Last updated on July 5th, 2024 at 03:23 pm

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Last updated on July 5th, 2024 at 03:23 pm

New Post has been published on http://lifewithpal.com/2017/08/07/friend-or-foe-possible-befriending-scam/

Friend or Foe-Possible Befriending Scam

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I don’t know about anyone else but lately, I’ve had a few people try to befriend me via social media. I have had my fair share of random friend Facebook. Some I accept others I don’t. Mind you I’m not opposed to making new friends I have made many online friends over the years. Β However, in July I had two very interesting encounters with random messages that got me thinking.

As I mentioned above I had two encounters or should I say messages that piqued my interest in July. They both messages were sent to my Instagram account. A friend of mine mentioned a similar scam circulating around Facebook as well.

Message One

The first person portrayed themselves as a man. I couldn’t say if the person was a man or a woman but the account they were messaging from was that of a man. Once again it’s a basic hello message. I replied back with a smile hello myself. Being that people occasionally message me to ask me questions about products I’ve reviewed or if I like X product I didn’t see any harm in replying.

A few hours later I was sent a reply from the sender. Well, the chat was innocent enough but quickly took a turn. With in the first few minutes, Β it went from a cordial hello to rather in depth questions asking if I was married or if I had children. Β Piquing my interest again I asked the same questions back. Well after this odd exchange the person confessed that their wife had passed away and they were left to raise a child. Again I was a bit thrown and replied that I was sorry for their loss and asked what that had to do with me. I also let the messenger know I needed to get back to what I was doing. Not 3 minutes after ending the chat I was sent a random picture of a child along with another message asking me what I was doing. I promptly blocked that person. Β 

Message Two

Well a few weeks after the first message I was sent another. I will post the screen shots below (Forgive any typos on my behalf. ) My replies are the ones in the gray bubbles. Sorry for the long read in advance and if the chat cuts off in certain portions.Once again these messages were sent from a man’s account.

As you can see it’s a basic hello and then the flattery starts.

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What piqued my interest here is that the other person who messaged me before was also from overseas that’s when my red flags started waving.

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I also found it interesting that the sender would share such info after a few short minutes of chatter.Β 

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At this point was when the chat took an interesting turn. The sender became offended rather quickly.
Β 

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They tried to charm me by saying I was pretty.Β 

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I think the mention of a Friend’s loss was meant to make me feel guilty in some way or have me sympathize with them.Β 

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Where’s the Scam

By now you’re probably asking how is this a scam? Well, I can’t really prove that it is but I have a feeling the sender wants to befriend you then ask you for money.

I forgot to mention that the first person to message me wanted me to send them a photo of myself which I found odd so that’s another reason why I promptly blocked them as well. So

I will leave the decision up to you where the scam may lie but I still thought it was worth sharing.

As we know it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Have you had a similar experience? Β 

I’d love to hear about it. Share in the comments below

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