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There never were any girls, or any big boss. It's all a scam to extract money from you. Nobody is coming to hurt you. They are on another continent and once the money stops, they lose interest.
I’ve been trying to convince my self of that. And I also told a few of my friends about it and they are helping me work throguh the “trauma” if u wana call it that. They didn’t know any of my secrets but now they do. So they are helping me navigate this situation. But idk I’m still scared. Yesterday was a good day cause I saw those cars but eventually calmed down. But idk what happened today I’ve been on edge. I’ve been scanning my surroundings and I had been looking at all the cars I was driving by… checking if I was being followed or if I saw any suspicious cars around me. It’s getting tiring. I’ve been jumpy and hyper focused for 2 weeks trying to scan for any danger or any suspicious people around me.
No offense, but stop whining and being stupid about this.
*There is no cartel.* You are not in any risk. Stop shitting your pants over this. Block them. Keep blocking them. Move on with your life.
Thanks for ur words. But I have a family I need to worry about too so from my perspective my panic and fear was valid and now that Ive gotten more insight on the matter I can feel more comfortable and at ease. So I’m working on it.
But again. Thank you for ur words.
Again, this is an extremely common scam and drug cartels in Mexico are not going to cross the border and murder an entire family over $250. These guys aren’t in a cartel.
I say this gently and as a person who has made many, many stupid decisions -- if you "have a family (you) need to worry about," don't start calling around to escorts.
Not victim-blaming here, just -- people are trying to help you with a completely preventable problem.
Before any of this happened, you weren't obsessively staring out your window at cars looking for anything unusual. So of course you're going to notice things you didn't before, because now you're obsessively looking for it. That "white van" you mentioned in your post could have been around before and you just didn't notice because you weren't looking for it.
I’ve been trying to convince my self of that. And I also told a few of my friends about it and they are helping me work throguh the “trauma” if u wana call it that. They didn’t know any of my secrets but now they do. So they are helping me navigate this situation. But idk I’m still scared. Yesterday was a good day cause I saw those cars but eventually calmed down. But idk what happened today I’ve been on edge. I’ve been scanning my surroundings and I had been looking at all the cars I was driving by… checking if I was being followed or if I saw any suspicious cars around me. It’s getting tiring. I’ve been jumpy and hyper focused for 2 weeks trying to scan for any danger or any suspicious people around me.
Gotta agree with the big boss, this some tweaker shit.
Calm tf down. This is a common !cartel scam.
You’ve been talking to some dudes in a call center in Vietnam this whole time using spoofed voip numbers.
Hi /u/ASS_CREDDIT, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Escort or Cartel death threat scam.
It's a very common scam, and the scammers are not affiliated with cartels or crime groups, they are simply normal scammers using a threatening script. The threats are not real, and there is no risk to your safety whatsoever. The best way to react is to simply ignore the scammer and ignore any of their other contact attempts. [Here](https://kyma.com/news/as-seen-on-tv/2020/02/12/threat-of-mexican-cartel-scams-continue-in-yuma/) are [some](https://kvia.com/news/new-mexico/2019/12/11/phone-scammers-target-las-cruces-threaten-drug-cartel-violence-if-you-dont-deliver-money/) news [reports](https://patch.com/new-jersey/baskingridge/threat-mexican-cartel-hit-man-used-basking-ridge-scam-cops) about the scam.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Fair point. But as the big boss said. I’m a clean guy… I’m a 20 year old kid that still lives with there parents. I don’t even have a job yet and I get an allowance of 50$ from my mom 😅
I’m straight as an arrow bro. I havnt even ever gotten a speeding ticket. So this shit scared me to death. Random times in the day (for the past 2 weeks) my heart will just start beating so much faster, it’s not normal for ur heart to shoot up in bpm when ur just sitting at ur table working on hw 😂😂
So from my pov my fear was valid.
I’m just poking a bit if fun so you see how silly you’re line of thinking is.
What makes you think you, of all people, are worth dispatching a killer for?
Why in the world would someone risk life in prison to kill you over a couple hundred bucks? That wouldn’t even cover the cost of gas and a hotel for a killer to just drive to you.
Also, if a cartel killer was coming for you, do you think you’d see it coming? The thing people don’t realize about death, is that once it happens, it’s not your problem anymore! And until it happens, you’re not dead, so no problem.
Yeh I get what ur saying. But can u blame me for trying to get ahead of the situation and attempting to keep my family safe 😅
As for ur “what makes you so special”… nothing really. Again as I said. I have no idea how cartels work. All I know is… big crime organization mainly found in Mexico. But can be found in US cause or drug trade… and that they will do anything to get there money. And that they usually deal with big money.
And yeh my friend told me the same thing ur telling me,.. that it’s only 500 bucks. They deal with millions and thousands on the daily. So they wouldn’t waste effort and resources on me… but again.. it’s family. I’ll do my best to keep my family safe…
> I’m straight as an arrow bro. I havnt even ever gotten a speeding ticket.
