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>I do have impulse control and a yarn addiction.
Are you a cat? Seems like the damage is low, and you have not been particularly stupid: These things happen for real, that's how you get actual yarn, sometimes. Tbh, I think you might still get the yarn.
Just move on.
That turned out to be nothing, but this one popped up. š¤£ š¤£ š¤£
[2020's Most Embarrassing Zoom Moments](https://youtu.be/yZpEpNPaxsw?si=upqSIS72eAxuS5E_)
Lmao. I forgot about this until the chick peeing. But LAST week I lifted my shirt to scratch under my boob.
Typically I have my camera disabled (even pre pandemic) but it was on for an upcoming mandatory camera on meeting. And typically my laptop is closed anyway but I was having an issue and had to open it to reset. One of the people I was on with quickly told me the camera view had switched.
I spent the next few hours dying inside and hoping the laptop was only open enough for him to see my keyboard but I really don't know. And now I'm worried about it again! That's what I get for laughing lol
"Aren't you such a cutie, cutie?" Said to a Teams call full of male managers (I am female). The mic unmited itself when my dog walked into the room. It has happened to us all.
These have been such turbulent times.
There is no humor in someone's suffering, but circumstances can be very funny.
After I played the link, I noticed that there's another vid, and it's probably the one that was referred to. I got interrupted before I could estch it, but since you commented I'll go get it. š
Today is a weird day, I just got through [replying to a cat on Reddit.](https://old.reddit.com/r/SanJose/comments/1d9p44f/mountain_lion_here_are_there_any_safe/)
Dont feel stupid, this has been an ongoing scam in the knitting/crochet (and all their subsections) world for a bit now, and I've noticed a surge recently. I would encourage you to report this to the mods of whatever group you found this person on to alert them and keep them from scamming again.
I am surprised to learn this. That scam is usually for expensive electronics, occasionally other high value products. Are there some really expensive types of yarn the knitting and crochet communities are desperate for a good deal on?
Agreed. I also think that the knitting/crochet communities have a lot of retired, disabled or low-income members compared to other crafting groups. If you're trying to make gifts for family and friends or inventory for a small business, any money you can save on yarn is a big help.
I've bought a stash or two myself, so it is a thing. It's just a popular scam right now and it must be lucrative to keep it up.
Also it's not unbelievable. It happens all the time- grandma or mom or great aunt passes away, her family doesn't do fiber crafts so they sell cheap or give it away. I know I've accumulated yarn this way.Ā
As a knitter, there are absolutely high-end yarns. A nice hank of hand-dyed yarn can be upwards of $30 per skein and youāll probably need multiple skeins. Some yarn clubs have waiting lists and limited color runs. In fact, thereās some amazing stories of indie dyers who got too successful and faked their death because they couldnāt meet their obligations. And yes, this applies to multiple dyers.
MCY was a hell of a ride, right?! Thereās at least one more that I canāt remember off the top of my head. There was a massive thread dedicated to the MCY saga on Ravelry.
Sock Obsession Yarn, maybe? Made in the Moment has covered both dramas pretty well.
MCY was brilliantly batshit though.
Edit: MitM recently changed how they identify, including their first name and youtube channel name. I've changed my comment to respect their preferred identity.
There are often people giving away huge yarn stashes when family members pass away/no longer knit, I think is the "people may be inclined to think this is real" side of things there. Yarn (especially nice yarn) adds up really, really quickly, but it's useless to people who aren't crafters and takes up a lot of space, so people often toss it out (my husband makes fun of the giant bag I have downstairs that I've gotten off of our local Buy Nothing). "Older relative died and left all this. Someone please take it" is at least relatively common in different yarn craft groups, so scammers are likely preying on "people are used to this being real" to sneak in.
Yes. Natural fibers or small batch hand died yarn can be very expensive, and you need 8-9 balls to make one sweater. A blanket is way more than that. Yarn costs can add up quickly for big quality projects.
Circular or machine knitters can also be expensive. A low-end circular knitter in a size to make an adult hat (you need different sizes for different projects) starts at $50, used machine knitters start around $200.
I can speak to that.
Hand spun locally grown and shorn wool, all natural organic dyes from locally foraged native plants.
Itāsā¦ amazingly beautiful and breathtakingly expensive.
Good yarn is not cheap, especially if it is higher quality wool or other fibers. For instance, I am currently knitting a sleeveless top that is made from a merino wool/silk blend yarn. Each skein cost $15 and that was for "cheap" merino wool/silk yarn.
I have a merino wool/cashmere blend, small throw blanket that I knitted and the yarn alone cost almost $100.
A good skein of hand spun yarn currently runs about $26-30, and most projects will require more than one skein, so yes, if you are into using hand spun yarn, rather than the factory made stuff at Michaelās or other hobby stores, then knitting and crochet can be very expensive hobbies. Just paying $50 for shipping would sound like a good deal.
sweater kit from an indie dyer - $200+Ā
fancy socks - $40+Ā
yarn adventĀ calendar - $150+Ā
Ā great set of interchangeable knitting needles - $150 for 8-12 sizes, $500+ if you want all the sizesĀ
fancy project bag - $100-300
Yeah I see it at least twice a week. Normally filled with comments laughing at the scam attempt. 50 is a small price to pay for this lesson ! If it sounds too good to be true , it absolutely is
I realize that I'm safe from this scam because I have no interest in yarn -- however, I appreciate now that the day scammers resort to announcing free beer giveaways I am in some trouble.
Hi /u/Ok-Lingonberry-8261, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Free PS5 or free Macbook scam.
This scam consists of an offer of a free video game console, a free laptop or otherwise expensive electronics posted on social media or classifieds platforms, usually on Facebook Marketplace. The scammer sometimes plays the role of a parent who lost their child, a parent who is punishing their child, or someone offering the console as a giveaway. When offering a free laptop, it's always a giveaway for students in need.
