#tumblr scams

[dsudis]

Friendly reminder that when you get an ask from somebody you've never heard of asking you to reblog a thing to help their sick cat, and you go look at their blog and it looks pretty legit and has lots of fannish reblogs on it, take a look at the timestamps and see if they've all been reblogged in, say, the past two hours, and the blog has never posted anything at all before two hours ago (and reblogged just enough popular fannish things to have a second page on their blog) because

THAT'S BAIT.

#tumblr #tumblr scams

[redwinterroses]

posting this just in case any of my followers (especially any reddit newbies) got this ask as well:

Hey. This is a common scam on tumblr dot com. The messages usually follow this script: They apologize for bothering you, ask you to look at their pinned post, and request that you DM or answer privately (a weird request when you're trying to get public attention and assistance.) Usually it's a pet's vet bill, sometimes it's a person who needs help with medical care or rent bills or moving or all the above.

It's a scam. It's always a scam.

100% no one will ever legitimately ask for your help this way. If you look at the actual blog, it only goes back a few weeks at most, it's full of uncurated random stuff (in this case, the entire blog was created in about 10 minutes this morning.) There will be no tags on any posts, the only original posts will be ones about whatever scam they're running.

In the time it's taken me to make this post, the blog has already vanished -- either been taken down by staff or the person chickened out (or got what they wanted.)

Guys, please be careful on this site. There are bad actors who will try to capitalize on your empathy and care for the world. Don't donate to anyone -- person or organization -- without properly vetting them first. Don't give anyone information, personal or financial. Be smart.

Also screw you if you're the kind of person who does this. May you always spill your drink on your keyboard and may your bacon always burn.

#tumblr #how to tumblr #tumblr scams #reddit refugee #The worst part about this one in particular is that #while this scammer got some things wrong (like the gender of the beloved cat) they seem to have been piggy-backing #off of an actual person who is trying to raise money to save their cat #which is just despicable in my opinion

[coverslutmosquitoe]

Hey don’t fall for these shitty fucking scams.

Evil assholes are pretending to be Gaza residents looking for help. But I’ve seen this exact bio and pfp three times in my inbox. 1 original post and only a few reblogs. And the account was made recently. Block and report these people and donate to actual charities.

this is heinous

#palestine #scam #tumblr scams

[nick-nonya]

ASKS LIKE THESE ARE SCAMS! DO NOT FALL FOR THEM

Remember to check:

1. Does the username look autogenerated?

Random strings of words, usually in groups of three;

2. How old is the account?

As far as I'm aware tumblr doesn't publicize the account date but it can be inferred by going back through the account's posts, the one in the screenshot only went back some 5 days for example;

3. Have they interacted with you?

Usually people reblog some stuff before following you, if the account has followed and immediately sent you an ask like this it might be a scam, see step 1 and 2.

They come in waves so when there's one there are probably more to come. Call out the scam, report and block the accounts.

@s for people who reblogged the post:

@thecoffeelorian @firaqua @barbthebuilder @floxu @earthshaker1217 @slu-tea-ftm @blueyallgrownup @elizalooboo @anileesstupidlilblog @beggingforfootnotes @fluffylesbianponies

#scam #scams #tumblr #tumblr scams #mutual aid scams #mutual aid #ask scams

[topgunreacts]

Ayo! Greetings! I hope you are doing pretty well! I’m really sorry for asking this as I’m truly in dire need of help. My cat needs some immediate help for her surgery so I’m trying to raise some funds for her. If you have some spare time, please check it out the post that I have pinned for her, and if you feel it in your heart to help, please do us the favor by boosting the post or share it! Even if you cannot donate, spreading the word is definitely more than enough. Thank you for your kindness, and so sorry again for being this direct! <33

THIS IS A SCAMMER

But how do I know? And shouldn’t I reblog it just in case? It’s a valid concern. Fortunately, there are a few quick steps anyone can take to assess the validity of a charity request. Because at the end of the day, spreading a just-in-case message can have real negative consequences as other people continue to spread the scam on a just-in-case basis.

