Scams: What gives?

[Questingpoet]

It almost seems at times like negative energy draws more of the same to you. I just found out today that my checking account had been compromised and charged for several things I did not authorize by a site I used one time. Bad to the tune of $180. Then, today I get a FB request from someone I'm not sure who they are. Normally I just deny, but I was feeling curious and the person was some type of writer supposedly. So I oked it and left them a message. I get back on a little while later and there is a nice message from the guy with some small talk and a thank you saying we would exchange creative musings.

I start looking around his FB page and the Ni starts tingling. Now perhaps it is because I just got burned on something, but I see several things I don't like. Some of the infon was filled out like a normal person would, interests, movies, etc. But there was a lack of anything substantial. He had no quotes from his supposed book, but several by other well know authors. He was new to FB too. Reading his wall, it became apparent that at least several of his 24 new friends had been pulled off FB like I had--random. The real kicker was the link to his supposed book called "The Only Game In Town"--a self help book he said. It went to a webname domain site, and only had links to other books or services. Even his name, Andy Brown, was too generic to google. I combined it with his book but didn't get anything.

So what gives here, am I in a cycle of negative energy? Wow, glad I caught that one early on. I reported him to FB too by the way, so hopefully he will be off there soon.

 

[Skathac]

When I first joined FB I was friended by this random fellow that to this day I cannot recall if I have ever met him in person. I've talked to him some but I won't come right out and ask if we've met in person because I'd really feel like an ass if we have. I've been tempted to just drop him as a friend a couple times because I get a creepy vibe from the fellow, but I don't want to hurt his feelings if indeed I have met him before. Maybe I need to think on it another couple years.

I generally will not accept unknown people as friends to my FB as I only use it to keep in touch with friends I am unable to otherwise communicate with in person.

 

[durentu]

I'd just chalk it up as quantum shenanigans. I find that if I dwell on those thoughts, I miss some good moments and become more inviting to strange ones.

 

[IndigoSensor]

With facebook, unless you tell me who you are and know me in some way, I will not add you as a friend and it is as simple as that. It's a bit cold but it is a good policy to follow.

 

[invisible]

sometimes i think i'm in a cycle but then i think that it's just likely that some crap will probably happen every day and i have to try and focus on the positives of life.

hope you can get your money back at least!

 

[Questingpoet]

With facebook, unless you tell me who you are and know me in some way, I will not add you as a friend and it is as simple as that. It's a bit cold but it is a good policy to follow.

I agree, and I always do that. I'm not sure why I did what I did this time, other than the author thing intriged me I guess. I'm glad I caught on quickly and I hope no harm was done. Hopefully by me catching him so soon it saved others problems. I wish FB would report what they find, but they won't.

 

[IndigoSensor]

I agree, and I always do that. I'm not sure why I did what I did this time, other than the author thing intriged me I guess. I'm glad I caught on quickly and I hope no harm was done. Hopefully by me catching him so soon it saved others problems. I wish FB would report what they find, but they won't.

I will not deny there have been one or two occasions where I have talked back to the person because the seemed to go out of their way to look into me in some way. Each time though, I ended up removing the person for one reason or another. Luckily I have not been bitten in the ass with anything. I can understanding why facebook doesn't report back what they find. It kinda sucks because in 90% of the cases this won't happen, but people could use this information to slander.

 

[Odyne]

That's one of the reasons why I don't have facebook anymore, there's so much that is personal on there.

But it doesn't only happen on facebook. I always get those "Add my profile and have amazing sex!" invitations on msn. wtf!

I don't know why people do these things.

 

[Questingpoet]

Yeah, I get those on MSN too. Some of them are pretty offensive, bordering on the crimimal. I really don't have the patience right now. It's hard not to feel like you are pulling in the "bad" to yourself sometimes when things keep going south.

 

[DoveAlexa]

Heh, this is exactly why I never got facebook. A friend of mine calls it rapebook, in how you use to be able to hack into people's private-ed pages and see all their photos and information.
I much prefer msn/forums. If you make it onto my msn I have already spent months grilling you on forums XD.

 

[Peppermint]

But it doesn't only happen on facebook. I always get those "Add my profile and have amazing sex!" invitations on msn. wtf!I don't know why people do these things.

It's called phishing sites. These are automated spam bots that send these messages, not real humans. The goal? Well, one thing, you can earn money by spamming adverts to masses on the internet, and spam emails and IM messages can often contain spyware which compromises your computer and steals personal information. The same goes for credit card frauds. Don't enter sensitive information into random web sites you don't know, even if they claim they keep your email address private. (I find it's helpful to have a "junk" email account for situations which require a sign up to sites).

The fraudulent web sites are quite profitable and are getting even more proficient at masquerading as genuine to lure people into leaving their personals.

 

[DoveAlexa]

Also another reason to review your bank account activity and credit card activity at least once a week. Some banks won't let you fix it if it happened over 30 days ago.

 

[corvidae]

The reason scams exist is because they work. Spam costs fractions of a penny to send out to people. Even if 1 out of 10000 people click the spam link (a good estimate in my opinion), that alone can create profit.

You know those "Nigerian Prince" scams? I think there was actually a documentary about the scams, showing people who actually thought they were the relative of a friend of African royalty.

No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.

 

[bamf]

I hate to hear that about your checking account. Hopefully they will be able to work something out, and soon. My paypal account had the same thing happen to it about a year ago. My credit union was really good about it though, and froze my account until Paypal could get back to them. Paypal reversed the charges, I got my money back, and deleted my paypal account. Really hope this works out for you.

 

[Questingpoet]

Thank. I deactivated my debut card and talked to the one company. They are going to refund some of it, I'll dispute the rest. The other company that I have no idea who they are...that is pure scam. Google "onlingo" and you get all kinds of scam reports on them. I'll dispute that with my bank. It's less then 60 days, so I am hoping to get that $70 back too. Just a lot of bad karma in a short period of time. It makes one gunshy!

 

[bamf]

If you can't get the all the money back from the first company, dispute both of them with the bank. It's worth a shot. They usually have more pull than an individual would.

 

[Pixie In Repose]

Also another reason to review your bank account activity and credit card activity at least once a week. Some banks won't let you fix it if it happened over 30 days ago.

I agree. I had some fraudulent web company hack into my checking account about 6 months ago. I was pissed when I saw the transactions on my bank statement but fortunately I was able to report it to the fraud department at my bank and I got my money back. No, I don't think this is negative energy or a karmic event, just some bad luck.

 

[Faye]

No. You're not in a cycle of negative energy until more bad things happen to you.

 

[Kgal]

I do not believe you are in a cycle of negativity. I googled checking account fraud and also Facebook scams. I went to several sites all speaking of increases in rates of fraud in both areas.
I'm very sorry this has happened to you and I feel that it is not through any negative aura or fault of your own.
Good luck in getting your money back!