Do people really fall for this?

[Herdfan]

We will be pulling out for the final move to AZ next weekend, so I am doing my best to get rid of stuff.

So I posted my old lawnmower on FB Marketplace. Got a message within 10 minutes from a lady wanting it and asking if I had Venmo. I replied yes.

So she messages me back and asks my user because she wants to pay now. I told her that wasn't necessary and would hold it for her until she could see it. She said her cousin was going to pick it up and she wanted to pay now. So I gave in and sent her my user.

She messaged back and said she had paid and wanted me to check. So I did and there was no payment. So she asks if I could check my SPAM folder. What? The Venmo App would tell me if I had received a payment, but she insisted I check my SPAM folder. So I did there was an official looking email from "Venmo" saying I was over my authorization limit and needed to "Refund" the money to her. I was suspicious before, but this convinced me it was a SCAM.

So I played along and told her I refunded her money and she should see it soon. She messaged me again and said she hadn't received it back, so I told her again I had sent it. I figured I would string her along for a while.

When she asked the third time if I had sent it, I sent back a message asking if people really fall for her SCAM and that I had sent Venmo the screenshots.

I got back a "F- You" LOL

But seriously, do people really fall for these scams?

 

[MEJHarrison]

I frequently ask myself the same question. And the answer I keep coming back to is "of course people fall for it or they wouldn't be wasting their time trying it".

Along those lines I've heard a rumor that most scam emails have poor language and grammar on purpose. The whole point is to weed out the smart people because they're not going to fall for the scam anyway.

 

[Roller]

We will be pulling out for the final move to AZ next weekend, so I am doing my best to get rid of stuff.

So I posted my old lawnmower on FB Marketplace. Got a message within 10 minutes from a lady wanting it and asking if I had Venmo. I replied yes.

So she messages me back and asks my user because she wants to pay now. I told her that wasn't necessary and would hold it for her until she could see it. She said her cousin was going to pick it up and she wanted to pay now. So I gave in and sent her my user.

She messaged back and said she had paid and wanted me to check. So I did and there was no payment. So she asks if I could check my SPAM folder. What? The Venmo App would tell me if I had received a payment, but she insisted I check my SPAM folder. So I did there was an official looking email from "Venmo" saying I was over my authorization limit and needed to "Refund" the money to her. I was suspicious before, but this convinced me it was a SCAM.

So I played along and told her I refunded her money and she should see it soon. She messaged me again and said she hadn't received it back, so I told her again I had sent it. I figured I would string her along for a while.

When she asked the third time if I had sent it, I sent back a message asking if people really fall for her SCAM and that I had sent Venmo the screenshots.

I got back a "F- You" LOL

But seriously, do people really fall for these scams?

I'm sure they do, otherwise the scammers wouldn't keep trying. I once strung one along for the better part of a day and ended up with an answer similar to yours.

 

[MEJHarrison]

I strung someone along once. I told them I wasted half their day so they would have less opportunity to prey on the stupid. I think I got a similar reply.

 

[Roller]

I first heard about this more than 20 years ago. I have no way of knowing whether it represents an actual exchange of emails between the scammer and his target. But even if it's fabricated, it's worth reading, if only for the last message.

Scam o Rama

 

[Colstan]

Gamer's Nexus did an entire video on this, to let their audience know that they are not, in fact, giving away free Playstations in the comments section of Youtube.



Ostensibly, these are tech-savvy folks who should know better, but Steve has gotten numerous replies from people who fell for it. These aren't stupid people, they simply didn't think it through during a moment of weakness.

Tech Jesus' conclusion for why people keep falling for these scams: "The human capacity for hope".

 

[Yoused]

I got a call a while back from a +52 number informing me that a package addressed to me containing drugs and cash had been interdicted at the border, press 1 to speak to a CBP agent. I probably should have pressed one, just to see if I could F with them (yeah, just bring it on over so I can have a look, to see if it is my order), but I did not feel like it at the time.