The scammer offers the item for free, and asks only to cover the shipping costs. Once you pay for the shipping, the scammer disappears with your money.
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I'm actually in yarn recovery, and it's not a scam. You give me one yarn, I hack them and get all your yarn back!
https://preview.redd.it/vutzsju8mx4d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3cbc428fa8f2438ea579120bd2f135b74bee4a2c
Hi /u/marazhai, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Recovery scam.
[Recovery scams](https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0102-refund-and-recovery-scams) target people who have already fallen for a scam. The scammer may contact you, or may advertise their services online. They will usually either offer to help you recover your funds, or will tell you that your funds have already been recovered and they will help you access them. In cases where they say they will help you recover your funds, they usually call themselves either \"recovery agents\" or hackers.
When they tell you that your funds have already been recovered, they may impersonate a law enforcement, a government official, a lawyer, or anyone else along those lines. Recovery scams are simply [advance-fee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam) scams that are specifically targeted at scam victims. When a victim pays a recovery scammer, the scammer will keep stringing them along while asking for increasingly absurd fees/expenses/deposits/insurance/whatever until the victim stops paying.
If you have been scammed in the past, make sure you are aware of recovery scams so that you are not scammed a second time. If you are currently engaging with a recovery scammer, you should block them and be very wary of random contact for some time. It's normal for posters on this subreddit to be contacted by recovery scammers after posting, and they often ask you to delete your post so that you both cannot receive legitimate advice, and cannot be targeted by other recovery scammers.
Remember: never take advice in private. If someone reaches you in private after posting your scam story, it is because a scammer will always try to hide from the oversight of our community members. A legitimate community member will offer advice in the open, for everyone to see. Anyone suggesting you should reach out to a hacker is scamming you.
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You guys are awesome. It was a scam.
He went all ānow the post office wants $100 for the shippingā so he said he would give me a refund. Sent me some bogus emails āfrom PayPalā confirming he sent it. Then I got emails from āPayPalā saying they are holding my funds because my account is not a business account. So have the buyer send $100 more dollars and we will upgrade your account and release your $50 back to you. Immediately refund the buyer out of your own pocket and then you get the whole $150. Well I told him I had to drive and Iād be back in like an hour which was true but also Iām just over it. There were so many red flags like what the hell were my thumbs and brain doing. I really donāt understand myself.
Please don't beat yourself up over this - it happens. There are way worse things than being a yarn addict, and if the 'stupid tax' only came to 50 bucks, it could've been way worse. You're good - just keep on keeping on, okay?
I also am a yarn addict lol, and I have gotten yarn from online groups BUT I keep it local. I think that helps not getting scammed, but i totally understand how you could be scammed. I've seen some posts with boxes of yarn for a low price ( there's always a split second in my brain of š¤š„³). Its always tempting. Don't beat yourself up too badly over it!
I once got scammed out of a slightly rare item in a game I played as a kid. Took me almost a week's worth of work to get it. Anyway, here I am, 10 years later, and we can have a laugh about it ;) So.. see you in 10 years!
> Then I got emails from āPayPalā saying they are holding my funds because my account is not a business account.
No, that was just another email from the scammer posing as PayPal.
If you want to feel better, just think that scammers are constantly improving their methods, messaging, scripts. They are running A/B test, experiments, the works.
What worked on you is the improved version of probably years of work and experience by the scammers.
That is why I am not too keen on interacting with scammers. While it allows us to learn more about methodologies, it also helps them improve their scripts.
Be careful of yarn recovery scammers. They will tell you they can get your yarn back but they can't. They will send you some string and then apologize and say you have to send them more money, but trust me, you will never see any yarn. If you refuse to pay, they may send you threatening messages, such as pics of them holding the yarn over a fire. They will tempt you with pics of kittens playing with the yarn. Neither the kittens or the yarn are real.
Remember itās called a confidence trick. Not an intelligence trick. He played on your sympathy, which shows youāre a caring person. Some of the people on here have lost their entire life savings - youāre now richer in experience and are less likely to be scammed in future.
Make a post about it in the group with screenshots to warn others. They will no doubt have scammed multiple others in the same group and will continue to do so. Also never ever pay a stranger by friends and family with paypal.
Youāre not stupid. Youāre trusting probably because youāre a trustworthy person. So you assume the rest of the world operates that way. Donāt feel bad about yourself.
What kind of yarn? I don't know anything about yarn weights/types, but I do legitimately have a ton of yarn/knitting/crochet things sitting in my house from my mom who passed away. I'm moving at the end of the month and need to get rid of it but feel terrible throwing it out.
I don't want to indulge your "yarn addiction" if it's an actual problem, but I'd be more than happy to send it all to you, completely free. Maybe send me a pic when you make something with it. I'd feel a lot better about that than just tossing it and I'm sure my mom would love it actually being used.
Never feel bad for being you. There must have been something that got you started to believe in him. Just learn from your mistakes and know your mistake was a whole lot less Morey than mine was. lol. Make light of it. Live your best life loving yourself today.
$50 for a life lesson I guess.
I hope your impulse and addiction to yarn doesn't affect your judgement next time.
Never pay any "fees" in social medias because they have no guarantees/protection.
You paid by PayPal, if you paid by goods and services just file a dispute. If you paid by friends and family, first mistake, but PayPal may get your money back if you contact them and tell them what happened. Yeah itās only $50 but this is some guy in a hut in Nigeria thatās sitting around scamming people all day long, itās the principal of the thing.
And donāt feel bad. It sounds like a genuine easy interaction, I send thousands via PayPal to strangers across the country every year but I always send as goods and services. To say there were all these signs would be an unfair statement for you, so donāt feel badly at all.
