( 🤖) Bots & Scams | PSA

Public Service Announcement

( :round_pushpin: ) Beware Writers of Bots & Scams

Hi writers! You may know our community is dedicated to being open for the public to as a consequence. Many scammers and hackers may have access to try to affect our ability to use amino. Not worry as the writer’s staff team is large and active at work. However we want you to know when you should report to us!

How to look for suspicious activity!

( :warning: ) Warning signs of a bot or scam!

Bots and scammers are easy to find if you use these techniques. Do not fall victim and do not be fooled by anyone’s dialogue. It’s important scammers will try to collect every bit of information to use against you.

( :round_pushpin: ) 1. The is relatively new to our community think like 3 months new. Anything 90 days or less maybe a scammer, scammer or online predator. Many do this as it is a throw away to collect information and leave.

( :round_pushpin: ) 2. The has a profile of a random face, it is empty and the profile name is relatively random. If an has an empty profile picture there is reason to be suspicious. Especially if the name contains a real life name or a name that is generic. It’s hard to elaborate but names that say John are a red flag as that identity can’t be traced.

( :round_pushpin: ) 3. They message you informing their full name, and the country/state they live in. Nobody should ever show their real life name as if you are a legal adult your full name and state can track your address. Scammers give a false name and location to make you develop trust so you give your name and location.

( :round_pushpin: ) 4. They ask about being a “text buddy” or “sugar baby” this is the hot red bullet to let us know and report this . Text buddy is referring to someone you text in exchange for conversation and that person pays you. This is a major scam. Sugar baby is referring to the same thing but it may ask for adult activities. This is also a scam which can result in extortion and abuse. Do not fall victim.

( :round_pushpin: ) 5. Another red flag is that you have a conversation with them and the conversation doesn’t make sense. Like if they say I’m uncomfortable with minors and you say you are a minor. Then they say something like that’s fine. The reason why they also may your age is to also make sure you are someone who may be working and that you are of age to have a job. Keep in mind this mistake can also mean they aren’t a native English speaker but look at the other signs to paint the picture.

( :round_pushpin: ) 6. They may ask to take conversation off of amino. This is a major red flag because amino has a bot that bans risky s and monitors activity. So if someone sends the same message to multiple s they are automatically banned from amino. If anyone is try to get you off our community please inform us.

( :round_pushpin: ) 7. They ask you to give them money in exchange for money. That is a big red flag because someone does not need you to give them money in order for you to get it. That is scam.

( :round_pushpin: ) 8. The text is automated and you have seen the same texts in another community. This is a clear bot or scammer.

How to protect yourself from scam!

(🧷) these notes

Depending on the online predator and their behavior their maybe important things to note to keep yourself safe. Some online predators look to keep certain information than others to later exploit people. Watching this behavior is important.

( :round_pushpin: ) 1. Never say your full name nor what state or city you live in. This can give scammers a chance to track you down and also create a dox attack on you. They may blackmail you for money or favors to give you an illusion of options to prevent the dox. Please keep in mind if it reaches that level team amino, law enforcement and if you are a minor tell a trusted adult/ guardian/ family member. A reminder your life is not over just because of a cyber scam.

( :round_pushpin: ) 2. Never provide anyone your social media s. They can get monitored by predators and they may watch who follows you, who likes your content and who you interact with. This helps them also threaten or attack you.

( :round_pushpin: ) 3. Block any suspicious s or disabled your private messages to only people you follow. If you encourage any that is suspicious just block them. If you have proof of their behavior please me, amino or flag the .

( :round_pushpin: ) 4. Do not entertain any predatory s. Do not keep talking to them if you know they are a threat. Inform us and report them.

( :round_pushpin: ) 5. Do not share any information of your personal life. This refers to siblings, parents, friends, dogs, cats, and names of anyone. This can be a risk because someone can track your information like that.

( :round_pushpin: ) 6. Do not have any email addresses you use for social media that says your real life name. This is so incredibly important as some information like your email address can get exposed publicly and this can cause a risk to your safety. On amino especially true as many coders/hackers have itted they can see peoples emails addresses. Many people make the mistake of writing their full name on the email.

Reporting any suspicious activity.

(🗒) When to us and how!

There is three ways you can reach out and report to us. You can dm a staff member here in writer’s directly. You can flag a message, blog or profile but please note we may not get context and it may get ignored. Some flag messages also go to team amino and not us. Another way to us is in our help desk.

( :round_pushpin: ) 1. Message a member of staff and provide a link of the , screenshot and more information necessary to help us punish the . Do not just and say I need to report a please just say the issue, link the , and provide the screenshots needed.

( :round_pushpin: ) 2. us by flagging content but please note it may not directly go to us. It may go to team amino directly. Sometimes just flagging a profile doesn’t provide the context necessary for a punishment.

( :round_pushpin: ) 3. Lastly the best method to for help is the public help desk chatroom we have. This chatroom was intended to help get access to a staff member to make a report.

( :round_pushpin: ) 4. If you are unsure if someone is suspicious please us and block the . A staff member will them to see what the situation is with the .

( :round_pushpin: ) 5. For more safety information please staff , research online how to be safe or your guardian for advice for online safety.

Conclusions and End Notes

( :white_check_mark: ) Thanks for reading and be safe!

Please report any suspicious activity and watch out for any possible threats on writers or any amino you are on. Please note this information is also beneficial for social media platforms outside of amino apps.