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Updated on April 30, 2019 by SCARS|EDUCATION™ Editorial Team

SCARS™ Scam Basics: The Ethics Of Warning Other Victims

Many Victims Find Still Other Victims When Hunting For Scammers Online. Is It A Good Idea To Warn Them That They Are Being Scammed?

This is an interesting ethical question and it depends on the context of the situation.

There are two types of victims that you will likely encounter out there in social media:

Scam Victims – involved in or being groomed to be a victim by the scammer
Scam Money Mules – participating in the scam and engaged in money laundering – usually, without any idea that they are doing it

SCAM VICTIMS

When you are viewing a typical fake or scammer social media profile you will see a number of people commenting or engaging with the scammer and your first impulse is to warn them.

Unfortunately, their reactions may not be what you would expect. If they are fully engaged with the scammer – meaning in the relationship, then you are going to appear hostile to them and their relationship. If they are more casual then alerting them can help create a better outcome, but the problem is how to know?

Additionally, alerting strangers that you see on a fake profile can have consequences to you personally. They can report you to the social media platform – this can result in suspension or loss of your account.

Therefore, what we recommend is to “TAG” the profile as fake and let the victims decide for themselves.

How to TAG?

First, make sure that your personal profile is locked down and that only your friends can see anything – so that you are not leading a trail of bugs back to your home, family, and friends
Next, post a graphic that identifies the profile as fake – this can be done in a comment very easily – especially a comment on a scammer’s post that has a lot of victim activity.

Here is the graphic we recommend:

You can download this graphic here: https://romancescamsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/hello-my-name-is-fake-profile-bomb.png
YOU ARE FREE TO POST IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES THAT ARE FAKE

We call these “Fake Bombs.” It is the best way to TAG a profile as being fake and generally, the scammers will not even see them. Worse case they will block you. But this is very visual and a clear warning to those already on the profile and those that come later (assuming it survives).

In the end, it is a better solution and just remember, that we do only what we can do!

MONEY MULES

Money Mules are a different animal! (Pun intended)

In our opinion. It is generally pointless to inform the MULE directly. In fact, it may be actually dangerous to other victims.

The best approach would simply be to (if you live in the U.S. or Canada) to call the local police and report the MONEY MULE to them. Emphasize to the police that this is a MONEY MULE and is probably completely unaware they are being used by a scammer. You have to tell the police certain magic words, like MONEY MULE and involved in MONEY LAUNDERING and collecting money from other victims.

Why do this?

If the police show up to speak to the MULE, they will have access to all of the information about what the MULE has done and what money the MULE was received. This could help stop other victims from losing more money.

On the other hand, if YOU speak to the MULE – what would be the natural reaction? FEAR and they will try to destroy or hide information that could lead to and help other victims.

It also does something else: When the cops eventually show up, and if the MULE had fore-knowledge of their activity and tried to hide it in any way, they have committed additional crimes and are more likely to face consequences – such as charges for Obstruction of justice, destroying evidence, and more.

So you see that in reality, it is better to let the police deal with MULES.

They are not normal victims to be warned off. Also, the MULE’S unawareness is their best defense. But once warned it could go radically wrong for them depending on what they do!

ETHICS MATTERS IN WHAT WE ALL DO!

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SCARS™ Team
A SCARS Division
Miami Florida U.S.A.

TAGS: Ethics, Money Mules, Money Laundering, Police Action, Scam Victims, Alerting Victims, Tag Fake Profiles, Tagging Fakes, Fake Social Media Profiles, Social Media Accounts, Scams, Scammers,

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FAQ: How Do You Properly Report Scammers?

It is essential that law enforcement knows about scams & scammers, even though there is nothing (in most cases) that they can do.

Always report scams involving money lost or where you received money to:

Local Police – ask them to take an “informational” police report – say you need it for your insurance
Your National Police or FBI (www.IC3.gov »)
The SCARS|CDN™ Cybercriminal Data Network – Worldwide Reporting Network HERE » or on www.Anyscam.com »

This helps your government understand the problem, and allows law enforcement to add scammers on watch lists worldwide.

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Visit our NEW Main SCARS Facebook page for much more information about scams and online crime: www.facebook.com/SCARS.News.And.Information »

To learn more about SCARS visit www.AgainstScams.org

Please be sure to report all scammers HERE » or on www.Anyscam.com »

Legal Notices:

SCARS, RSN, Romance Scams Now, SCARS|WORLDWIDE, SCARS|GLOBAL, SCARS, Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams, Society of Citizens Against Romance Scams, SCARS|ANYSCAM, Project Anyscam, Anyscam, SCARS|GOFCH, GOFCH, SCARS|CHINA, SCARS|CDN, SCARS|UK, SCARS Cybercriminal Data Network, Cobalt Alert, Scam Victims Support Group, are all trademarks of Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Incorporated.

Contact the law firm for the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Incorporated by email at legal@AgainstScams.org

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SCARS|EDUCATION™ Editorial Team

SCARS Editorial Team at SCARS Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams™ Inc.

SCARS|EDUCATION™ RomanceScamsNow.com™ is the official knowledge and victims' support publication of the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams™ Incorporated [SCARS]™ It is edited and published by the SCARS Team. Contact@AgainstScams.org SCARS is the world's leading anti-scam charitable nonprofit nongovernmental organization, based in Miami Florida U.S.A. Its founder has been involved in combating online fraud since 1991. SCARS™ - the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. is a charitable nonprofit nongovernmental organization (NGO) dedicated to advocating victim's causes and changing government and law enforcement attitudes toward online fraud for good! Please join us in becoming a member of SCARS - it's free! Add your voice so that the world will listen at last - just go to www.AgainstScams.org. The SCARS|RSN website and all of our publications (including social media) are maintained by our own staff employees and volunteers to provide you the most up to date information about scams & scammers from around the world. We show you how to avoid them or recover from them. SCARS is the only registered online crime victims' assistance & support organization in the world. Be sure to report scammers here. Also, visit our main Facebook page for more information about romance scams.