#cat scam

[topgunreacts]

Ayo! Greetings! I hope you are doing pretty well! I’m really sorry for asking this as I’m truly in dire need of help. My cat needs some immediate help for her surgery so I’m trying to raise some funds for her. If you have some spare time, please check it out the post that I have pinned for her, and if you feel it in your heart to help, please do us the favor by boosting the post or share it! Even if you cannot donate, spreading the word is definitely more than enough. Thank you for your kindness, and so sorry again for being this direct! <33

THIS IS A SCAMMER

But how do I know? And shouldn’t I reblog it just in case? It’s a valid concern. Fortunately, there are a few quick steps anyone can take to assess the validity of a charity request. Because at the end of the day, spreading a just-in-case message can have real negative consequences as other people continue to spread the scam on a just-in-case basis.

A sense of urgency (sickness, eminent surgery, etc)

They ask you directly to give them something

Familiarity, such as calling you “dear” or “hun”

Comments turned off

New account with few if any posts

Direct messages that ask for privacy in the matter

Use of pets, children, irrelevant mention of demographics (please help a disabled queer single parent feed their sick cat, etc)

No response to requests for more information

Copy and paste message that gets sent to numerous people

Photos that do not match up with the origin as found through reverse image search

Lack of creativity: you receive a similarly or identically worded request from a random account

Melodramatic backstory--we rescued this cat from an alligator attack that almost took the cat's eye!

Donation account linked to a country at high risk for hosting scam operations

And others. These are not ironclad rules, nor do they always show up in every scam post. Maybe they ARE a disabled queer single parent who can't afford to feed their sick cat. But these elements are patterns you can look for in order to make an informed judgment call. There is at least one popular tumblr account here that will not post any donation links unless the asker fills out a form allowing the account holder to independently prove their identity and issue. If a person is truly desperate and actually needs help, they will fill out that form. Asking for more information is always a good idea, as is doing a reverse image search to see where else the photos might have been posted. Checking keywords on tumblr is also a good bet. Remember: posting lies is quick and easy. Providing proof is not. And that’s critical if money is involved.

Scammers suck. But some of them are very good at what they do. They are masters of using people’s guilt and empathy against them.

Let's dig deeper.

First, let's check out that melodramatic backstory. It's a doozy!

It was actually her Birthday yesterday….well her gotcha Birthday! We found her on our balcony 4 years ago after an awful noise was heard and I still don’t know if she jumped up scared from something or if she was thrown on there 😔 She wasn’t chipped. Vet said it looked like she hadn’t long had kittens and looked about 3 years old herself. Couldn’t find her owners, so she joined our family. (Oh I looked for kittens believe me) She is the sweetest girl we ever met. She even purrs when she sleeps 😻we so love her. We just very recently lost our cat Mimi. She had cancer sadly but we fought so hard to help her but in the end it won. We have an elderly dog called Billa who just two weeks ago turned 20!!!! Any day now we could lose her, she’s feeling her age 😔 I mention those two because it’s just too overwhelming and feels like Maggie is the only one I can help now. Upon an annual vet visit recently with Maggie….so I could get flea meds for her and her brother Milow that they were due to have…the vet found she had two masses….or tumors. One at the bottom of her back next to her tail (I don’t know how I didn’t see it before I’m so ashamed) and when she pressed on her stomach, my loving Maggie started growling which I can honestly say in the time we’ve had her she’s never done that. We did an X-ray and she found a mass in her stomach 😔 we also did a biopsy. This is just so unexpected and so overwhelming after losing Mimi and knowing we will be losing Billa soon…just can’t lose Maggie also. I hate being in this position. I really pay forward as much as I can. I’ve helped out a couple of women with bags and cases of food for the cat colony’s they feed. One woman with food who has a lot of fosters who needed help with food. I think it’s 3 different pet surgeries I’ve helped contribute to for their treatment. It sucks to be on this side now but I’m really praying somehow it might be my turn to get some help to help Maggie get her ct scan so they can figure out the surgery route to remove the tumor from her stomach. I wish I was in a better situation at this moment to not need any help. We’ve always been there to help our babies no matter what they’ve needed, you have to try at least to help them.. And we’ve been able to pay for it ourselves until now. Now I’m able to work here, it can help set us up for future pet issues….I mean, we do everything for these guys including going to work lol but I’ve literally only had my permanent status the last few days instead of visas and it’s all been on my hubby until now who has been amazing, but after paying for Mimi’s help and then end of life, my flight to and from England for my immigration and all those fees and just paying for everything on his own…there’s a lack of funds now. I just want Maggie to get some help and will somehow have to make this happen for her, so please if you have the means to, you can donate to my paypal which is linked down below