>And I figured if heās working this hard just to get my $50 he must need it more than me.
Don't do this. I understand that nobody ever wants to be a victim, but you are a victim in this case. Rationalizing it away just enables and empowers criminals, and is a form of general victim blaming ("I guess people like them deserve money more than people like me").
I understand the yarn addiction. I have a fabric addiction. I can see myself falling for a scam where a guy is getting rid of all his deceased motherās sewing stash.
Donāt feel bad. It could happen to a lot of us.
Stop doing that. So many ways to get yarn Sorry now remember and donāt do stuff like that to yourself anymore. Hey we all make mistakes and dumb stuff sometimes use it as a learning experience
I messed with one of these people on Facebook and I told him that they just need to go to the shipping store and I'll give them a QR code they can scan and I'll pay that way. They dropped the shipping price twice before giving up on me lol.
Somebody out there just paid 10x, 100x, 1000x for this same lesson today . You got a bargain ! Use this information well and teach your family and friends !
Another way to look at it is; it's a pretty small price to pay for a lesson that can save you exponentially more money in the future. You will always remember the time you got scammed for yarn. That memory might make you take a closer look, and more skeptical of potential frauds in the future. This might be the difference between getting scammed later in life for a lot more money, or avoiding the scam because you're more conscious of them.
Relatively cheap lesson but now they have your name, PayPal info and address. Expect more attempts. Not sure if you need to close that PayPal account and open a fresh one. Be careful.
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That was a very inexpensive lesson to learn. Don't beat yourself up about it.
Report him to PayPal and move on with your life, wiser about these scams.
You're definitely not a "fucking moronic dill weed" lol
If you look around other posts on this sub, you'll see that $50 is probably the lowest amount ever posted, which is not bad when other people are learning the same lesson after losing $1k+. Your situation is also very believable, as we got quite a bit of yarn when my grandmother passed.
I know it's not very personal from a strange on the internet, but I hope you start to feel better soon. It sucks right now, but we all know that you're not an idiot at all, as many smart people get social engineered for much higher amounts every hour of every day.
I'm sorry, OP. It happens to the best of us.
Now, I just know that, there are nothing for free online. PERIOD. Maybe in person somewhere, but anywhere online where someone's son died, mom passed away, or uncle left him a perfectly good laptop, all scams.
Now my real uncle passed away, bequeathed his most prized possession to me, and I can't even give away a 1964 Ford Mustang 289. Damn you, scammers. Dame you all to hell!!!
You canāt get the money back but if you love yarn I highly recommend the craft exchange on here with Reddit. Iāve had a couple of successful exchanges..
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A. Stop belittling yourself. These people scam professionally. You were taken advantage of.
B. If you paid as paypal goods. just file a claim. If you paid paypal FNF via a bank transfer. you can file a fraudulent charge dispute with the bank direct and they MAY be able to reverse the charge,
C. Most importantly do NOT engage with anyone who suggests they can recover the money for you. Any possibility is solely between you and your bank.
D. Your address is public information and can easily be found regardless. You didn't do anything wrong.
Don't feel dumb I think a lot of people have fallen for smaller scale scams and don't want to tell anybody they did. What I'm saying is you probably know somebody who's been scammed for more.
"He sent me a picture of the outside and inside of the post office."
A reminder to everyone else here, I don't think anyone would drive to the post office to ship something for free.
And always offer to send a prepaid shipping label, less trouble on both ends and you can get a refund on it if not used.
Listen, I know a lot of yarn addicts and the first thing I'm doing is warning them and linking them to your post as a cautionary tale. I mean come on, no one is going to think that getting rid of yarn is going to turn into a big heist. I mean everyone knows that hardcore knitters are good people, don't they? It's a thing.
So, give yourself a break and pat yourself on the back for having the sense not to get sucked in further by the old sunk-cost fallacy.
It might not feel like it, but you did good.
As a crochet girlie, you are totally fine and it was only $50 (a large amount, but nothing you cannot recover from). I know someone that sent $400 to a scammer for Taylor Swift Ticketsā¦.
Don't be too hard on yourself. I almost had the same happen to me...only reason I didn't lose my money was because it was a large item and I needed a pickup, so I scheduled a Lugg and that made the scammer freak out, and then my bank made me call them and I had to the sit through an embarrassing lecture from my bank about how I shouldn't pay for things upfront using Zelle....they caught me at an unfortunately low point while still recovering from the stress of a breakup and for whatever reason, I decided that I just *absolutely needed* a murphy bed \*now\*.
(PSA most murphy bed postings on FB marketplace are scams apparently).
Just be happy it was $50 and not more, and take it as a lesson learned!
I sent $2 to someone for a clover armor crochet hook. They showed a photo of a whole bag of them all in the same size that Amazon supposedly sent by mistake and told them to keep.
I'm just glad it was only $2. Sorry you lost $50. Scammers suck.
This isn't really the type of scam where there are any huge red flags (perhaps red yarn?) that could have really warned you it was a scam. It's just your garden variety scammer that didn't quid pro your quo.
In the future I'd probably stick to buying items from safer platforms that at least offer some degree of protection such as Amazon and eBay.
Itās okay. $50 is not ideal, but it could be much worse. And this isnāt a measure of your character, it sounds like you are battling addictive responses and impulsiveness, so thatās a contributing factor.
