#scam alert

[katemakes]

Hi make sure to keep an eye on scams like this!

Hey guys let me tell you about advance fee scams

I hope y'all are familiar with these in this day and age, especially my artists out there, because they're incredibly common.

About half an hour ago I posted a drawing and tagged it #artists on tumblr, and very quickly received this comment.

My scam radar went off immediately, due to the generic blog name and lack of any emotion in the comment, but I decided it might be an entertaining venture so I dmed them. They asked for a drawing "of these", and sent me a random selfie. I got the details and told them it would be $15, and they promptly offered me $300. At this point I know it's a scam, but I play along for funsies and give them my paypal. Shortly, they send me this image for "confirmation" (I blocked out my email)

And they began to insist that I checked my email. I looked in my spam folder and found the following email.

This is fake. This is not a thing. And the "you're to refund the $200.00 back" is the scam. They send vaguely official-looking emails at you to "prove" that they sent you the money, then have you send them $200 (or however much the scam is for). Then, surprise surprise, you're out $200.

I continued to play along for a bit, and in the second email "Paypal" told me that I had to refund the $200 before they could "credit the $300 to my account", along with these lovely threats.

And yeah, it's silly. But it's not silly if you don't know and get scammed. So. Spread, please! And thank you very much to @mlaurel for the opportunity to get these screenshots.

[kyra45]

“Rayban charity glasses event” is a scam don’t click any link in a post that says that.

Old tumblr users remember this scam back when it first went out.

(Posted March 28th, 2025)

[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.

[joetastic2739]

Someone accessed my Gmail 2 days ago, compromising my linked accounts like Twitter and YouTube. Here's how it happened, why I fell for it, and what you can learn to avoid making the same mistake:

The scam I fell victim to was a cookie hijack. The hacker used malicious software to steal my browser cookies (stuff like autofill, auto sign in, etc), allowing them to sign in to my Gmail and other accounts, completely bypassing my 2FA and other security protocols.

A few days ago, I received a DM from @Rachael_Borrows, who claimed to be a manager at @Duolingo. The account seemed legitimate. It was verified, created in 2019, and had over 1k followers, consistent with other managers I’d seen at the time n I even did a Google search of this person and didnt find anything suspicious.

She claimed that @Duolingo wanted me to create a promo video, which got me excited and managed to get my guard down. After discussing I was asked to sign a contract and at app(.)fastsigndocu(.)com. If you see this link, ITS A SCAM! Do NOT download ANY files from this site.

Unfortunately, I downloaded a file from the website, and it downloaded without triggering any firewall or antivirus warnings. Thinking it was just a PDF, I opened it. The moment I did, my console and Google Chrome flashed. That’s when I knew I was in trouble. I immediately did an antivirus scan and these were some of the programs it found that were added to my PC without me knowing:

The thing about cookie hijacking is that it completely bypasses 2FA which should have been my strongest line of defense. I was immediately signed out of all my accounts and within a minute, they changed everything: passwords, 2FA, phone, recovery emails, backup codes, etc.

I tried all methods but hit dead ends trying to recover them. Thankfully, my Discord wasn’t connected, so I alerted everyone I knew there. I also had an alternate account, @JLCmapping, managed by a friend, which I used to immediately inform @/TeamYouTube about the situation

Meanwhile, the hackers turned my YouTube channel into a crypto channel and used my Twitter account to spam hundreds of messages, trying to use my image and reputation to scam more victims

Thankfully, YouTube responded quickly and terminated the channel. Within 48 hours, they locked the hacker out of my Gmail and restored my access. They also helped me recover my channel, which has been renamed to JoetasticOfficial since Joetastic_ was no longer available.

Since then, I’ve taken several steps to secure my accounts and prevent this from happening again. This has been a wake-up call to me, and now I am more cautious around people online. I hope sharing it helps others avoid falling victim to similar attacks. (End)

(side note) Around this time, people also started to impersonate me on TikTok and YouTube. With my accounts terminated, anyone searching for "Joetastic" would only find the imposter's profiles. I’m unsure whether they are connected or if it’s just an unfortunate coincidence, but it made the situation even more stressful.

