Hey everyone! I'm u/playerGJ, a founding moderator of r/StandAgainstCrime.
This is our new home for all things related to Spot the Scam — protect the people you love. We're excited to have you join us.
Scams work because they're isolating. People get hit, feel stupid, and say nothing — so the next person meets the same script cold. A community is the direct answer to that: the message you almost fell for this morning is the warning someone else needs this afternoon.
What to Post
Anything the community would find useful, interesting, or worth a heads-up. For example:
- "Is this a scam?" — paste a suspicious text, email, DM, or job offer and let people weigh in. Screenshots welcome.
- Scams you're seeing right now — a wave hitting your city, your bank, your workplace, your parents' phone.
- Near-misses — the one you nearly fell for. These are the most valuable posts on the sub. The tell that saved you might save someone else.
- Help for someone else — protecting an elderly parent, a friend deep in a romance or "investment" chat, a relative who won't listen.
- "This happened to me, what now?" — practical next steps on freezing, reporting, and recovering.romance or "investment" chat, a relative who won't listen.
- "This happened to me, what now?" — practical next steps on freezing, reporting, and recovering.
- Wins — you spotted it, you hung up, you talked someone out of a transfer. Post it. Wins teach as well as losses.
- Questions with no stupid version. "What even is an OTP?" is a perfectly good post.
Regional detail is a feature, not clutter. UPI, Zelle, FASTag, e-challan, CRA, HMRC — name the specifics. That's what makes a warning actionable.
Two Things to Know Before You Post
- Anyone who DMs you offering to recover your money is a scammer. No exceptions. "Recovery agents", "certified crypto recovery specialists", "I know a hacker who can help" — these people watch subs like this one specifically to target anyone who mentions losing money. Real recovery happens through your bank, your payment provider, and official reporting channels. Never through a stranger's DM. If someone messages you like this, please report them to the mods so we can ban them.
- Redact before you post. Black out your account numbers, full phone numbers, addresses, and anyone's real name — yours and other people's. Scam messages are fine to share; your personal details attached to them aren't.
Related: share the scam, not the suspect. Screenshots, numbers, domains, and tactics are all fair game. Accusing a named private individual isn't — we're not set up to adjudicate that, and getting it wrong hurts real people.
Community Vibe
Friendly, constructive, and inclusive — and one rule beyond that:
No victim-blaming. "How did you not see that?" is not allowed here. These operations are professional, well-funded, and specifically engineered to defeat careful people under pressure. Anyone posting about money they've lost is having a bad enough day already. If you can't help, scroll on.
Beyond that: no judgement about how much was lost or how obvious it looks in hindsight, and no promoting paid recovery services, "ethical hackers", or your own products. (Including me — see below.)
How to Get Started
- Introduce yourself in the comments below. What brought you here — curiosity, close call, protecting someone, or work?
- Post something today. Even a simple question can spark a great conversation. Got an odd text sitting in your phone right now? That's a post.
- Invite someone. If you know a person who'd benefit — especially someone who's been targeted — bring them in.
- Want to help out? We're looking for moderators, particularly people in different time zones and regions. Message me to apply.
Transparency: I also run standagainstcrime.com, a free scam-guide and tools site. I'm telling you that up front rather than having you find out later. This sub is not a funnel for it — answers belong in the comments here, in full, and you'll never need to click anything to get help. If a link is genuinely the most useful reply, I'll say so plainly.
Thanks for being part of the very first wave. Together, let's make r/StandAgainstCrime amazing.
Source: r/StandAgainstCrime · by /u/playerGJ