I was contacted by a Facebook friend about a Facebook refund they had received. They provided me a phone number which is supposedly in Dallas, but a reverse look-up shows it’s forwarded to India. This friend is either a spoofed account or was one of the early pawns to make the refund appear legitimate by giving them a refund larger than what they paid to receive the refund. I played along as my research indicated there was no real Facebook refund. I contacted through text the number provided. After wading through the junk they sent me, they informed me I needed to pay ups (guessing United Parcel Service, but they didn’t bother to capitalize it; could be they meant USPS, i.e., the Post Office) $500 to receive the package. Not only that, but the “friend” on Facebook offered to cover up to $300+ as long as I reimbursed them. I declined.
This friend was not previously a Facebook friend or I would have suspected a spoofed account as a friend can’t send you a second Facebook request as long as they are your friend. I am thinking the friend was duped by receiving money from the scammer as a way to show the refund is not a scam. That’s how smart scammers work – they send out a few real refunds to make it appear it is not a scam.
Great information. Thank you for sharing.
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You are welcome. I was curious when my friend sent me the phone number to text. I checked out Facebook refund scam and it didn’t mention this particular one, but did mention there was several going around. I decided to play along as I expected they would want several hundred dollars as part of their scheme. The friend she gave them $750 and got an undisclosed amount of money in return for her payment.
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It frightens me, as hubby is aging, and could succumb to something like this.
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It is mostly on social media and not usually spread through phone calls.
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Hubby picks up on the landline all the time.
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The good news is they rely mostly on social media more than calling people.
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Hubby is always on Facebook.
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It doesn’t appear to be widespread as a friend sent me the link. I am not sure she is not a plant or a dupe falling for the scam.
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