#fake invoice scam

[shithowdy]

As a heads up, there is an individual going through posts in the #art or possibly #illustration tag commenting "Dm if you’re available for commission?"

Even if you are accepting commissions, do not DM this person, or anyone who approaches you in this manner. If they are a real client, they will do the work to reach out through the channels you have already made available (comm form, email, etc.). What is more likely is they are a scammer attempting either a variant of the "fake check" scam (tl;dr they overpay you, ask you to send back the difference, and then the first payment bounces leaving you negative in the difference), or some other phishing or "pay to activate an account" activity.

This is a very common scam on Instagram but I do not see it as often on tumblr, so I want people to be aware of this. Artists are not the only target, but the freelance nature of social media commission work combined with a frequent willingness to do any job makes them a very easy one.

If a scammer like this does contact you through proper channels, this type of scam can always be prevented by conducting your business exclusively through invoices. There is no reason not to use invoices if your payment platform has them available. You are not being pushy or entitled or "too formal" for using them. Stay safe.

[scam-alerts]

🔎Scam Exam(ination)🔍(updated 2/22/25)

Seen as: I would like a commission of my son/pet... Scam Type: Commission

Also: See this update on how scammers are changing the scam.

Accounts running this scam: iloveartworks asperlisonloveart paleblizzardsoul sandralmon humongousbarbarianinternet furrynachodelusion ericatylerart lindalewis78 optimisticdefendorluminary aesarart spookyblazedreamland nilison99 claradanny2u

Proof of iloveartworks being a scammer can be seen/found here and here. The other accounts listed above all follow the same script and additional proof and can usually be found in the tags: #scam, #scams, or #scam alert.

IMPORTANT: Update as of 1/31/25 - They are now threatening law enforcement if you do not send them payment via the fake paypal email. This is a scare tactic. Please see that section once you get to it. Thank you.

-----

Being open to commissions isn't uncommon if you're an artist.

You may often find yourself receiving messages from strangers looking to commission you for a picture of their OC or even their favorite ship.

But if you receive a message like this, you should be careful you don't fall into a scammers trap.

-----

How it starts:

it starts by receiving a message from another user requesting a commission. Again, typical common practice if you're an artist.

What they ask for at the start, is usually the first red flag.

IMPORTANT 1/15/25: These scammers are now sending Asks and commenting on peoples posts asking 'are you open to commission? Send me a DM.' So please be aware of this as well!

Here are some images of how this scam conversation starts:

Images provided by: (1)@neogandw, (2)@foggywiz4rd, (3-4)@maikaartwork

🚩Red flag's (part 1)🚩

I want you to draw my son/daughter.

I want you to draw my son/daughter's pet.

It's a blank blog with no posts/reblogs

It's a blog that's only a few days/week old.

While this request seems simple enough, this scam gets worse.

Here are some recent examples of the dog they will request:

-----

An offer too good to refuse:

Now you may be thinking, 'surely this can't be bad or malicious, right?' They just want you to draw a picture of their child or their child's pet! And that's definitely what the scammer wants you to think. Which is what brings us to the next set of red flags:

Left image from @neogandw, right image from @maikaartwork

🚩Red flag's (part 2)🚩

'I will pay you $200-$500+' (an amount way way beyond your normal asking price.)

'I just want the best you can do.' (They don't know how to answer questions related to details such as pose, background, style, objects you want included, etc.)

'It's for their birthday/holiday' - ' I want it done as soon as possible.' (They will push that you do this with a sense of urgency so you don't ask questions.)

-----

The Catch:

Now, if you haven't reported and blocked them by now, and you agree to take this persons commission, this is where the catch to this scam comes into play.

If you tell the scammer to send you an invoice, they will refuse.

If you tell them to use your preferred method, they will refuse.

Those methods just 'wont/don't work', you see.

What they really want, is your PayPal email and your name.

From here they will say that they sent you payment, and that you should check your email. Or that 'they got an email and something went wrong' and that you should check your email.

And here is where the scam comes to ahead.

They will send you a fake email meant to look like it came from PayPal that looks like the ones shown below:

Second image provided by @badlibbing

Second set of images provided by @petxka, thank you!

