Topic: Are messages like this leading to scam? (Read 341 times)

I wasn't happy because I didn't understand why I received the message so reported it. It was confusing so thanks for the post. I'll lock the thread because you've explained what happened.

I didn't read the comments yet but the message in question was sent by me to invite you later to my published service https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/last-attempt-service-clients-5457763 however as you replied late and asking how can I invite you there was no point of bothering you again with another message. Thanks for bringing this up in a polite way I appreciate that.

Edit:
I didn't choose you specifically I DM a lot of people back then and this is why I got banned for a week as PM ad spam. Nothing personal don't worry. + wrote in Arabic as both of us speak it.

Edit2:
Just saw the comments everything seems fine. The only take here is that I never knew that sending unsolicited pms are discouraged but I already got punched for that earlier.

Thanks all for commenting

Given that there's no sensitive or private information exchanged or provided on those PM, I think the decision to reveal the sender's username is ultimately depends on the purpose of this thread.

Does it serve as a way to help you decide whether the user tried to scam you or not? Then don't, you've reported it to mods, you've made your stance on the PM's purpose.

Does it serve as a way to satisfy your curiosity why he PMed you? Then don't, there's no added benefit on it. He went online yesterday, if he's honest and had any intention to tell you further, he'll already done so. Unless you hope by having his name mentioned, he'll come here to address the concern [which quite unlikely, if we assume he's a scammer with disposable account]

Does it serve as a warning and informing people who might also get PM from him? Then do it, as said above, there's no private information on those PM. Revealing his username might encourage others who probably also got PM from him to report it.

You give too much importance to something that is obviously spam, and an introduction to trying to take money from you. Regardless of whether it's just begging or a proposal to invest money in a super-guaranteed method of earning. Fraudsters always act like that, they are very kind and try to show their human side in order to gain trust.

The reason why he is not contacting you is probably because he has a limit for sending a PM number, and you are certainly not the only one he has contacted.


An account that is only 3 months old is a Newbie. Even if he has written 1000 posts in the meantime, he is still a newbie. Also, by gaining experience on the forum, one of the things you learn is not to spam other users for no reason. Your interlocutor has not reached that level.

That's the assumptions I've got about him. I've reported his message.




Thanks I've reported it. I don't trust him I won't trust him but I don't know why he's targeted me that's why he isn't blocked. I've an idea why but I'd like him to say why he tried to befriend me. He was online yesterday. When he's online if he doesn't send a message explaining why he chose me I'll post his name so other users can judge his intentions.

These day's many funny things happen though possibly this invitation might be to lure the account owner to honour an invitation to physically grace an event and at such one needs to be careful because it is not all about scamming sometimes but of personal security matters. So far things of this nature has happened in the past. My friend was telling me her friend's experience years past when she received a message of invitation not knowing that it was a different game all together and it almost got sour but thanks to the security around that premises at that particular time for their quick intervention.

One needs to be very careful and take caution when handling such situations of unwarranted messages of invitation from unknown numbers and contacts. Always do well to confirm or call te contact to verify from them and take note of their voices and manner at which they respond to you do you could be able to decipher what they are up to.

It is difficult to find out why this member actually sent this message. Now it is difficult to trust someone easily, because we see many times people with bad intentions use different tricks to gain trust and complete their mission by deceiving that user. So if you think this user is suspicious, then do not continue the conversation with him. You can use "report to admin" option if you think this user is really suspicious.

I understand your fear OP. Come to talk of it, we may have no idea why the sender sent you that message owing to the fact that we do not know the profile of the sender. Have you been able to do a check on the senders' profiles to see the local board the sender chats frequently? because there we would know if truly it's a scammer or not. To the best of my knowledge, I see your profile username possibly that must have made the sender send you that invitation message. Well, since they have not asked you to send them anything or a link for you to click I will say let us assume till we get a scam fact about the sender then we can conclude that it is a work of a scammer.

If he contacts me offering explanations I won't trust him but I'm curious. That's why I haven't blocked his messages I'll give some days.

It would've been ideal but he hasn't explained. I've waited but he hasn't told what he wants. What's bugging me more is I don't know why he chose me.

I've thought the same. He's chosen me because of the language but that can't be the only reason or else he would've sent invitations to more Arabic language users.

Should I post the messages with his name showing?

Thanks that's what I do with suspicious links I use Tor browser with pasting the address. I'll block him tomorrow if he doesn't explain what he wanted.

I'm not a frequent user people don't know me. I've joined my first sig campaign last week so I'll gradually increase posting but I want to post meaningful content that's why I didn't understand why he wanted to get a conversation going with me when he could've targeted others.

