No Stupid Questions

DON'T DO IT. Just say you did. Lie to them for as long as possible. If they ask for proof you can't give them, pretend to be dumb af and not understand their instructions.

If a clanker calls you, keep feeding them bogus instructions until they enter an inifite loop to waste their tokens. Kitboga has a YouTube video showing how to do it easily.

scam. every photo you take with wny device has metadata. dont send them anything. block them immediately. dont even say bye.

If you're logged into your bank account and the image contains embedded code and you're vulnerable to the exploit, there's a good chance that they'll be attempting to transfer money out of your account.

If it sounds like a scam .. and this does .. it's generally cheap insurance to treat it like a scam.

Moreover, if it's unsolicited, as in, they came to you, the chances are significantly higher that it's a scam.

Yes it’s a scam, they probably want you to buy something right? They’re going to try and send you a fake check, in which they will ask you to digitally cash it in so it doesn’t go through a teller. The check doesn’t actually get checked by anyone due a couple days so you would have effectively stolen money. Then once they convince you to buy something for yourself and/or for themselves they basically fuck off then the bank would be like hey that check wasn’t real, instead of reporting you/done this is the first time we’ll just charge your account for the check.

If your still adamant on them being real, take the check to a teller at the bank. Make sure the check is physical. Make sure the sender it matches their name and the bank is actually real (by the routing numbers not the logo on it)

Props to you for being curious and inquisitive and having the knowledge it's a scam. Don't let others bring you off your digging (without endangering yourself).

That's like me asking if this email is a scam

There are fewer red flags in Beijing on May Day.

It's called remote deposit cheque fraud. It's a fake cheque. If you cash it, it will eventually get flagged as a a fake, and the bank will take the money back, even if you've already spent it or sent it to the scammer. And if you never send money to the scammer, they get nothing, but it also costs them nothing to make the attempt, because you're the one depositing the cheque and wearing the risk.

A stranger is sending you free money? That's a scam.

You would have to be an idiot to entertain this. Block, move on, and ignore in the future. It's unlikely you're even talking to a real person.

This is the first stages of a very textbook fake check scam. They will provide a (unbacked) check, you can cash it and see the funds appear in your account. Something will happen, maybe they'll realize they overpaid you by a few hundred dollars and ask you to refund that amount. The original check funds will be pulled after a few days when the financial institutions realize they were fraudulent and you'll be out whatever amount of real funds you sent.

Now that you know this is a scam, even accepting the fake check is a felony.

Yes, it's a scam. Doesn't really matter what's going on other than it's a scam.

Do they even play the game?

Whatever you do, don't send any money back if they say they sent too much.

They're going to "overpay" you, then ask you to send them the money back (or sometimes but something for them). But eventually their check bounces, while you're out whatever money/items you sent them.

You also need to start being more careful, because the scammers sell and trade lists of people who have fallen victim, or almost fallen victim, to their scam. Because if you've (almost) fallen for one scam, you're more likely to fall for a second one.

The check will bounce/charge back at some point IIRC

So at this point you know what it is, you know how to avoid being scammed, and you are aware that the most optimal way to deal with these people is to just block them and move on.

With all these things known, you can waste their time by pretending to have trouble depositing the check, saying the deposit went through while doing nothing, saying it worked and then playing hard to get with their "overpayment return" (usually they play on good Samaritan/pay it forward kind of guilt, so just pretend to be an asshole), and fucking with them every step of the way.

Atomic Shrimp on YouTube has done a bunch of these, if you'd rather live vicariously rather than expose yourself.

Definitely an SCP trying to disseminate a cognitohazard. I'd avoid at all costs.

This is the most common kind of check fraud scam.

might be after your account and routing numbers on the checks

Sounds to me like there is a virus attached to the image she wants you to 'view' so desperately. I forgot what that type of virus is called. But clearly the one she has seems to only work on a laptop or ipad. Guessing Android blocks this.

Without a doubt, this is a scam. The check is fake and they will want you to send them money before it gets found out by the bank.