This third image comes from @elrealelchunk on 1/31/25 and is very important. Scammers are now threatening law enforcement if you do not send them money.

Again as noted in the top of the post, this is 100% a scare tactic.

-----

What this email means / How this scam works:

In the case of screenshot one (provided by @neogandw) the 'MONALISA' is the person who was trying to commission them.

The payment hasn't 'went through', and the e-mail (from 'fake PayPal') is saying that they, the artist, needs to send $200 to 'MONALISA' to 'expand the limit' of their account to get the $500 that is owed to them.

Read the e-mail and think about what you're being asked to do:

'You are to send (name) money to expand your account.' You are to send someone money, to get money.

If your account is limited, why would you need to send another PayPal user money to 'unlock' your account or 'expand it', and not just contact PayPal itself to try and resolve that issue...?

This is not how PayPal works, in any sense.

This is just a way for them to scam you.

There are also a handful of red flags in this email alone.

🚩Red flag's (part 3)🚩

The sender address is not from an official paypal.com address, but instead a gmail.com address. This means that this came from a person, not a company.

The formatting. Let's be frank, no official email from PayPal will ever look like this.

The spelling/grammar issues are everywhere.

Weird url's at the bottom of the email. (I removed them for safety reasons)

Additionally: You may also find or see links in this emails instructing you to 'go here' to unlock your account. These are phishing (wikipedia) links that they will use to steal your PayPal login information. Never click links in emails asking you to 'fix an issue' with your account unless you can verify who the sender is.

If you send these people your money, you will get blocked and never see them again. That's just how this scam goes...

If you'd like another variation of this scam which talks about money wiring, you can check out @maikaartwork's version by clicking here!

-----

Final thoughts:

If you fall for a scam like this, thankfully there still might be hope.

Contact PayPal and explain what happened in detail. Show them every shred of evidence that you have showing that you were scammed including the name of who scammed you, and the email that sent you the scam, and who you wound up sending the money to.

If you use the messaging system that uses the AI chat bot, ask it repeatedly to 'speak to a real person' until you get sent to a live agent. (this is stupidly frustrating but sadly it's what you have to do.)

And remember, take screenshots and report these users to the websites they are running these scams on. If they DM you on tumblr? Report the DM. If they do it on insta, bsky, twitter or even discord?

Make sure you report them there too.

ALSO: Beware of recovery scammers. This is anyone coming into your DM's telling you they can 'help you get your money back' after you made a post talking about how you got scammed. These scammers are just looking for a quick buck.

Here's a post about ethical hackers (aka recovery scammers)

Other helpful guides on spotting scams. (by @kyra45)

[redbuddi]

SCAM ALERT!!!

This morning I woke up to this email

Scary right? It looks as though all of a sudden I owe over a thousand dollars to some studio I've never heard of. This would be enough to make anyone jump to correct the situation. But if you get this email or ones like it, stay calm, do not call the number, and do not click ANY of the links.

This email is fake. I logged into paypal through normal means and there was no such invoice sent to me. While obviously I didn't call the number or click the links to check for sure, this is most likely a classic phishing scheme. Essentially if you click any of the links or call the number, you will be asked for your login information in a way that looks legitimate, but once they confirm your login they will disconnect you, change your password, and have complete access to your paypal.

tl;dr, If you get the email pictured above or anything similar, delete it immediately. Do NOT call the number it provides. Do NOT click on any of the links it contains.

[dinodanicus]

you can skip this wall of text its just about the scam this illustration was involved in.