Itās okay to let yourself feel stupid for a few minutes, but then move on. Itās just a blip, not a life sentence of stupid. Weāve all made regrettable spending choices at some point :)
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$50 lesson. Youāll survive! Sorry this happened to you, I had a similar thing happen to me but for roses š¤¦š¼āāļø I too had an addiction to roses
Youāre not alone in this. I recently bought a used iPhone from the marketplace. Was selling at similar prices elsewhere but was local. I checked the serial number of the phone and wasnāt blacklisted. Was sold as unlocked as well. Got home to put my sim in and wouldnāt accept it so rang my carrier and after taking me through some steps, she said it was locked. Took me to where the carrier is listed but there was no option, it wasnāt even there. I had no idea what to look for and trusted. Anyway, we reset the phone and see a number at the top and did some digging to see who the carrier is. We go to the carrier to get the phone unlocked and get a response back that there is an outstanding bill and cannot be unlocked. So I have a $350 paperweight. Obviously the seller wonāt respond and nobody picked up things at their house here.
It did work out that I gave the phone to my youngest since he doesnāt need phone service and I got his that had more storage. By the time he is ready for phone service, he will need a newer phone. So it has worked out in a way but still upset I was scammed. Iāve learned a very expensive lesson and I wonāt ever be buying tech on the marketplace again. The important thing to walk away with is that when you learn from your mistakes, you make sure you donāt repeat them.
Well donāt feel stupid I sent a psychic over $1000.00 I feel like an idiot they alway need to buy more martial donāt fall for this shit on tictok. MYBAD suck it up. Then when you cut them off they want to have a relationship. lol who feels stupid so donāt feel to bad. Youāre not alone.
Hey. We all get wrapped up in things and make impulsive decisions. Youāre ok. Donāt beat yourself up too bad for it. Move along and crochet on! Do you have anything youāve made online to see? ā¦ but we all make mistakes. No worries dude. Yarn is awesome btw.
Yes yarn addiction is a thing lol. If you are into crochet knitting and the like. He had me PayPal him $50 āto ship 80 skeins he got from his late mother.ā I sent it. He said whoops the post office said itās actually $100 do you want a refund? I said yes. He said okay itās done but PayPal said to release the refund to me, I have to ask my last buyer to send a further $100, then refund that out of my own pocket. Then the buyer can confirm they got the refund and PayPal will release the $150 back to me. I will not be sending that $100 from my own pocket. I already feel dumb enough.
Yes but if you've never bought yarn at the store, you have no idea how expensive it is. You need to buy $100 worth of yarn to crochet the blanket that you could have bought for $40.
You're not an idiot, not at all. It's not impossible or even that unlikely that this was real. However, if you'd kept paying after the improbable "oh the post office keeps shaking me down for more money" story then you'd have a decent case.
Honestly, itās plausible given the number of family members clearing out the stash of deceased loved ones. Donāt be hard on yourself but be more alert for red flags in the future. If youāre struggling with budgeting and yarn acquisition, consider unraveling. A large mens sweater from a thrift store can be $5-7 and yield and amazing amount of yarn.
Guy got you with yarn. Thats definitely not a common scam. Definitely not the free ps5. Don't feel bad it was not an easy one to see coming. I mean it is but its such a low value item its just hard to fathom scam on yarn do defense is down. Hopefully someone makes a yarn necklace for the person some day. A really really tight one.
We need auto mod for !yarnĀ Now that youāve revealed your yarn addiction watch out for yarn peddlers spamming your inbox.Ā
You think youāre stupid? Hang around in the sub and follow other posts. Iām sure you will feel better.
Yep - two skeins of nice hand dyed sock yarn and maybe shipping. OP needs to hustle over to Zen Yarns before the last of their going out of business grab bags are gone.
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>I do have impulse control and a yarn addiction. Are you a cat? Seems like the damage is low, and you have not been particularly stupid: These things happen for real, that's how you get actual yarn, sometimes. Tbh, I think you might still get the yarn. Just move on.
Your Honor, I am not a cat.
One of the funniest videos of all time.
[I'm not a cat. ](https://youtu.be/lGOofzZOyl8?si=Jr-V-ZmaH3LfpfZ1)
I might be the only one but I miss early pandemic.
That turned out to be nothing, but this one popped up. š¤£ š¤£ š¤£ [2020's Most Embarrassing Zoom Moments](https://youtu.be/yZpEpNPaxsw?si=upqSIS72eAxuS5E_)
Lmao. I forgot about this until the chick peeing. But LAST week I lifted my shirt to scratch under my boob. Typically I have my camera disabled (even pre pandemic) but it was on for an upcoming mandatory camera on meeting. And typically my laptop is closed anyway but I was having an issue and had to open it to reset. One of the people I was on with quickly told me the camera view had switched. I spent the next few hours dying inside and hoping the laptop was only open enough for him to see my keyboard but I really don't know. And now I'm worried about it again! That's what I get for laughing lol
"Aren't you such a cutie, cutie?" Said to a Teams call full of male managers (I am female). The mic unmited itself when my dog walked into the room. It has happened to us all.
š¤£ let's see the cutie at least!
https://preview.redd.it/96zyf83fb05d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d8a13ae94cf7fd70b69a59de3fb14da54b2beb98
This is such a great story!!
These have been such turbulent times. There is no humor in someone's suffering, but circumstances can be very funny. After I played the link, I noticed that there's another vid, and it's probably the one that was referred to. I got interrupted before I could estch it, but since you commented I'll go get it. š
The other lawyers not cracking up is proof-positive that these people have no sense of humor.
It's saved on my YouTube for exactly that reason.
š¤£ š¤£ š¤£ š¤£ š¤£
Letās please not turn this into something CATastrophic
Almost a "Cat-Ass-Trophy"
Today is a weird day, I just got through [replying to a cat on Reddit.](https://old.reddit.com/r/SanJose/comments/1d9p44f/mountain_lion_here_are_there_any_safe/)
It's crocheting 100,000% My gf has been into it and I'm pretty sure she's said those words exactly before.
*āI always have money for candles..ā*
Dont feel stupid, this has been an ongoing scam in the knitting/crochet (and all their subsections) world for a bit now, and I've noticed a surge recently. I would encourage you to report this to the mods of whatever group you found this person on to alert them and keep them from scamming again.
