There's a guy I met randomly and he said he would give me 1000 dollars to my paypal (he also asked if it was in the U.S. and verified to which I said yes) but I would have to send half back to him. I asked him why didn't he just send me half so I didn't have to do the work and he said because "He had to take it out all at once." Anyway, long story short he asked for my address and phone number to "make sure I won't run off with [his] money". I didn't give it to him yet because he said we would do that all tomorrow. He told me to install the application Telegram and add him on there so I did. And basically that's where I'm at right now. I am guessing this is a scam and I'd like to have fun with him. Or would it be potentially dangerous for me? For example, would I get into any legal trouble? Could he hack my paypal? Should I report him? If so, to whom?
2 Answers
Don't proceed with any of this.
It sounds similar to the following scam Stranger sent me $12,100 except what's perculiar here is that you haven't mentioned why he was sending you $1000 in the first place. Was it for some work you did for him? If not then why would someone (especially a random person) send you any money at all? They wouldn't.
It's a scam, simple as.
Or would it be potentially dangerous for me? For example, would I get into any legal trouble?
The money they send you could be dirty/stolen. You play along "for the youtube views" and then get a visit from some nice law enforcement officers wondering why you're moving dirty money. Is that worth it?
Granted, this is worst case, but not really worth the risk or time spent. I'm sure you could come up with something more original and worth viewing than a scam that has been done tens of thousands of times.
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