Okay but this is serious, I work in retail and I had a lady come up and ask for 2 $500 Google play gift cards. We have been trained to look for these scams and to warn the customers NEVER give the card numbers over the phone unless you have met this person face to face. I told the lady this and she started crying, saying they were the IRS and that if she hung up they would call the police and have her arrested. They wanted to keep her on the phone so she couldn’t call her husband, who was more aware of how the IRS works. I was able to convince her to hang up and call the police on *them* instead, and saved her $500.
Scams are serious, people lose a lot of money and older people are targeted the worst because they’re easy targets.
First of all, the IRS will *never* call you and ask for money, and they definitely won’t call the cops on you. They’ll get your money if they really want it through taxes.
But now they’re trying to target our generation using crypto, which is super hard to trace if the money gets lost. So they’re getting smarter, and they’ll use whatever they can to get you to give them money.
What you really need to know or take away from this is: NEVER, and I mean EVER, buy a gift card and give the barcode number on the back to someone over the phone. It is ALWAYS, 100%, a scam!
Please be safe and hang up on these fuckers the second they ask you to buy a gift card.
More pertinent to the 18-to-35 crowd are employment scams. I don’t mean in the stolen wages or unpaid labor of capitalism, either. In the past couple years, there has been a massive boom in listings for exploitative, nonexistent, and occasionally illegal “job opportunities”. Worst of all, you may never be paid for a second of it.
Generally,“if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” are wise guiding words for any opportunity you stumble across. Some things to look out for are:
Ambiguous requirements/description – This doubles as a scam and toxic workplace red flag. Job listings should include an overview of responsibilities, and ideal candidate descriptions. Legitimate employers who can’t communicate that won’t get better if you’re hired.
Fees and “investments” – Job applications do not cost money, and employees are never personally responsible for the purchase of stock, investment, etc. These can both be one-off scams, or a hook into a multi-level marketing scheme.
Carrot on a stick – Compensation does not include the potential of earning later. Be especially wary of introductory pay lasting months or time frame specific raise “opportunities”. There’s a good chance they have a high turnover, and are running out the clock on cheap labor.
Travel without compensation – This is another dual scam/toxic workplace red flag. If travel is a requirement, you should be compensated for the time and cost. If the position is not transport, investigative, or administrative-related, travel requirements are also generally worth interrogation.
Limited staff – With some exceptions, oh my god, be suspicious of any job offer where you’ll be the only employee. Even with small businesses, they should be upfront about the pressure, have a contingency plan for when you’re unable to come in, and can demonstrate the ability to be professional and managerial.
I’m sure there are other warning signs, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Just stay vigilant, y'all!
yeah I got scammed by a fake rental listing, they apparently just take application fees and never rent the place out. I think it’s still up to this day.
fake rentals can also be a duplicated rental listing where they list a house that’s not actually for rent on craigslist and then you, who are moving in from out of town, send them your deposit and your first month’s rent only to discover that somebody else lives in “your” house the instant you show up and your fake landlord has disappeared.
anyways, don’t try to rent a place without checking it out first, and even then, we wary of weird vibes.