[vavuska]

The fist time I met them was some months ago. It was my first "Gaza scam" and I opened the GoFundMe link - risking some pishing or other kind of virus. The beneficiary was a woman from US and people still reblogs this shit. Even if those two blogs are owned by innocent people and their story is true (which I doubt), why the hell someone would trust a third party over an international transaction?

For the first time ever in my entire tumblr experience, I've turned off anon asking.

Thanks to @abedmajeed and his friend @mosabsdr who keeps to annoy and harass me via anon asking with their army of many many many bots.

I will never donate to them. I have no ability to vet any of these claims and I'm not about to believe anything I saw on the internet. The whole situation of begging for money through mass tagging and anon asking is shady and seems like a well-organized scam.

Maybe I'll turn it back on after this guy leaves me alone. Until then, thank @mosabsdr and @abedmajeed for making the world a worse place to be by exploiting mass tragedies for a quick buck.

[meanya]

I saw a post before about how hackers are now feeding Google false phone numbers for major companies so that the AI Overview will suggest scam phone numbers, but in case you haven't heard,

PLEASE don't call ANY phone number recommended by AI Overview

unless you can follow a link back to the OFFICIAL website and verify that that number comes from the OFFICIAL domain.

My friend just got scammed by calling a phone number that was SUPPOSED to be a number for Microsoft tech support according to the AI Overview

It was not, in fact, Microsoft. It was a scammer. Don't fall victim to these scams. Don't trust AI generated phone numbers ever.

[bonuscatart]

Out of caution, I would not trust the link in this post.

I remember some Tumblr users a while back warning of this exact format.

A screenshot of a social media post

An interesting item in the screenshot

Colored link that leads somewhere to "buy" the product

There's some things I'm not sure about. If I remember correctly, the post said that the spam accounts would post innocuous things to gain a following. The account above fits as a meme reposter. I think the risk was that the linked website would steal personal information like credit cards.

There were other items that spammers used: a light up cloud, a lamp shaped like a fire-breathing dragon, etc. If anyone has more information, please let me know. I'm only going off of memory.

[sinnabum45]

SCAM ALERT!

@ougadyabudi is scamming people by stealing Haya Orouq's story! The profile picture is copied directly from Haya's Gofundme.

I spoke with Haya and she has confirmed that this is a scam!

Haya Orouq's real Gofund me is THIS LINK HERE!!

Check out this post to find her other socials!

Please share this as much as possible and do NOT give @ougadyabudi any of your money!! Stay safe out there!

[cuppajj]

Attention Artists!!

TL;DR: spam bot stealing art to advertise a scam website

It was brought to my attention that there is an account by the name of @/rokonrrc that steals and reposts others’ art to advertise what I am 99% positive is a scam. The bot has stolen art from numerous fandoms including Cookie Run, Transformers, BG3, Mouthwashing, Resident Evil, among others including non fandom works!

I’m unsure if it only takes from popular posts in the trending tab, or it finds posts posts big and small through tags, but I know a handful of artists whom this bot has stolen the art of.

If you want to help take the spambot down, please report + block. And most importantly, do NOT click the link under its reposts, as it will send you to a scam website!

Stay vigilant and cool, and have a good day! 🫡

UPDATE: The bot has been taken down! Great job everyone 👍

[autisticat23]

[droewyn]

PSA for Fanfic Authors

There's a very common scam going around right now. Not sure if it's hitting Wattpad, but these messages are definitely going around both AO3 and FFN:

I'm gonna talk to AO3, because that's where I live. These are most often guest accounts, but lately people have been getting them from registered users, as well.

You tend to get a paragraph of generic compliments that don't actually reference your fic in any way. Or, if they do, it's extremely broad: "Hey, I love how you portray the relationship between Blorbo and Blorbette!" That could be about literally any fic in the ship tag.

Then you get into the hook. "I'm an artist, and I would love to collaborate with you to bring your work to life!" And, since getting fanart is one of the highest compliments an author can get, you get excited and agree to privately message the person on Discord or Insta.

Then it turns out that they're a commission artist, and they would like you to pay up front for them to create that art they're so excited about. I've seen people report being asked for US $200 - $300 on average. Once you've paid them, one of two things happen: Either they simply ghost you entirely, or you get sent a piece of shitty AI "art".

