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Post by Kentucky Fried Scambaits on Dec 29, 2021 14:33:09 GMT
Backstory: On December 10th, a series of deadly tornados hit the state that I live in. 77 people in my state lost their lives from the Tornado and thousands lost everything they owned. One of the worst Tornados to hit my state was a mile wide and was on the ground for approx 230 miles... For Europeans... London, England to Paris, France is 213 miles as the crow flies... We made national news as this was the worst Tornado outbreak, ever! Drone footage of Mayfield Kentucky that had 80% of the town turned to rubble... <---- one of the worst hit towns... In the wake of this tragedy a Facebook group was created to assist those who have found random debris in their yards etc... People have found personal belongings (Quilts, family photos etc...) laying in yards and fields. They have posted them to this site and many are able to be reunited with their owners. Some items found and returned had traveled up to 300 miles from other states... as the Tornado sucked them up and sent them into the air and the storm carried them for hundreds of miles. Well, Long story short... one part of the Facebook group is people posting pets (dogs/cats) that had gone missing or that they found. A few happy stories thus far... then there is what I would like to think is one of the most horrible thing I've seen scammers do... they are starting to pray of people in my state who lost everything they owned and in some cases loved ones... The following images are from the Facebook group where someone sent her a request to "Verify" that the pet she lost was hers... all she had to do was give the person a code that would be sent to their phone and give it to the person texting them that they found their pet to "verify"... the original poster didn't fall for this scam and posted warning others about it... but sadly someone in the comments had fallen victim for the same thing... Below are images from the Facebook Page about this scam    |
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Post by Dusk Fall on Dec 29, 2021 20:12:57 GMT
Apparently there is no limit to how low these scammers can go
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Post by Linoline on Dec 29, 2021 21:09:00 GMT
I'm appalled by every new low I encounter.
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Post by Kentucky Fried Scambaits on Dec 30, 2021 15:05:15 GMT
UPDATE: Since I initially saw this post I found out others have replied to it and others looking for lost pets from the Tornado also got contacted by this same scammer... I tried calling the phone number from a burner number I own, and got a message that the Text now caller isn't available. I then texted the number if they still needed my number and that my other phone battery died and I was asked to give them a 6 digit number. They replied asking who I was. I explained that this was my other phone and not heard anything back. They haven't tried to contact the burner number again (text/phone).  |
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Post by Pricky on Dec 31, 2021 19:07:27 GMT
KFS, please, expand on the code; ie, what it is and what happens if it is clicked. Thanks.
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Post by Kentucky Fried Scambaits on Dec 31, 2021 23:49:37 GMT
What is happening is:
Scammer is seeing someone's post that they lost a dog due to the Tornados (that most likely also destroyed the person's home)
Scammer then tries to login to that person's Facebook page and then at the last second selects "Forgot password".
Facebook then sends you a 6 digit code to "Verify" your account so you can reset your password.
The scammer gets you to provide them that 6 digit code under the guise of you verifying the dog/cat they found is actually yours
Once they have that code they then attempt to change your password and then go through your friends list and contact them as if it is their friend/family member contacting them... and may ask for money etc...
Also some people make payments through Facebook and they could send themselves or fences money using your account... sadly I used to use this feature with my old card.
Also any messages your sent/received over the years they can now read. Who knows what sensitive information you've might of sent/received....
As you Mr. Pricky and anyone else may be aware... people tend to overshare on Facebook and I am pretty sure the same applies to messages sent/received. All sorts of stuff a scammer could have a field day with.
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Post by Admin on Jan 1, 2022 1:21:11 GMT
^Thank you.
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Post by Pricky on Jan 1, 2022 4:15:40 GMT
Ahhh! Got it!
Thanks, KFS!
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Post by chuckbutt on Jan 2, 2022 23:40:49 GMT
Offtop: does the state rebuild the houses or if you lost it to tornado you stay homeless?
