Online Scams

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Who here has been a victim of online scams? I've been in two and lost thousands of dollars due to being gullible. Hopefully no one has went through this and I'm opened to sharing the details if asked.

I got burnt for concert tickets once. I transferred money to some babe who jacked off with my cash. The police had reports of her doing this to other people but I was basically told "tough titties".

I think it was just Kijiji but I can't remember. I was supposed to get the tickets on a Ticketmaster transfer after paying her, but they never appeared. It was four good seats to see the Hip's final show before Gord Downie died. I was more upset about missing the show than losing the money, tbh.

A few friends and a couple of relatives, even after I had warned them.

It's amazing how quickly people will tire of hearing the words "I told you so!"

The only online scam I've fallen victim to so far was in an old online game, and scammed me out of measly in-game currency.

... One that isn't even worth real life money, nor it did involved any real life money.
Just an in-game scam, a simple stupid case of impersonation and induced false urgency.

I was 16 or something.
That would be about 13 years ago now.



Well, now that I can actually shop online... About once or twice a month if I can afford to for the last 5+ or so years now.

... I'm extra cautious of where and how I buy things online.

I don't buy on sources if no one that I knew trusted that source.
I don't trust referrals that I do not know or trust; they might be a shill for all I know.

I don't buy on sources if it's not well reviewed on delivery (the accuracy of advertising and products' authenticity itself is another matter).

I don't buy on sources that whose seller cannot confirm their physical address or origin of online source.

I don't transact money online. Ever.
Cash on delivery or nothing. Never put my debit or credit card information.


I can say the same with getting a possible online job.
I do a lot of research and go though trusted networks to confirm it's legitimacy before applying.

I stay out of any person in any online relationship that ever demanded money from me. So no love or pity scams, ever.

I came from a place with dubious online connections.
I'd rather never typed any account that is even remotely tied to my bank info in any devices that I do not trust it's clean and connected to any network that no one I knew paid for.



If I want to risk it; I'd get a separate bank account that's separate to my livelihood and known online identity with a budget that I can afford to lose, a disposable device (or a device/emulator that cannot remember history or one that you can always reformat and reset to factory settings) and no one else touches it, a network connection with multiple VPNs, a browser that can at least dive through the dark web and go anonymously.

Overkill, I know.

The rest is experience and knowledge of how I judge who I should and shouldn't trust, when and when I gamble...
What can I click, what I shouldn't click open link and download then open.

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I bought some skin treatments online and after the initial transaction, they kept taking money from my account. Hundreds of dollars. Not only that, they didn't send me a thing. So I rang my bank (I hate making phone calls but I was desperate and fast running out of money) and they were very professional and kind. They sorted everything and about two weeks later they refunded my money. I think I was lucky for that outcome. From now on I'll use PayPal.

Yeah me too it's hard to get over the betrayal and feeling so stupid. I really want to quit my job and I just lost most of my savings! Not sure what to do now.

For me, I have a history of experiencing sexual abuse and cohersion/manipulation in a different context. The experience of being scammed by someone pretending to be my bank felt like a small version of the same type of abuse. It feels like a small percentage of the exact same type of pain. The after effects rippling out into your life in so many areas.

I have been scared to go back to work in the same building that they contacted me... Not that it is related at all, it was just the scene of the abuse, and I feel like I have a minor PTSD aversion from it... Similar to when I experienced other types of manipulations... I was scared to go back to those places or see those faces for years and years. It still gives me chills. I had to go to work the day after it happened... But weeks later the fear still hasn't gone away, I really hate the idea of going there now.

Feel like I can't really express to anyone the after effects of the manipulation, cus at the time I tried to swallow the pain and not make a scene as I couldn't handle my own emotions let alone those around me... so I just tried to feel better and avoided the subject... but it is still lingering.

Although somehow I have moments where I want to laugh at myself too - I even said thank you to the scammer at the end for her help at the end

Listening to unmasking autism by Devon price is helping me understand a lot and not hate myself for it.

I am pretty computer savvy so haven't been a victim online. I did have a spell where I was into chat lines and lost quite a bit of money though.

Definitely check out firms on Google before you give out your bank/card details and look for the 'https' prefix which means the transaction is secure.

And never reply to spam emails. Genuine emails from your bank will normally have your name or part of your zip/post code on them.

I've never been a victim of online scamming since I don't trust anyone.