Real commission artists don't need to coldcall random authors. They generally have a backlog of several months. A real commission artist will also generally ask for partial payment up front, but that's usually a token, basically a deposit. You should expect to see progress drawings, as well; sketches, and drafts, that you should be able to approve before the design is finalized. A real artist will work very closely with you to ensure that you're getting the art that you want.

If you get one of these scams, and it's from a guest user, click the Spam button, and delete the comment. If it's a registered user, report them for violating the TOS (spamming, monetization) and then block.

If you fell for one of these scams, contact your bank. You should be able to put a stop payment on the transaction, and recover your money. You can also contact the cash app (venmo, paypal, etc.). Even if you received AI crap, that is not what you paid for. You were paying for genuine art, and receiving anything else makes it a fraudulent transaction.

Stay safe out there!

[scam-alerts]

🐝Scams to Bee Aware of on Tumblr: 🐝

(posted: 2/6/25 - Updated 2/12/25)

The art commission scam.

Are you an artist? Were you DM'd, sent an ask by a blog with no posts or little to no content, or had a comment on a post asking about a commission and to DM them? Did they ask you to draw their son, daughter, or pet? Did hey offer you $200-$500? If so, you should learn about this scam and how to avoid it.

The sugar baby/daddy scam. / Free money scam.

Did you make a post asking for donations? Did someone DM you wanting you to be their sugar baby or promising you money in exchange for something? Did they tell you that you need to send them money to verify you want to 'do this' or pay for 'shipping' or 'transaction' fees? You're about to get scammed!

The muse scam.

If you post photographs frequently, you may find your posts receiving comments from 'artists' saying how 'inspired' they are and how eager they are to make art or a mural for your work. This is a fake cheque scam and you should avoid it at all costs!

The (read more) / Click here! scam.

If you see a post ending in a link that says (read more...) or Click here! This is an attempt to get you to click a link that will lead to a malicious website in an attempt to steal your information, or possibly even install malicious files onto your phone or computer.

is Now Hiring! Scams. ✨New(ish)✨

See a post like this on your dash or in a tag you frequent? Was the user once a normal user and now they're spamming ads like this in unrelated tags? This likely means that user got their account hijacked by clicking the link via a different post. Avoid clicking links like these at all costs!

HRT Medicine / Therapy services ✨New(ish)✨

This scam is targeting transgender people, and is likely stealing peoples personal information and likely their credit card information. If you see or find a blog like the above commenting on your posts, in #transgender or other such related tags, block and report them immediately. (Selling stuff like this is illegal btw.)

Recruitment for the Illuminati.

This scam tries to recruit people into the Illuminati by offering people mass amounts of wealth, homes, and even cars. This is all an attempt to steal your money, or worse, your identity...

Recovery Scammers.

If you make a post talking about how you've lost money, be it bitcoin, crypto, or were scammed in any sort of way, you may find yourself receiving an ask from a recovery scammer. These are people claiming they can offer 'recovery services' while claiming to be 'ethical hackers' that have 'back end knowledge' to online services. Claiming they can retrieve your money, account, photos, and other such lost items. All you have to do is give them your account information and some money! :) (Do not do this, obviously.)

These scammers also target people who post in #scam and/or other related tags like #scams or #scam alert, posting things like this in the comments on peoples posts:

Dropshipping Websites. (Curtsy of @ai-art-thieves)

See a post of an object or a piece of clothing by a popular tumblr user that has 10k+ notes, does it say 'I got this here!' or '>>GET YOURS HERE<<' at the bottom with a link to a store? That user is a part of a dropshipping advertising scheme and are being paid to advertise these scummy websites. These websites are usually malicious in the manner that they sell cheaply products. In the worst case you'll get a bootleg or flawed product, or even a different product completely, or in even worse cases, you'll never get it at all.

(Or they will steal your information in the case of those shopify websites that popup online with deals you 'just can't refuse!!!' So buyer beware.)

Campaign boost/mutual aid support scams. (By @kyra45)

If you or anyone you know has posted looking for donations, and you receive an ask, DM, or even a comment about someone offering to 'assist you in boosting your account/campaign,' all you have to do is pay them <amount>, then this is a fake check scam you should definitely read up on and learn about to avoid.

Pet donation Scams. (by @kyra45)

See a post about someone needing help with a vet bill? Do they stress the pet is in peril and will die soon? Is their PayPal from the Philippines yet the vet bill is from the United states? Those are just two things to look out for with this scam.

