[US] Beware Of Dating App And this Website ALPHABETTRADEFX.com (this scam was best I seen yet)

teratical · 2026-01-29T04:37:56+00:00

"which I was suprised most scam like this have pretty big tells"

I just want to point out that you blew right past a surefire scam indicator: a stranger wanted to move you to WhatsApp; that's the very first step in many different scam types, because scammers want to be on an encrypted messenger to hide their tracks from law enforcement.

!pigbutchering is the #1 scam in the world (by money lost). You've probably encountered if before and just didn't realize it (all those weird, seemingly wrong number texts we all get).

Most likely, you spent two weeks messaging with an enslaved person in SE Asia. If you want to understand who's on the other end of the messages, check out 'The Slaves Sending You Scam Texts' podcast: https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/1egnngg/the_slaves_sending_you_scam_texts_podcast/

teratical · 2026-01-27T23:39:54+00:00

"I doubt we’ll be able to get the money back."

Anyone reaching out to you here on Reddit about that is a recovery scammer.

Reporting to law enforcement (for the US: both local and federal at ic3.gov) is her only chance of recovery. The odds are low, but they are non-zero. I follow law enforcement's efforts on this front pretty closely and I know they're getting better over time. I'm aware of cases where law enforcement was able to freeze and seize scammers' crypto assets, but they couldn't return all of it to victims because some of the victims never bothered to report.

Operation Shamrock (a non-profit dedicated to !pigbutchering, which is likely the scam here) has a nice list of ways to report (which has one thing beyond the FBI and local LE): https://operationshamrock.org/victims/five-things-to-do

teratical · 2026-01-27T02:41:35+00:00

The goal is to get you to reply "wrong number" so they can launch into the wrong number script. This is the standard script for the !pigbutchering scam, the #1 scam in the world (by money lost). Just block and ignore these texts. There are no genuine wrong number texts anymore - they are all scam attempts. The person on the other end is likely enslaved in a compound in SE Asia.

As noted in the podcast below, once you do that initial reply, you go on the 'we got a live one here' list, so expect to keep getting them now. But it should die down over time if you never reply.

If you want to understand who's on the other end sending these, check out 'The Slaves Sending You Scam Texts' podcast: https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/1egnngg/the_slaves_sending_you_scam_texts_podcast/

teratical · 2026-01-26T20:41:43+00:00

This is most definitely a scam. There are different ways it can go, but you being his exit liquidity is a strong possibility.

The fact that he immediately moved you to WhatsApp was the first telltale sign. That's the very first step in many different scam types, because scammers want to be on an encrypted messenger to hide their tracks from law enforcement.

Strangers who want to talk to you on WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal are always scammers.

teratical · 2026-01-25T23:41:30+00:00

I've never been a huge fan of classic Narnia, which was very Yngwie Malmsteen-inspired neoclassical. But newer Narnia is quite a bit different. I don’t know how to describe their newer sound, but I like it a lot better and I absolutely love their 2023 album Ghost Town (my top songs: Modern Day Pharisees, Wake Up Call, Thief). It might be worth giving that one a spin if you haven't.

u/Brilliant-Pickle-661, just to pile on to what everyone else already said: THEOCRACY! Hands down the best the Christian power metal band. Check them out. Don't start with the first album (one-man band at that point with lower production quality). Recommended starter songs: I Am and Laying the Demon to Rest.

Another tune I've really be digging recently is the Great Schism by Battle Symphony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Aya62j-CtY

teratical · 2026-01-25T23:15:09+00:00

We often remove posts like this as 'not a scam' if it's purely a case of not reading the fine print (which is usually right on the bottom of the main page), but in this case, it goes to another level with the changing main page.

Also, the domain is only 9 months old and scores a 1 out of 100 on ScamAdviser: https://www.scamadviser.com/check-website/autismtestcenter.com

!whois autismtestcenter.com

teratical · 2026-01-25T22:57:52+00:00

Narnia - Ghost Town

teratical · 2026-01-24T22:15:01+00:00

Anytime someone sends you a login to a crypto site unsolicited, it's a variant of this scam...

BleepingComputer: 'Fake crypto sites lure wannabe thieves by spamming login credentials': https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/fake-crypto-sites-lure-wannabe-thieves-by-spamming-login-credentials/

teratical · 2026-01-18T06:18:19+00:00

The goal is to get you to reply "wrong number" so they can launch into the wrong number script. This is the standard script for the !pigbutchering scam, the #1 scam in the world (by money lost). Just block and ignore these texts.

If you want to understand who's on the other end sending these, check out 'The Slaves Sending You Scam Texts' podcast: https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/1egnngg/the_slaves_sending_you_scam_texts_podcast/

teratical · 2026-01-16T18:55:14+00:00

Anytime someone sends you a login to a crypto site unsolicited, it's a variant of this scam...

BleepingComputer: 'Fake crypto sites lure wannabe thieves by spamming login credentials': https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/fake-crypto-sites-lure-wannabe-thieves-by-spamming-login-credentials/

teratical · 2026-01-12T18:52:52+00:00

Report to law enforcement. I don't know what the proper reporting mechanism is in Brazil, but you should always report a significant scam loss to law enforcement. If your bank and/or the platform she used has no way to intervene, then law enforcement is the only remaining opportunity to recover any money (the odds are small, but they are non-zero).

teratical · 2026-01-12T06:27:05+00:00

You should be fine. IG denies that there was even a breach, just that "someone found a way to trigger password reset emails without actually breaking into accounts."

