Web Scammer or Big Brother ?

[sheepherder]

I'm on several other forums, some frequently, some not. CorvetteForum/C4/Tech-performance is one of the unfrequent ones. Mostly when something breaks. 2,512 posts since August 2001. I did a lot of techie stuff; trans swaps; EPROM burning; shifter swaps; exhaust upgrades. Car stuff. Lots of posts; many threads.

So today I wake up with a Friend Request from a 'Vickie Campbell' in Antioch CA. Her 'About' says - Local 107 Stagehand, Oakland, CA. , white 1986 Corvette, Female. Member since 05-09-2017. No posts. No threads. One other Friend, Renee73. Renee73 has been a member since 02-17-2020. Also no posts, no threads. And as of this afternoon, no longer a friend of Vickie's.

So...Am I being set up for some kind of scam??? Or are the authorities running some kind of sting operation???

I sent a PM asking what area of the C4 'she' was interested in, as I've posted about many. No reply.

I know I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid enough??? Maybe just some bored chick thing, joining an obscure Forum to bug guys???

If it's a scam, it's a new one on me.

Oh, I accepted her Friend Request.

[lugerholsterrepair]

IF you are wondering..it's a scam.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by lugerholsterrepair

IF you are wondering..it's a scam.

Yeah, I figured. Back in the early days of the Internet and web Forums, guys who wanted something would register as a girl, and the Forum members [guys] would flock to help 'her'. I imagine by now it's a pretty sophisticated business, with pics, fake addresses, believable storylines, etc.

They know it's hard to pass up for a sucker like me.

[Edward Tinker]

Some scammers evidently get user names years in advance, I assume they get 'sold' on the dark web?

I hate scammers almost as bad as thieves...

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Edward Tinker

Some scammers evidently get user names years in advance, I assume they get 'sold' on the dark web?

I hate scammers almost as bad as thieves...

I remember back in '09, some guy selling pills would log onto this Forum early in the morning, advertising Viagra in a thread, and dozens of other pills. I'd PM Ed or whatever mod was around and the thread would disappear.

Good times.

[cirelaw]

or

[lugerholsterrepair]

OK, There is a sure way to check it out. Just ask "her" one important question for authentication. "Show me your crank knobs." Either she has a Luger or she doesn't!

[cirelaw]

One warning the social security office never ask for your SSI number. My granny before her death got ripped off after giving the alleged SSi rep confirming her SSI number!

[4 Scale]

In various jobs I've supervised data security. I also at one point worked for a data security firm. So I have an academic interest in scams.

It's discouraging how they get a little bit more sophisticated every year. It's an arms race - the hardware/software vendors try to stay ahead of the curve, and often do, but not always.

If there is any question at all - assume it is a scam. Never, never ever click on or open an attachment unless you are 100% sure it is legit.

[lugerholsterrepair]

Never, never ever click on or open an attachment unless you are 100% sure it is legit. I ain't 100% sure the sun comes up in the East..or sets in the West! There's a 14% declination in the magnetic poles and you can see it when the sun sets..different places Summer, Winter, Spring and fall! Is ANYTHING EVER 100%?

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by 4 Scale

If there is any question at all - assume it is a scam.

What?!? You mean this ISN'T the beginning of a beautiful friendship???

OK, I got a PM from 'Vickie'. She described some electrical problems she is having with her 1986 Vette. Coincidentally, they are the same problems I've had with my 1986 Vette! I remember starting a thread describing my starting/VATS problems some years back. Just a few weeks ago I posted about my courtesy lights staying on after closing the doors and subsequently draining the battery overnight. Wow, talk about coincidences! It's like 'Vickie' read my recent thread and then Searched out my previous posts. And asked for help. So as to 'set the hook', so to speak.

I'm thinking that maybe I should just offer to send her some money to get her Vette fixed.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by lugerholsterrepair

There's a 14% declination in the magnetic poles and you can see it when the sun sets..different places Summer, Winter, Spring and fall!

Jerry, back in the 60's I had a compass fixed to my bedroom wall. One of those JC Whitney auto compasses with the compass mounted on a gymbal that allowed it 360 degree movement. My buddies laughed at me, but over the course of a year, it actually did move!!! I was triumphant but my buddies didn't believe me. Such is life among the flat-Earthers.

[lugerholsterrepair]

I'm thinking that maybe I should just offer to send her some money to get her Vette fixed. So the question is..how much money? Answer. All of it.

[wlyon]

I had a call today and was informed I had won 18 million and as a bonus 5K per week. So now I am a millionaire. Some of us are just plain lucky. I can get the money after I send 5K for legal fees. I told them to take it out of my first 5k bonus. Then they hung up. I guess it's back to broke. Bill

[G.T.]

Hi Bill, Millions you say? Maybe if you'd hung in there, you could have got enough to by a 50 round box of ammo??? Probably not, but now you'll never know! Best, til...lat'r....GT....

[sheepherder]

I went with the 'common good' course of action and reported 'Vickie' to the moderator. I think I mentioned in another thread that I had fallen victim to a skimmer on another Forum. The way that one went was, I had posted in the Wanted To Buy sub-forum about a part I needed. A new forum member responded and said he had a buddy who had all kinds of parts and he probably had what I needed; email him at jerry-tinker@gmail.com. Well, I did, and never got a reply. But I did start getting lots of spam. Eventually I figured it out and blew the responder in to the mods. The guy was harvesting email addresses from the WTB forum. Not just me, but dozens of others.

I went to People-Finder and if 'Vickie' really exists in Antioch CA, she is 60 and has a 65 year old husband and has lived at five different addresses in the last five years.

If she was 25, or even 30 (or 40), I'd be on the next plane...

[m1903a3]

The amount of information gathering on the net is amazing (and frightening).

When I went to Berlin in the beginning of 2019 to study German language and culture I obtained my accommodations through the Institute. Much to my surprise my housemate was a 30 year old Czech nurse. We lived together again in 2020 and over time became mutual best fiends.

In July of 2020 she started a new job in Regensburg and moved to an apartment there while I returned to the US.

She was really proud of her new apartment, so I decided to send her a housewarming gift.

I purchased a nice framed art print of the Berlin skyline printed on linen. I bought it on the German website of a Swedish company paying in Euros with my German credit card and had it shipped directly to my fiend.

Before the day was over that picture showed up on my wife's computer in Virginia.

[lugerholsterrepair]

Before the day was over that picture showed up on my wife's computer in Virginia. Could be a lesson there for the rest of us?

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by lugerholsterrepair

Could be a lesson there for the rest of us?

Yes. Don't get married.

[lugerholsterrepair]

I bought it on the German website of a Swedish company paying in Euros with my German credit card and had it shipped directly to my fiend. And it STILL showed up on my wife's computer in Virginia. OK, The dark web is next...