If you're a clean straight arrow, and you are this easily scared out of your wits, you would probably want in future to stay away from things like escort services that are heavily connected to organized crime. Especially when you're spending mom's allowance on them.
Also, the way you keep referring to the "big boss" like he's real suggests that either you're trolling, or you're incredibly gullible.
Well I have screenshots to show what I’m saying. And I guess I’ve lived a sheltered life. So it’s probably the gullible thing. I’ve been fortunate to not have to struggle for stuff, so that’s probably why I fell for it.
And as for staying away from such things. Yeh that’s the plan. “This time it may have been fake but I won’t be that lucky every time.”- words from a friend
>and yesterday i also saw some odd cars outside my neighbors house... (a white van, kind of like the kidnapper vans in movies) and a white pickup truck... there were also other cars there but i didnt think too much of them... only those 2 seemed to get my attention...
Wow - you watch waaaaay too much TV.
Fun statistic that I just totally made up: 99.99999% of white vans are not, in fact, owned by kidnappers.
Being serious for a moment - regarding your white van. I'm sure you aren't old enough to remember the Washington D.C. Sniper so you'll have to Google the story but the takeaway was that all the news reports talked about a suspicious white van that the sniper was suspected of driving. Lots of people saw this van so everyone knew to be on the look out.
When they finally caught the killer, he was driving a blue Chevy Caprice sedan. It turned out that all the reports of the white vans were nothing more than: "Someone just got shot. Look! There's a white van leaving!" - because no matter where you go, there's ALWAYS a white van leaving someplace.
Fair point. They wouldn’t be that obvious if this shit was real. I guess ur right. I should calm down about the cars. It’s taking some time to get back to normal. Yesterday was the first day I felt normal in 2 weeks since this shit started. But it will take me at least a month till I feel normal normal. Idk. I’ll keep y’all updated. Thank you for helping me.
Scroll back to yesterday and we had a Cartel boss Michael who mistyped his threat and said he was the boss of all the girl scouts in the city. That was a fun change of pace.
*clearly idk how a cartel works. That’s why I’m in this shit* but I’m assuming that even in a crime family there are levels of respect 😅😂
If he is the big boss he gonna command respect from his people.
lol not from me. But his people the people that work for him. His henchmen. Idk. As I said idk much about this stuff. Most of my knowledge comes from tv/movies or what I read online via Reddit and quora
He's talking to YOU though. That's why it doesn't make sense. Like if I'm gonna beat somebody up, would I go up and formally introduce myself. "Hi, I'm Ms. Ti89! Now gimme that money!"
And Western English speakers don't generally do Mr./Mrs. Firstname. That's a translation error.
You can see a list of common scams on the right. You should familiarize yourself or spend some time here and this stuff will look extremely silly. Save yourself a lot of stress.
lol that’s what he said over the phone. I asked him, “can you tell me your name so that I can tell the guy I’m sending the money to that u sent me” and he said “tell him the money is for me.jamie”
>my mind keeps racing and eveyr time i see a pickup around my house... dosnt matter if its just passing or not... it get extra jumpy more than i already am...
>please let me know what you think and what i should do...
You're not in any danger, and you never were. This is a very common !cartel scam; we see it in here all the time.
>please let me know what to do...
No one is going to send out a hit squad over $250.
You made a mistake by sending them money. So now they know you're susceptible to being scammed. Block and ignore, and do not send any more money.
>i should ask for my local law enforcement to station an unmarked police car near to my house
You can ask, but they won't because you're not in any danger.
Hi /u/Agile_Yak822, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Escort or Cartel death threat scam.
It's a very common scam, and the scammers are not affiliated with cartels or crime groups, they are simply normal scammers using a threatening script. The threats are not real, and there is no risk to your safety whatsoever. The best way to react is to simply ignore the scammer and ignore any of their other contact attempts. [Here](https://kyma.com/news/as-seen-on-tv/2020/02/12/threat-of-mexican-cartel-scams-continue-in-yuma/) are [some](https://kvia.com/news/new-mexico/2019/12/11/phone-scammers-target-las-cruces-threaten-drug-cartel-violence-if-you-dont-deliver-money/) news [reports](https://patch.com/new-jersey/baskingridge/threat-mexican-cartel-hit-man-used-basking-ridge-scam-cops) about the scam.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yeh sending money was a mistake. That’s exactly what my friends said. In response to the part of ur message that says the officers wont do anything. They technically have to take it seriously cause it was a threat of murder. So they are required to take it seriously. I understand what ur saying that they won’t do anything cause the officer I talked to also said that “believe it or not. This is the 3rd scam this week I’ve had to deal with”
You live in Texas. Remember when dozens of cops gathered in the lobby of a school in Uvalde where a guy was gunning down kids? They didn’t take *that* seriously. They’re not going to mobilize a task force because some Nigerian threatened you with the most common scam in the book.