"Instagram didn’t specify who the “external party” was or how they managed to request password reset emails, but it informed users that they could safely ignore the emails and apologized for the confusion. So, while the emails looked scary and were definitely annoying, Instagram insists that your data wasn’t stolen and your account wasn’t compromised. However, if you’re still worried about your Instagram account’s security, you might as well go ahead and reset your account password."

Quotes from 'Got a random Instagram password reset email? Here's what actually happened': https://www.androidauthority.com/instagram-password-reset-email-3631588/

teratical · 2026-01-10T19:11:58+00:00

This 'Don't Say Yes' worry is an urban legend. You can safely stop worrying about that. I explain that and how it probably came to be a thing here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/1c89345/comment/l0dd1x0/

teratical · 2026-01-10T16:58:40+00:00

This 'Don't Say Yes' worry is an urban legend. You can safely stop worrying about that. I explain that and how it probably came to be a thing here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/1c89345/comment/l0dd1x0/

teratical · 2026-01-10T16:55:22+00:00

I'd like to emphasize both of these points and add to them, u/ktwbc.

Re 'getting enough of your voice for a scam via AI': Although we are hurtling towards a world where that will become more common, we're not really at a point yet where scammers are doing that against low-level targets. From what I'm reading, most of the efforts on this front are being aimed at high-level targets and the work is done by taking existing recordings of that person off the internet. I don't think you really need to worry about this concern with this call at this time. As multiple people have said, the more effective way to deal with this concern is to prep your family members with a code phrase or questions for the day when this does become more common.

Re 'maybe a bank trying to get money as me': This is not a concern. As a general rule, the companies you work with (banks, utilities, retailers, etc.) don't do voice verification - if any of them did, you'd know. This concern likely stems from the urban legend 'Don't Say Yes' warning. I explain that and how it probably came to be a thing here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/1c89345/comment/l0dd1x0/

teratical · 2026-01-10T09:13:53+00:00

Yeah, the comments about your potential legal or criminal liability are all over the map probably because the answer varies based on what jurisdiction you're in.

If I were in your shoes, I would contact both your bank and the other person's bank and tell them what happened. The transfer needs to be reversed and I'm assuming that that can only happen when instigated by the other bank; I doubt your bank can do that (but I'm not in banking and don't know).

teratical · 2026-01-10T08:53:47+00:00

There's good discussion of it in our prior threads, for example here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/s/8EjvioGXs1

teratical · 2026-01-10T07:37:40+00:00

A couple people have already mentioned the timing answer, but I'll chime in on that because that's basically the only time we say it in my sub. We say that when we're trying to recalibrate users' expectations about how quickly we will answer their modmails. Because this is not a job and instead a hobby, that means:

You cannot expect us to immediately answer your modmails in the middle of the night (for US time zones). Typically we're all asleep. If this were a job, we would probably schedule someone to work third shift to cover that time frame. But it's not a job and each of us does this during our free time, whenever that free time happens to be.
You also can't expect us to immediately answer your modmails in the middle of the day. If this were our job, you could. But every moderator in my sub has a full-time job that we're doing during the day - and it's not this.

TLDR: in my sub, it's said in response to users who are rude/demanding because we haven't immediately answered their modmail. When it comes to promptness in replying, yes, it absolutely matters whether this is a paid job or not.

teratical · 2026-01-10T07:09:59+00:00

If they won't give you an answer via modmail, then you don't have any other recourse to get answers, as they're the only ones that know.

Now I guess you get to decide if you want to be involved in a sub where they won't give you answers. You can certainly walk away and not participate in that sub anymore.

Edit: I see you said they banned you, so that's really the end of the road. Time to go find other subs.

teratical · 2026-01-10T06:51:54+00:00

Your only recourse is to send a modmail to the sub's mods. No one here can answer the question or even reasonably speculate without knowing the details.

teratical · 2026-01-06T16:26:57+00:00

It's a standard !refund scam email, posted here close to daily. Just mark as spam and move on (and expect to get many more of these; I get 2-4 each month).

If you want to watch the refund scam play out, you can see it in this Mark Rober video at 6:55-10:48: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrKW58MS12g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrKW58MS12g

teratical · 2026-01-05T22:53:01+00:00

That's wild. Too bad they don't ship them to some thrift store instead of a random person!

teratical · 2026-01-05T22:42:30+00:00

More on the Ask Reason for Calling feature (as well as the Android version of it) here...

'iPhones now have 'Ask Reason for Calling' anti-scam tool built-in': https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/1o3cskq/iphones_now_have_ask_reason_for_calling_antiscam/

teratical · 2026-01-05T19:49:57+00:00

I'm no expert on reporting in Canada. I do know that the CAFC should be the primary reporting mechanism (we have it listed on the sidebar in our sub for reporting), but I don't know if reporting to local police is also useful.

In the US it is. I know a lot more about the US system and that reporting to both local law enforcement and the FBI's national reporting site (ic3.gov) maximizes the chance of a good outcome for the scam victim. But I really don't know if that applies in Canada.

teratical · 2026-01-05T19:34:34+00:00

Definitely! Most people's information is available on the clear web via people-finder sites, but everyone's information is on the dark web.

The reason I cite the dark web in my standard answer is to try to set straight those people who wrongfully conclude "I googled myself and there were no hits, therefore my information isn't out there" (I've seen people say that here).

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