A sense of urgency (sickness, eminent surgery, etc)

They ask you directly to give them something

Familiarity, such as calling you “dear” or “hun”

Comments turned off

New account with few if any posts

Direct messages that ask for privacy in the matter

Use of pets, children, irrelevant mention of demographics (please help a disabled queer single parent feed their sick cat, etc)

No response to requests for more information

Copy and paste message that gets sent to numerous people

Photos that do not match up with the origin as found through reverse image search

Lack of creativity: you receive a similarly or identically worded request from a random account

Melodramatic backstory--we rescued this cat from an alligator attack that almost took the cat's eye!

Donation account linked to a country at high risk for hosting scam operations

And others. These are not ironclad rules, nor do they always show up in every scam post. Maybe they ARE a disabled queer single parent who can't afford to feed their sick cat. But these elements are patterns you can look for in order to make an informed judgment call. There is at least one popular tumblr account here that will not post any donation links unless the asker fills out a form allowing the account holder to independently prove their identity and issue. If a person is truly desperate and actually needs help, they will fill out that form. Asking for more information is always a good idea, as is doing a reverse image search to see where else the photos might have been posted. Checking keywords on tumblr is also a good bet. Remember: posting lies is quick and easy. Providing proof is not. And that’s critical if money is involved.

Scammers suck. But some of them are very good at what they do. They are masters of using people’s guilt and empathy against them.

Let's dig deeper.

First, let's check out that melodramatic backstory. It's a doozy!

It was actually her Birthday yesterday….well her gotcha Birthday! We found her on our balcony 4 years ago after an awful noise was heard and I still don’t know if she jumped up scared from something or if she was thrown on there 😔 She wasn’t chipped. Vet said it looked like she hadn’t long had kittens and looked about 3 years old herself. Couldn’t find her owners, so she joined our family. (Oh I looked for kittens believe me) She is the sweetest girl we ever met. She even purrs when she sleeps 😻we so love her. We just very recently lost our cat Mimi. She had cancer sadly but we fought so hard to help her but in the end it won. We have an elderly dog called Billa who just two weeks ago turned 20!!!! Any day now we could lose her, she’s feeling her age 😔 I mention those two because it’s just too overwhelming and feels like Maggie is the only one I can help now. Upon an annual vet visit recently with Maggie….so I could get flea meds for her and her brother Milow that they were due to have…the vet found she had two masses….or tumors. One at the bottom of her back next to her tail (I don’t know how I didn’t see it before I’m so ashamed) and when she pressed on her stomach, my loving Maggie started growling which I can honestly say in the time we’ve had her she’s never done that. We did an X-ray and she found a mass in her stomach 😔 we also did a biopsy. This is just so unexpected and so overwhelming after losing Mimi and knowing we will be losing Billa soon…just can’t lose Maggie also. I hate being in this position. I really pay forward as much as I can. I’ve helped out a couple of women with bags and cases of food for the cat colony’s they feed. One woman with food who has a lot of fosters who needed help with food. I think it’s 3 different pet surgeries I’ve helped contribute to for their treatment. It sucks to be on this side now but I’m really praying somehow it might be my turn to get some help to help Maggie get her ct scan so they can figure out the surgery route to remove the tumor from her stomach. I wish I was in a better situation at this moment to not need any help. We’ve always been there to help our babies no matter what they’ve needed, you have to try at least to help them.. And we’ve been able to pay for it ourselves until now. Now I’m able to work here, it can help set us up for future pet issues….I mean, we do everything for these guys including going to work lol but I’ve literally only had my permanent status the last few days instead of visas and it’s all been on my hubby until now who has been amazing, but after paying for Mimi’s help and then end of life, my flight to and from England for my immigration and all those fees and just paying for everything on his own…there’s a lack of funds now. I just want Maggie to get some help and will somehow have to make this happen for her, so please if you have the means to, you can donate to my paypal which is linked down below

Come on, dude. At least be creative. Please make note of the highlights: dramatic injury, insistence (with evidence!) that the scammer is a Good Person Who Gives Back, Cancer Cat & Old Dog supporting characters, immigration drama regarding visas, sick cat had kittens that were never found, etc.

[speculation incoming] Also, laws regarding the importation of pet animals from other countries are strict, and always involve a vet visit. I doubt a vet would clear a cat with tumors to fly out of the country. Even if they did, the timeline here is weird. This vet clinic is in California. [speculation over]

Okay now let's look at these photos. (PSSST I instantly knew this person was a scammer because I've seen these exact x-rays and screenshots on other posts with different cat images. That's something else to look for. Scammers want to expend as little energy as possible in their hunt for your money.)