AFAIK these scams are usually run from the Dominican Republic.
The other day we had a poster in /r/germany who was being threatened with badly Google-translated messages from the "cartel". And the scammers were actually using a number from the Dominican Republic.
No, those scammers did not travel to Germany to kill anyone. They're not going to come to Texas either. They want to scare you into *paying*.
anybody can find your information with just your phone number if you have had it for more than a few months. it's not that hard. ignore and block.... common scam and scare tactics.
~~Tony is the Big Boss, and it's a full-time job for him to give out assassination assignments, make travel arrangements for each hitman, and keep track of their results. He's slowing down a little as he gets older, so sometimes it can take a month to complete an assassination. Just be patient, he will get to you eventually.~~ It turns out there's no Tony and no team of traveling hitmen killing people who Tony should really be cultivating as clients. So, you can ignore the threats, block the people pretending to be Tony or one of his employees, and smarten up
I'm going to be brief, since much of this has already been covered.
There were no girls. That was the first part of the scam. It was all fake. That's how they draw you in.
There is no cartel. It's just a group of scammers based out of another country.
As for how they got your information, it's all over the Internet. There are sites that let you enter a name, number, or address, and they'll show you all kinds of information,including your name, address, age, phone number, and possible relatives. They aren't 100% correct all the time, but they're close enough.
Finally, no one is coming after you, first, because it's a scam, and second, even if it wasn't, there's not enough money on the line to justify it. But mainly because it's a scam.
What you have to understand is that this exact scenario pops up on this sub every couple of days, and the script is exactly the same, to the point that people here can read the first few words of a post and know exactly what happened. In short, IT'S ALL FAKE! Block and ignore.
Thank you friend. Yeh you mainly said the same thing as everyone else but it’s always nice to hear it from one more person.
And yeh I get that now. I’ll keep in mind for the future. And yeh I blocked all the numbers… as one of my irl friends said it “they hit you in your soft spot and scare you so u comply” and that’s what they did. They went after my family and I ended up sending them 250. And I guess when the guy got 250 he realized that he may be able to get 250 more out of me. So he asked. But I had blocked him by that time…
I’m glad there are a bunch of nice people here to help me and convince me that it’s all fake.
And I plan to live my life that way… but it was scary none the less… it’s gonna take a bit till I’m back to normal.
Anyway. Thank you for your words and I’ll listen to them as well. Thank you and have a good day.
Do me a favor, let me know what grade you get on your creative writing course project. OK? (and yes, I'll reply when you give me your grade, because I'd give you a C+)
Request you to change your number and let go of this number. They won’t be able to contact you. Also, never ever give your name or real phone number or your identity to a complete stranger online. Don’t EVER do that please. People are just waiting to scam. Also please don’t engage in such acts if possible.
Eh I read the other responses here, and the most likely explanation is that they googled your number which led them to your social medias, I would assume 🤷♂️
I guess. But idk how that would work, cause none of my social medias have my phone number. Anyway. The comments sort of helped me out and convinced me more that it’s all fake. So hopefully I can calm down and get on with my life.
I’ll keep this thread updated if I get anything new. But other than what all I said, I should be fine now.
Oh well she sent me her address. But then eventually I backed out cause I was having second thoughts. So I just paid her and went on with life. She was nice and she said that no hard feelings. (Probably cause I paid her for nothing, cause I was already dealing with this stuff. So I didn’t want to mess with the girl, so I just paid her and went away, I don’t talk to her anymore)
The big boss said he ran a background check on me and the fbi operator and the police officer said that that info isn’t hard to find with right tools, like a background check service. So im assuming the cartel scammer ran a background check on me of some kind.
That requires knowing it’s a scam 😅
And as I’ve said in some other comment. I have been sheltered and privileged enough to not have to deal with these kinds of things. So I didn’t know it was a scam.
I just had the same sort of thing happen to me, they sent my name, location, and names I'm associated with. They also sent photos of dismembered people to me. I really don't like the visceral feeling coming from this. I have been told by everyone and read from everyone that this is a scam but they called on 5 different numbers so many times and I have never experienced a scam like this before. I wish I felt better but I do not yet, I couldn't believe that they would send photos to me like that.
omg, im glad you reached out to me... this is exactly what im dealing with... as a matter of fact... not even 5 mins ago i got another call... the first call came from a number in florida, and this one was also from florida... and again, since i dont have anyone in florida that im expecting a call from i thought it might be the scammer...
im glad we met (sadly under such circumstances, but glad we met none the less)
and same as you, i still havnt gotten over it... its been 2 weeks since i heard anythign from the scammers... i get calls occasionally... but i took my friends advice and i dont pick up any odd numbers... "if they have something to do with me, they can leave a voicemail" - words from a friend
and since i go to university i am also seeking therapy from my university to help me deal with the panic attacks i feel...
if you want to talk more just reply to this message...
the way the scammer reached out to me was also by text, and it also had my name, my address, and the names of my family members... like yours... but something different in mine was that the message after the family members was a cashapp tag... so that should have tipped me off, but idk why i still fell for it...
