#If this is a scam

[wolfasketch]

Hello this a long shot call, am Taheera Abdallah a citizen of Palestine. I am here to request for your support to help get my insulin, I was diagnosised with type 1 diabetes and due to current situation in Gaza I'm unable to get my insulin injection as a result I'm here begging for little financial support to help me purchase insulin for this week

My donation link is available on my pinned post

Sorry, no money

[kaiyadrawzz]

so.

i got an ask about a kitten who was suffering from non-regenerative anemia. ofc i was eager to help cuz that sucks but a few moments after posting, i realized something was... off. the grammar was wrong, the account was sketchy, and people were protesting it was a scam. so me and @amateurbird decided to look into it. what i mean by grammar issues is:

things like this, and related. there's a lot of things like this and related. which brings you to the question: is this just a couple slip-ups, or could there be something not adding up? no, something definitely doesn't.

this is the full paragraph. as you can see, there are.. lots of typos. capitalization in unnecessary places, word repeating, punctuation nowhere to be found. but this happens too many times to be a common slip up. but the real thing that threw us off was the story. first, it describes how an angry man threw a kitten off of the 3rd story. floors, in height, are at least 10 feet tall due to fire code. so that means she fell at least 30 feet. 30 feet. according to https://www.quora.com/What-is-a-safe-height-for-an-8-week-old-kitten-to-fall-from , falls like this can result in serious injury. (i.e.: spinal injuries, broken bones, head trauma, and even internal injuries.) keep in mind this is a kitten, and the point of injury is 5 feet. and this was 30. as it says in the paragraph: "causing her to have different fractures all over her body!" this isn't true at all. but that isn't even the first red flag. the go fund me picture shows the cat very small, almost in appearance to a couple week old kitten. but it's been 7 months. according to PetMD, the age cats are fully grown is about 12 months. and it's been 7. this cat has already almost grew fully. so why does she look like a kitten? the other question was that: why would it cost $2,500 if you have health insurance for the cat? if you take in an injured cat which already would have problems, you are required to have health insurance (ty bird for that C:) so it wouldn't cost as much as 2,500. also, why would you take a cat directly home after it just fell out a 3rd story window? but, we could be wrong and this argument is just things we've gathered and were suspicious about, and if this is a scam, we would like to draw attention to the people who would be tricked and not to give in because these kinda scams are incredibly cruel. but, if we were wrong, i'm very sorry, and i hope you can gather money for your cat. have a nice day!!!! <3 (if you think we are wrong and have evidence to back it up, feel free to inform us kindly. do not send us hate comments. it's mean. thank you!!!!!!! <3)

[nb-marceline]

(full article here)

[chickenhoops]

Sorry for double posting but APPARENTLY those commission scammers have showed up on Tumblr at least for the first time for me.

For those who don’t know what I am talking about, there were/are commission scams going on in Instagram and even places like Artstation where people would pretend to be interested in your work and try to commission a pet or portrait for the sake of trying to get your bank details. Here’s how to (somewhat) sniff them out:

1- They don’t seem to be an average customer/ person that would be involved in your fandom, or has a blank template for an account or don’t even follow you.

2- They ask you to draw a portrait or a pet picture either for themselves or their children/family.

3- They promise to overpay you (in the hundreds) and do not listen to you even if you firmly state the price is cheaper.

4- They are constantly asking for your email name, or private details regarding things like banking details or passwords or other private information others should not know.

5- They try and over reassure you they mean no harm, try to guilt you into giving them the info, or become aggressive over you not giving them what they want.

What should you do if you come across one of these guys? My best advice is to block and report. Sadly these people jump account to account so there isn’t really much to do other than spread this info to prevent artists from being scammed.

