Internet Scam Stories

Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Non-Game Discussions: Internet Scam Stories
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Archive through December 08, 2022  25   12/08 11:54am
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Archive through July 11, 2025  25   08/03 08:59pm
Archive through August 12, 2026  25   08/14 05:59pm

You can pretty much guarantee that all of the following are frauds:
1. You won a lottery you never heard of.
2. You are getting a gift card from some business.
3. Your bank, Ebay, Paypal, or whatever wants you to confirm you information or your account will be suspended.
4. Somebody from overseas wants to deposit millions of dollars in your bank account.
5. Hot girls in your town want to date you.
6. I was hired to kill you. Pay me money not to.
7. Purchase this hot stock, OEM software, prescription medications, or replica watches.

You can report fraud attempts (or forward them) to the US Secret Service (which is the Treasury Department Police Force). Their Electronic Crimes Task Force web site is http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/ectf.shtml

You can also report things to the Justice Department: http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/reporting.htm

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When posting here, please do not include the real link or Email address of the scammer. This keeps ADB, Inc. from getting accidentally blacklisted.
By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Wednesday, August 12, 2026 - 11:08 pm: Edit

I have been getting HUNDREDS of calls over the last 2 weeks for unclaimed Medicare benefits.

I am not on Medicare Part A and B and I am not 65.

I've started answering the spam calls with "Medicare Fraud Department, you're on a recorded line, how can I help you?"

I've got a number of them to swear at me.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, August 12, 2026 - 11:44 pm: Edit

The "unclaimed benefits" are part of Advantage Plans (part C) and Advantage stinks.

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Thursday, August 13, 2026 - 10:51 pm: Edit

Ryan, I've been getting those calls for almost three months.

SVC, curious why you think Advantage Plans "stink". Email me the answer if you think this isn't the place to post.


Garth L. Getgen

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, August 14, 2026 - 06:23 am: Edit

The hospital benefits are far worse than supplemental insurance benefits. There are hours of YouTube videos explaining why Part C is a scam designed to make profit for insurance companies on people who would be far better off with (for example) Mutual of Omaha. The trick is that when you hit Medicare age, you have six months to buy supplemental insurance during which you cannot be turned down. After that, people with serious medical conditions (cancer, diabetes) cannot get supplemental insurance and for them Part C advantage plans are better than nothing.

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Friday, August 14, 2026 - 05:59 pm: Edit

Being retired military, I will convert from Tricare Prime to Tricare For Life which mandates I also have Medicare Parts A & B or Medicare Advantage. I will NOT ever need Medicare Part D because Tricare covers the same things.

My wife has Tricare For Life and Medicare Advantage thru a well-known medical insurance carrier. Thus far, we've had no issues. Our cost is the same as Part A/B would be, but with more things covered than Medicare would.


Garth L. Getgen

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Friday, August 14, 2026 - 06:58 pm: Edit

And once again, Steve and I are in agreement: Medicare Advantage stinks on ice.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, August 14, 2026 - 08:34 pm: Edit

Petrick has Advantage because he didn't get a supplement before he couldn't. In rare cases when we have the same thing done, I pay nothing and he pays hundreds.

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Saturday, August 15, 2026 - 02:41 am: Edit

Switched to Tri-Care for life in 2025...
Recently came across a program for Veterans
that use the VA and get their medications there....
It's a Government contract, my runs through Humana and has USAA listed on it....
It's an Advantage plan that returns most of your Plan B payment ($165 for me), no premium, it doesn't cover a lot of what other Advantage plans do (minimum Dental for me), VA for my primary care and the VA covers ER visits (better than Tri-Care ever did...

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Saturday, August 15, 2026 - 08:33 am: Edit

I just stick to the VA for everything (except dental).

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Wednesday, September 09, 2026 - 12:22 pm: Edit

There's a new site, being advertised heavily, called votesafe(dot)org. It puts itself forward as a place to check and make sure that you're registered to vote. Of course, the legitimate site for that is vote(dot)gov.

The first clue that something is fishy here comes when you try to use votesafe(dot)org. While vote(dot)gov does not ask for personal information, votesafe(dot)org demands the following:

* First, middle, and last name
* Date of birth
* Full home address
* E-mail address
* Cell phone number

Further, while it's invisible to the user, the site installs cookies that collect:

* IP address and location (This information is used to derive each user's city, zip code, approximate longitude and latitude, time zone, and Internet provider.)
* Browser, operating system, screen size and language of your device
* What website referred you to votesafe(dot)org
* Every link you click
* Every page you look at
* Your voter registration status
* Your district

Once votesafe has this information, it uses it to hit you with targeted political advertising on Instagram, Facebook, eX-Twitter, YouTube and other sites. It also forwards the information to marketing firms that use your information to try to sell you products.


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