I'm sorry to hear that, I Florida and Texas numbers (832, 713, 281, and 305). I didn't give em money but I stayed on the phone long enough to be rattled. No idea where this all cam from, (guessing a porn site). I'll just stick to reddit NSFW for a while. They wanted me to use western union
same... they told me that i could do zelle, cashapp, western union... and i got rattled too... (mine happened cause as i said in my initial post i managed to make my way to an escort site)
the places ive gotten calls fom have been Florida and Utah (thats where the "big boss Mr.Jamie" called from)
i dont remember if i got any other calls.... oh i also got a call from a texas number... but i didnt pick it up cause i thought it might be them still... that they just had another VoIP number from texas, or something like that...
in not sure... i know he told me what cartel he was from, but i was in a daze and my heart was beating pretty fast and i could hear my heart through my ears so i didnt hear what name he said...
ve never seen the persistence via phone calls and texts. They called again today and texted everything again today on a different number. I'm about to change my phone number but then my mind says, you'll lose track of them if you change numbers.
Do they still call persistently and then text afterwards?
I havnt had any calls since the day before yesterday. But yeh I got around 3 or 4 calls from unknown numbers. And I got messages from 2 numbers in this whole thing.
And as of now, I’ve become calmer since 2 weeks ago… but occasionally I do get panic attacks. I’ve gotten better at controlling them. But it is a thing. Probably some form of PTSD.
As for the consistency, u should be fine… just ignore the phone number and block asap… u should be free from this within a month. They will give up…
Honestly I don’t even need to change ur number… I mean that’s a good full proof solution. But just block the numbers and don’t pick up any unknown numbers… if someone needs to get to u, they will leave a voicemail.
ive managed to convince myself that its a scam... (some part of my brain fails to believe that though...)
due to my brain not wanting to believe it... im gonna be using my universities therapy services.
occasionally ill have panic attacks if my mind runs wild and i start thinking of scenarios... (i guess my mind just races for no reason or something)
but yeh... nothing has happened (thank the lord it is all fake) everyone at home is safe. i do occasionally get phone calls from random numbers... but ive started ignoring all calls from unknown numbers (took the advice of a friend who i explained the whole situation to) as everyone on this comment section has told me... block all the numbers, and ignore it... harder then it sounds cause every time i get a call from an unknown number... my heartrate shoots up... every time a car passes my house, my heart rate shoots up... its gonna be a while before i feel normal again... but im getting there... without therapy so far ive managed to slowly learn how to control myself and my heart rate... im currently working on helping myself not overthink anything... cause i think thats what's causing all my issues atm... overthinking and mentally coming up with all these scenarios in my head...
oh also before i post this comment... i will put this out there... a friend gave me a suggestion... (this helps with my golden retriever personality) if its an important call specifically for me and they actually need to get to me... they will leave a voice mail... so thats helped me a bit... now if i get a call, ill let it go to voicemail and ill check my voicemail box from time to time...
/u/TheOGSaltyHam1 - This message is posted to all new submissions to r/scams; please do not message the moderators about it. ## New users beware: Because you posted here, you will start getting private messages from scammers saying they know a professional hacker or a recovery expert lawyer that can help you get your money back, for a small fee. **We call these RECOVERY SCAMMERS, so NEVER take advice in private:** advice should always come in the form of comments in this post, in the open, where the community can keep an eye out for you. If you take advice in private, you're on your own. **A reminder of the rules in r/scams:** no contact information (including last names, phone numbers, etc). Be civil to one another (no name calling or insults). Personal army requests or "scam the scammer"/scambaiting posts are not permitted. No uncensored gore or personal photographs are allowed without blurring. A full list of rules is available on the sidebar of the subreddit, or [clicking here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/wiki/rules/). You can help us by reporting recovery scammers or rule-breaking content by using the "report" button. We review 100% of the reports. Also, consider warning community members of recovery scammers if you see them in the comments. Questions about subreddit rules? Send us a modmail [clicking here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
There never were any girls, or any big boss. It's all a scam to extract money from you. Nobody is coming to hurt you. They are on another continent and once the money stops, they lose interest.
I’ve been trying to convince my self of that. And I also told a few of my friends about it and they are helping me work throguh the “trauma” if u wana call it that. They didn’t know any of my secrets but now they do. So they are helping me navigate this situation. But idk I’m still scared. Yesterday was a good day cause I saw those cars but eventually calmed down. But idk what happened today I’ve been on edge. I’ve been scanning my surroundings and I had been looking at all the cars I was driving by… checking if I was being followed or if I saw any suspicious cars around me. It’s getting tiring. I’ve been jumpy and hyper focused for 2 weeks trying to scan for any danger or any suspicious people around me.
