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I Found a Dating Scammer

Scammer Methods...I Hope This Helps

By: imathinkin
Written on February 3rd, 2013
The first thing they do is to try to get you to go to yahoo or gmail or one of those. They want your email, your ip address, your name, your phone number and your physical address.

I looked up why they want all this...what they can do with it, and here is the info I found. I hope it helps answer questions.

Do You Yahoo?
They cannot be monitored off the site. Scammers want to yahoo, because it’s web based and they can’t be tracked down to a IP address. You can be anyone. You can make an address, and say your Bla Bla from Blablaville and activate an account. Then they can tell you anything they think will get you to send them money, or what ever they are looking for. If you tell them you don’t give out that info till you get to know them better, see how long they stick around.

All of your information is vital for different reasons. Every piece of personal information is important to someone and with only a bit of info they can do a whole lot of harm. It's like pieces of a puzzle. 

IP ADDRESS
If you get off site and go to yahoo, they get your ip address and can tell where you live.

MASS MAILINGS
Your name + phone # is worth money to phone sales people for mass mailings. Do not ever open email from people you do not know; and unless you are absolutely sure who it is from then treat them as spam. Opening spam alerts the sender that your address is a valid one and they send you loads and loads more of it to you.

KEYLOGGER
Opening email could give them permission to track everything you type, including passwords.

BLACKMAIL
Would you want the world to know those things you said in "private"? How about photos you exchanged?

STOLEN IDENTITY
Let's say I have your name and address. I know the county you live in. There are public records including marriages and tax rolls. Now I know your wife's maiden name and what you pay in taxes. Guess what the bank uses for a password on accounts?  I call, represent myself as your son and I have your wife's maiden name etc. Just like any dam collapse starts with a small leak so does a stolen identity. It usually isn't one really stupid thing that costs you, it is a series of small things that someone is bright enough to connect and devious enough to exploit.

THEFT
They contact the post office and submit a change of address form with your name and current address and changing it to their address so they receive all of your mail! That's right, bank statements, credit card statements, credit card applications, tax forms and everything else. Then they set up new credit cards in your name that you dont even know about and spend thousands of dollars! They call your bank and say the account has been compromised and ask for a new account number and new internet banking details so they can steal the money from your account.

* Don't trust anyone you don't know. It's just that simple.
* Don't believe the photo is real. Do an image check.
* Don't send out compromising photos or texts.
* Don't give your real name or other important details.
* Don't go to yahoo (gmail, etc.) if requested.
* Never give out your personal information to anyone, for any reason, whether by email, snail mail, phone call, or at your front door.
* Do not give or "loan" any online "friend" money...don't do it!!!
* When selling online, don't give anyone your information until you have confirmed details of the sale. Deal in cash and meet them at a public place like Starbucks to pick up the item so they never have a home address.
* If it seems to be too good to be true, it probably is.





 



By: imathinkin
Age: 51-55 , Female
66 people have read this story

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5 responses
  • watch4u
    watch4u

    Thats it...really good post ;)

    a week ago
    1 like
  • StoriesFromtheHeart
    StoriesFromtheHeart

    I saw a really cool ad the other day about keeping safe on the internet - people thought they were going to a psychic who told them all sorts of stuff, including what they had spent their money on. At the end, these lovely zen curtains were pulled down to reveal a bunch of people on computers accessing all the information and feeding it to the "psychic" - change your passwords regularly, dont share them and for heavens sake never use family names as identifers when calling in banks etc It really is a simple matter of keeping safe online and protecting ourselves with common sense and we all need to be reminded

    Feb 3
    2 likes
    • climber1
      climber1

      The ways of getting scammed just keep growing and growing. : (

      Feb 4
      1 like
  • climber1
    climber1

    Really appreciate you taking the time and effort to help the rest of us with this information. I knew there were scammers, but had no idea all the different avenues of attack they had.

    Feb 3
    1 like
    • imathinkin
      imathinkin

      I'm sure I just touched on a few...there are likely many more. Sad to think there are people out there who have nothing better to do, than to scam you.

      Feb 3
      1 like