Thanks. I posted a reply but didn't receive guidance.

He sent a message privately when I don't know him. I didn't post asking users to send private invitations. He didn't ask for confidentiality so can I post the message with his name visible? I'd like to share if it isn't against forum policies.

Maybe he's done it to others so I'd like to post his name if it isn't against forum policies. Can I do it?

If it's legit, the sender wants the business to run privately.
If it's a scam, no need to explain.
So far there's no discernible motive for the message and I think you're too quick to create this thread if you're curious about what's next. I don't think the sender will answer your messages anymore if s/he reads this thread.

Whenever you receive something of this nature as PM, you're expected to acted either of this two options, ignore the user and don't respond to his message or report the message to a moderator, the person is trying to play smart by first demanding for your approval before sending you phishy links to join their platform or so, in this context, the first reason why you shouldn't respond is on how he gets to your DM when you never had a contact with him before, how did he know you to have called you his brother, it's nothing than a trick, if he truly knows you, he will state on the PM his name and were you both had a encounter.

You have (Private Message Option): you just follow the instructions.

If the messages sent to you randomly disturb your peace, then you don't have to think about the messages you don't want.

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Can you show the profile of that user here....!

In my opinion, if you show that user here, maybe it can help other users, if at any time he targets other members in this forum, there is a bright side if you dare to display the user's profile here and we are here, really appreciate it, if you like.

No one knows about this concern since by the definition of the message, it was private message. Most of the user that send an invitation via PM that you didn't know usually result to scam. Unless you ask for it in the public thread post.

To ask you personally

You are not sure about this since he didn't send the complete info about his invitation. It maybe scam or not. He only knows, He send you an arabic PM because you are posting on arabic and your name has an arabic word indicating that you are from Arab country due to your activity and name.

I get unsolicited messages regularly, many asking for a loan or offering an "investment" in their project.  If there are no links in the message, or there's no underhanded effort to advertise a website or anything like that I just ignore it.  If there are links I won't click on them, but I might copy them and investigate using tor browser with a fresh circuit.  If it looks even the slightest bit suspicious, I'll report the PM.

Unsolicited PMs are annoying, but they're not automatically dangerous.


And people wonder why the trust system is growing more useless by the day.  

He could have chosen you, since you are probably in the same local partition as him. And you may not be the only one to whom he sent such a PM.
You can also tag it with a negative tag and write in the reference link that it was an unsolicited PM.
After all, people should be aware that some people don't like to communicate via PM.

The account was registered in March 2023 so he isn't newbie. He's active every day but it's been 1 week he hasn't replied.

Thanks I'll follow the advice.

You're right I don't trust him. I don't know him or what he wanted. I won't wait for confirmation I'm sure it would've been trying to scam.

I didn't want to block him because he could've replied. I wanted to know reasons he chose me but it doesn't matter I'll block his messages. Thanks.

I'll report the message. If he's sent identical messages mods should know so they can review necessary action.

He sent a message privately when I don't know him. I didn't post asking users to send private invitations. He didn't ask for confidentiality so can I post the message with his name visible? I'd like to share if it isn't against forum policies.

Most likely, a link will be sent to you, either a referral link or a phishing link, scam ICO/CEX, or you may be asked for a loan. It may not be scam, but it will definitely ask you for something and you may be able to do it.
If the account is old or has a record of posts, look at those posts, and then you may be able to help him, but if it is a new account, ignore the message and report to admin if it contains any suspicious link.

Sometimes, ignoring these kind of DM's is the best thing to do TBH.

I'll just share a story of mine which is the same as this one. I've received a DM from a random stranger back a few months ago, and he is offering an idea of his with regards to trading, and the reason why he DM'ed me out of nowhere is because I just shared my opinion with regards to trading. I didn't entertained him that much because he went to ask me some private information that makes me uncomfortable. A few weeks after that happen, I saw some negative trust from him because of spreading malware.

Anyway, blocking the user, just ignoring it, or simply report would be the best options for you OP. Sometimes, trusting your guts would help you as well, so if you feel that he will scam you, just ignore.

It's hard to answer without having the profile of the user who sent you the PM.
In addition to what's been said, there is the "report to admin" option, indicating that you have a doubt about this user. If there is only one report, there is not much risk for him, but he will be on the GMs' radar. If there are several reports against him, the result will be more definitve

If you don't already trust this person (and it sounds like you don't), don't click on any links they send you. Its probably some kind of phishing attempt. From the information you've provided it definitely feels like they are trying to scam you in some way or another. I wouldn't waste my time finding out for sure.

You can also block them from sending future messages to you by going to Profile -> Personal Message Options -> Ignorelist and adding their name there.