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⚠️ Scam warning: there are accounts posing as Mastodon admins claiming to offer "rewards" or "payments" or "partnerships".

These are scams. There are no reward or payment schemes on Mastodon. No genuine admin would ever send this kind of post or reply.

If you see scam posts like the ones in the screenshot below, report them by clicking ⋯ on the scam posts and then selecting "report".

#Mastodon

This entry was edited (3 weeks ago)
in reply to Fedi.Tips

First, I was trying to hit the boost button, and I kept pressing it because it didn’t seem to take and then I realize you have a screenshot. 😅
This entry was edited (3 weeks ago)
in reply to Fedi.Tips

imagine trying to scam on mastodon... Who r u trying to scam.. thats crazy...
in reply to Fedi.Tips

I wonder how large (or small) the Venn diagram is for folks (1) smart enough to navigate the shoals and set up a Mastodon account and (2) uh, .... not smart enough to recognize this as an absolute scam. 🤔
in reply to Coles Street Pothole

@ColesStreetPothole
Everyone has a weak day. So fight scammer scum, but don't condemn those who fall for them.
in reply to Fedi.Tips

That smarmy tone, and "you'll receive payment" , like, d'uh. I live in Norway, and our tone is pretty matter-of-fact, not exactly gushing, but does *anybody* *anywhere* actually communicate like that ?

  • Yes, for real, where I live (0 votes)
  • No, never seen non-sarcastically (0 votes)
Poll end: 3 weeks ago

in reply to Speed demon 🇪🇺 🇳🇴🇺🇦🇵🇸

@hakona It's trying to mimick the ingratiating corporate tone that large US-based services use. It's not a particularly good imitation though (comes across as a bit dated) and people definitely don't speak that way in a personal context.
in reply to Fedi.Tips

Received a 3rd version, telling me my account was suspended!
in reply to Eric Bono

@EricBono

Yup, that's an older scam they've brought back it seems. I'll do a follow-up post about that as well.

No admin will ever demand you verify your account. The verification system on here is optional and works using websites and not links like that.

in reply to Fedi.Tips

I assume this is a scam. i was going to report it, but i don't even know what they're saying. so i blocked it.
in reply to WorldTravelerAll7

@WorldTravelerAll7 When in doubt, report. As an admin myself I'd rather get a report made in good faith that turned out to be a false alarm rather than find out that an account on my system was bothering or scamming other users but no one reported it.
in reply to Zalasur 🐸🇺🇦

@zalasur
really? was it in fact a scam? i didn't understand the abbreviations or what it meant, so i wasn't sure. was hoping one of the more tech savvy people would know & report it

i'll keep that in mind next time💙

in reply to Fedi.Tips

I nuked all those accounts and closed registrations again. Sorry for the trouble.
in reply to Fedi.Tips

p.s. Another couple of scams to watch out for as well:

- Scammers saying you need to verify by clicking on a link. Admins will NEVER demand you verify. The verification system on Mastodon is optional and does not involve credit cards or any kind of payment.

- Scammers saying you need to temporarily change your account's email address. Admins will NEVER do this. This is done by scammers who want to take over your account, which is possible if you change your email to match theirs.

This entry was edited (3 weeks ago)
in reply to Fedi.Tips

I had 3 come up today, all different userids. They each cam up each time I made a post to programming.dev/c/dotnetmaui, replying to it from Mastodon, but not when I posted to different Communities, so they're not following me per se, but some combination in there triggered them each time, but a different bot each time, as I said
in reply to Fedi.Tips

p.p.s. I've just done a guide all about how to deal with scams and scammers on the Fediverse at:

➡️ fedi.tips/how-to-avoid-scammer…

I've tried to cover all the known scams and questions people have about dealing with them. If I'm missing anything from this please let me know.

in reply to Fedi.Tips

The email one ought to be bloody obvious. If someone is asking you to change an email address to one that isn't yours, they are going to use that email to gain access to your stuff.

The rewards one, not so much, unless you know that Mastodon admins can barely afford to keep their server running. You'd have a better chance buying shares in mr. St. Claus' toy factory on the North Pole.

in reply to Fedi.Tips

What is even the point of scamming to take over a mastodon account anyways?
in reply to Linkszentriker Cris

@alteNBnordpfalz

They use it to post the other scams that steal credit cards etc, and because they come from a trustworthy account people are more likely to fall for them.

in reply to Fedi.Tips

I didn't see this comment till now, but I feel like people using Mastodon probably are 90% less likely to fall for such scams than people use stuff like twitter, facebook and other proprietary social media sites.

Just to eloberate, people who use open source operating systems are more intelligent than say... windows, apple or google os users.

Because open source systems require more CLI usage. Although linux's usage of CLI is miles better than DOS.

This entry was edited (1 week ago)