Tag Archives: facebook

Analysis of an attempted Facebook Scam

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I have an “extra” iPhone that’s completely new, and still in its unopened original box.
I posted it for sale on the Facebook marketplace.
I soon got a request someone wanted to send me a message which I approved
The “lady” then engaged me as follows via FB messenger:

Friday last week:
Bonnie Monalisa: Hi. I’d like to purchase the Apple iPhone XS Max 64GB space gray$720

Monday this week:
Me: Hi. Ok. no shipping though. Would have to exchange it for cash or venmo at any convenient location in the neighborhood. I can go up as far as SLC or south as far as Provo if necessary.

Bonnie Monalisa: do you still have the purchase receipt and for how long have you had it ? I Hope it is in good condition and can I ask you why you selling it?
Bonnie Monalisa: What is your username and email

Today (Friday this week):
Me: Yeah. I should have it somewhere. Never opened it. I mistakenly purchased a second phone while waiting for another to arrive. itaba—-h@gmail.com

Bonnie Monalisa: Sending now
Bonnie Monalisa: Payment sent, let me know when you get it

Me: Ha ha. Payment sent to where?

Bonnie Monalisa: Here: itaba—-h@gmail.com

Me: got an email that you sent me money by Venmo, but no money in Venmo. If you are attempting to scam me, you have to try harder! 😅🤣

PS: I knew it was likely a scam once she said she sent me money. But I went ahead and checked my email (got an email) and Venmo before my final response above. From the screenshot, you can see she/he has seen my last message, but no reaction.

Her profile on IG (I guess since FB owns IG now, you don’t need an FB profile for the FB marketplace) has only 4x posts, all of them of 4x different women.
https://www.instagram.com/bonnie_barnes_/?fbclid=IwAR3WR14WUbJurkDprk24xD9mplmZ2DnKRIf2z9bXg7a0QrerqaLBd8Yi8c0

Look closely at the email which looks very official and is supposedly from Venmo:
– But the sender is venmo.pay@yandex.com
– It is addressed to @Reilyn-Miguel who supposedly received a Business payment of $720.00 (same amount I listed the iPhone for)
– The signature says “The Venmo Team”
– I called the listed number “+1 (702) 660-5409” and it showed up as a Las Vegas (Nevada) number even though the address in the email says “The Venmo Team” is based in Scottsdale, Arizona.
– the first time it connected, it appeared someone cut the call, so I tried again
– the second time I got the automated message “The party you are trying to reach is unavailable, please leave a message and someone will get back to you later.” (I didn’t bother to leave a message)
– By the way, Venmo’s contact page (obviously) lists a different number: +1 (855) 812-4430

Olutayo’s Kidney Transplant Fund

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Olutayo is my immediate younger brother. Not sure why I haven’t put this up before now since we have had a Facebook page and a GoFundMe page for him for quite a while.

The summary is that his kidneys failed completely (CKD – Chronic Kidney Disease) mid-last year (2016) and he needed a transplant. He was on dialysis for a year and finally had his operation (after we found a suitable donor) about a month ago. The financial and emotional strain on all concerned has been immense. But in all things we give thanks.

A rough estimate of the cost of his treatment so far should be well over  N16 million Naira (the operation is a huge chunk of it, while the 2-3 times weekly dialysis sessions for the year makes up the bulk of the balance). So while we were able to pay for the operation upfront (no negotiation in the matter), it means we have debt to re-pay. In addition, he has to take anti-rejection drugs (so that his body doesn’t reject the transplanted kidney) for as long as he lives and the drugs are quite expensive as well (at current rate about $10,000 per annum).

The link to the Facebook and GoFundMe pages are below. We continue to request for your support in prayers and donations.

https://www.facebook.com/Olutayos-Kidney-Transplant-Fund-1573477076294320/

https://www.gofundme.com/2jq7mgc

Thank you!

That morning

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That morning

Had a weird dream this morning. “”They were shooting Spider-Man in the house where I was. And they had this really tall steel structure with some attachment to the house. And the Spider-man was swinging around this. He of course had several safety ropes attached which I guess will be digitally removed. The director was explaining the intricacies of the 3D work and so on. We were maybe 6 or 8 floors up. My mum was there as well. A floor or so below me. The director was on the ground I believe. The house had no guard railing in the front at all, so you could literally leap down.

In the blink of an eye about half the steel structure was gone (they had finished filming). My mum should have used that to get indoors (not completely sure why not on the floor where she was ). Anyway, she first walked the ledge with the vertical drop to her left. Then she jumped down one floor. Then dropped to her hand over the ledge (holding on to the ledge with her legs dangling free) , swung back and forth and landed on the next floor (which was sort of receded). All the while praying that I would not have to carry her (she was literally praying this out loud) while doing all this dangerous calisthenics! And there I was thinking maybe she should wait while we try and figure out how to get the steel structure back so she could get into the house. She made it safely though!

07:30am 11/March/2013.

 

I put the following on FaceBook yesterday (08/05/2013) then removed it immediately. I think even the premise that one can announce he/she is about to make restitution (implying making up for some negative act in the past – as if …) is probably an indication of a proud/haughty heart (not what I was aiming for). I am putting it here because I like how it read (and it is my blog after all 🙂

“Time for restitution. This is not a one-time offer though it may be time-limited in its current iteration. If I have taken anything (money, joy, property, etc) from you, or the reverse (given you pain, sadness, etc), I am truly sorry. If it is or can be converted to material things, I will add something on top (after all, there is always interest to be paid even on legitimate borrowing) but I can’t go full-scale “Zacchaeus” (I don’t have that kind of resources … yet). If not, let me know the type/kind of restitution required.
But seriously …”