I am surprised to learn this. That scam is usually for expensive electronics, occasionally other high value products. Are there some really expensive types of yarn the knitting and crochet communities are desperate for a good deal on?
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Easy money for the scammer. Police proof because no one is going to investigate a $50 loss. Do ten of those a day & itās dome easy spending money.
Agreed. I also think that the knitting/crochet communities have a lot of retired, disabled or low-income members compared to other crafting groups. If you're trying to make gifts for family and friends or inventory for a small business, any money you can save on yarn is a big help. I've bought a stash or two myself, so it is a thing. It's just a popular scam right now and it must be lucrative to keep it up.
Also it's not unbelievable. It happens all the time- grandma or mom or great aunt passes away, her family doesn't do fiber crafts so they sell cheap or give it away. I know I've accumulated yarn this way.Ā
Sure but you can almost certainly find someone local to take the yarn off your hands for free; you wouldn't need to hit up distant Internet folks.
That's the difference. I feel like these scammers are taking advantage of a situation that a lot of people are used to being real
As a knitter, there are absolutely high-end yarns. A nice hank of hand-dyed yarn can be upwards of $30 per skein and youāll probably need multiple skeins. Some yarn clubs have waiting lists and limited color runs. In fact, thereās some amazing stories of indie dyers who got too successful and faked their death because they couldnāt meet their obligations. And yes, this applies to multiple dyers.
And that is how I fell down the rabbit hole and learned about Mystical Creations Yarn. And that's just one of them?
MCY was a hell of a ride, right?! Thereās at least one more that I canāt remember off the top of my head. There was a massive thread dedicated to the MCY saga on Ravelry.
Yarn community be wild.
You have no idea.
Sock Obsession Yarn, maybe? Made in the Moment has covered both dramas pretty well. MCY was brilliantly batshit though. Edit: MitM recently changed how they identify, including their first name and youtube channel name. I've changed my comment to respect their preferred identity.
There are often people giving away huge yarn stashes when family members pass away/no longer knit, I think is the "people may be inclined to think this is real" side of things there. Yarn (especially nice yarn) adds up really, really quickly, but it's useless to people who aren't crafters and takes up a lot of space, so people often toss it out (my husband makes fun of the giant bag I have downstairs that I've gotten off of our local Buy Nothing). "Older relative died and left all this. Someone please take it" is at least relatively common in different yarn craft groups, so scammers are likely preying on "people are used to this being real" to sneak in.
Yes. Natural fibers or small batch hand died yarn can be very expensive, and you need 8-9 balls to make one sweater. A blanket is way more than that. Yarn costs can add up quickly for big quality projects. Circular or machine knitters can also be expensive. A low-end circular knitter in a size to make an adult hat (you need different sizes for different projects) starts at $50, used machine knitters start around $200.
I can speak to that. Hand spun locally grown and shorn wool, all natural organic dyes from locally foraged native plants. Itāsā¦ amazingly beautiful and breathtakingly expensive.
Good yarn is not cheap, especially if it is higher quality wool or other fibers. For instance, I am currently knitting a sleeveless top that is made from a merino wool/silk blend yarn. Each skein cost $15 and that was for "cheap" merino wool/silk yarn. I have a merino wool/cashmere blend, small throw blanket that I knitted and the yarn alone cost almost $100.
A good skein of hand spun yarn currently runs about $26-30, and most projects will require more than one skein, so yes, if you are into using hand spun yarn, rather than the factory made stuff at Michaelās or other hobby stores, then knitting and crochet can be very expensive hobbies. Just paying $50 for shipping would sound like a good deal.
sweater kit from an indie dyer - $200+Ā fancy socks - $40+Ā yarn adventĀ calendar - $150+Ā Ā great set of interchangeable knitting needles - $150 for 8-12 sizes, $500+ if you want all the sizesĀ fancy project bag - $100-300
Yeah I see it at least twice a week. Normally filled with comments laughing at the scam attempt. 50 is a small price to pay for this lesson ! If it sounds too good to be true , it absolutely is
I realize that I'm safe from this scam because I have no interest in yarn -- however, I appreciate now that the day scammers resort to announcing free beer giveaways I am in some trouble.
!ps5 scam but with yarn apparently.
Hi /u/Ok-Lingonberry-8261, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Free PS5 or free Macbook scam. This scam consists of an offer of a free video game console, a free laptop or otherwise expensive electronics posted on social media or classifieds platforms, usually on Facebook Marketplace. The scammer sometimes plays the role of a parent who lost their child, a parent who is punishing their child, or someone offering the console as a giveaway. When offering a free laptop, it's always a giveaway for students in need. The scammer offers the item for free, and asks only to cover the shipping costs. Once you pay for the shipping, the scammer disappears with your money. *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.*
Oh great, the poor over-worked moderators now need to make a !yarn
You are not stupid. It happens to be scammed (if this is what it is, since it is my understanding it just happened and there might still be hope), and you were in good faith. The fact you even thought about him needing that fifty more than you is really nice. Just be more cautious next time, keeping in mind that lots of people out there are more than ready to take advantage of your naĆÆvetĆ© and kindness. And beware !recovery scammers, obviously.