[classycookiexo]

[beaft]

a small child came into the café today and asked to buy a chocolate truffle. he tapped a credit card on the reader and it did not go through, mainly because it was not a credit card but in fact a junior cinema pass. i gently explained he couldn't use that to buy things in shops and he looked so gutted that i was like "...but just this once you can have it for free, don't tell my boss though" he said thank you and walked out with his truffle and as he went i heard him chuckling to himself and saying "yes..... yes!!!!!" like the sickos comic

[cozylittleartblog]

cant tell you how bad it feels to constantly tell other artists to come to tumblr, because its the last good website that isn't fucked up by spoonfeeding algorithms and AI bullshit and isn't based around meaningless likes

just to watch that all fall apart in the last year or so and especially the last two weeks

there's nowhere good to go anymore for artists.

edit - a lot of people are saying the tags are important so actually, you'll look at my tags.

#please dont delete your accounts because of the AI crap. your art deserves more than being lost like that #if you have a good PC please glaze or nightshade it. if you dont or it doesnt work with your style (like mine) please start watermarking #use a plain-ish font. make it your username. if people can't google what your watermark says and find ur account its not a good watermark #it needs to be central in the image - NOT on the canvas edges - and put it in multiple places if you are compelled #please dont stop posting your art because of this shit. we just have to hope regulations will come slamming down on these shitheads#in the next year or two and you want to have accounts to come back to. the world Needs real art #if we all leave that just makes more room for these scam artists to fill in with their soulless recycled garbage #improvise adapt overcome. it sucks but it is what it is for the moment. safeguard yourself as best you can without making #years of art from thousands of artists lost media. the digital world and art is too temporary to hastily click a Delete button out of spite

[kyra45]

Names of scam accounts

A post compiling assorted names from scammers running medical,vet bills,and insulin scams, and more. All names listed here have been recorded from confirmed scam accounts, often hidden in multicolored text. These names are likely stolen off real people who are now being impersonated. Please make sure you haven’t sent money to these names from accounts that are relatively new. These may also appear in other scams.

This update is a WIP so it will regularly update.

—

Lucymkira | Steve mwit | AGNES KEBWARO | Mwanasiti Heri | Stella Sipeto | sophia magubo | Martin Gomba | Sarah Migiro | Luciana | A'lycia Thorn-ton | Jessica mathew | Edina sirikale | Bitita Nyaata | Luciamkir | Sophia Magubo | Stev'en mwi'ta | JACKLINE JACKSON |

—

Names used in scams pretending to be in Palestine:

Rawan Abu'M (this name is impersonating a real person from a legitimate GoFundMe.) | maryline Otieno | Nicholas Ochieng | Jeff Owino | Grahy Marwa | Taheera Abdallah | Gloria Naomi | Amisi Twaleh | Salima Abdallah | Aisha Mahmood | Remmy Cheptau | Newton ombogo | Godwin Okoth | AHMED SHIMBIR | Wafula Valentine | Rahwan AbdiMahady (same reason as the above; Impersonating a name from a legitimate GoFundMe.) | Nada'r Ab hussein | DIANA MUTENYO | Hakim Malfadho | Leila Rajab | Elizabeth Omasete | George Ochieng | Cecil Wangila | Leila Rajab | Emmily Kimesis | hezron onyango | christine wambura | princereinhard baraka | Iyvon Wabuyele | Wafula Valentine | Raobh Tingo | Sophia Magubo | Sharon Opiyo | Nada,r Ab'r Hus'sein | Jared Orwa | Zalka Yusuf | Khriytine wambura | Ann Stephen | Niva Wangila | Dorine nanjala | Taheera Mohammed | Dorine nanjala | Jastus Kimanzi | Paul Sila | Sussy Wamela | Mwanasiti Heri | Emily Mwelu | Hakim Abdi | Rasher Onchweri | Purity Sikuku | DIANA MUTENYO | Margaret Opiyo | Janeursular Mumali | Jane Majuma |

[anaveragetoast]

My favorite type of scam is where someone makes an account impersonating a famous person on social media, and then just goes into DMs and asks for money while also saying a "catchphrase" in a weird attempt to make themselves look legit

[wolfasketch]

Hello sorry for tagging. I am very sick, my asthma is at its maximum level, my nose freezes, I have no medicine or food. I am in bad shape financially, I am a black disabled, who uses multiple medications, I pay for my food and lodging

Unfortunately I do not have all the resources to keep me safe, that is why I need your help, whatever you can contribute to me will be of great help.