Donation / Mutual Aid scams. (by @kyra45)

One of the most common and well known scams on tumblr to this day. These scams mainly revolve around brand new accounts made within a day or week reblogging very few posts and then suddenly asking for money via donations through PayPal. These blogs will send out the same copy/paste ask en masse to dozens if not hundreds of people, change their name frequently over the course of days if not weeks, and will even lie about being Palestinian, stealing stories from legitimate gofundmes, and even having conditions such as diabetes while not even knowing how it works.

Here is a current list of documented PayPal scammers: Part 3

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Some helpful blogs to follow:

@kyra45 @ai-art-thieves @u-reblogged-a-scam

Tags to follow/check if you need to check on scams:

#scam #scams #scam alert #scammer #scammers

I also have a very extensive list of scammer call out posts on my main blog, @slenbee under my #scam tag which can be found here if anyone's interested in scrolling through it. Just note that I kindly ask that minors do not follow that blog as it is my personal blog and is not a blog dedicated to scam busting/documenting.

You're 100% ok with looking through the scam tag and reblogging things from it, as well as checking out the links on my pinned post. :)

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I think that's it for Tumblr scams, If I think I need to add more later I'll update the post and make an update note about it.

Take care everyone and don't get scammed!

-----

Check out the Index of important posts I've made!

Here's a post on some tips and tricks on spotting scam blogs.

How to guide: Reverse Image Search. (now with web extensions!)

Scammers pretending to be Palestinian v6 by @kyra45

[azul-demetileno]

BEWARE OF THIS SCAMMER!!!!!

this person asked me is i was available for a comission and i said yes (i admit i was oblivious since i have little to no experience with commissions) and i made a sketch of what they wanted and asked for a payment (i gave them my paypal email and received some suspisious emails...i learned from my mistake)they tried to get me to make a refund of a money that i dont have, they were insistent. Aparently they have a modus operandi since i contacted another artist and they told me that they almost got scammed by this person. I feel stupid, used and i lost my time and dignity, but i won´t fall for that anymore, please share this so more artist can protect themselfs from this scammer (all they want is free art, so they don´t value our effort and skills)

[kyra45]

Scammer pretending to be in Palestine v2

This post has been remade with better info! Please go to this one:

Got an ask from someone claiming to be in Palestine needing mutual aid? Unfortunately there is a scammer going around and it’s likely the ask you got sent is the same one being sent by multiple accounts who target users interacting with Palestine posts. These blogs use the text/images off a real fundraiser and then post it here pretending to be the person it’s made for. Their accounts are usually only a few days old and they don’t interact beyond the ask/follow. Lately they might make the link to their PayPal account in different colors or claim their GoFundMe is pending so you will assume the real one is theirs. They don’t have any GoFundMe’s set up. They steal from them. If you need proof of something being stolen, searching the text of their post in a search engine should pull up the source. If you know how to report PayPal accounts, please report those used by the scammers.

(Moved to new list)

Below is a growing list of fake/stolen names used across the accounts:

Nour Samar | maryline lucy | Fred Odhiambo | Jeff Owino | Valentine Nakuti | Conslata Obwanga | JACINTA SITATI | David Okoth | Martín Mutugi | Daudi Likuyani | William Ngonyo | Fred Agy | George Ochieng | BONFACE ODHIAMBO | Sila Keli | John Chacha | benson komen | Alvin Omondi | Jacinta Sitati | Daudi Likuyani | Noah Keter | Faith Joram | Rawan AbuMahady (any PayPal’s using this name are scammers who have stolen it off a real GoFundMe. The real person does not have a PayPal account that they post on tumblr.) | Asnet Wangila | Remmy Cheptau

Keep in mind this post isn’t saying all accounts asking for mutual aid in Palestine are scams. Rather, this post is meant to bring awareness of a scammer stealing money from those who really need it by pretending to be a person in Palestine. To report scams, use this:

Report -> Something else -> Illegal uses or Content -> Phishing

[lapislavender]

@exactlyqualityqueen is a scammer pretending to be @nadergaza

Always verify people in your askbox, Even if they say they are vetted

I was blocked after the last message

Edit: Confirmed scam by Nader, Please support his gofundme, every bit helps