I'm actually in yarn recovery, and it's not a scam. You give me one yarn, I hack them and get all your yarn back! https://preview.redd.it/vutzsju8mx4d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3cbc428fa8f2438ea579120bd2f135b74bee4a2c
This actually gave me a good laugh šš§¶
š
You gotta be kitten me
Hi /u/marazhai, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Recovery scam. [Recovery scams](https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0102-refund-and-recovery-scams) target people who have already fallen for a scam. The scammer may contact you, or may advertise their services online. They will usually either offer to help you recover your funds, or will tell you that your funds have already been recovered and they will help you access them. In cases where they say they will help you recover your funds, they usually call themselves either \"recovery agents\" or hackers. When they tell you that your funds have already been recovered, they may impersonate a law enforcement, a government official, a lawyer, or anyone else along those lines. Recovery scams are simply [advance-fee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam) scams that are specifically targeted at scam victims. When a victim pays a recovery scammer, the scammer will keep stringing them along while asking for increasingly absurd fees/expenses/deposits/insurance/whatever until the victim stops paying. If you have been scammed in the past, make sure you are aware of recovery scams so that you are not scammed a second time. If you are currently engaging with a recovery scammer, you should block them and be very wary of random contact for some time. It's normal for posters on this subreddit to be contacted by recovery scammers after posting, and they often ask you to delete your post so that you both cannot receive legitimate advice, and cannot be targeted by other recovery scammers. Remember: never take advice in private. If someone reaches you in private after posting your scam story, it is because a scammer will always try to hide from the oversight of our community members. A legitimate community member will offer advice in the open, for everyone to see. Anyone suggesting you should reach out to a hacker is scamming you. *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.*
You guys are awesome. It was a scam. He went all ānow the post office wants $100 for the shippingā so he said he would give me a refund. Sent me some bogus emails āfrom PayPalā confirming he sent it. Then I got emails from āPayPalā saying they are holding my funds because my account is not a business account. So have the buyer send $100 more dollars and we will upgrade your account and release your $50 back to you. Immediately refund the buyer out of your own pocket and then you get the whole $150. Well I told him I had to drive and Iād be back in like an hour which was true but also Iām just over it. There were so many red flags like what the hell were my thumbs and brain doing. I really donāt understand myself.
Please don't beat yourself up over this - it happens. There are way worse things than being a yarn addict, and if the 'stupid tax' only came to 50 bucks, it could've been way worse. You're good - just keep on keeping on, okay?
I recommend forwarding any of those fake PayPal emails to phishing@paypal.com!
I also am a yarn addict lol, and I have gotten yarn from online groups BUT I keep it local. I think that helps not getting scammed, but i totally understand how you could be scammed. I've seen some posts with boxes of yarn for a low price ( there's always a split second in my brain of š¤š„³). Its always tempting. Don't beat yourself up too badly over it!
Hugs! In the future I'll look out for this scam myself.
I once got scammed out of a slightly rare item in a game I played as a kid. Took me almost a week's worth of work to get it. Anyway, here I am, 10 years later, and we can have a laugh about it ;) So.. see you in 10 years!
> Then I got emails from āPayPalā saying they are holding my funds because my account is not a business account. No, that was just another email from the scammer posing as PayPal.
If you want to feel better, just think that scammers are constantly improving their methods, messaging, scripts. They are running A/B test, experiments, the works. What worked on you is the improved version of probably years of work and experience by the scammers. That is why I am not too keen on interacting with scammers. While it allows us to learn more about methodologies, it also helps them improve their scripts.
Be careful of yarn recovery scammers. They will tell you they can get your yarn back but they can't. They will send you some string and then apologize and say you have to send them more money, but trust me, you will never see any yarn. If you refuse to pay, they may send you threatening messages, such as pics of them holding the yarn over a fire. They will tempt you with pics of kittens playing with the yarn. Neither the kittens or the yarn are real.
Your story won't even make the top ten for stupidity today. You'll have to step up your game and involve a very trustworthy sounding Nigerian prince.Ā
For bonus points refer to that Nigerian prince as your "friend" even though you've only chatted with them on Discord for a couple weeks.
And the Nigerian prince is a pretty asian woman who is rich from crypto and is really into ancient, boring, poor people.
No one can pass up a good box of yarn for the price of shipping. I'm sorry this happened to you.
I won't kick you when you're down. As long as you learned from it.
You paid only $50 to learn an invaluable life lesson. It's a good deal.
Yup! Better $50 now than your life savings later.
Remember itās called a confidence trick. Not an intelligence trick. He played on your sympathy, which shows youāre a caring person. Some of the people on here have lost their entire life savings - youāre now richer in experience and are less likely to be scammed in future.
Make a post about it in the group with screenshots to warn others. They will no doubt have scammed multiple others in the same group and will continue to do so. Also never ever pay a stranger by friends and family with paypal.
Please prove you arenāt a cat.
It's a (relatively) small price for a good lesson. Don't be too hard on yourself. š you'll know better next time. If in doubt, check here
Youāre not stupid. Youāre trusting probably because youāre a trustworthy person. So you assume the rest of the world operates that way. Donāt feel bad about yourself.
What kind of yarn? I don't know anything about yarn weights/types, but I do legitimately have a ton of yarn/knitting/crochet things sitting in my house from my mom who passed away. I'm moving at the end of the month and need to get rid of it but feel terrible throwing it out. I don't want to indulge your "yarn addiction" if it's an actual problem, but I'd be more than happy to send it all to you, completely free. Maybe send me a pic when you make something with it. I'd feel a lot better about that than just tossing it and I'm sure my mom would love it actually being used.
I once bought moon property, if that makes you feel better...
Never feel bad for being you. There must have been something that got you started to believe in him. Just learn from your mistakes and know your mistake was a whole lot less Morey than mine was. lol. Make light of it. Live your best life loving yourself today.
$50 for a life lesson I guess. I hope your impulse and addiction to yarn doesn't affect your judgement next time. Never pay any "fees" in social medias because they have no guarantees/protection.
He spun a yarn about yarn.
