Scammers are so incredibly prevalent that online consumers need to always be wary when making a purchase. This is especially true when doing business with an individual seller that you found via an unregulated online marketplace like Craigslist or Facebook.
A good number of overseas scumbags make a full time living off of scamming unsuspecting Americans. These scammers are skid marks on the underpants of society, sitting in full-fledged call centers, confined to a cubicle all day, and gunning for employee of the month by earning money exclusively through fraudulent means. These vermin are so deluded they may even believe they work for a perfectly legitimate business.
It’s nearly impossible to take any worthwhile action against these scammers, since they reside in a corrupt and inept society that provides the breeding grounds for the desperate and despicable fodder that would’ve been better left on the abortion room’s floor. These scammers proliferate in a land without laws or even a basic societal expectation to be anything better than morally reprehensible, so the only action hardworking Americans can take is to defend themselves from the predatory goons trying to separate us from our money.
Defense Against Scams
That brings me to my next point. Since mounting an offense against offshore scammers – as satisfying as that would be – is all but impossible, the best thing to do is build a strong defense. That means being aware of and recognizing scams or signs of a potential scam. For the uninitiated, scams are a bit hard to recognize. But once you’ve been around the block, the signs are quite easy to spot.
Scammer Modus Operandi
Strong accent
Offshore scammers often reside in South Asia or West Africa. India has notoriously been dubbed the Scam Capital of the world. If the person you’re buying from happens to have a strong accent – one even stronger than that of a typical American immigrant – that gives you Forest Whitaker eye when trying to comprehend their sentence fragments and criminally mispronounced vocabulary: RUN FOR THE HILLS.
Yeah, foreigners exist in America, so this isn’t always the best indicator. But if the person you’re contacting sounds like they couldn’t pass a third grade writing test, replies with confusing grammar and a lack of colloquial language, then your spidey senses ought to be on high alert.
Too good to be true
The old adage “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is” is extremely helpful to recite in your head when wading through online ads that are polluted with scam sellers. You just found that thing you wanted, in perfect condition, for the half the price of anywhere else? Congratulations, you found it – a scammer, that is.
Refusing a video call
All but the most intricate of scams will refuse a FaceTime call from a buyer. Especially one of any considerable length. Scammers will cite a shoddy connection, broken phone, or anything else as reasons for why they can’t connect with you on FaceTime to show you the product (and themselves) to build rapport and trust with a potential buyer. Always insist on a FaceTime call. Any reasonable seller worth their salt (and your time) will happily oblige with a brief video call if they think it’ll lead to sale. Scammers won’t.
They ask you to send the money via crypto
If you really expect to have any kind of recourse or buyer’s protection when using an untraceable means for transferring bank funds (i.e., crypto), then you’re an idiot and deserve to be scammed. Don’t use crypto.
They ask you to send money as “friends and family”
Don’t use PayPal’s “friends and family” option when sending money to a seller. Not ever. If a seller even asks you to do this, RUN FOR THE HILLS. You will never get that money back. I don’t have a full list here – but be sure to thoroughly read about the return policy for online money transfer mediums like Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, etc, to understand the process for getting your money back should the transaction go awry.
PayPal Caters to Scammers
PayPal is almost equally as guilty as the online scammers, since they facilitate an easy and unpunishable means for receiving a scam victim’s funds.
When a buyer goes to send money to a seller on PayPal, they will be presented with the following prompt:
All a buyer needs to do is erroneously, unwittingly, or accidentally select the wrong option on this one prompt, and they are immediately refused any sort of buyer’s protection for the transaction.
For the record, always choose FOR GOODS AND SERVICES unless you are truly sending a gift of money to a friend or family member and don’t ever expect it back.
The fact that PayPal caters to scammers and somehow thinks that they can cover their own obligation to preventing fraud by providing this one simple prompt is absolutely mindblowing. They need to be held accountable and do better.
What if I sent as friends and family?
If you’ve already sent an amount of money as “friends and family” to a scammer, you can still open a claim in PayPal, although the chances of getting a favorable resolution are severely small.
If the funds for the transaction were drawn from a credit card, debit card, or bank account (i.e., anything except your PayPal balance), then you should contact your bank or card issuer to open a dispute. If you win, it will most likely be PayPal footing the bill instead of the scammers, but at this point, it’s hard to tell much difference between the two. A win against PayPal is a win against scammers, too.
Conclusion
What did we learn here? Scams are prevalent and a part of life. You will find them impossible to avoid if you do any buying online – from individual sellers, at least. The only thing we can do is educate ourselves and others about the warning signs of a scam, which were covered here.
When someone falls victim to a scam, it is not their fault. PayPal and other transaction providers need to work on a better way to educate buyers and warn them against scams. One simple prompt will not do the job.
Educate yourself. Spread the word to others. Stay alert online. Maintain a healthy dose of cynicism, because many people in this world are poised to take advantage of you.