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Sun 28 Apr, 2019 10:11 am
I’ve been playing on a Scrabble-type game app fairly regularly for years. In the last few months I’ve been experiencing something new there. Through the ‘chat’ option offered on the app, people who appear in their avatar pictures to be young attractive females have started chatting me up; inviting me onto social networks and other chat functions to “get to know each other better”.
Now, before you all deluge me with jeers about becoming an overnight online lothario or some other droll jibes referencing my irresistible attractiveness, please save it. I’m definitely more silly and immature than a man my age should be, but my gullibility to scamming is one part of me around which hard experience has constructed a formidable protective barrier.
My concern of course is that I am being trolled in attempts to find ways to eventually get money or monetizable information. I got approached again today, and invited to Instagram or Snapchat to “get acquainted “. So far when this happens I’ve found a way to gracefully decline.
I was thinking that maybe I should follow through in kind of a sleuth mode- to find out what the scam is, and possibly expose the scammers to someone in authority. I haven’t done that mostly because I have no idea how I would actually go about doing it.
What do you think?
@snood,
Would this be fun for you... sort of a game in a game?
I don't think you will have any real impact on this type of scam, even if you get to the authorities. There are all sorts of scams, and it isn't that hard for scammers to hid their own true identity.
But if you want to have some fun, make sure your own identity is safe... don't give out your real ssn or credit card numbers... and have fun with it.
@snood,
Online trolls come and go with shocking regularity. Among other online game sites, I’m on Words With Friends and never participate in any chat or text functions. There’s nothing worthwhile to gain there. Furthermore, the scammers can’t be easily tracked or contacted or punished. The people who organize these scams protect themselves with layers of anonymity. I more interested in getting off the telephone scammers calling me at all hours. Bigger fish to fry there.
@snood,
snood wrote:
My concern of course is that I am being trolled in attempts to find ways to eventually get money or monetizable information.
This is very likely what is happening.
Quote:I was thinking that maybe I should follow through in kind of a sleuth mode- to find out what the scam is, and possibly expose the scammers to someone in authority. I haven’t done that mostly because I have no idea how I would actually go about doing it.
Who will you be reporting this to? And how in the heck will they have any jurisdiction when you find out the phishers in question are outside the US borders where the law enforcement involved will not have any legal or political authority to do anything.
You have your work cut out for you considering (my speculation) that you don't have any technical experience or know how to hack your way into finding anything useful for the law enforcement to followup with. Do you have any kind of tech support background or even friends who (are willing or capable or have any time to devote to this sideproject)? Just let it lie and learn from your potential mistakes and walk away from these experiences a wiser person.
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