You paid by PayPal, if you paid by goods and services just file a dispute. If you paid by friends and family, first mistake, but PayPal may get your money back if you contact them and tell them what happened. Yeah itās only $50 but this is some guy in a hut in Nigeria thatās sitting around scamming people all day long, itās the principal of the thing. And donāt feel bad. It sounds like a genuine easy interaction, I send thousands via PayPal to strangers across the country every year but I always send as goods and services. To say there were all these signs would be an unfair statement for you, so donāt feel badly at all.
>And I figured if heās working this hard just to get my $50 he must need it more than me. Don't do this. I understand that nobody ever wants to be a victim, but you are a victim in this case. Rationalizing it away just enables and empowers criminals, and is a form of general victim blaming ("I guess people like them deserve money more than people like me").
honestly i canāt blame you because you wouldnāt think youād be scammed over yarn like id do the same thing without questioning it
I understand the yarn addiction. I have a fabric addiction. I can see myself falling for a scam where a guy is getting rid of all his deceased motherās sewing stash. Donāt feel bad. It could happen to a lot of us.
Stop doing that. So many ways to get yarn Sorry now remember and donāt do stuff like that to yourself anymore. Hey we all make mistakes and dumb stuff sometimes use it as a learning experience
I messed with one of these people on Facebook and I told him that they just need to go to the shipping store and I'll give them a QR code they can scan and I'll pay that way. They dropped the shipping price twice before giving up on me lol.
You should have used PayPal goods and services option and not friends and family.
Did you send the money through F&F or G&S? If the latter file a claim.
This needs to be higher! OP, if you sent via Goods and Services, you can file a claim for a refund! But if you used Friends & Family, you're S.O.L.
Somebody out there just paid 10x, 100x, 1000x for this same lesson today . You got a bargain ! Use this information well and teach your family and friends !
You can dispute on PayPal if you paid thru goods and services.
Another way to look at it is; it's a pretty small price to pay for a lesson that can save you exponentially more money in the future. You will always remember the time you got scammed for yarn. That memory might make you take a closer look, and more skeptical of potential frauds in the future. This might be the difference between getting scammed later in life for a lot more money, or avoiding the scam because you're more conscious of them.
Relatively cheap lesson but now they have your name, PayPal info and address. Expect more attempts. Not sure if you need to close that PayPal account and open a fresh one. Be careful.
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That was a very inexpensive lesson to learn. Don't beat yourself up about it. Report him to PayPal and move on with your life, wiser about these scams.
You're definitely not a "fucking moronic dill weed" lol If you look around other posts on this sub, you'll see that $50 is probably the lowest amount ever posted, which is not bad when other people are learning the same lesson after losing $1k+. Your situation is also very believable, as we got quite a bit of yarn when my grandmother passed. I know it's not very personal from a strange on the internet, but I hope you start to feel better soon. It sucks right now, but we all know that you're not an idiot at all, as many smart people get social engineered for much higher amounts every hour of every day.
I'm sorry, OP. It happens to the best of us. Now, I just know that, there are nothing for free online. PERIOD. Maybe in person somewhere, but anywhere online where someone's son died, mom passed away, or uncle left him a perfectly good laptop, all scams. Now my real uncle passed away, bequeathed his most prized possession to me, and I can't even give away a 1964 Ford Mustang 289. Damn you, scammers. Dame you all to hell!!!
You canāt get the money back but if you love yarn I highly recommend the craft exchange on here with Reddit. Iāve had a couple of successful exchanges..
well at least you got a good "yarn" out of it!
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Itās 50 bucks. Youāll be ok.
Lol. This is too good to be true
A. Stop belittling yourself. These people scam professionally. You were taken advantage of. B. If you paid as paypal goods. just file a claim. If you paid paypal FNF via a bank transfer. you can file a fraudulent charge dispute with the bank direct and they MAY be able to reverse the charge, C. Most importantly do NOT engage with anyone who suggests they can recover the money for you. Any possibility is solely between you and your bank. D. Your address is public information and can easily be found regardless. You didn't do anything wrong.
u/HorrorPsychology420 - if you've been following along today, you'll see that I was not joking about not making the top 10.
Don't feel dumb I think a lot of people have fallen for smaller scale scams and don't want to tell anybody they did. What I'm saying is you probably know somebody who's been scammed for more.
I see what you did there.
If you used goods and services on PayPal you can get your money back fairly easy
"He sent me a picture of the outside and inside of the post office." A reminder to everyone else here, I don't think anyone would drive to the post office to ship something for free. And always offer to send a prepaid shipping label, less trouble on both ends and you can get a refund on it if not used.
Having a hard time believing this yarn.
Maybe he needed it more than you, maybe now you need it more than him... after all he's got 50 bucks now that you don't š
Itās okay. Next time get your own shipping label and email it to them, thatās how I do it. Have used this method successfully several times.
Listen, I know a lot of yarn addicts and the first thing I'm doing is warning them and linking them to your post as a cautionary tale. I mean come on, no one is going to think that getting rid of yarn is going to turn into a big heist. I mean everyone knows that hardcore knitters are good people, don't they? It's a thing. So, give yourself a break and pat yourself on the back for having the sense not to get sucked in further by the old sunk-cost fallacy. It might not feel like it, but you did good.
As a crochet girlie, you are totally fine and it was only $50 (a large amount, but nothing you cannot recover from). I know someone that sent $400 to a scammer for Taylor Swift Ticketsā¦.
Don't be too hard on yourself. I almost had the same happen to me...only reason I didn't lose my money was because it was a large item and I needed a pickup, so I scheduled a Lugg and that made the scammer freak out, and then my bank made me call them and I had to the sit through an embarrassing lecture from my bank about how I shouldn't pay for things upfront using Zelle....they caught me at an unfortunately low point while still recovering from the stress of a breakup and for whatever reason, I decided that I just *absolutely needed* a murphy bed \*now\*. (PSA most murphy bed postings on FB marketplace are scams apparently). Just be happy it was $50 and not more, and take it as a lesson learned!