Come on, dude. At least be creative. Please make note of the highlights: dramatic injury, insistence (with evidence!) that the scammer is a Good Person Who Gives Back, Cancer Cat & Old Dog supporting characters, immigration drama regarding visas, sick cat had kittens that were never found, etc.

[speculation incoming] Also, laws regarding the importation of pet animals from other countries are strict, and always involve a vet visit. I doubt a vet would clear a cat with tumors to fly out of the country. Even if they did, the timeline here is weird. This vet clinic is in California. [speculation over]

Okay now let's look at these photos. (PSSST I instantly knew this person was a scammer because I've seen these exact x-rays and screenshots on other posts with different cat images. That's something else to look for. Scammers want to expend as little energy as possible in their hunt for your money.)

Where is the scam coming from?

Hovering over the Paypal link, I see the account is located in the Philippines, a country with a high risk of scam hosting. Red flags on red flags.

How to Reverse Image Search

Find a search engine that will let you search by image. This is Google Images on a Firefox browser on PC. Clicking the little camera gives me the option to upload, paste, or give the URL to a photo.

This time, the photo search wasn't helpful. There were no identical matches that Google picked up right away. But I'm including how to do this anyway because it's good to know.

Search Tumblr

We all know tumblr search sucks, but after looking up "cat scam" in the search bar, I found Everything.

Wait a minute.

SHIT THEY GOT MAVERICK POST CANCELED

@kyra45 appears to have amassed some good resources for finding and documenting these scams.

Be aware, be smart, report scam accounts for spam, block them, and do not post donation links "just in case."

#scams #ask #tumblr scams #scam #cat scam #long post

[tokidokifish]

Hi! I hope im not over stepping any boundaries by sending this ask, but if I did please lmk! Just wanted to ask help for Draven (my cat) who needs immediate vet care/help as im currently on financial bind. I know times are tough for everyone but please, if you can share/boost the post I did for Indie it would tremendously help us a lot! I pinned it on my blog. Thank you so much for reading! If you’re not able to donate monetarily, please send good vibes/prayers our way, please consider answering this ask privately as I know some people might get weird about this :(( wishing that you’ll have a wonderful new year ahead!

THIS IS A SCAM

507-onqueue IS RUNNING A CAT SCAM

BLOCK THEM

this one is using the exact same (stolen) info from the last one, except that i think they fucked up their copy pasta - who the fuck is indie, you piece of shit shyster?

#507-onqueue #cat scam #scam alert #i really don't know if you can report this behavior #if anyone knows what you would report them for please lmk

[rainnism]

hey, just letting you know that the cat donation post you reblogged from cantsaynotosleep is a scam. You can check the blog kyra45 for more info as they've been tracking this scammer for a while now. or look up their previous, now-deactivated usernames: hologramconnosseurrs, sleiekkem, ohdelin, michelvv, michevvous, michevvouuz, michevkevv, michelaide, michelainne, seafallsv, bagsofgoldz, stereopillars, pillars-of-stereos, and the most recent one afaik is buffersforever. They send out asks with the exact same wording but with a different name and story about their cat, depending on whose cat donation post from FB they are currently stealing and using. (Last time their cat's name was "Canto", now they've changed it but the paypal account is still the same, since they were impersonating someone on facebook whose name was written in the vet documents that they stole. guess it's hard to make different paypal accounts every time they remake their scam.) Anyway, sorry if this ask gets sent multiple times. Will be going through the reblogs on their posts to get the word around as that seems the most effective way to deter this scammer so far. Please do report them to tumblr if you can or warn others about them.

omfg ty

reblog this

#scammers #cat scam #donation scam

[drusoona]

Oh seems like it is please help my cat ask scam time again. 😑

#scam #cat scam #Asks

[phantomram-b00]

Okay so I’m joining solitary of the strike curtesy to Bisan from 21st to 28th for Palestine as they are actively in need of our help, i advice all to do the same. But I see an alerting thing that I need to address rn. To spread awareness and to make sure my mutuals/followers don’t fall victim into this.