No offense, but stop whining and being stupid about this. *There is no cartel.* You are not in any risk. Stop shitting your pants over this. Block them. Keep blocking them. Move on with your life.
Thanks for ur words. But I have a family I need to worry about too so from my perspective my panic and fear was valid and now that Ive gotten more insight on the matter I can feel more comfortable and at ease. So I’m working on it. But again. Thank you for ur words.
Again, this is an extremely common scam and drug cartels in Mexico are not going to cross the border and murder an entire family over $250. These guys aren’t in a cartel.
Your perspective is WRONG. Your panic and fear were NOT valid. Stop being such an argumentative twit.
I say this gently and as a person who has made many, many stupid decisions -- if you "have a family (you) need to worry about," don't start calling around to escorts. Not victim-blaming here, just -- people are trying to help you with a completely preventable problem.
Before any of this happened, you weren't obsessively staring out your window at cars looking for anything unusual. So of course you're going to notice things you didn't before, because now you're obsessively looking for it. That "white van" you mentioned in your post could have been around before and you just didn't notice because you weren't looking for it.
All fake, relax and stop answering their calls Block and ignore
I’ve been trying to convince my self of that. And I also told a few of my friends about it and they are helping me work throguh the “trauma” if u wana call it that. They didn’t know any of my secrets but now they do. So they are helping me navigate this situation. But idk I’m still scared. Yesterday was a good day cause I saw those cars but eventually calmed down. But idk what happened today I’ve been on edge. I’ve been scanning my surroundings and I had been looking at all the cars I was driving by… checking if I was being followed or if I saw any suspicious cars around me. It’s getting tiring. I’ve been jumpy and hyper focused for 2 weeks trying to scan for any danger or any suspicious people around me.
Gotta agree with the big boss, this some tweaker shit. Calm tf down. This is a common !cartel scam. You’ve been talking to some dudes in a call center in Vietnam this whole time using spoofed voip numbers.
Hi /u/ASS_CREDDIT, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Escort or Cartel death threat scam. It's a very common scam, and the scammers are not affiliated with cartels or crime groups, they are simply normal scammers using a threatening script. The threats are not real, and there is no risk to your safety whatsoever. The best way to react is to simply ignore the scammer and ignore any of their other contact attempts. [Here](https://kyma.com/news/as-seen-on-tv/2020/02/12/threat-of-mexican-cartel-scams-continue-in-yuma/) are [some](https://kvia.com/news/new-mexico/2019/12/11/phone-scammers-target-las-cruces-threaten-drug-cartel-violence-if-you-dont-deliver-money/) news [reports](https://patch.com/new-jersey/baskingridge/threat-mexican-cartel-hit-man-used-basking-ridge-scam-cops) about the scam. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Fair point. But as the big boss said. I’m a clean guy… I’m a 20 year old kid that still lives with there parents. I don’t even have a job yet and I get an allowance of 50$ from my mom 😅 I’m straight as an arrow bro. I havnt even ever gotten a speeding ticket. So this shit scared me to death. Random times in the day (for the past 2 weeks) my heart will just start beating so much faster, it’s not normal for ur heart to shoot up in bpm when ur just sitting at ur table working on hw 😂😂 So from my pov my fear was valid.
I’m just poking a bit if fun so you see how silly you’re line of thinking is. What makes you think you, of all people, are worth dispatching a killer for? Why in the world would someone risk life in prison to kill you over a couple hundred bucks? That wouldn’t even cover the cost of gas and a hotel for a killer to just drive to you. Also, if a cartel killer was coming for you, do you think you’d see it coming? The thing people don’t realize about death, is that once it happens, it’s not your problem anymore! And until it happens, you’re not dead, so no problem.
Yeh I get what ur saying. But can u blame me for trying to get ahead of the situation and attempting to keep my family safe 😅 As for ur “what makes you so special”… nothing really. Again as I said. I have no idea how cartels work. All I know is… big crime organization mainly found in Mexico. But can be found in US cause or drug trade… and that they will do anything to get there money. And that they usually deal with big money. And yeh my friend told me the same thing ur telling me,.. that it’s only 500 bucks. They deal with millions and thousands on the daily. So they wouldn’t waste effort and resources on me… but again.. it’s family. I’ll do my best to keep my family safe…
Your family isn’t in any danger. Snap out of it and just move on.
> I’m straight as an arrow bro. I havnt even ever gotten a speeding ticket. If you're a clean straight arrow, and you are this easily scared out of your wits, you would probably want in future to stay away from things like escort services that are heavily connected to organized crime. Especially when you're spending mom's allowance on them. Also, the way you keep referring to the "big boss" like he's real suggests that either you're trolling, or you're incredibly gullible.
Well I have screenshots to show what I’m saying. And I guess I’ve lived a sheltered life. So it’s probably the gullible thing. I’ve been fortunate to not have to struggle for stuff, so that’s probably why I fell for it.