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Post by Kentucky Fried Scambaits on Jan 3, 2022 0:28:51 GMT
Chuckbutt, for the most part FEMA helps out where they can... but unless it's listed as a National or State Emergency zone you don't get anything. Given this was the worst series of Tornado's to ever hit the state it was considered a Disaster zone.
FEMA pays up to $200,000 to people who had homes destroyed and your insurance will also pay you to rebuild. Although keep in might the miles of red tape to file a claim... Insurance and the Government will want proof/evidence of what you had... not just take your word etc...
Also this is the Government we are talking about... they do actively fight in congress and the senate AGAINST allocating money for National Disaster on petty political reasons (cause one way to punish someone for not voting on a bill is to vote against allocating money for a disaster). This has happened a LOT sadly, which means less money allocated for stuff like this...
After you get your money you have to hire a contractor yourself to build a new home. This also causes a delay... as with the case of Mayfield, 80% of the town is now rubble... it'll be awhile for the contractors to finish building all the new homes.
LONG STORY SHORT: Yes, they do help you but it's a very long process and what payout you get is often delayed due to red tape.
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Post by chuckbutt on Jan 4, 2022 23:25:12 GMT
^I got it. Let's say until you get your money you have to find a solution to stay somewhere
I can't get how can you prove something was yours if all your documents were lost in tornado. It is embarrassing harrasmsnt of people
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Post by Kentucky Fried Scambaits on Jan 6, 2022 13:08:19 GMT
From what I've heard the American Red Cross is paying to put people in motel/hotel rooms for a short term and pay their stay. Although I am not sure how long they will cover that. I know in response to hurricanes (which is VERY VERY rare in my state) FEMA has actually Campers they own to put people up in. They mostly use those in states that are more hurricane prone and put people up in those.
FEMA and Red Cross cover only so much and for only so long, you are lucky if you have a friend or family member that will let you and your family stay.
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Post by chuckbutt on Jan 8, 2022 7:30:45 GMT
Yes of course.
It is important the people support each other and provide a corner in the house. If possible, a good friend or relative would do this. Even if it is not as much comfortable as living beforehosti g friend's family, it is much better than leaving them to the destiny, knowing that the country doesn't want to help people although they pay taxes.
FEMA/Red cross can't cover everything, as their budget is not so huge. + we also know they chop money too.
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Post by littlekitty on Feb 1, 2022 10:27:10 GMT
Sadly I'm not surprised by this new low. Shocked - but not surprised. I have experienced something very similar - different details, but basically also scammers abusing my love for my cat, and my situation, in an indescribably horrendous way - I wouldn't say worse than what they are now doing to victims of this tornado, because this is not a competition and there is no worse or less bad when it comes to getting scammed, but at least on the same scale.
Folks, there is literally no low that scammers will not go to. These people have no conscience. Many victims of scammers and other abusers (though all abusers are scammers and all scammers are abusers) say they are not human - they are something else. An interspecies of some sort? Something from hell? Sounds wild I know, but I have never noticed anything even remotely human about scammers or other abusers.
They are literally something else!
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Capt Tripps
Roadside Gala Seller
H'away the Lads!
Posts: 52
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Post by Capt Tripps on Feb 4, 2022 18:19:13 GMT
Sadly using pets as emotional leverage is not new, as there have long been pet/puppy 419 scams (many of which used to come out of Cameroon for some reason) - however this is more intended to farm accounts by exploiting two-factor authentication on devices. Still very scummy, exploiting a disaster and an owner's concern for their lost pet.
In having hijacking someone's account this way, the scammer then has access to a verified account which will lend more credibility to future, varied scams.
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Post by Pricky on Feb 4, 2022 22:13:52 GMT
^^^ Tripps is absolutely right and puppy/parrot scams continue to come out of Cameroon. 419exorcist on YouTube specialises in these.
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Post by Admin on Feb 4, 2022 23:12:58 GMT
I can't find solid reasoning about why Cameroon is such a hit for pet scammers, but it's been that way for as long as I've been baiting. AA419 has a mention on the Better Business Bureau website for reporting/closing fake pet sites and we were reporting them back in 2012 at least.
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