This fairly ordinary illustration of two hands holding was involved in a very weird and convoluted scam. Last month I was commission to illustrate this image for invitations meant to go out for a supposed wedding anniversary coming up in March. The whole commission seemed odd to me I mainly draw dinosaurs and aliens. Not many people know I also draw people but the buyer who called himself Petterson Reid was offering to pay 300 up front and 200 after the work was finished. A nice offer for what was a very simple illustration. I took the job and sent him a very rough sketch of the hands to show him what the final image might look like. He liked the sketch and told me to finish the image after he sent the first payment I went ahead and finished the image that night. I held onto the picture to see if he would really send the 300 dollars first. The buyer wanted to send a check by mail which is weird but I thought he might have been a boomer who didn't understand how to use PayPal. His emails and text seemed like something my grandmother would write very proper and overly polite. I was fairly suspicious of him and waited to see if a check would actually be delivered. To my surprise a check did arrive a week later from Petterson Reid except it was for 2,790 dollars. knowing this was far too much money I asked him if it was a mistake. He said the extra money was for a PayPal invoice to the printers involved in the invitations. He wanted me to use the extra money on the check to pay the printers on his behalf. Again very weird but I chalked it up to an old person who didn't know how to pay online. I cashed the check the next day, since it was from an out of state bank they were putting it on hold for 3 days to see if the funds would clear. I told the buyer about the three day waiting period and asked for the invoice I was suppose to be paying and he went absolutely ape shit. He claimed I was trying to steal his money and was threatening to pursue legal action I was completely shocked by the change in attitude. I had to mute my phone because he kept sending wave after wave of threatening texts. At this point I was 90% sure this was some sort of scam but when I called the bank they said there was nothing to do until the hold expired. I was confident it wouldn't then to my surprise the check cleared and the money was in my account. At this point I had the finished artwork and the money so I wanted to get this crazy asshole on his way so I wouldn't have to deal with him anymore. I told him to send the invoice for the printer and I would pay it with the money on the check then I would send the picture and our business would be done. This prick sends some half assed looking invoice with a payable link on PayPal. When I try to pay, it says payment will be held till Feb 7th. Apparently this date is too late for the printers so now that processing payment has been canceled by the printer in favor of a new payment process through Zelle. I was trying to figure out what was going on, if its a scam what is the take the entirety of the check was still in my account it didn't even say it was pending. I go to pay on Zelle and discover the 2,790 dollars has been rescinded by the bank. I call and learn this ass hair had sent a forged check to the bank in an effort to have me pay these fake invoices with my own money. He guessed the bank would deposit the check without fully vetting it for the standard 10 days since I'm a long time member. He knew he had until about five a clock that day before the bank would catch the discrepancy. He was posing as the printer in order to scam 4,740 dollars from me through both attempted payment methods. luckily for me I'm broke as hell right now and didn't have the money in my own account to cover either payment with out the check. everything has been taken care of now I just thought I better share this story since I've never seen a scam like this before. It took an entire month for him to essentially get nothing I really don't know what to think of any of this its such a weird scheme.

[badlibbing]

ARTISTS BEWARE: SCAM ALERT!

Hey, remember that person I just did a commission for? Turns out she's a lowlife scammer.

But guess what? I found out about her bullshit before she could actually get any money from me. And the artwork I did for her was actually good practice for me anyway. Joke's on her. Everyone point and laugh.

Sadly, it looks like she's targeting multiple artists, as her likes are full of commission announcements. Do not trust this loser.

Now, as @imsaikotik helpfully pointed out to me, there are most likely other scammers out there operating via similar tactics. Here's a breakdown of their scheme:

Ask for a commission, obviously

Claim they are willing to pay an exorbitant amount (a few hundred dollars) despite the artist charging far less

Claim they have sent the payment (complete with detailed fake invoices), and ask you to check the email associated with your PayPal account

Send an email disguised as one from PayPal support, claiming that the payment cannot be received in full unless you go through a bullshit money-hot-potato process

Profit

The fake PayPal email will look something like this...

If this happens to you, forward the scam email to phishing@paypal.com so the REAL PayPal people can beat their ass.

PERSONAL BUSINESS NOTICE: Due to the unfortunately high likelihood of such a scam being pulled again, from this point forward, I will require all clients who are NOT mutuals to make their payments in advance. The only thing "Lisa" succeeded in here was wasting my time. I'd rather not have more of it wasted, thank you very much.

[gatekeeper-watchman]

BEWARE TO ALL WHO BELIEVE IN INTEGRITY As of today, some of the most prevalent online scams include: investment scams (particularly on social media), impersonation scams where fraudsters pose as legitimate sellers, charity scams exploiting major events for donations, romance scams through dating apps, phishing attacks using deceptive emails, "grandparent scams" targeting older individuals with urgent pleas, and fake invoice/unordered merchandise scams where victims receive fraudulent bills for items they didn't purchase; all of these scams are seeing a significant rise in activity. 