So there even donation scams going around this app, such as:

I’ve saw two more of these, one of me was posing as a Palestinian Mother with two kids whilst the other claimed to need money for their lungs. Now I wish I had these screenshots to prove my claims but at the time I wasn’t sure if I was going crazy or was the only one having this gut feeling. But today, I realize this has been an alarming thing. This just happen to me, and I’m finding out, this is how they’ll get you:

Typically, they’re use your AMA to ask for donation, whether it on their animal, children, etc that require their donation usually by PayPal. Another is that, they’ll randomly follow you and immediately use the AMA to try to get you to either donate to them or signal boost their donation. Usually their story will be a copy paste as it more than just one. This situation is truly worse than p*rnbots. And frankly it absolutely disgusting.

If you want more proof other than the proof I just showed above, go search on Donation Scam and you’ll see many of these scammers. Here are one I can provide as there more than one incident where this happen:

Now to try to prevent this from happening I will link also a blog that goes in depth on how to prevent something like this from happen to you ghost pals or your mutuals or followers so they don’t fall victim into this:

What can I tell you, my mutuals and followers is that, please report them and block them is this does happen to you.

“But what if they’re being truthful”

I wish I can tell you, but the sad truth, it can be tricky because it the internet, as much as it a place to connect, it can also be a place to deceive you. So the best advice as I can tell you is be on your P’s and Q’s. Because years ago I was scammed and hacked for trusting a source I thought was factual. So I don’t want that to happen to you Ghostly Pals. And for my mutuals/friends, please be careful. 🩶 but I do have an advice, save their photo and run it by a photo finder I personally use TinEye and see if the image have been posted anyway, but if you have another you prefer even better:

Originally I was gonna make a post about boundary regarding the AMA but now that I see this have been a new scam running rampant on tumblr, I can’t keep my mouth shut about this and I need to let this be known. But I will still say, please only use my AMA for asking questions or telling me things whether it’s Good omens related or whatever. Please don’t use it to ask for donations like what these scammers are doing. I hope this doesn’t make me sound like an asshole but I just want to be safe. Until then please spread this around, make this known. Please.

I will like to thank the people whom I’ve linked as if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have known that this was an ongoing problem so I advice you look at the links and listen to them as your speading awareness.

#donation scam #scams #scammers #cat scam #please spread #spreading awareness #psa #important #important psa #spread awareness #scam #please listen #this is important #beware #please dont ignore this

[wheezethecheeze]

!! HEY JUST SO YOU KNOW THERES A NEW SCAM GOING ABOUT !!

it's basically one about this cat going to need surgery money. you'll probably be asked to signal boost by some random account saying it's in the pinned post.

Here's how you can tell it's a scam

pinned post, donation stuff, yada yada yada, you get the idea

they send you an ask to reblog it, despite never interacting with you ONCE

the first post was on the same exact fucking day as the "PLEASE HELP THIS CAT HAS DISEASE" post

I fuckin hate scammers. and I don't mean this lightly when I say that I want them to fucking explode

#cat scam #psa

[jheselbraum]

Hi! Im really sorry for coming across like this and i hope im not stepping out any boundary, just in need of dire help right now as my cat needs some emergency treatment and im on financial bind. Im trying to raise some funds for him and I’m hoping that you’d be so kind to help us even by just spreading the word out. I made a post about it on my blog and pinned it, i know times are tough right now for and its a few days before 2024 starts, just wanted to atleast get the care he needs before its too late. I feel so bad 😭 i hope you would consider, also pls if maybe answer the ask privately or send me a message instead? its just that people sometimes tend to get weird on these things. 🙏😭 merry christmas 🙏

Wowie gee an ask about a poor unspecified cat from a three day old blog that does not follow me with the same profile pic, "stepping out any boundary" typo, and emojis as a different tumblr user who also sent this same ask five days ago, on December 26th, the day before your cat's supposed emergent vet bill was invoiced to you? At least, according to the completely unedited picture you posted of the vet bill, which includes "your" full name, address, and phone number. Boy oh boy, I should transfer all of my assets into your paypal dot me link, which is mysteriously not in the paypal dot me slash name format that paypal dot me links usually are! Of course tagging it as friends and family, so I have no recourse should I get wise.

