This post may contain affiliate links. If a product or service is purchased using a link(s) in the post below a small commission may be earned.
Last updated on July 5th, 2024 at 12:56 pm
header image provided by Pixabay
Having random direct messages via social media isn’t a new topic. I’ve shared my a few posts in the past about this. But this weekend I had a new twist on the money request direct messages.
I can see espcially now during this time of COVID-19 that people would reach out to others trying to make friends.
The Direct message
I had a rather silly direct message on Saturday 4/25/2020. It was sent to my Instagram account. It started out as a silly attention-getter message. The profile that messaged me seemed to be what looked like a college/university age student. Their profile had 3 photos of himself and his German Shepard.
The message was something silly like Hello Pretty. I acknowledged the sender. with a simple hello. As many of these direct messages go there is the usual back nd forth of how are you which eventually moves on to asking where you are located.
I stated I was from Earth and followed up if I could help the sender with something. Again the person gave me some silly response asking if I was serious about helping them. I clarified my response. I remarked that it was better than straight asking what they wanted.
The money request
So not to my surprise I suddenly have a gift card request.
Mind you I’ve seen this before but this time the gift card request was for a large sum.
I thought I’d share the screenshot. The messenger asked for a gift card of $500 to pay a tax.
Again the profile photo that the person was using looked like he was in his late teens early 20 something. Taking those photos into mind I also asked where they had stolen their photos from. As I finished typing those words the messenger was no longer active. They had also deleted their 3 photos.
Here’s the thing about this
Granted at this time during the COVID-19 pandemic many of us are on a stay home order or limiting our time outside the home. Many of us may also be working from home or have been furloughed. So we may be running out of funds quickly. But my thought on these messages is that why would someone ask random fellow social media users for money. Especially in gift card form.
Another thing that gets me about these requests is that the messengers quickly turn tail and run in most cases as soon as you call them out. Others may become aggressive and start to argue your point. To be honest I kind of like those because I can keep that banter up for a while just to see how long it takes before they admit they are scammers. They might not say it outright but they will confuse their story or get flustered.
Don’t fall for this
I report all of these profiles because let’s face it people shouldn’t fall prey to scams like these. It’s not right if someone helps the messenger thinking they are in need only to be scammed in the end.
Another Instagram user had shared she had a person direct message her asking for money so she could feed her child. That was the full request it seems. For these types of situations, you can check with your local county services or local food banks. Again during the current COVID-19 situation, many cities are having foodbanks open to all in need.
If you want to help someone who messengers you you can always suggest they check with their local city or county government to see what assistance is being offered at this time.
I just thought I’d share this in case anyone else has this happen. I would assume since it’s happening via Instagram it may jump to another social media platform soon.
