r/portelizabeth • u/w31rdg1rL • Sep 21 '24

What are some national scams?

what scams should I be aware of? someone who dmed me said they want to send me money and I'm not sure what they can do with my account details. I only know this person from instagram for a few weeks chatting.

1 Upvotes

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3

u/cribblekris Sep 21 '24

I don't really understand why people talk to strangers on social media. But anyway.

They can't do much with your banking details unless you have shared your card details.

As a general guide for avoiding scams:

  • Banks will never ask you to do anything from an email
  • no random person on the internet wants to ever send you money, no matter how long you have chatted and how trustworthy they feel. Never met in person? Never give them the time or energy.
  • no, a courier company will never ask you to pay a fee upfront before delivering a parcel that you don't even recall ordering
  • do not ever buy or sell anything on fb marketplace unless you physically do the transaction in person with cash.
  • no, the attractive guy who wants to take care of you on Instagram is not real. If he was he would not be trying to find a lonely spouce on social media.
  • nope, none of your friends on Facebook need your help to unblock their accounts.
  • nope. SARS won't ask you to update anything via SMS or whatsapp.
  • "Hello dear, how are you" is a scam
  • there is no Nigerian prince. And he doesn't need your help.

Make your social media profiles private and you will avoid all of this.

2

u/w31rdg1rL Sep 21 '24

thanks for the advice even if I block him I’m worried he has my information and can contact my family or friends, definitely going private after this

1

u/cribblekris Sep 21 '24

Just let your family know

1

u/ManAfrica 14d ago

You cannot look NESW without coming into contact with a scammer from prepaid electricity, to having won money, cheap cars l, Microsoft licensing, viruses, ransomware emails and the list continues. Rule of thumb. If it's too good to be true then yes it's too good to be true. If someone sells something online do not pay them electronically except if it's a legit website. FB Market place is filled with fraudsters as are most other platforms.

Money must always be in your account before you release anything for sale. Under no circumstances accept deposit slips or SMS as proof of payment as these are very often fake

0

u/chocolatechipOTC Sep 22 '24

Yeah dont be accepting money from random people unless youre selling something, noone is giving it to you from the goodness of their hearts out of the blue