Key points to remember about recent online scams:

Increased sophistication:

Scammers are using more advanced tactics to appear credible, making it harder to identify them. Social media exploitation:

Platforms like Facebook and Instagram are increasingly used to spread scams, including fake giveaways and investment schemes. 

Personal data concerns:

Scammers often leverage readily available personal information to target individuals with personalized scams. 

Urgency tactics:

Many scams rely on creating a sense of panic to pressure victims into acting quickly without verifying information. 

How to protect yourself: Be cautious with personal information:

Never share sensitive details like bank account numbers or passwords easily. 

Verify before clicking links:

Check the sender's email address and be wary of suspicious links in emails or messages. 

Research before donating:

Check the legitimacy of charities before contributing to online fundraising campaigns. 

Be skeptical of "too good to be true" offers:

If a deal seems too good, it probably is.  2/12/2025 5:59:40 AM Good Morning USA and the World From: Steven P. Miller, Jacksonville, Florida., USA @ParkermillerQ, gatekeeperwatchman.org, TM, ‎Founder and Administrator of Gatekeeper-Watchman International Groups. #GWIG, #GWIN, #GWINGO, #SPARKERMILLER, www.facebook.com/gatekeeperwatchman www.facebook.com/ Instagram: steven_parker_miller_1956

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Adam B. Coleman

Published: May 17, 2024

The law of attraction dictates that you attract what you are, so it is by no coincidence that the Diversity Industrial Complex often attracts con artists.

It’s an industry predicated on siphoning phoning money from gullible corporations who are desperate to project themselves as societal changemakers.

This is how immoral people like ex-Facebook and Nike diversity program manager, Barbara Furlow-Smiles, were able to extract millions of dollars from resource abundant corporations.

Smiles, who led the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs for Facebook from January 2017 to September 2021, pleaded guilty in December to a wire fraud scheme that helped her steal more than $4.9 million from Facebook and a six-figure sum from Nike.

Atlanta US Attorney Ryan Buchanan lamented how Smiles was “utilizing a scheme involving fraudulent vendors, fake invoices, and cash kickbacks.”

“After being terminated from Facebook, she brazenly continued the fraud as a DEI leader at Nike, where she stole another six-figure sum from their diversity program,” Buchanan stated.

Smiles used her authority to approve invoices to pay for services and events that never occurred, funneling the money to several personal associates and pay Smiles in kickbacks.

She would later submit fake expense reports claiming her associates completed work for Facebook, such as providing marketing help and merchandise fulfillment.

Smiles’ lavish lifestyle will be replaced with a stiff punishment of five years imprisonment, three years of supervised release and an order to pay back the money she stole from both Facebook and Nike.

There is something apropos about a sham employee like Smiles being able to climb the ranks of a sham sector of corporate America.

Post-George Floyd’s death, business enterprises fell in love with — or were backmailed into — the idea of a marriage between capitalism and social philanthropy.

DEI job positions increased 123% between May and September of 2020, according to Indeed.

It was no longer enough to have financial success in the business environment, they now wanted to become adored by the public — or at least not be accused of white supremacy.

But when you’re desperate for an outcome, there will always be fraudsters waiting to exploit you.

DEI is a sham because you can’t quantify if it’s succeeding. There are never enough programs or seminars or representation — it just keeps expanding.

Smiles likely was able to get away with what she was doing for years at Facebook because DEI is treated like a new romance; constantly given the benefit of the doubt despite their red flags.

Falling for a scam has nothing to do with intelligence or experience; literally anyone can get scammed.

We fall for scams when we become so desperate for an outcome that we’re willing to suspend belief and overlook common sense.

The problem is that ego prevents industry leaders from hearing our warnings about the falsehoods they’re being fed.

People who believe they’re always the smartest ones in the room won’t conceive how they’re being played by ideological nitwit college graduates who are motivated by ending capitalism.

They’re scared of being accused of being racist, and thus surround themselves with con artists who enjoy manipulating their empathy to drain their wealth.

