Is this a scam or not?

Question

I saw a comment posted under an Instagram picture & it said " I will deposit this much amount of money into your bank account call or text me for information" so I messaged this person and his name is John. I don't know where he lives I just have a number. He said he would need my first and last name and my online banking information not my date of birth, SSN, Address, Bank Address, Routing number, or checking account number. I don't know if it's a scam because all they want is my name and online banking username and password.

So my question is if it is a scam or could he really be wanting to put money into my account? Oh yeah, he also said they'll send it through my account and I'll send half of it BACK through money gram or western union.

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No I haven't given him any of my information.

Answer 1

I can't imagine any scenario under which this wouldn't be a scam, and frankly I'm a bit surprised to be talking about it once again.

Any time someone you don't know and who doesn't know you wants to give you money for no good reason and asks you to provide personal information and bank info, there should be enough alarms going off for a five-alarm fire.

Worse still this guy wants you to send half the money back to him. One simple question: WHY??? For what reason would they want you to send anything back? Why not just send you the money he wants you to have and keep the rest for himself?

For heaven's sake, don't fall for this. Stay away from the whole mess and save yourself a bunch of grief.

Answer 2

Yes, it is a scam. There is no doubt about it. Never give your bank password to anyone, especially strangers. You will lose your money if you fall for this.

Answer 3

He said he would need my first and last name and my online banking information not my date of birth, SSN, Address, Bank Address, Routing number, or checking account number

This is a scam. No one needs online Banking User name and password. If you have already given this info, close your account and disable internet banking.

not my date of birth, SSN, Address,

Giving your date of birth and SSN is also dangerous.

So my question for you is it a scam or could he really be wanting to put money into my account? Oh yeah and also he said they'll send it through my account I'll send half BACK through money gram or western union.

There is no legit reason for doing this. This is 100% scam, one would only loose money.

Just walk away before any damage can be done

Answer 4

Short answer: Yes this is a scam.

I see three different possibilities how they get you. I will rank them from "best" to worst

1. Scammer A sends 100$ to you. You then follow his instructions and send back 50$ through WU (this is untraceable). He then contacts his bank and tells them he never intended to send that 100$ to you, then bank will then reverse that transaction and give him back his money, leaving you 50$ short.

2. Scammer A hacks or scams innocent person B and either sends B:s money to you or tricks person B to do it. When person B reports this to the police it will look like you were behind the whole thing. The transaction will be reversed leaving you 50$ short and with unwanted police attention (see this article for an extreme example: https://www.wired.com/2015/10/online-dating-made-woman-pawn-global-crime-plot/)

3. The nice person A wants to send money to a criminal syndicate or terrorist organization but don't want to be associated with it. Leaving you 50$ up (hurray) and possibly on a bunch of terrorist watch lists (ouch!).

The extra info you provide wouldn't be necessary for any of these scams but I guess it could be nice to have for some regular identity theft.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of all that the scammers could do. It's just a short list to show you how dangerous it would be to play along.

To state the obvious, don't walk from this person, RUN!

Answer 5

They want my online banking username and password.

I don't know if it's a scam.

It can't be any more obvious than that. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER give your online banking password to ANYONE. Not your lawyer, not your bank's local branch manager, not your best friend, not your wife, not your mother, and certainly not some random person on the street/Facebook/the Internet.