Where is the scam coming from?

Hovering over the Paypal link, I see the account is located in the Philippines, a country with a high risk of scam hosting. Red flags on red flags.

How to Reverse Image Search

Find a search engine that will let you search by image. This is Google Images on a Firefox browser on PC. Clicking the little camera gives me the option to upload, paste, or give the URL to a photo.

This time, the photo search wasn't helpful. There were no identical matches that Google picked up right away. But I'm including how to do this anyway because it's good to know.

Search Tumblr

We all know tumblr search sucks, but after looking up "cat scam" in the search bar, I found Everything.

Wait a minute.

SHIT THEY GOT MAVERICK POST CANCELED

@kyra45 appears to have amassed some good resources for finding and documenting these scams.

Be aware, be smart, report scam accounts for spam, block them, and do not post donation links "just in case."

#scams #ask #tumblr scams #scam #cat scam #long post

[cellarspider]

Okay. Looks like it's that time of year again, when scammers may be wandering Tumblr, claiming to have sick pets. This is an unfortunate phenomenon that's gone around before, but I just got hit with a real suspicious request for donations, so I figure I should point out the things that made me suspicious:

An hour ago, I get an ask out of the blue from a blog that just followed me minutes before that. A sob story about a cat that's sick, specifies there's a mass on the cat's leg. It asks for messages or private ask responses.

I go and look at the blog. It has a bio and header, but that's where genuine-looking behavior ends. The blog started posting one day ago. It's reblogged Staff a bunch, some trending topics, mostly Barbie and Zelda. No tags, no original posts.

It then created and then reblogged a post about a sick cat four times in quick succession, before continuing to reblog fandom fandom fluff. The post says the cat is struggling to breathe, and makes no mention of the mass on the cat's leg. Its phrasing implies the person has been here for some time, but, again, blog started posting within the same day as this message. The post was then pinned:

The post contains a paypal.me link. I did not click on this, because you cannot be sure whether they'll actually send you to paypal, or to a phishing site. Putting the username into paypal.me returns a valid link, with a profile picture featuring... someone with a completely different cat.

Look. There are people out there who do in fact have sick pets and need help caring for them. Everyone feels sympathy for a sick pet. Scammers know this, and have a proven history of using this formula to raise cash from people who want to help someone who's struggling. For example: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2022/10/20/fact-check-identical-injured-dog-posts-viral-scam/10480235002/

I reported the blog for phishing, the closest category I could figure out which allowed me to explain why it was reported.

if this ask actually came from a real, genuine person, buddy, you are engaging in some extremely disingenuous-looking behavior. Stay safe out there everybody, and, unfortunately, stay skeptical.

#spider rambles about the web #tumblr scams

[ruffboijuliaburnsides]

Hi I’m very sorry to bother you but I’m hoping if you’d be so kind to check the pinned post on my blog and maybe give it a little help by boosting/sharing it? I’m so sorry it’s for my cat who struggles to breathe :((( thank you if you do as it would really mean the world to me and I understand if you don’t, appreciate you and stay safe!! Also please answer this privately or maybe send me a msg instead, please? 🫶🏽🥺

Hey, answering this on behalf of my followers:

THIS MESSAGE AND BLOG IS A SCAM

If you get a message like this, please check the blog in question. It will look real at first glance, and generally has some sort of pet fundraiser as a pinned post. There'll be reblogs, and you're meant to think "oh, this is a real person, maybe I'll donate!" However, if you go back a few pages, you'll run out of posts, and realize that generally all the reblogged posts were reblogged over the course of maybe a week. In this case, every single post this blog has reblogged was reblogged yesterday.

You can easily check on the oldest post on a blog by going to [url].tumblr.com/archive. For this blog you can see here that the only posts were in May 2023:

And if I scroll down to the oldest post you can see the date it was reblogged:

So, in conclusion, block and report this user, and be wary of this kind of ask. (You'll note they ask specifically not to be answered publicly. This is so they don't get called out as effectively as a scam. Like this.)