Corporate America loves chasing love; DEI loves their money.

Adam B. Coleman is the author of “Black Victim to Black Victor” and founder of Wrong Speak Publishing. Follow him on Substack: adambcoleman.substack.com.

--

See:

==

DEI is inherently fraudulent. It's premised upon fraudulent grievance "scholarship," it's unquantifiable, untestable and unfalsifiable, and will accuse you of istaphobism for expecting that its objectives should be quantifiable, testable and falsifiable. Much like traditional religion.

In practice, it's like doing phrenology or dowsing for hidden "bigotry," and "curing" it with more identity homeopathy.

So, it's unsurprising that a fraudulent industry is rife with frauds. We've seen non-stop academic fraud and plagiarism from DEI academics, so we should expect comparable fraud from DEI practitioners.

Interesting how these DEI types are usually raging anti-capitalists, though.

[stalkedbytrains]

Beneath the Electric Sky: Chain One Sequence Two: A Series of Minor Crimes

I introduced Io to Seth. There was already some tension there because I think Io realized he fucked up on the ride over.

"I'm Seth. You must be Io."

The pair shook hands.

"You got me," Io said. "You're the partner. Right, well you need someone to get inside and open a door?"

Seth bristled a little bit. It was clear he wanted to introduce himself as my superior or something more haughty and worthy of him.

"And you must be our conman. I'll be keeping my eye on you."

"Don't worry, you've got nothing I want," Io said as he gave himself a small tour of the apartment.

Seth scoffed. "You sure about that?"

"Yeah, I don't give a shit about new tech or whatever it is you're after. I wanted the dumbest, oldest stuff you can find. I was trying to steal a cybertruck."

My partner only got angrier. I quietly congratulated myself on picking the right person to bring in. Io could do the job and do it well, but pissing off Seth was a nice bonus.

Io was a pretty unassuming person. Average height, average build, average everything, which he would probably use to his advantage as not standing out in any significant way was something that could really work in his favor.

"What do you need to do this job?" Seth asked tensely.

"You have a hacker on staff? Because unless things have changed much more drastically than I'm aware of, Synthia certainly can't handle the asks. And no offense, Sep-"

"Seth."

"That's what I said. You don't look like you can hack your way out of this room."

I couldn't help but smile. "I missed you Io."

"Arc! Get in here! We've got a job for you!" Seth yelled.

Io moved next to me so he could conspiratorially whisper to me. "Arc? Really? Bit on the nose with that one don't you think?"

"I've always thought that," I whispered back.

The small in every direction tech walked into the room. If I was thin in a vaguely unhealthy way (I can't help my ultra-enhanced metabolism and the calories required to run this hardware) then Arc was deeply unhealthy. His hair was stringy and all over the place and the electronics poked out of the skin on his face, shoulders, arms, and hands.

He was also Seth's lapdog so I couldn't give a shit what he liked or cared for. He was supposed to do the tech support angle of this little trio and so far he had utterly failed to hold up his side of the job.

"Yeah, what's up?" Arc asked Seth, only looking to him for instruction.

"You're a hacker?" Io asked.

"Yeah, who are you?" Arc countered.

"Someone with a sense of style, Jesus," Io muttered mostly to himself but I heard it and cracked a smile. "I'm the conman. I need you to hack some emails for me."

"Oh, yeah, sure, it's not that this place is tighter than a nuclear waste dump site. I can barely peak at their servers, much less hack an employee's email. The Illuminated Path is next level."

Io rolled his eyes. "Then I suggest you find someone who can hack a single employee's email. It shouldn't be that hard to arrange a phishing scam or something. I thought you people were experts."

"Why the fuck do we need this asshole?" Arc asked indignantly.

"Because you assured me, multiple times, that you couldn't hack any of the security measures around the building, so I got us someone who can get me inside," I snapped at him. "If you can't get Io what he needs then I'm going to find someone else who can help me with this mission and I'll be sure to let Gareth know what dead weight you two have been."

"What do you want?"

Io shrugged. "A couple of back dated emails hiding in someone's folder. Preferably someone high up who is in charge of shipping and receiving. Then some angry emails from them into some subordinate's spam folder about a shipment that is overdue."

