beware: scammers on wrong planet

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Please watch out for scammers on this site. One of them has already sent me a private message. "Her" email begins with fify05 (sorry I cant give you the full email, this site says I must have at least 5 posts before I can use urls. Ironically, its to prevent spammers). Anyway, she claims to be a girl living in a Senegal refugee camp even though there are no refugee camps in Senegal! Apparently, this scam has been going on for years. She will tell you her parents were killed by rebels cause her dad was some big shot political guy. Then, after gaining your trust she will tell you she has a secret. She will say her late father has all this money in a bank account somewhere but she needs you to advance her some money first (usually thousands of dollars). Its an advanced fee scam.

Some people will give her the money in hopes of sharing the fortune with her. She claims its like a million dollars. Some people refer to it as the sweetheart scam or the penpal scam cause she will try to be your friend or lover. She will even send you pictures of herself, which aren't real. This scammer, like most scammers, are male. The girl will tell you she is using a reverends computer at the refugee camp...she will then have you call the "reverend". The reason for the made up reverend is so you won't be confused when you hear a mans voice. If you ever hear a females voice, its the scammers girlfriend.

Anyway, don't fall for this and don't give this person any money! I know you may want love or friendship but a real friend won't ask you to just hand over thousands of dollars.

You can find more info about this scam all over the internet. Just search for "senegal refugee camps" and a lot of stuff will show up about this scam. The girl goes by many names but the one she used on this site was "fify osah"...

Yes scammers often 'work' these boards, and popular forums all across the internet. Be cautious about unsolicited PMs asking you to communicate with people off site.

Fify was banned earlier, but if you get anymore, please report them here http://www.wrongplanet.net/postx142813-135-0.html

Cheers.

And the banner ads, of course. Half of them are for scams of one kind or another.

I'll keep my eyes peeled.

You also need to watch and avoid threads that seem silly but are potentially 'phishing' information.

For example, threads like one that is active right now: 'show us your handwriting' .

I've seen other threads in the past with topics like 'say something about yourself' and other things which are innocent enough by themselves but put them together and you can get a disturbing amount of information from some people that just cant seem to resist posting in them and playing along.

Thanks for your responses. I'm also glad someone mentioned those threads that ask for personal information. Its true those can be a bad idea. I guess if you feel the irresistable urge to play along...at least post something vague or untrue. And yeah, definitely post in as few as possible to avoid giving out too much info.

Conartists are crafty and are always trying new ideas. Unfortunately, the internet is a favorite spot of theirs.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

When I first joined before I even posted I got "Hello

My name is Favor Murphy a girl, I saw your profile today and something about you motivated me to communicate with you, well I will like you to contact me true my email address, so I can send you my pictures so as to know me the more

[email protected]"

-- Really ? lmao. On rare occasions I'll get similar messages. I find it amusing.

Yea, sometimes its funny cause its so ridiculous but I still can't help but get mad at scammers. Guess its cause I know there's just some stupid guy out there trying to steal everyones money. People should know better but it happens all the time! I guess people need to work on their skeptism and learn more about common scams.

Ill be the first to admit I have not recognized certain scams at first...but at least I've never given anyone money or gotten too involved. I guess I like to do a lot of research which helps.

Who falls for these scammers. They really are pathetic.

It's call "Advance-fee fraud"