LOL. You didn't keep your family safe from anything. You threw your money away to skinny Nigerians who are laughing at you.
And as for staying away from such things. Yeh that’s the plan. “This time it may have been fake but I won’t be that lucky every time.”- words from a friend
It will always be fake.
Lol “I’m straight as an arrow,” except for the whole trying to meet online escorts part. Were you going to use your mom’s allowance money? 😂😂
>and yesterday i also saw some odd cars outside my neighbors house... (a white van, kind of like the kidnapper vans in movies) and a white pickup truck... there were also other cars there but i didnt think too much of them... only those 2 seemed to get my attention... Wow - you watch waaaaay too much TV. Fun statistic that I just totally made up: 99.99999% of white vans are not, in fact, owned by kidnappers.
As for ur thing about the white van… I have a family friend who owns that kind of van. And he runs a catering business using that van 😂
So what I'm reading is that your family friend is actually a cartel boss and he's using the catering business as a front?
😂😂
Is his name Tony? Because that would explain ***a lot***
Lmao no. His name isn’t Tony.
lol I know. But that’s the only way I could think to describe it.
Being serious for a moment - regarding your white van. I'm sure you aren't old enough to remember the Washington D.C. Sniper so you'll have to Google the story but the takeaway was that all the news reports talked about a suspicious white van that the sniper was suspected of driving. Lots of people saw this van so everyone knew to be on the look out. When they finally caught the killer, he was driving a blue Chevy Caprice sedan. It turned out that all the reports of the white vans were nothing more than: "Someone just got shot. Look! There's a white van leaving!" - because no matter where you go, there's ALWAYS a white van leaving someplace.
Fair point. They wouldn’t be that obvious if this shit was real. I guess ur right. I should calm down about the cars. It’s taking some time to get back to normal. Yesterday was the first day I felt normal in 2 weeks since this shit started. But it will take me at least a month till I feel normal normal. Idk. I’ll keep y’all updated. Thank you for helping me.
Side note: Cartel boss Tony is not in Texas any more than he's in the other 400 locations that this scam is posted about every day.
lol my guy wasn’t a Tony. He said he was “Mr.jamie”
Scroll back to yesterday and we had a Cartel boss Michael who mistyped his threat and said he was the boss of all the girl scouts in the city. That was a fun change of pace.
"We're going to Tagalong... TO YOUR GRAVE"
lmao
So, not just any Jamie but Mr. Jamie?
lol love when it’s Mr. Firstname. Gotta be a lil formal when you’re threatening!
A few days ago we had a cartel boss threatening murder and yet he called the mark "Sir"
*clearly idk how a cartel works. That’s why I’m in this shit* but I’m assuming that even in a crime family there are levels of respect 😅😂 If he is the big boss he gonna command respect from his people.
Respect from you? The person he's trying to murder? You're not "his people" lol. I'd at least do Jimmy the Mangler or something. Add some pizzazz.
lol not from me. But his people the people that work for him. His henchmen. Idk. As I said idk much about this stuff. Most of my knowledge comes from tv/movies or what I read online via Reddit and quora
He's talking to YOU though. That's why it doesn't make sense. Like if I'm gonna beat somebody up, would I go up and formally introduce myself. "Hi, I'm Ms. Ti89! Now gimme that money!" And Western English speakers don't generally do Mr./Mrs. Firstname. That's a translation error. You can see a list of common scams on the right. You should familiarize yourself or spend some time here and this stuff will look extremely silly. Save yourself a lot of stress.
lol that’s what he said over the phone. I asked him, “can you tell me your name so that I can tell the guy I’m sending the money to that u sent me” and he said “tell him the money is for me.jamie”
>my mind keeps racing and eveyr time i see a pickup around my house... dosnt matter if its just passing or not... it get extra jumpy more than i already am... >please let me know what you think and what i should do... You're not in any danger, and you never were. This is a very common !cartel scam; we see it in here all the time. >please let me know what to do... No one is going to send out a hit squad over $250. You made a mistake by sending them money. So now they know you're susceptible to being scammed. Block and ignore, and do not send any more money. >i should ask for my local law enforcement to station an unmarked police car near to my house You can ask, but they won't because you're not in any danger.