"What scam are you pulling?"

"A Trojan horse. I'm going to make a delivery and no one is going to look twice at me because we're playing the angry boss card. Oh and if you can get me a fake manifest and an invoice. Make them look good. If you make them look good enough and I get paid for the delivery then I'll count that towards my fee," Io said.

Arc opened his mouth to say something but Seth cut him off. "Do it."

"Fine. What are we delivering?"

"I'll let you know when we're done stealing it," Io said. "Synthia, let's go steal a truck or two."

"You want me to plant a bunch of emails for something I don't know what it is yet?" Arc asked.

"Well you're the one that said they've got top notch security."

"Synthia, stay with Arc, keep him on task. I'm going with Io," Seth said.

I scoffed. "You think I can keep the keyboard jockey on task? The little fucker never listens to a word I say."

Seth had a look on his face that looked like he tasted ass. Which was his default expression whenever I got my way.

"Fine. Check-in every hour. And we will be listening," Seth threatened.

"Sir, yes sir," I responded, saluting him with my middle finger raised. "Io let's go."

As we turned to leave, I heard Seth tell Arc to get to work, and to start pulling up files on anyone who might be connected to me named Lorelei.

Io was going to pay for that later.

[010·10]

"You work for a bunch of assholes," Io told me as we approached the overnight warehouse for one of the online distributors.

"Yeah I fucking know," I told him as I worked on punching a hole through the electric fence. "And now they know too."

"How the fuck do they know everything?"

"I've got just south of a trillion dollars worth of beyond top of the line technology in me. That kind of money and investment warrants a level of security that cannot be overwritten, ignored, or turned off. Everything I say and do is recorded in excruciating detail."

"Fuck," Io said once I was through the fence. "That's rough."

"Yeah, well. I'm sorry I brought you into this mess," I admitted. "Really. I'm sorry."

Io stopped halfway through the fence. "I truly don't think I've ever heard you apologize for anything."

"New body, new me."

"Well I appreciate seeing you again, getting into shenanigans again. And I'm sorry about before," Io said quietly, as if that would keep the myriad of sensor in me from picking it up. "I'll fix it, I promise."

I couldn't help myself. I shouldn't have been shitty but I had to do it. "I'll believe it when I see it."

After a few minutes of sneaking through the warehouse, dodging drones, and keeping out of sight of the one overnight, overworked, underpaid service worker, we found an access point that gave us manifests for everything being loaded on the trucks in the lot.

"Alright what would be easiest to con some... what are they again?" Io asked.

"Religious cultists and terrorists that are working with extremely illegal and bleeding edge technology. Working in most gene splicing and tech."

"Ah so religious scientists," Io said with as much sarcasm as he could muster. "Love that for them. We're going to need truck... let's see... eh... I think the one in row twelve slot b. Some centrifuges and other medical equipment. Should be helpful."

"Right, what are we standing around here for?"

"Well I'm going to drive, because you are always the worst driver, even now. Just... bad."

"Hey!"

"I also need you to steal me a uniform."

"That would make sense."

Breaking into the locker room and stealing a spare uniform was trivial and I did it in less than two minutes.

In fact, I made it back to Io and the truck he was supposed to be stealing before he had even managed to get the truck open.

"What were you saying about being better than me at this?" I asked.

"I was just waiting on you, the second we drive off things are going to start."

I rolled my eyes and waited for Io to get going. While I had nothing to do I messaged Arc that were were bringing medical equipment, and he should add that to his manifests and hacked emails and stuff.

"Alright we're good to go," Io said as the engine rumbled to life.

"We will be as soon as Arc is done doing his job."

my kofi that hosts early chapters

[konxhk]

Heya.

Those comments asking you for a comm, could try to scam ya. They ask ya to send your paypal and theyd send a fake invoice of Paypal saying ya either overpaid or that you need to update your account and pay money to get this transaction smh.

Dont fall for it ^^

That actually explains a lot, I'll make sure to remember that, thanks for the advice ^^

[modern-alebrije]

got a scam email with a jpg of a fake paypal invoice. nice try bitch but some of us know how to check our transactions.