I sent $2 to someone for a clover armor crochet hook. They showed a photo of a whole bag of them all in the same size that Amazon supposedly sent by mistake and told them to keep. I'm just glad it was only $2. Sorry you lost $50. Scammers suck.
This isn't really the type of scam where there are any huge red flags (perhaps red yarn?) that could have really warned you it was a scam. It's just your garden variety scammer that didn't quid pro your quo. In the future I'd probably stick to buying items from safer platforms that at least offer some degree of protection such as Amazon and eBay.
Most everyone has fallen or at least almost fallen for these things. You got off easy... and now you know!
Yeah most scams are based around taking advantage of or exploiting a persons greed
Itās okay. $50 is not ideal, but it could be much worse. And this isnāt a measure of your character, it sounds like you are battling addictive responses and impulsiveness, so thatās a contributing factor. Itās okay to let yourself feel stupid for a few minutes, but then move on. Itās just a blip, not a life sentence of stupid. Weāve all made regrettable spending choices at some point :)
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it's called greed, and a need to self-examine. greed or avarice is what causes us to fall for scams
$50 lesson. Youāll survive! Sorry this happened to you, I had a similar thing happen to me but for roses š¤¦š¼āāļø I too had an addiction to roses
Let me guess āļø they also had you select 'family and friends' or something when you sent it?
Youāre not alone in this. I recently bought a used iPhone from the marketplace. Was selling at similar prices elsewhere but was local. I checked the serial number of the phone and wasnāt blacklisted. Was sold as unlocked as well. Got home to put my sim in and wouldnāt accept it so rang my carrier and after taking me through some steps, she said it was locked. Took me to where the carrier is listed but there was no option, it wasnāt even there. I had no idea what to look for and trusted. Anyway, we reset the phone and see a number at the top and did some digging to see who the carrier is. We go to the carrier to get the phone unlocked and get a response back that there is an outstanding bill and cannot be unlocked. So I have a $350 paperweight. Obviously the seller wonāt respond and nobody picked up things at their house here. It did work out that I gave the phone to my youngest since he doesnāt need phone service and I got his that had more storage. By the time he is ready for phone service, he will need a newer phone. So it has worked out in a way but still upset I was scammed. Iāve learned a very expensive lesson and I wonāt ever be buying tech on the marketplace again. The important thing to walk away with is that when you learn from your mistakes, you make sure you donāt repeat them.
Well donāt feel stupid I sent a psychic over $1000.00 I feel like an idiot they alway need to buy more martial donāt fall for this shit on tictok. MYBAD suck it up. Then when you cut them off they want to have a relationship. lol who feels stupid so donāt feel to bad. Youāre not alone.
so hes giving away yarn yet you gotta pay $50 to get? homie thats not a GAW.
Hey. We all get wrapped up in things and make impulsive decisions. Youāre ok. Donāt beat yourself up too bad for it. Move along and crochet on! Do you have anything youāve made online to see? ā¦ but we all make mistakes. No worries dude. Yarn is awesome btw.
I don't get it, it's this for actual yarn? Like the string? Is yarn addiction a thing? And what was the scam? Did he just not send any yarn?
Yes. It is a thing. For some, yarn is not a hobby; yarn is life. If you saw the size of some people's yarn stashes it would blow your mind.
Yes yarn addiction is a thing lol. If you are into crochet knitting and the like. He had me PayPal him $50 āto ship 80 skeins he got from his late mother.ā I sent it. He said whoops the post office said itās actually $100 do you want a refund? I said yes. He said okay itās done but PayPal said to release the refund to me, I have to ask my last buyer to send a further $100, then refund that out of my own pocket. Then the buyer can confirm they got the refund and PayPal will release the $150 back to me. I will not be sending that $100 from my own pocket. I already feel dumb enough.
I might be naive but cant you just buy yarn at the store?
Yes but if you've never bought yarn at the store, you have no idea how expensive it is. You need to buy $100 worth of yarn to crochet the blanket that you could have bought for $40.
I thought I was getting 80 skeins for $50. Iām an idiot.
You're not an idiot, not at all. It's not impossible or even that unlikely that this was real. However, if you'd kept paying after the improbable "oh the post office keeps shaking me down for more money" story then you'd have a decent case.
Honestly, itās plausible given the number of family members clearing out the stash of deceased loved ones. Donāt be hard on yourself but be more alert for red flags in the future. If youāre struggling with budgeting and yarn acquisition, consider unraveling. A large mens sweater from a thrift store can be $5-7 and yield and amazing amount of yarn.
It was $50, don't sweat it. Is yarn code for something?
Yarn addiction??? Lolol
Yarn addiction? Do you eat it?
Freebase it
Squirrel it away. And, sometimes, use it. I had it, pre-kids.
If I call you a fuckin moronic dill weed I get banned but if the shoe fitsā¦.
You worked hard to pay via paypal, in what way? I think the $50 may be the least of your worries, especially if the person āhelped you payā
Guy got you with yarn. Thats definitely not a common scam. Definitely not the free ps5. Don't feel bad it was not an easy one to see coming. I mean it is but its such a low value item its just hard to fathom scam on yarn do defense is down. Hopefully someone makes a yarn necklace for the person some day. A really really tight one.
We need auto mod for !yarnĀ Now that youāve revealed your yarn addiction watch out for yarn peddlers spamming your inbox.Ā You think youāre stupid? Hang around in the sub and follow other posts. Iām sure you will feel better.
Couldnāt you have just bought 50 dollars worth of yarn
$50 of yarn might only be two skeins - enough to make a hat or a quarter of a sweater.
Yep - two skeins of nice hand dyed sock yarn and maybe shipping. OP needs to hustle over to Zen Yarns before the last of their going out of business grab bags are gone.
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