an hour and a half from where we live (and is NOT near a beach). The tracker indicated that she was there at one point, prior to going to the beach. Parked in a free waiting area, where ppl wait for flights to come in. This airport is completely out of the way of the route to the beach. My question to you fellow Redditors is…what was she most likely doing? Was it:

A) waiting for Nigerian prince charming to arrive, for their long-awaited meeting in person? (Which is never going to happen because something always “comes up” to prevent them from meeting in person, for obvious reasons). Or…

B) Was she there to possibly wire him money? My stepdad said she withdrew $3,000 from their savings last week, and didn’t tell him until a few days later. She had also previously been asking me for $, which I always refused to give her because I knew what she was up to.

What do we think was the purpose of her visit to the airport? I need help determining why she was there…

https://reason.com/volokh/2026/10/27/romance-scam-prevention-act-signed-into-law/

Last week, President Trump signed into law the Romance Scam Prevention Act that Congressman David Valadao (CA-22) introduced and that received bipartisan sponsorship. In short, this new federal law requires dating apps and services to notify users who have interacted with someone who was removed for fraudulent activity.

I wonder how effective this will really be, but it's interesting to know that this is now a requirement of dating and similar sites.

Hi all. Yesterday we received a pink package from Vinted that nobody in my family ordered. No one here even has a Vinted account, and I already checked with everyone to make sure it wasn’t theirs.

It has our exact address on it, but the name is VERY generic. Basically Jane Doe. The return address belongs to someone else (let’s say Maria). What’s weird is that I carefully peeled back the shipping label and found another one directly underneath. The top label is TO our address, FROM Maria. The label underneath is TO Maria, FROM our address. So it looks like a package supposedly sent from our house was sent back here, even though we never sent it.

Our address is also pretty unique (basically a bunch of numbers), and we live in the middle of nowhere, so I really don’t think someone would have accidentally typed it in.

I got curious last night and carefully opened it in case I needed to reseal it. Inside was a Pandora box with two gold bracelets. No idea if they’re real. One definitely feels higher quality than the other, but I know there are plenty of Pandora fakes out there. We weren’t sure what to do with it, so we just left it on the counter.

Then this morning, ANOTHER pink package showed up. Same size, same name, same address. This time the return name and address were completely different, but it had the exact same situation with a second label underneath showing the sender and recipient reversed. Inside was another gold Pandora bracelet and box.

Has anyone had something like this happen, or know what kind of scam this could be? I do sell on Depop, but I don’t sell on Vinted, so I’m confused about why our address is being used.

TL;DR: Nobody here uses Vinted, but we received two packages containing bracelets addressed to someone else at our address. Each had a shipping label covering an older one showing it had originally been sent FROM our address to the person now listed as the sender. Anyone know what’s going on?

I’m not 100% good at picking these out so I just wanted opinions. I was scrolling through job apps and applying and a Real Estate Agency reached out. It’s a credible agency in my area. They asked if I was licensed in my state, to which I replied no because their listing said no experience was required and they were willing to train. They asked if I’d be willing to attend a school at a reduced cost of $99 from $299. I asked them for more information and they asked for an email they could send the information to.

I gave them an email I usually just send spam to just in case. The email in a nutshell was, again, them pointing out the 60% discount for schooling, telling me the school name, and emphasizing that it’s “well-known and highly respected.” They wrote, “Your next step will be to fill out this form.” With a link attached to the text.

“Next step is to send me your full legal name and home address, and to fill out the credit card authorization form. This is to get you enrolled in the program.” With another link embedded in the text. (I haven’t clicked any of the links). It then says the course is the required 75-hour program needed to obtain the license. It shares some more expenses not paid for by the agency, including, $140 for the state exam fee, $140 for the license activation fee, and $30 for a background check.

I’m just wondering if I’m being paranoid because it’s lots of money involved and definitely sketchy that they don’t want to meet the person they’re wanting to represent a part of their agency. Or is it just blatantly obvious it’s a fake job posting? I was also going to call the agency myself and verify the job posting.