I've been scammed

I had this happen before, too; but I didn’t fall for the scam. The scammer had cloned a friend’s facebook account, and then sent me a message that looked like it was from Chester. Since he was able to read my facebook page (he also sent a friend request in Chester’s name), he did know some things about me, but mainly just asked superficial questions (how are you doing, etc).

When he started saying that I could get a grant, that seemed really strange to me. Chester was a friend of ours who ran a Christian food ministry, so that he would have received a grant made sense to me, but I could see no way that I could be eligible.
After I realized this was probably not our friend, I contacted him and he said he had no idea what any of it was about, so I let him know that his account had been cloned and to report it to facebook.
 

So sorry this happened to you Tom.

i have had several people try this with me either 'new' friends (thanks to long time friends who who accept requests from anyone) or hackers who clone the legit friend's info.

Years ago on Eons a very smart woman said something i adopted: Take what people say online at face value (unless clearly contradicting documentable facts) until they want love or money from me--then i investigate, and proceed with caution.

If there's some kind of grant out there you or i could qualify for--we don't need a 'middle-man', go online and search, you'll find info of who's giving $$ away for what and how to get an application. But stick to the well know Agency and Company grants (some private companies offer them to fund education in their 'field', be it creative arts, tech or science.
 

It's really hard to think straight when your pain level is over 10 & meds don't bring it down.

I had a dying tooth a couple of decades ago which the dentist wouldn't pull until the following week. The pain was intense especially when laying down trying to sleep. Finally in the middle of the night I got up and blended water with a big pinch of valerian root that I'd never used previously, strained and drank it all down. It didn't seem to be working after laying down again but after about 45 minutes the pain was vanishing and I went right to sleep. All through the next day I kept drinking valerian mixed with water, the pain never returned and I cancelled the appointment. Valerian root used in this manner works throughout the whole system, and can also be used topically on the skin.
 
Don't feel bad. I got scammed by the veterinarian this week simply because I was worried about my cat. I've been using this guy since my old vet retired and I guess he finally decided he has a live one. Really soaked me for something simple and is stringing me along to see how much more he can get out of me. B_____d! He was normal for so long and then changed into con man extraordinaire just like that. I'd be disappointed, but this behavior doesn't surprise me anymore.
 
So I went to CVS & got 2,000.00 worth of gift cards ... now have to pay the 3,000.00 for IRS taxes on this grant. So again more gift cards.

You did good to get suspicious and stop it when you did.
I like to watch YouTube videos of scammers getting stopped. In the videos lots of times the stores selling the gift cards will try to caution the person buying the cards. Though maybe this time of year the store would think it was for holiday presents.

Maybe you could talk to CVS and any other place you bought the cards, and ask them to always caution people against scammers if a person is buying thousands of dollars of gift cards.
 
You did good to get suspicious and stop it when you did.
I like to watch YouTube videos of scammers getting stopped. In the videos lots of times the stores selling the gift cards will try to caution the person buying the cards. Though maybe this time of year the store would think it was for holiday presents.

Maybe you could talk to CVS and any other place you bought the cards, and ask them to always caution people against scammers if a person is buying thousands of dollars of gift cards.
DIL & I went to our CVS & told the manager what had happened. He said he was so sorry but this time of year so many people are buying gift cards to send to relatives & the cashiers are so busy they don't even think when a person buys $2,000.00 worth of cards or have time to explain all this to people.

He did say he would get a big sign & put it next to the card rack to warn people about scams this time of year.
 
Sorry you went through this Tom86! As everyone else has said on here, if they start talking about money, run!!!🏃‍♂️

I almost got sucked into it a few months ago. A friend from the orchestra, who is in his 70s, supposedly contacted me through the same method - FB messenger. At first, I was happy because I had not heard from him during the pandemic. When he asked "How are you doing?" I thought nothing of it. I responded by telling him my news. But when he started talking about money, I realized it was not him and I got so angry that I had just shared my information with him. I wrote back with a scathing: "You are not (friend's name)...! Get off immediately or I'll contact the FTC and report you!" I never heard from that person again. I then went on FB and warned my friends about stuff like this. Then, I changed my password on FB, just to be sure.

I also have had many "phishing" emails purporting to have all these millions that I supposedly inherited. Poof! I just delete them.
 
At the first mention of any money, I would think SCAM...
Yes, I'm more suspicious and less trusting these days than I ever was in my life. I've heard about these gift card scams, and someone tried to pull an IRS scam on me over the phone. I knew he was full of it, but just let him keep talking to see how far he would go. When I had enough, I told him off and threatened to put him behind bars for trying to steal from people. We all have to be alert, Like Pepper said, if it sounds too good to be true, it is.
 