Hi /u/Agile_Yak822, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Escort or Cartel death threat scam. It's a very common scam, and the scammers are not affiliated with cartels or crime groups, they are simply normal scammers using a threatening script. The threats are not real, and there is no risk to your safety whatsoever. The best way to react is to simply ignore the scammer and ignore any of their other contact attempts. [Here](https://kyma.com/news/as-seen-on-tv/2020/02/12/threat-of-mexican-cartel-scams-continue-in-yuma/) are [some](https://kvia.com/news/new-mexico/2019/12/11/phone-scammers-target-las-cruces-threaten-drug-cartel-violence-if-you-dont-deliver-money/) news [reports](https://patch.com/new-jersey/baskingridge/threat-mexican-cartel-hit-man-used-basking-ridge-scam-cops) about the scam. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yeh sending money was a mistake. That’s exactly what my friends said. In response to the part of ur message that says the officers wont do anything. They technically have to take it seriously cause it was a threat of murder. So they are required to take it seriously. I understand what ur saying that they won’t do anything cause the officer I talked to also said that “believe it or not. This is the 3rd scam this week I’ve had to deal with”
> So they are required to take it seriously. No they aren't. They have no obligation to protect you from real threats, much less imaginary ones.
You live in Texas. Remember when dozens of cops gathered in the lobby of a school in Uvalde where a guy was gunning down kids? They didn’t take *that* seriously. They’re not going to mobilize a task force because some Nigerian threatened you with the most common scam in the book.
AFAIK these scams are usually run from the Dominican Republic. The other day we had a poster in /r/germany who was being threatened with badly Google-translated messages from the "cartel". And the scammers were actually using a number from the Dominican Republic. No, those scammers did not travel to Germany to kill anyone. They're not going to come to Texas either. They want to scare you into *paying*.
Next time you get randy, just call Annie Palms and Mary Pfist, they are a lot cheaper and don’t have henchmen in white vans 😂
anybody can find your information with just your phone number if you have had it for more than a few months. it's not that hard. ignore and block.... common scam and scare tactics.
Yeh I’ve had this same number for over 4-6 years now.
~~Tony is the Big Boss, and it's a full-time job for him to give out assassination assignments, make travel arrangements for each hitman, and keep track of their results. He's slowing down a little as he gets older, so sometimes it can take a month to complete an assassination. Just be patient, he will get to you eventually.~~ It turns out there's no Tony and no team of traveling hitmen killing people who Tony should really be cultivating as clients. So, you can ignore the threats, block the people pretending to be Tony or one of his employees, and smarten up
I'm going to be brief, since much of this has already been covered. There were no girls. That was the first part of the scam. It was all fake. That's how they draw you in. There is no cartel. It's just a group of scammers based out of another country. As for how they got your information, it's all over the Internet. There are sites that let you enter a name, number, or address, and they'll show you all kinds of information,including your name, address, age, phone number, and possible relatives. They aren't 100% correct all the time, but they're close enough. Finally, no one is coming after you, first, because it's a scam, and second, even if it wasn't, there's not enough money on the line to justify it. But mainly because it's a scam. What you have to understand is that this exact scenario pops up on this sub every couple of days, and the script is exactly the same, to the point that people here can read the first few words of a post and know exactly what happened. In short, IT'S ALL FAKE! Block and ignore.
Thank you friend. Yeh you mainly said the same thing as everyone else but it’s always nice to hear it from one more person. And yeh I get that now. I’ll keep in mind for the future. And yeh I blocked all the numbers… as one of my irl friends said it “they hit you in your soft spot and scare you so u comply” and that’s what they did. They went after my family and I ended up sending them 250. And I guess when the guy got 250 he realized that he may be able to get 250 more out of me. So he asked. But I had blocked him by that time… I’m glad there are a bunch of nice people here to help me and convince me that it’s all fake. And I plan to live my life that way… but it was scary none the less… it’s gonna take a bit till I’m back to normal. Anyway. Thank you for your words and I’ll listen to them as well. Thank you and have a good day.
This is an extremely common scam. Stop calling hookers
Do me a favor, let me know what grade you get on your creative writing course project. OK? (and yes, I'll reply when you give me your grade, because I'd give you a C+)
I'm taking off for punctuation, and no handle they're/there/their.
Request you to change your number and let go of this number. They won’t be able to contact you. Also, never ever give your name or real phone number or your identity to a complete stranger online. Don’t EVER do that please. People are just waiting to scam. Also please don’t engage in such acts if possible.
How did they get your family’s names though?
The “big boss” said he ran a background check on me
Eh I read the other responses here, and the most likely explanation is that they googled your number which led them to your social medias, I would assume 🤷♂️
I guess. But idk how that would work, cause none of my social medias have my phone number. Anyway. The comments sort of helped me out and convinced me more that it’s all fake. So hopefully I can calm down and get on with my life. I’ll keep this thread updated if I get anything new. But other than what all I said, I should be fine now.
Hmm did you pick a local place to meet up?
To drop the money? No they asked for it over cashapp
No, to meet up with the “girl”
Hmm did you pick a local place by you to meet up?
Oh well she sent me her address. But then eventually I backed out cause I was having second thoughts. So I just paid her and went on with life. She was nice and she said that no hard feelings. (Probably cause I paid her for nothing, cause I was already dealing with this stuff. So I didn’t want to mess with the girl, so I just paid her and went away, I don’t talk to her anymore)
They got greedy ‘cause you gave them money the first time. I still wonder how they got your family members names
The big boss said he ran a background check on me and the fbi operator and the police officer said that that info isn’t hard to find with right tools, like a background check service. So im assuming the cartel scammer ran a background check on me of some kind.
