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Have you seen this scam? - 4/12/2013 3:34:27 PM

leonine

Posts: 409
Joined: 11/3/2009
From: [email protected]
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I've been aware for a very long time that contact sites are infested with scammers. (Probably because they're also full of desperate people, which means potential suckers.) Way back when it was all done by ink marks on bits of dead tree, I answered a promising ad in a sex mag and got a reply inviting me to send some money for her picture. Being still as green as the grass outside, I sent the price of a portrait-photo booth, and wondered why I didn't hear back from her. Much later, I understood that I was supposed to send a LOT of money and get some nudie pictures, as the start of a relationship as a cash cow.

So when I came back into the contact scene online, and found that the first site I joined seemed to be full of nubile young femsubs desperate to find a Master, my shit-detector didn't need much tuning to register. More experienced people here confirmed my assumption that they were about hooking up with online or RL sugar Daddies, and I thought I had the measure of it.

But last week I wrote to an interesting looking advertiser on CM, and got a reply that was short on references to my mail but full of general encouragement, and ended with an invitation to share fantasies. It looked highly unlikely, but "sent from my phone" can excuse a lot of haste, and everyone gets one chance to prove themself, so I replied.

The response today was similarly lacking in relevance to what I'd written, but invited me to see her profile on another dating site by clicking a link which ended in "/name". That didn't make a lot of sense - why should I want to join another site when we'd supposedly just hooked up? - and I have been around cyberspace way too long to click on a link that a stranger sends me. But I checked out the site, by another route, and yes, it's a pay site. (Of the dishonest sort that invites you to create a free membership, then tells you at the end of the process that you can't use it for anything till you "upgrade" to a paid one.) Presumably, if I'd signed up through the link I was sent, the scammer would have earned a finder's fee. It must take a lot of suckers to make a living that way, which would explain why "her" mails were so recognisably boilerplate.

The really annoying detail is that I usually invite contacts to write to me at my own edress rather than go though CM's clunky message system, and I was pleased when this person did the same. But presumably that was because the site message system won't allow you to send hotlinks. So now I'm going to have to stick to the site system, at least till I've established that I'm dealing with a real person, to avoid this kind of joker.

"But you must learn to know such scandals of the age, or else you will be marvellously mistook." - Shakespeare, Henry VI

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RE: Have you seen this scam? - 4/12/2013 3:43:12 PM

Rawni

Posts: 1175
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When one is in a hurry to get the goods... whatever the goods are and in this case, you wanted to share fantasies, you open the door to those new strangers to play you. You may also be opening yourself up for some sort of identification without even knowing what you have done. Play slow and smart and you won't keep experiencing these things you feel the need to warn others about.

You can justify it by being so fair that you give people one chance... but really, what you are proving is... you will fall for most things one time. Best to see it coming before you walk into it. You can do so without being jaded.

(in reply to leonine)

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RE: Have you seen this scam? - 4/12/2013 3:43:15 PM

MissShey

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Joined: 1/25/2009
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quote:

ORIGINAL: leonine

I usually invite contacts to write to me at my own edress rather than go though CM's clunky message system

Anyone giving out or asking for email addresses before I've got to know them reasonably well immediately sets off the klaxons and warning lights.

Your own warning signals were sounding right from the start, and you chose to ignore them.

This isn't about scams, this is about plain common sense.

(in reply to leonine)

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RE: Have you seen this scam? - 4/12/2013 3:44:28 PM

freedomdwarf1

Posts: 6845
Joined: 10/23/2012
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FR~

That scam has been around since... "ink marks on bits of dead tree". lol.

It's nothing new.

And tbh, it's how I see a lot of the FinDommes on here and other sites.

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RE: Have you seen this scam? - 4/12/2013 4:30:49 PM

egern

Posts: 537
Joined: 1/11/2013
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quote:

ORIGINAL: MissShey

quote:

ORIGINAL: leonine

I usually invite contacts to write to me at my own edress rather than go though CM's clunky message system

Anyone giving out or asking for email addresses before I've got to know them reasonably well immediately sets off the klaxons and warning lights.

Your own warning signals were sounding right from the start, and you chose to ignore them.

This isn't about scams, this is about plain common sense.

I sometimes wonder why the blame is always on the victim in these cases..sure, we have to use our heads and try our best, but I dislike the idea that 'of course everybody scams', seemingly hinting that that is their right and if you do not catch it, it is your fault.

