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Scams Cruisers Are Falling For BEFORE Even Leaving Home
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Jan 28, 2025
I look at scams playing on cruise lovers eagerness to cruise right now, like my friend Helen, who almost fell for one of the four scams very active now catching cruise passengers while at home thinking or planning a cruise. This is the first of a two-part series about scams targeting cruise passengers right now, the other looks at scams in cruise ports Links mentioned in the video: * CruiseMummy.co.uk: https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/win-a-cruise/ * TravelScoop.co.uk https://travelscoop.co.uk/explore/cruise-competitions * ThePrizeFinder.com https://www.theprizefinder.com/popular-prizes/holidays/Cruise * ShouldBeCruising.com https://shouldbecruising.com/2020/08/12/win-a-free-cruise/ * LiveAbout.com https://www.liveabout.com/cruise-sweepstakes-chances-to-win-free-cruises-898111 For bonus & exclusive content (including videos, articles, eBooks and more) become a channel member or patron: --------------------------------------------------- * Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join Check out my cruise-themed T-shirts and products: --------------------------------------------------- * T-Shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore * Mugs, notebooks, hoodies etc: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/tipsfortravellers?ref_id=22354 My social media:
View Video Transcript
0:00
this is my friend Helen she's switched
0:02
on and really smart but almost fell for
0:05
one of the crafty scams doing the rounds
0:07
right now when she was in Miami they're
0:09
aimed at Cruisers like her you and me
0:11
and if she Nelly did anyone could so I
0:14
want to stop those scammers at ripping
0:16
us Cruise lovers off and there are
0:18
actually four of them to watch out for
0:20
right now
0:22
first off scammers know of course we'd
0:24
all love a free Cruise which is how they
0:27
almost caught Helen there are several
0:29
versions of the Free Cruise scams that
0:32
I've seen happening right now the first
0:35
of these is the promise of a free Cruise
0:37
or perhaps an entry into Free Cruise
0:39
draw for doing a simple survey this one
0:42
is a hot favorite of scammers right now
0:44
and as well as for cruises I'm actually
0:47
getting them already right now for
0:49
Airlines and hotels too now it all
0:52
sounds incredibly easy scammers send out
0:55
emails or they post on social media
0:56
inviting us to answer some very simple
0:59
survey questions or to give feedback
1:01
perhaps on a cruise line and in return
1:03
we will get a free Cruise or be entered
1:06
into a draw for one however once you do
1:09
the survey you'll then need to speak to
1:12
someone to get the cruise and they will
1:15
manipulate you into handing over money
1:18
for example the scammers will tell you
1:20
there are port and other fees that you
1:22
need to pay to secure the booking then
1:25
they will say you've won a really basic
1:26
cabin and you should upgrade to a better
1:28
cabin and a really fantastic special
1:30
rate that you can only get right then
1:33
and now if you refuse that then suddenly
1:36
the date you want is sold out and then
1:38
there are fees to get the actual date
1:40
that you want you will end up paying by
1:42
the way more than if you just booked a
1:45
cruise yourself and in most cases the
1:48
cruise is actually not real and the
1:50
scammers disappear before you realize
1:53
the booking is fake and you've handed
1:54
over money the survey method is not the
1:57
only technique though that scammers are
1:59
using to ensnare Cruisers they're also
2:02
creating fake Cruise Line profiles on
2:05
Facebook or Instagram and then running
2:08
posts offering free cruises as prizes if
2:11
we like comment on and share the post
2:14
now these look really convincing and
2:17
I've seen them recently for lines
2:18
including Carnival Cruise Line piano
2:21
cruises and many more if you ever see a
2:24
post like this simply click on the
2:27
profile and see if it really is the
2:30
cruise line the profile would normally
2:31
have a Blue Tick confirming it's genuine
2:34
but also just look simply at how many
2:36
followers and regular posts the profile
2:39
has the scammer Pages normally have
2:42
almost no followers and very few posts
2:46
by the way another way to avoid this is
2:48
there are a few Cruise bloggers and
2:50
sites who keep really up-to-date lists
2:52
of genuine competitions with Cruisers as
2:56
prizes a couple of these include
2:57
cruisemummy dot Co dot UK
3:01
travelscoop.co.uk and the
3:04
pricefinder.com these are all in the UK
3:07
if you're in the US sites like the
3:10
following should be cruising.com and
3:13
liveabout.com but if you do enter
3:15
competitions remember what you've
3:18
entered because I've been following some
3:20
cruises that recently received note
3:22
vacations that that won a cruise even
3:25
though they don't actually remember
3:26
entering to win one the scammers had
3:28
sent them emails with a winner
3:30
certificate and a number to call to
3:33
claim the so-called Free Cruise prize
3:36
the number although appearing to be
3:38
local was actually a foreign premium
3:41
line which just kept them hanging on
3:43
racking up huge costs on their phone
3:46
which the scammers then keep until
3:48
basically the people that I followed got
3:50
bored and hung up and that brings me
3:53
back to my Savvy friend Helen and her
3:56
Twist on the Free Cruise scam now while
3:59
she didn't fall for those previous Free
4:02
Cruise variations she did fall for one
4:04
of the oldest scam tricks around while
4:06
in Miami not long ago Helen went on one
4:09
of those boat trips to view the homes of
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the rich and the famous everyone on
4:14
board was invited to enter raffle which
4:16
guaranteed several free cruises on
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Carnival Cruise Line as prizes right
4:21
there and then she entered and was
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really excited when she was announced as
4:26
one of the winners now when she and the
4:28
others went to claim their prize they
4:29
were told they simply had to collect the
4:31
prize in person in the next few days at
4:35
a local Resort where they would simply
4:37
have to go through a short presentation
4:38
first they would even offer to fetcher
4:42
from the hotel she was staying and take
4:43
her there now she called me really
4:45
excited and unfortunately I had to break
4:48
the news that if she went it would be a
4:50
hard sell time your presentation and the
4:53
Free Cruise would come with fees and so
4:56
many strings making it hard or if not
4:59
impossible to use so if like Helen
5:01
you're ever offered a free cruise by
5:03
simply going to a presentation it is a
5:06
