While we have all heard of internet fraud and may even think we can detect its stench from a distance, the situation changes entirely when we find ourselves the intended victim. Wishful thinking often gets in the way of our realistic assessment of a situation. So it goes with one man's roommate, who is on his way to being scammed but is determined to see where the chat with this Canadian-based Hong Kong girl goes.
Here's The Gist
His roommate has a Tinder match they've been talking to non-stop for the past two weeks. They've exchanged photos and videos, so there should be no reason to doubt the match is anything but real. But OP's feelings changed when they heard the match's details.
According to OP, the match sent their roommate's passport photos… unprompted. This is a known tactic of scammers who are trying to get you to trust them. After just one week of talking, she also allegedly gave OP's roommate access to a stock trading account. Apparently, she needed him to trade for her because she didn't have her phone, and it was easier to do it through an app rather than a desktop or laptop.
Now, OP's roommate is supposed to meet up with his Tinder match when she returns from “traveling abroad.” OP thinks the roommate is kidding himself if he thinks this match is real — especially since they've talked on the phone and video chatting. Even if she is a real woman, OP still believes something isn't adding up.
It’s The Typical “Pig Butchering” Scam Script!
It seems as a Reddit user exposed the roommate's downloaded app as a phony. They explained that Scammers could get their apps through Apple's review process by “hosting” the app's features elsewhere, so it appears to be legitimate at first glance. Since no app update is necessary, they can change the app on their server without alerting Apple.
This program tricks users into thinking they can make money by manipulating fictitious numbers. It’s all an act! They make it feasible to put in money and act as if it has increased in value, all while allowing the victim to take out a small portion of what they've earned.
Here's the catch: the victim will be nagged until they reinvest the money. Still, it doesn't end there! When they decide to cash out, it will notify them that a security flag has been raised and that they must deposit more money to restore access to their accounts.
Another posited that it's highly likely that roommate doesn't have access to 20k, affirming that it pretends numbers in a pretend app to bait out his real money or install nefarious software on his devices. The scammers likely already have this information and are waiting to see how much more they can get because they've found a perfect rube.
As for the meet-up, it is never going to happen. As one user is convinced that as the rendezvous gets near, she'll start claiming to be busy or have an emergency and swearing she genuinely wants to meet him, just not as soon as they planned. In the interim, she'd recommend that OP's roommate begin “investing” with some of his own money in the app she supplied him because he's seen how much she's made, and obviously, it's completely legal and not a fraud.
This post inspired this thread.
This post was produced and syndicated by Wealth Of Geeks.