And "answer the ask privately" I have thousands of followers are you sure you don't want me to signal boost your ailing cat?

Come on dude. Warnings about this scam have been circulating for months now, you're gonna have to try harder than that.

#cat scam #reporting after posting but if anyone wants an example of what those cat scam asks look like these days here it is

[unironicallycringe]

So I'm pretty sure Cat Help Scam Asks are getting more elaborate. Unless they've just always been like this, I don't know

I received the ask then a follow. Already sus for multiple reasons but ok! Let's take a moment and investigate, maybe this person does need help, you never know. I checked the blog because I had time, and like. Very interesting results.

Their earliest reblog is 10 hrs ago, but you have to scroll to find that out.

They are all either Popular Tumblr Posts or Fandom Posts, but the Fandom Posts are never from the same one multiple times.

All of those reblogs were made around 10 hrs ago without any tags whatsoever, not even commentary.

The pinned help request cannot decide on the pronouns of their cat, as though they mixed and matched a copy-paste. (I'd at least expect an aside or a past post about your cat being bigender /hj)

Also they've never interacted with me before I mean that's a big one but I was focusing on the blog being an imitation first and foremost.

So to summarize, in the past ten hours, this blogger would have had to go "I just got a blog on Tumblr dot com! I will reblog bits and pieces of varying fandoms all at once because these are all my interests, but not enough for me to reblog about the same interest more than once over time. Oh No, My Cat Suddenly!"

Anyways yeah I guess just be careful, they don't expect anyone to think too hard about the blog being a hastily-painted front.

#im sorry do you know anyone on tumblr dot com who reblogs one (1) different fandom post one after the other #and thats it #like we all have varying interests but the vibe is more like 'oh i like this thing!' *sudden avalanche of posts i enjoy about the thing* #you know what i mean??? #cat scam

[xythlia]

btw if u get an ask from this blog it's a scam. I found the real cat by searching the first part of their pinned post. also the oldest post on this blog is 9 hours old which is a huge red flag & this ask is identical in wording to every other cat scam ask on here. The original facebook post for said cat has a gofundme link, not paypal. Also there's zero evidence the paypal belongs to the real person despite them using the ops real name on here. This is pretty clearly someone pretending to be the real person with the real cat especially bc why wouldn't you just repost the gofundme link on here + link their og post? shitty thing to do impersonating someone & their sick cat to siphon funds

update they changed their name after being called out for scamming again their new user is @hologramconnosseurrs

#just an fyi bc i can see from their pinned ppl here have donated which sucks bc its not the real person #scam #cat scam #hologramconnosseurrs #pet donation scam #hologramconnoisseur

[witchywitchy]

Hey, hi! Im really sorry for sending this, i just hope im not overstepping any boundaries as I’m about to ask help which is very important right now :( our cat, Sleepy needs an urgent vet care. She is pain and I can't afford to pay the vet to help her so I'm reaching out to ask for help, I mean even if you can’t help monetarily, reblogging or sharing it would truly mean a lot. She is my daughter’s best friend and she’s all I have left of my mom who passed away last 2021. In case you’d be insterested to help, I have pinned the post on my blog, please try to also answer the ask privately as some people tend to get weird on this stuff. Please send us prayers, be safe. ♥️🙏

Just warning everyone that this is a common scam tactic on Tumblr. Just searched up "cat scam" on Tumblr and plenty of similar messages popped up and y'all aren't fooling anyone. I'm blocking this user.

#cat scam #scammers #scam alert

[finleyforevermore]

Yo hello there! I am reaching out to you with a heavy heart and a plea for assistance. My cherished kitty, who is FIV positive, is in dire need of dental care and we need help about it. I pinned the post on my blog, please do share it or boost as it would really mean the world to me. Btw, please do send me a msg to reply or answer the ask privately instead as I dont want other blogs to think im a spambot or what, once again im sorry for asking this, praying you’d consider! 🥲🙏

You had me until "msg to reply or answer the ask privately", not to mention the exact two emojis almost every pet scam uses at the end of their asks....and also this.

