30 Internet Users Share What A Lot Of People Think Is A Scam When It Really Isn’t

Prof. Robert Kerton, Former President of the American Council on Consumer Interests, gave us some important tips for noticing scams: "The most brilliant warning light flashes when the unexpected phone or online contact explains why you must not contact anyone about the issue. You are about to be scammed. That warning light 'Do not contact anyone' means you are at serious risk. Don’t hang around, hang up.

Often the caller has a tried-and-true way to frighten you into submission. A different strategy is a promise to get rich quick. Don’t ask questions: disconnect. Your questions are predictable. Scammers have effective tactics - based on their experience - designed to get you to provide cash, or access to your bank account. If you are habitually polite, say 'No thank you' and hang up."

We asked Redditor Balisto2222 (Twitch) what they think is a scam and why people think things that are not scams are: "From my understanding, a scam is an electronic or analog bait to fool people into trusting the baiter with valuables (information, money or whatever). People are either unfamiliar with the meaning of 'scam' or get suspicious too quickly."

They also gave some advice for not falling for scams: "THINK. BEFORE. DOING. It's the most effective way to not fall for scams or even receive scams in the first place. Mainly consider: 1) is there anything suspicious about the 'scam'? (ex. any private information you need to enter, do you have to do something on an external medium like a website or download, etc.) 2) Where does the "scam" come from? (Do you know the issuer, is the issuer's account/contact information legit, how long has it been active, etc.) 3) Is the motive of the bait itself suspicious in any way (too good to be true, simply unnecessary or excessive, etc.).

To prevent potential scams or any harmful threats towards you, simply don't give away any contact information, whether on the internet or literally publicly. Sure, you may be contacted randomly by scammers at any point, but this would prevent any scam directly directed to you."

The Redditor also shared if they think scams will become more prominent: "Obviously as technology and insights about human behavior evolve there will be more and more scams that work in favor of the issuer utilizing those insights and technologies."

They also shared some of the more popular scams they've noticed: "Probably did, likely forgot, if I'm being honest. At least, as I have been actively moderating on Discord for the past 1.5 years, I'll list off a couple examples of more subtle scams there, put as many as you wish in the article:

- Discord Nitro scam: someone from your friend list DMs you a gifted subscription to Discord Nitro, the link leading to a fake site that steals your login info once input and then uses your account to scam other people on your own friend list.

- Playtesting scam: Someone sends you a file or a link to a file, asking you politely to playtest the supposed game that, when run, hijacks your account, steals your information and uses all to further scam others.

- Steam report scam: by far the most popular scam lately, works by someone DMing you a fake screenshot of your account apparently scamming them, then telling you that they mass reported your account on Steam, if you believe them and continue talking the scammer leads you to another account of a supposed Steam moderator who sends you a link that gives them access to all your data if clicked.

- Cryptocurrency scam: widely popular on the internet and exists on Discord as well. Some account DMs you that you won some cryptocurrency and leads you to some external website or Discord server with an external verification process that hijacks your account and information."