(in reply to MissShey)

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RE: Have you seen this scam? - 4/12/2013 4:37:42 PM

leonine

Posts: 409
Joined: 11/3/2009
From: [email protected]
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quote:

ORIGINAL: MissShey

quote:

ORIGINAL: leonine

I usually invite contacts to write to me at my own edress rather than go though CM's clunky message system

Anyone giving out or asking for email addresses before I've got to know them reasonably well immediately sets off the klaxons and warning lights.

That hadn't occurred to me. I have a range of edresses for all purposes, and if I'm dealing with someone suspect I'd give them one I could scrap and not miss it.

But from what you say, I may be putting people off by asking them to step out of the message system. I'll keep that in mind.

quote:

Your own warning signals were sounding right from the start, and you chose to ignore them.

It was a low level warning, and I wanted to see what would happen. (Being the sort of guy who checks if something is hot by touching it... quickly.) It was interesting.

< Message edited by leonine -- 4/12/2013 5:39:32 PM >

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Leo9

Gonna pack in my hand, pick up on a piece of land and build myself a cabin in the woods.
It's there I'm gonna stay, until there comes a day when this old world starts a-changing for the good.
- James Taylor

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RE: Have you seen this scam? - 4/12/2013 4:50:28 PM

Rawni

Posts: 1175
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quote:

ORIGINAL: egern

I sometimes wonder why the blame is always on the victim in these cases..sure, we have to use our heads and try our best, but I dislike the idea that 'of course everybody scams', seemingly hinting that that is their right and if you do not catch it, it is your fault.

Wow... project much? Exaggerate much?

The op has an inner warning system that he ignored in the name of fairness according to him. That isn't a victim. That is someone that ignored his inner warning... hoping that whatever it was, was real and he walked right into it. It apparently isn't the first time. How can you relate him to a victim?

No one said everyone is a scam and they have a right to scam or if you don't catch a scam, it is your fault. They have said, use common sense, don't be so hungry that you believe the too good to be true bit and without becoming jaded, you can be a bit smarter/use common sense about it all.

I see no true victim here.

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RE: Have you seen this scam? - 4/12/2013 4:52:08 PM

thezeppo

Posts: 441
Joined: 11/15/2012
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FR

I don't really think you did anything wrong here, you explored a possibility and walked away once you confirmed it was someone looking for money. Well done, nothing wrong with being optimistic as long as you keep your wits about you. You clearly did that and it hasn't cost you any money. Good luck for the next time.

(in reply to leonine)

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RE: Have you seen this scam? - 4/12/2013 5:04:46 PM

peppermint

Posts: 5173
Joined: 10/18/2005
From: Montana
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It's scam #5. Common scams are available every time you send a cmail on this site.

Scam #5 - Duping you into purchasing paid services

These scammers will feign an interest in you and then send you a link to website or a phone number (not necessarily a 900 number) where you will be required to pay a subscription fee to see the scammer's profile, see them "on cam", or speak to them on the phone. Of couse, these scammers work for the companies in question and are collecting a profit for every 'sucker' they can get to sign-up for their paid services.

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RE: Have you seen this scam? - 4/12/2013 5:47:01 PM

kiwisub12

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I understand the OP's desire to make contact, and yes, probably it is faster and easier to do it away from CM, BUT, if i was talking to someone and they were pressuring me to leave CM, I'd be dubious about the motives. Of course, i have to say that i wouldn't be making a career out of talking online. I'd be wanting to meet quickly - as in a few weeks of initial contact.

Scams are ubiquitous, but seldom stand up to the light of day, in person.

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RE: Have you seen this scam? - 4/12/2013 10:06:49 PM

nek0s

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Joined: 1/13/2006
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Being scammed , conned , tricked etc can happen to any one regardless of intelligence, common sense or even BS detectors !

All scams have 2 things in common and need both for them to work.
1. All scams exploit the targets desires. Whether it's money , sex or something else. In order for a scam to work the target must be interested in what's being offered and the more interested and more the target wants it the more likely they are to get scammed.

2. The target makes the scam work... Wait what ?
Yup, the target is the one scamming themselves. The target will always justify and throw logic and reason out the window and make the pieces of the scam fit. Even when they know something is wrong or the story / scam doesn't make sense the target will come up with their own conclusions. All the scammer has to do is plant the seed and point the way the target will do the rest. Think of the psychic's who some swear are real. All they really do is, forgive the crude way of saying this, throw a bunch of shit at the wall and hope some of it sticks. Then they let you fill in the blanks, $$$.

If you want to avoid all but the most elaborate scams don't let your emotions, or on adult website your twinkie or taco, outweigh your brain.

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RE: Have you seen this scam? - 4/12/2013 11:18:48 PM

FrostedFlake

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Joined: 3/4/2009
From: Centralia, Washington
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Well said, Nekos.

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