[beardedmrbean]

A Florida woman who swindled the life savings from an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor in a “romance scam” was sentenced to over four years in prison Thursday, federal prosecutors said.

Peaches Stergo, 36, stole over $2.8 million in the scam, which lasted years. She was arrested in January and pleaded guilty to wire fraud in April.

Stergo met the victim, whom authorities have never publicly identified, on a dating website and asked for money that she said was needed to help get funds from a legal settlement, according to court documents.

She then told a series of more lies, fabricating stories that she needed money to gain access to a TD Bank account or else she would never be able to repay the victim, prosecutors said.

Stergo also sent heartless text messages, the U.S. attorney’s office for Southern New York said in a statement.

Stergo called the scam her “business” and told her real lover in a text that the elderly man said he loved her; she added “lol” to that message, the prosecutor’s office said. She also remarked that he had become “broke.”

Stergo was sentenced to 51 months in prison, or four years and three months, the prosecutor’s office said. She was also ordered to pay $2.8 million in restitution.

She also will forfeit the home she bought in a gated community, as well as over 100 luxury items, including Rolex watches and jewelry, prosecutors said.

Stergo’s attorney, Ann Fitz, said the 51-month sentence was fair. Prosecutors sought 96 months, according to court documents.

Stergo suffered childhood instability and trauma, which caused compulsive behaviors like past drinking and gambling, and the scam was also a compulsion, Fitz wrote in a sentencing submission.

Fitz said in an email Thursday night, “Ms. Stergo has expressed remorse for her actions and will make every effort to repay the restitution in this case.”

The scam lasted from around May 2017 until October 2021, prosecutors said.

The man’s son eventually found out what was going on and put a stop to it, but it was too late. The man lost his life savings and had to give up his Manhattan apartment, according to the indictment.

In a scheme to persuade the elderly man to send more money, Stergo created an email account to pose as a TD Bank employee and created fake letters and invoices.

At one point Stergo wrote to her real significant other that she needed money and a car, and “I don’t want you to work like you are it’s too hard,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing submission. Prosecutors called the texts “jarring in their callousness.”

“Not only did she manipulate the Victim’s emotions for a period of years, she secretly mocked the Victim for saying he loved her,” prosecutors wrote. “She thought it was hilarious that she was destroying his life for her own benefit.”

The victim lost both his parents in the Holocaust and moved to the U.S. in his 20s for a better life, he wrote in a letter to the court, which is excerpted in the government’s sentencing request.

“Over the next 60 years, I worked tirelessly to establish a successful business, family, and home in New York,” the victim’s letter reads. “I am now 88 years old, and the last thing I expected was to finish my days in the same manner that I started them — penniless and betrayed.”

The FBI warns that romance scammers sometimes use fake profiles to gain people’s trust on dating websites, which eventually leads to asking for money. In some cases they ask to invest in cryptocurrency by falsely claiming insider knowledge and using fake websites.

Last year there were around 19,000 victims of romance scams in the U.S., with almost $740 million in losses, the FBI said.

There were around 24,000 victims in 2021, with losses reported at around $1 billion, it said.

[tundrakatiebean]

Gotta love when a new phishing scam hits your email while you have the thing trying to be phished open and fine on your laptop.

If anyone else gets an email from paypal about a BNC canceling an invoice it’s a scam. They’ve replaced the call number with a different one to try to get your info. Forward the email to phishing@paypal.com so they can track these people down. I also think it’s funny out of all the official sounding words you could use to make a fake company they went with “Binance Holdings Ltd.” The rulers of the world of binance clearly.

[marilynschaffer]

Marilyn Schaffer Exposed: Dark Path of Investor Fraud

Marilyn Schaffer used her charismatic demeanor and knowledge of the fintech industry to attract investors. Schaffer, leveraging her knowledge of the industry and insight into market trends to create an attractive investment opportunity in the trillion-dollar hospitality, restaurant and service industry, created a compelling investment opportunity.

By attending networking events, conferences and making personal connections with potential investors, Schaffer was able to identify those who were attracted by the enormous potential of the sector. She customized her approach for each investor by conducting thorough research into their investment preferences. Schaffer created rapport with investors by demonstrating her knowledge and matching her pitch to their goals.

