5 Ways to Identify Scammers

In our last post, I recounted some of our funniest scammer experiences, and I wanted to write a follow-up blog post dedicated to telling scammers apart from real and interested potential customers. I’ve had the question before a handful of times when discussing scammers.

“How do you know they’re a scammer?”

“They might be a legitimate customer.”

“Looks real to me!”

I get a lot of scam messages on Facebook. A lot of them. The most I have had has been 10 scammers from a single Facebook post. So, it’s safe to say, I know a scammer when I see one. They typically follow along a particular script, and do not enjoy deviating from it. There are also some other specific signs you can look for which will identify them as a person who is looking to scam you rather than support you.

So without any further ado, let’s put the hundreds of scam messages I have had to good use! Here are 5 ways to identify a scammer from a genuine customer.

1. The speed in which they respond to a post is typically the first indicator. A significant portion of the scam messages I receive are within seconds of making a post, and that is not an exaggeration.

I can publish a post across Facebook and Instagram, and within 5-10 seconds, I often have at least 2-3 scammers messaging me about a product. If we look at this reasonably, it takes the average legitimately interested person - no matter how eager - longer than 10 seconds to read and click into a post, write a text message and send it off.

2. The second hint is typically the quality of their responses. This doesn’t include the typical spelling and grammatical errors that are standard for most bored or frantic scammers in the late stages of the conversation, but rather notes the very generic responses I receive.

They revolve around the same phrases and the same emojis. It’s very rare for scammers to divert from the script they have been assigned, which is common across most forms of scams.

If you take some time to dive into scambaiting (in which case I highly recommend the Youtuber Kitboga, as long as you don’t mind some foul language on the scammer’s behalf), you will see that most – if not all – scams follow a script to target their victims.

The types of scams that commonly follow a script include:

- Australian Taxation Office scams (or the IRS equivalent)

- Bank fraud scams

- Office of Drug Control scams (the equivalent of the US’s DEA scam)

- Investment scams

- Job scams

- Relationship scams

- Gift card scams

So, it makes sense that the task of scamming a small business follows a script as well. And it is an easy way to identify if a potential customer is legitimate or not by the overly generic and bot-like nature of their initial messages.

3. Another telltale sign of a scammer is when they are asking for the price of ‘an item’ on a photograph with numerous products. A lot of scammers reply to the posts I make of our market events, in which I share pictures of our market table for the day. Some pictures can have over a dozen individual pieces, and they will ask how much ‘it’ costs, with no identifying factors on which item they are interested in.

Typically, there are two ways this interaction plays out. I have had several occasions when I have questioned which item in particular they are interested in, and they tell me: all of them. All of them. Every single one. That can include jewellery, crochet items, shawls, and resin centrepieces. On multiple occasions, they have wanted to buy a couple dozen pendants at a time, accompanied by all of the previously mentioned red flags. Don’t get me wrong – I am proud of what we make, but I have to say that I am suspicious when a stranger on the internet is overly eager to buy upwards of $300 of shawls at a glance.

This brings me onto the second way this interaction can be carried out…

4. If they aren’t keen to buy the whole table, they will sometimes come back with a circled picture of specific items. And an address, typically somewhere international like the United States. To me, it is a considerable red flag when potential buyers are far too eager to give out their address.

They are keen to know if you ship internationally, and are often only willing to pay via PayPal (in which they can easily request a refund and steal your products). And when you take a moment to research their alleged address, it is common to find that they belong to no one in particular. In the past, I have had scammers ask me to send packages to their home (an illegitimate address) and even the address of a business that has permanently closed.

Additionally, by giving out international addresses, they rely often rely on these sketchy tactics so that someone local can pick it up, while they 'pay' online - like Vasilka Andreeva in our last blog post (which you can read here)!

With all legitimate customers I have spoken to – international or not – people are typically not eager to give out such personal details, and rightfully so! I like keeping my privacy, and I respect that my customers do as well.

5. Last, but certainly not least, includes inconsistencies with their profiles and even examples of non-existent profiles. Names that don’t make sense, including pure keyboard smashed names (not foreign names, but legitimate keyboard smashed). Profiles that claim the person lives in Europe, all the while they are requesting for their order to be posted to the United States. And the ever-illusive shadow profile – the person who does not exist according to Facebook.

The latter is a bizarre one, but I have had it more times than I can count. Once or twice, I would consider it to be a Facebook glitch. However, this occurrence has happened well beyond that, and only on accounts that are easily identifiable to be scammers. The ‘spoofing’ of accounts is another scam technique that can be quite sneaky, so it is important to remain vigilant.

Suspiciously new accounts, sketchy profile pictures, duplicates of profiles when searched and shadow-profiles and the like are not worth the risk of a sale that will likely backfire against you.

It feels generic to write, but in the technological age, cybersecurity and acute awareness to what links you click and the people you are talking to is essential. Technology is ever changing, and scammers use that to their advantage just as much as the cybersecurity and social media companies that do in their best efforts to protect you and prevent your information being hacked.

Have you had any experiences with scammers like I have listed above? Are you tired of getting a potential customer only to sorely discover that they are trying to serve their own purpose rather than support small? I would love to hear your own thoughts and experiences!

Kimberley (they/them)

Accessories by Antoinette