#tumblr scams

[poetry-protest-pornography]

Dear Half-Dozen People In My Askbox With Fundraiser Posts On Your Two Day Old Blogs,

A) How did you find me? I'm not going to pretend that I don't have a truly surprising number of people following me (hi friends! ilu!) But I'm not like, big?

B) I know I give big bleeding heart vibes. The vibes are correct here, I want to help everyone, all the time and I hate that I can't, but if you have only been here for two days, I don't think you're a real person and I need to assume you're scammers.

C) I am not personally able to help anyone financially right now, and it's stressing me tf out having these come in; please stop.

#tumblr scams

[r0semultiverse]

Hello sorry for tagging. I am very sick, my asthma is at its maximum level, my nose freezes, I have no medicine or food. I am in bad shape financially, I am a black disabled, who uses multiple medications, I pay for my food and lodging

Unfortunately I do not have all the resources to keep me safe, that is why I need your help, whatever you can contribute to me will be of great help.

The nose freezes are back! We got a copy paste/AI tumblr scam situation here folks! Check back a few “tumblr scam” or “tumblr scams” tags & you’ll see similar wording.

Just gonna start responding to these so people can look through & see if they’ve gotten the same scam prompts.

#no but seriously this is copy paste with a few words changed on it I stg #the disabled; multiple medications; resources to keep me safe #it’s all there #this is like beat for beat copy paste almost; gonna check when I get on a computer #toosaladgarden #tumblr scam #tumblr scams #mine #op #asks #ask

[sleepy-bebby]

How do I know if this tumblr fundraiser is a scam?

Look at the date the blog was created

Look at their reblogs, most will have happened within one day (usually the day they post their fundraiser), and then never again.

Search their name on tumblr, they would likely have spammed multiple blogs and some blogs tag usernames.

Usually it’s a pet or transgender related surgery fundraiser (or whatever is “trendy at the time” i.e. someone supposedly from Ukraine, someone who was brutalised by cops etc.).

Now this is not to say that these fundraisers aren’t legit, but likely they either aren’t or are taken from legit fundraising sites and reposted without the original person’s knowledge.

They ask for PayPal donations, it’s quick, simple, all it needs is a bank account linked to an email address, and there is no way to check if it’s legit or to see how much has been donated.

These scams have been going on for many years and they raise funds, delete their blog, open a new one, raise funds, and the cycle goes on.

PLEASE DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE BEFORE REBLOGGING ONE OF THESE SCAM POSTS!

When you keep creating new accounts to get free shit. But instead of harmless free trials you milk people’s bleeding hearts for money.

#donations #fundraisers #psa #due diligence #scams #scam #how to spot a scammer #how do I know this tumblr fundraiser is a scam? #fundraiser #ethics #do your due diligence people! #money #scammers #tumblr scams #tumblr fundraiser #tumblr fundraising #fundraising #tennacityfour #leechbugsblog #donation

[aniseandspearmint]

Friendly reminder that this type of message is ALWAYS a scam.

YES ALWAYS.

This is NOT how people ask for real help on Tumblr.

If your still unsure, feeling a little guilty because 'well maybe THIS one is real?' go into the blog attached to the ask. The picture will usually be something designed to tug at heartstrings, like some kids or a pet. The header and area below will be impersonal and mention nothing a normal Tumblr account does, like interests or handles on other sites.

Then scroll down as far as you can and look at the date of their first post or reblogs.

If it's less than a week old, this is a blog specifically made for the scam. Absolve yourself of guilt and hit block. I also personally report them as spam (closest thing to scam).

#tumblr scams #this one has been in my askbox a LOT lately with minor variations #so i thought i'd make a post about it #current events 2023

[elfwreck]

This? This looks like a scam.

This is someone who followed me less than 12hours ago, with an account that's less than two days old.

It has a lot of stuff on it for an account that's just a day or two old. Lots of cute pics of cats. Some interesting fashion things. Couple of cute gifsets.

A few things are tagged with "funny" or "meme." No comments/replies/reblog notes. Of course the blog is not viewable when logged out. Can't see who it's following; can't see its archive. (Don't need to; it's easy to scroll back through the few dozen posts made in the last 24 hours and reach the end.)

The only posts actually by them are the half a dozen in the last few hours, about how their cat needs ($2000) help + here's how you can paypal me.