Sorry, I myself am asthmatic and also have no money

[angleofmusings]

(only superficial damage)

[softwaring]

we’re really out here living in an AI dystopian hellscape and this shit has just begun… the future is grim…

[tricky-pockets]

fucking adhd. I have to run a con on my own brain to get anything done.

[thoughtportal]

[themirokai]

I got this comment on a story from my Other AO3 Account this morning.

(Info redacted because I prefer keeping these accounts separate but no one follows me on the side blog I have for that account.)

The story was posted almost a year ago and is relatively “popular” by my average statistics even though it has tropes and themes that are big turnoffs for a lot of people (hence separate accounts). This popularity is undoubtedly because it’s a Marvel Loki story and that fandom is massive.

So there is obviously an algorithm or a bot scrubbing ao3 statistics and leaving this comment on fics that meet a certain metric with the main character of the fic inserted into the comment.

I had a little time to kill this morning so I decided to investigate further. And y’all this is so predatory. Come on this journey with me. It made me mad. It may make you mad.

First, if you go to Webnovel’s website, you HAVE to choose between male lead or female lead stories before you can go any further. WTF?

And that’s weird, but this gets so much worse. This is basically a pay-to-read site that has different subscription models. Which… okay BUT! The authors don’t get paid! Look at that comment again. They’re promising a supportive and nurturing community, but zero monetary compensation. It’s basically, “post your stuff here so we can get paid and you can get… nice vibes?” I mean look at this Orwellian writing:

Using the phrase “pay-to-read model” in the same sentence as “qualitative changes in lifestyles for authors” deliberately makes you think that you can get paid and maybe even make a living on this website. But that’s not actually what it says and authors will not receive one red cent.

Oh but wait, the worst is still to come. In case this breaks containment (which I kind of hope it does) this is where I mention that I’m a lawyer in the US.

I don’t do intellectual property or copyright law but I do read and write contracts for a living. So I went to look at their terms of service. It was fun!

Highlights the first, in which Webnovel gets a license to do basically whatever they want with content you post on their site. This is how they get to be paid for people reading authors’ writing without paying them anything.

Highlights the second, in which Webnovel takes no responsibility for illegally profiting off of fan fic. This all says that the writer is 100% responsible for everything the writer posts (even though only Webnovel is making money from it).

Highlights the third which say that by posting, the author is representing that they have the legal right to use and to let Webnovel use the content according to these terms. So if a writer posts fan fiction and Webnovel makes money from people reading the fan fiction, and the House of the Mouse catches wise, these sections say that that’s ALL on the writer.

So that’s a little skeevy to start off with but the thing that is seriously shitty and made me make this post was that these assholes are coming to ao3. They are actively recruiting people in comments on their fan fiction. And they are saying they are big fans of the character you’re writing about and that they share your interests.

They are recruiting fan fiction writers and giving every impression that you can make money from posting fan fiction on their site and hiding the fact that you absolutely cannot but they can make money off of you while you try, deep in their terms of service which no one but a lawyer who writes fan fic and has some time to kill will read.

I see posts on here regularly from people who don’t understand how this stuff works, don’t understand that they (and others) can not legally make a financial profit from fan fiction. And there are tons of people who will not take the time to dig into the details.

Don’t deal with these bastards. Fuck Webnovel.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Google Maps is worse than useless - actively harmful

Hard to overstate how enshittified and botshitted Google Maps has become. Went looking for my local locksmith on Gmaps. Maps shows 20+ fake locksmith referral scam outlets and doesn't even register the real locksmith, despite it being fully visible in Street View.

Instead, a red pin on the shop identifies it as a fake locksmith scammer. The real locksmith - which has been there SINCE 1942 (!!) and is a verified merchant - doesn't even show up.

Google has been promising to clean up locksmith scams since the early 2010s, and has completely failed. A company that can't figure this out - but still has $80b for a stock buyback! - does not deserve the 90% market share in search it spends $26b/year to maintain.