#pet donation scam #cat scam #pet scam

[vonlipvig]

Hiyah! sorry for sending this! Just trying to reach out to get some help for my baby is in need of urgent care so I’m trying to raise some funds for his upcoming vet care visit, I made a post about it and I pinned it on my blog, hoping that you’d be so kind to help me share the word, please as every bit of help can get Tobi one step closer to relief. It would truly mean the world to me and i pray that all goes well on your end, too! stay safe!, if its possible, try to answer this ask in private or message me if it’s fine, reason is that, people might think I "pressured" you to do so, as some people can be weird about these things. Sorry again for being too direct. 🥹❤️🐈

Hey, scammer who just started posting today!

If you guys couldn't tell already by the ask (c'mon, a cat scam? the oldest trick in the Tumblr book?), this seems to be a scam. Here's the instagram account of Tobi's real owner, and she links to a GoFundme where she states she hasn't posted this campaign on Tumblr.

Please remember to do some research before spreading these kinds of posts, especially if the ask wants you to answer privately. Always copy and paste the ask and search for it on Tumblr first, if it's a scam you will surely find other people who have realized that and are warning against it.

Stay safe, y'all!

#nice try i guess #pet scam #pet donation scam #cat scam

[chonylolu]

yet another fucking cat surgery scam.

helpful post explaining why this and similar posts are a scam: X

go report this mf using report > report something else > unlawful uses of content > phishing

#scam #cat scam #not my usual type of post but this blog is only a few hours old #so i figured id try and bring awareness early

[timeflow]

Yo hello there! :c I’m very sorry to bother you at this time but I’m kinda hoping if you’d be so kind to check the post that I pinned on my blog and maybe give it a little help by boosting/sharing it? it’s for my cat :((( and we need help to get him the tests that he needs. Thank you if you do as it would really mean the world to me and I understand if you don’t, still appreciate you and stay safe! Btw, please do send me a msg to reply or answer the ask privately instead as I dont want other blogs to think im a spambot or what, sorry for asking this, praying you’d consider! 🥲🙏

first reblog is 6 hours ago and the format is identical to a billion other posts just like this one. cool scam asshole.

#slayingroses #cat scam #pet scam #scam #and when you answer them they immediately block you #typical! #anyone who actually wants help would not be saying to only spread this by boosting some other post

[xavieryaa]

apologies it just occurred to me that my last reblog is a popular scamming method. this is the first time I’ve gotten one of the emergency-cat-vet-bills messages so I’ll be sure not to fall for it next time!!

tumblr user @hinderswap is not really a person whose cat is in trouble, they are a scammer masquerading as a real user for money. their blog was created today, other than their pinned post they have only ever reblogged and they have never used tags, and there seems to be no interests or themes connecting their posts.

if you get any messages asking you to reblog a pinned post from an account like this, especially if they implore your to answer their ask privately, they are trying to scam you and other tumblr users. if you get one of these, ignore them, or better yet, answer them publically and spread awareness!

there are real people on tumblr that need help and it’s disgusting that scammers come on here to take advantage of their existence.

#hinderswap #scam #cat scam #pet donation scam

[bokatan]

Hi, sorry for sending this ask! Just reaching out to get some help for my baby is in need of urgent care so I’m trying to raise some funds for her upcoming vet care visit, I made a post about it and I pinned it on my blog, hoping that you’d be so kind to help me spread the word, please as every bit of help can get her one step closer to relief. I would truly appreciate it and i pray that all goes well on your end, too! stay safe! By the way, if its possible, try to answer this ask in private or message me if it’s fine, reason is that, people might think I "pressured" you to do so, as some people can be weird about these things. Sorry again for being direct. 🥹🙏

seriously?

anyways, here's a new sick cat scam account. if you aren't familiar with this scam, here's a post explaining it more- tl;dr: there's no cat, do not send this person money

#i do not have the patience for this shit today #cat scam #emergency #community aid #mutual aid request #vetbill #emergency aid #cannot express how fast they've already blocked me LMAO