"Desperate" people do not make a brand new blog, pack it with vaguely fannish looking content to fill a few screens worth of scrolling, and then send asks to total strangers begging for money. They start by asking the people who already know them.

Don't get caught by this. Don't support this kind of scam by reblogging.

#tumblr scams

[saintbleeding]

hi. sorry for sending this ask. I know it might inappropriate but we badly needed some help right and i hope you’d consider .. its for our cat who needs immediate care, you can find the post in my blog as i pinned it. Hoping you’d be so kind to boost/share to help us alleviate the cost as it would tremendously help us a lot. if you can, pls try to answer this privately as some people might i pressure you to do so.. i know its weird, just wanted to avoid it if possible. Thanks a lot, and sorry again for being so direct. 🙏

okey dokey galpal, here's the thing!

you get a soft 1.5/10 on credibility, because the blog description may have been convincing in isolation, but it's gonna be a big fat 0/10 on pretty much every other metric, because your blog is 21 hours old, so is your pinned post, and this is a literal copypasta of a message someone under a different iteration of your username has already attempted word for word. you don't have a cat, you suck at this, and you should really find a better grift in future. thanks for playing, don't try again!!!

#asks #tumblr scams #scammers #fakes #guilt trips #money grabs #spam messages #bullshit

[irbcallmefynn]

Here's a fun learning opportunity! If you ever get an ask like this

It's probably fake! If you wanna be certain (which is fair, you never know) go to this original post finder site, input the username (which I censored here) and press Begin.

If it only comes up with one original post (which is their pinned) it's a scam! Accounts like this mass send asks asking for money to lots of people, and their pinned has a "donation" link to help them. They reblog tons of posts too, to make them look real. It sucks that this kind of thing is even happening, but at least we have ways to handle it.

If someone is actually in need of money for something like this, don't go spamming people's asks for it. There are far better ways to go about it, like taking to DMs if it's someone specific you need to ask.

#psa #tumblr scams #also consider. i have no money. I can't financially support anyone even if i wanted to

[fandom-hoarder]

That donation scam person blocked me instead of responding to my questions lol

#tumblr scam #donation scam #tumblr scams #donation scams

[chocolate-eclaire]

HEY! PLEASE DON'T SCROLL WITHOUT READING AND REBLOGGING THIS FIRST!

I decided to make my reblog of the original post as a post on its own since the user below blocked me shortly after I called them out.

To anyone who sees a post like this from @shinybouquetcreator (or anyone, really):

It's a scam. Don't fall for it.

I can assume that whoever reblogged that post got a message like this in their inbox like I did:

I was immediately suspicious of the ask when I first received it since the user wasn't even following me to begin with and never interacted with my blog beforehand, but here's some more fishy stuff about this whole thing:

1.) While that wasn't the first post they've made on their blog, the posts that the user had reblogged seem to have been uploaded the same day (or around the same day) and time that the account was created.

2.) The user mentioned answering the ask privately, not because "people tend to get weird on this stuff", but because they don't want others who won't easily fall for this scam to talk you out of donating to this person if you tell them.

3.) The image of the cat used for the donation doesn't even belong to the user, I tried reverse image searching and found the original source of the image from @rickybabyboy and posted December 11th, 2023

4.) They've done this sort of thing previously under a different username, @importantfunwitchbillia, although the account got taken down. @ghosts-vignettes 's comments in the post linked below prompted me to gather information about this so-called "donation".

@kyra45 made a post about this as well, their account is dedicated to calling out scammers.

So, yeah. I'm not the best at making callout posts, so I'm sorry if this was difficult to comprehend. That's all I have to say regarding this. I'd appreciate if you could spread this around; and also block and report the scammer while you're at it.

Be Careful, Everyone!

(also! if anyone that I tagged in this post would like me to untag them by any chance, be sure to tell me, and I'll gladly do so.)

#scam #scams #donation scam #pet scam #pet #pet scams #dogs #dogs of tumblr #dog #cute pets #my pets #pets #cute cats #cats of tumblr #cats #donation scams #tumblr scam #tumblr scams #scammers #scammer #callout #scam callout #scammer callout #tumblr scammer #tumbler scammers #cat #cats on tumblr #awareness #help spread the word #!!!