What Types of Scams Does Scam Victims United Describe?

Scam Victims United lists three specific scam types on its site: ATM scams, cashier's check scams, and dinner party scams. Each entry pairs a short description with the situation where it typically shows up, so you can check your own experience against them. The site does not claim this is a complete list — it's a starting point for recognition, not a catalog of every scam in circulation.

ATM Scam

The site describes ATM scams as cases where people's entire bank accounts get drained. It notes that the FBI and police departments across the country are seeing this pattern.

The key detail is the scale: this isn't framed as a small unauthorized charge, but as full account depletion. If you're evaluating whether a situation matches, the site's framing points to unauthorized access to your account through an ATM, rather than a one-off fraudulent transaction.

Cashier's Check Scam

This is the scam type the site treats in most depth, because it's the one the founders experienced personally.

The site describes it as most common when you're selling something online — a used car, motorcycle, jewelry, or even bred animals. The pattern: a buyer contacts you about your listing, and the payment comes in the form of a counterfeit cashier's check.

The founders' own account, published on the site, describes selling a 1961 Buick after placing an ad on the internet. A man contacted them claiming to be a car dealer and wanting to buy it. That contact led to the Nigerian counterfeit cashier's check scam that prompted them to found the organization.

What makes this entry useful for recognition is the combination of two signals: you're the seller, and the buyer pushes a cashier's check as payment. The site's own history shows the scam doesn't require a sophisticated setup — just a listing and an interested "buyer."

Dinner Party Scam

The site describes this as a situation where you're typically invited to a private gathering or party by someone you know.

The distinguishing feature here is the existing relationship. Unlike the cashier's check scam, which starts with a stranger responding to an ad, the dinner party scam runs through a personal connection. That's the detail worth checking against your own circumstances: if an invitation to a private gathering comes with a financial ask attached, the site's description is the relevant reference point.

How the Three Types Compare

What the Site Does With These Listings

The scam types sit inside a broader purpose. Scam Victims United describes four functions: educating the public and victims about common scam tactics and providing practical tools for action and recovery; guiding individuals through financial recovery with reporting resources; building a community where victims share stories without blame or shame; and advocating with officials and ethical businesses for tougher consumer protections.

The founders' stated reason for starting the organization was that when they looked for support after their own scam, they found none available. After sharing their story online and through news media, they connected with other victims of the same scam across the country, which led to an online message group and homepage. The site reports that in the first three months, the homepage received over 12,000 hits, warned over 300 people away from becoming victims, and helped stop over two million dollars from reaching the Nigerian counterfeiters.

Using This to Check Your Own Situation

If you're trying to work out whether something that happened to you matches a known pattern, the site's three entries give you concrete anchors:

• Were you selling something online and paid with a cashier's check? That maps to the cashier's check scam.
• Was your account drained through an ATM? That maps to the ATM scam.
• Were you invited to a private gathering by someone you know, with a financial element attached? That maps to the dinner party scam.

The site doesn't expand beyond these three types in the material available, so treat it as a recognition aid for these specific patterns rather than a general scam taxonomy. For anything outside these three, the site's broader education and reporting resources are the next place to look.