Schaffer used persuasive tactics to convince investors. She carefully crafted a narrative that highlighted the exponential growth of her company and its profitability. Schaffer exaggerated the company's capabilities and potential market, and played on investors' desire for high returns. Schaffer created a sense that XTM Inc. was a great investment. She shared testimonials and success stories from supposed customers to enhance her credibility.

To further enhance her reputation, she developed a network consisting of people who seemed to be successful investors. She strategically set up meetings between these people and potential investors, so that they could vouch for her integrity and the profitability and success of her business. She created the illusion of an investment opportunity by leveraging testimonials and social proof.

Schaffer deliberately avoided providing substantial documentation or paperwork to investors in order to maintain the illusion of legitimacy. She exploited their eagerness to participate and trust, operating in an environment with limited transparency. Investors were unable to conduct due diligence or verify the legitimacy of investments because of this lack of documentation. The lack of transparency Schaffer intentionally created shielded her and kept her out of scrutiny, allowing her to work in the shadows. This allowed investors to remain unaware of what was really going on at XTM Inc.

By withholding crucial information and discouraging her investors from seeking independent financial or legal advice, Schaffer controlled the narrative around her company. She controlled investors' perceptions through selectively sharing good news and deflecting questions about financial statements or auditored reports. This lack of transparency deliberately created a false trust that made it easier to exploit unknowing investors.

Schaffer redirected investor money to personal gain instead of using the funds raised for the development and growth of XTM Inc. She lived a lavish lifestyle, paid for personal expenses and diverted money to purposes that were not related to the growth of her company. Schaffer's actions showed a total disregard for the faith investors had placed in her and a callous abuse of their hard-earned funds.

Schaffer used shell companies and financial transactions to conceal the misappropriation. She used a variety of methods, such as offshore accounts and fake invoices, in order to conceal the money trail and avoid detection. She created the impression of a successful business by manipulating financial records.

The fraudulent path taken by Marilyn Schaffer is a warning to new investors. This story highlights the importance of doing thorough due diligence and demanding transparency. It also shows how to critically evaluate the credibility of the claims made by executives. Investors need to be wary of people who do not provide proper documentation, exaggerate promises, or create an urgency. Before making an investment decision, it is important to do research on the company, evaluate its technology and confirm its financial health.

The experiences of those who were scammed by Schaffer should remind us to be cautious and skeptical when we are considering investment opportunities. Transparency and verifiable proof of success are essential to earning trust. Investors need to seek independent financial and legal advice, do background checks on executives and request access to audited statements. Investors can avoid falling prey to frauds such as the one perpetrated Marilyn Schaffer by maintaining a healthy level of skepticism, and doing their research diligently.

[meams4u]

Sending this to everyone who reblogged that post from jackamazinglynn: it is a scam.

Paypal account linked (Jacklyn Webb) does this regularly, creating new blogs soliciting donations for a new sick cat each time.

That tumour, as one of my followers pointed out, is on a dog.

The veterinary invoice is for an animal called Chanel, not Zoe, though that's not as suspicious as the list of medication doses for an animal in the 40-60lb (18-27kg) range, i.e. a medium sized dog.

List also includes canine medications generally not considered suitable for cats (Carprofen).

Ah fuck, maybe they got me. Normally I never interact with posts asking for money, but this one messaged me specifically so I looked into it. They had a populated blog so it seemed to not be a fake account, I didn't look further :( if it helps reassure you, I have very few followers, like 20

Sorry to anyone who interacted with it from me

[shithowdy]

In all seriousness if someone you don't know sends you a large sum of money via a payment app, don't touch it, because it's more likely to be a chargeback/fake check scam than an act of altruism. The scams work by banking on you withdrawing immediately, and then they convince you that they accidentally sent too much, which leads to you sending back real money before the original deposit bounces and your account is now in the negative for that first deposit amount in addition to what was sent back. If a significant amount of time (like, months) passes and the deposit stays, document any steps you took to ensure its legitimacy and only then treat it as safe.

This is also why using invoices as an artist or other business owner is important, the same scam happens with "overpayment".