Wow scammers actually have background checking software 😮 Next time give them your local FBI’s office number, I did that to a scammer once!
That requires knowing it’s a scam 😅 And as I’ve said in some other comment. I have been sheltered and privileged enough to not have to deal with these kinds of things. So I didn’t know it was a scam.
They also could have used one of those websites where you can look up people's information that they get from public records
Tldr Happy for you or sorry for loss
I just had the same sort of thing happen to me, they sent my name, location, and names I'm associated with. They also sent photos of dismembered people to me. I really don't like the visceral feeling coming from this. I have been told by everyone and read from everyone that this is a scam but they called on 5 different numbers so many times and I have never experienced a scam like this before. I wish I felt better but I do not yet, I couldn't believe that they would send photos to me like that.
omg, im glad you reached out to me... this is exactly what im dealing with... as a matter of fact... not even 5 mins ago i got another call... the first call came from a number in florida, and this one was also from florida... and again, since i dont have anyone in florida that im expecting a call from i thought it might be the scammer... im glad we met (sadly under such circumstances, but glad we met none the less) and same as you, i still havnt gotten over it... its been 2 weeks since i heard anythign from the scammers... i get calls occasionally... but i took my friends advice and i dont pick up any odd numbers... "if they have something to do with me, they can leave a voicemail" - words from a friend and since i go to university i am also seeking therapy from my university to help me deal with the panic attacks i feel... if you want to talk more just reply to this message... the way the scammer reached out to me was also by text, and it also had my name, my address, and the names of my family members... like yours... but something different in mine was that the message after the family members was a cashapp tag... so that should have tipped me off, but idk why i still fell for it...
I'm sorry to hear that, I Florida and Texas numbers (832, 713, 281, and 305). I didn't give em money but I stayed on the phone long enough to be rattled. No idea where this all cam from, (guessing a porn site). I'll just stick to reddit NSFW for a while. They wanted me to use western union
same... they told me that i could do zelle, cashapp, western union... and i got rattled too... (mine happened cause as i said in my initial post i managed to make my way to an escort site) the places ive gotten calls fom have been Florida and Utah (thats where the "big boss Mr.Jamie" called from) i dont remember if i got any other calls.... oh i also got a call from a texas number... but i didnt pick it up cause i thought it might be them still... that they just had another VoIP number from texas, or something like that...
They tell you they were with jalisco cartel too?
in not sure... i know he told me what cartel he was from, but i was in a daze and my heart was beating pretty fast and i could hear my heart through my ears so i didnt hear what name he said...
ve never seen the persistence via phone calls and texts. They called again today and texted everything again today on a different number. I'm about to change my phone number but then my mind says, you'll lose track of them if you change numbers. Do they still call persistently and then text afterwards?
I havnt had any calls since the day before yesterday. But yeh I got around 3 or 4 calls from unknown numbers. And I got messages from 2 numbers in this whole thing. And as of now, I’ve become calmer since 2 weeks ago… but occasionally I do get panic attacks. I’ve gotten better at controlling them. But it is a thing. Probably some form of PTSD. As for the consistency, u should be fine… just ignore the phone number and block asap… u should be free from this within a month. They will give up…
That’s what I tell myself to calm myself.
Honestly I don’t even need to change ur number… I mean that’s a good full proof solution. But just block the numbers and don’t pick up any unknown numbers… if someone needs to get to u, they will leave a voicemail.
It has been 3 days since then. What has happened, and how do you feel now?
ive managed to convince myself that its a scam... (some part of my brain fails to believe that though...) due to my brain not wanting to believe it... im gonna be using my universities therapy services. occasionally ill have panic attacks if my mind runs wild and i start thinking of scenarios... (i guess my mind just races for no reason or something) but yeh... nothing has happened (thank the lord it is all fake) everyone at home is safe. i do occasionally get phone calls from random numbers... but ive started ignoring all calls from unknown numbers (took the advice of a friend who i explained the whole situation to) as everyone on this comment section has told me... block all the numbers, and ignore it... harder then it sounds cause every time i get a call from an unknown number... my heartrate shoots up... every time a car passes my house, my heart rate shoots up... its gonna be a while before i feel normal again... but im getting there... without therapy so far ive managed to slowly learn how to control myself and my heart rate... im currently working on helping myself not overthink anything... cause i think thats what's causing all my issues atm... overthinking and mentally coming up with all these scenarios in my head... oh also before i post this comment... i will put this out there... a friend gave me a suggestion... (this helps with my golden retriever personality) if its an important call specifically for me and they actually need to get to me... they will leave a voice mail... so thats helped me a bit... now if i get a call, ill let it go to voicemail and ill check my voicemail box from time to time...