Well, this could get to be a long post but I'll try to just hit the high points. Last Wed. I got a messenger that & old friend I worked with for some 20+ years wanted to talk. So I got on & was talking to her & she knew all our old past workings together.

She then said she has a friend that can get me Federal grant money of 50,000.00 up to 100,000.00 Told me to click on this woman in the messenger chat with us. So I did. She set me up with $75,000.00 all I had to do was pay for the document rendering of $2,000.00 So I went to CVS & got 2,000.00 worth of gift cards & sent them to her through my C.P.

Well, a day later she was back saying that I now have to pay the 3,000.00 for IRS taxes on this grant. So again more gift cards. Finally yesterday she said the CIA was holding my FedEx package at the border. That's when I got worried. I called this woman I worked with & she said oh my God They got you too? She said I'm not on Messenger & that is not me.

So I called the sheriff & put in a scam report. Then DIL came over & she put in more scam reports to Facebook & other places. I called all my credit card phone numbers & they locked all accounts down. They are sending me new cards by FedEx today.

So if you are on F.B. or messenger with a friend & you get a request to talk with this other person. Call that friend first to make sure it's actually them your talking with on Messenger. I'm out possibility $5,000.00 My Bank card says they might get my $3,000.00 back from them as the woman had not cashed the gift cards yet & Kim locked that account so she can't get the money. Kim said you also have insurance on that card through our Regions bank here.

Just be very careful this time of year. Scammers go after older people. :mad::mad:
Sorry this happened to you. Just consider it a lesson, and be more wary in the future.
 
Aw, Tom I am SO sorry this happened to you. I was nearly scammed last summer but saw through it in time. Be super careful on social media sites. Scammers use them to get information about you so they can successfully scam $$$$ out of seniors. Change your personal info at FB and make it completely private, ie. visible only to you! Delete your locations and hide your list of friends.

I hope you will feel better soon.
 
Well, this could get to be a long post but I'll try to just hit the high points. Last Wed. I got a messenger that & old friend I worked with for some 20+ years wanted to talk. So I got on & was talking to her & she knew all our old past workings together.

She then said she has a friend that can get me Federal grant money of 50,000.00 up to 100,000.00 Told me to click on this woman in the messenger chat with us. So I did. She set me up with $75,000.00 all I had to do was pay for the document rendering of $2,000.00 So I went to CVS & got 2,000.00 worth of gift cards & sent them to her through my C.P.

Well, a day later she was back saying that I now have to pay the 3,000.00 for IRS taxes on this grant. So again more gift cards. Finally yesterday she said the CIA was holding my FedEx package at the border. That's when I got worried. I called this woman I worked with & she said oh my God They got you too? She said I'm not on Messenger & that is not me.

So I called the sheriff & put in a scam report. Then DIL came over & she put in more scam reports to Facebook & other places. I called all my credit card phone numbers & they locked all accounts down. They are sending me new cards by FedEx today.

So if you are on F.B. or messenger with a friend & you get a request to talk with this other person. Call that friend first to make sure it's actually them your talking with on Messenger. I'm out possibility $5,000.00 My Bank card says they might get my $3,000.00 back from them as the woman had not cashed the gift cards yet & Kim locked that account so she can't get the money. Kim said you also have insurance on that card through our Regions bank here.

Just be very careful this time of year. Scammers go after older people. :mad::mad:
Yes older people are perfect for scamming. Anything asking for money or putting something of value at risk just by talking, is an effort to separate you from your hard earned money. TRASH THE MESSAGE

SORRY you fell for this. What a tough lesson
 
As I've said before, I hope this thread helps others not make my mistake.

Yesterday, I was on the C.P. with another friend I worked with years ago. We email each other a few times a week. He got scammed also, but for $15,000.00. He was telling me they called him & they wanted a bank draft to get his son out of jail & out of this country. He said this woman knew all his & his son's information. Neither one are on F.B. or messenger.

He said his son does travel to other countries for his work. He was wise to contact his sheriff & the sheriff helped him get the bank draft that had a tracking number. He sent it electronically (like I did) to this person. Well, long story short the woman was in bangash & as she tried to cash the draft, the bangash police were there.

As it stands now, the bangash police have his bank draft & they are keeping it to prosecute this group of people they found in this building. This happened last week also. As his sheriff said, this time of year, the scammers are running wild because people are all thinking of Christmas & tired also not thinking straight.

John said he's about ready to quit emails as we talked about many things of what happened at our plant in our emails. He lives in another State, so hard for us to get together & talk.
 
I'm so sorry that happened to you! Another red flag that something is a scam, in addition to things already mentioned, is when "they" ask for payment via gift cards. No legitimate agency or company is going to want to get payments in that manner. Thank you for the heads up about the scam.
 


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