scam let's move on from those Free
5:08
Cruise scams as I'd like to warn you
5:10
about cruise ship crew successfully
5:13
taking cruises like you and me for a
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ride as more and more Cruise members
5:18
become social media stars and are very
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active on social media their names and
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faces are being used to Target Cruisers
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who know and recognize them the first of
5:28
these is both believable and very clever
5:31
and I'm not surprised that so many
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Cruisers have been caught out thinking
5:35
well-known crew members were helping
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solve their problems with upcoming
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cruises or getting them bookings in sold
5:41
out restaurants shows events or
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excursions on their cruises coming up
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the very best example of this is John
5:49
healed he is the Carnival Cruise Line
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brand ambassador and very well known and
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well-loved cruise director with an
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extremely popular Facebook page however
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scammers set up fake profile Pages
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pretending to be him I just searched
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Facebook and found five John Lowe often
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reports that he's seen up to seven at
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any one time cruises following these
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fake pages are asking for help they get
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sent by the fake John a direct message
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with an email or phone number to get one
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of his team to help now they supposedly
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solve the problem make the bookings and
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ask for a fee to hold the reservation
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which supposedly will get refunded on
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board
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of course it never happens before
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following any Cruise Line employee look
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carefully at the profile the number and
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type of posts and how many followers the
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fake ones often just have a handful and
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very few posts scammers though are also
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currently taking advantage of the
6:50
respect and Trust we have for ship
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captains I've seen three examples with
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in one several hundred thousands of
6:59
dollars being scanned from Cruisers
7:01
Captain Kate McHugh of Celebrity Cruises
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is a social media hit scammers are
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taking a photos and setting up fake
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profiles to contact and flirt with men
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eventually they start asking for money
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to help her supposedly sort out some
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sort of Crisis it's actually been done
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though on a bigger scale where photos of
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a Danish Captain Captain mazdan were
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used by scammers to create a captain
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Thomas Steve now he was looking for love
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and romance online and then as
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relationships guilt he started asking
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for money gifts help with other issues
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now the real Captain mazdan says he is
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being contacted by thousands thousands
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of women from Europe China Japan and
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Australia they have been scammed it got
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so bad that he even put a warning on his
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Facebook page pointing out that he's gay
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and married to a man but captains do
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seem to be a blind spot for cruise
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lovers as in the UK a man called Jody
8:01
Oliver he pretended to be a captain on
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Carnival corporation's piano Cruisers he
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managed to scam over 320 000 pounds
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that's about four hundred thousand
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dollars from friends and family of
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someone he was dating by claiming he was
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getting them cheap Cruisers and
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vacations there is also another scam
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targeting people who are looking to work
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on cruise ships the scammers create fake
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profiles of really Senior Crew that look
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like they could credibly offer a way to
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get work on cruise ships for example
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Dennis Thomas who is now the hotel
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manager on Ritz-Carlton Yachts but was
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for a very long time with Celebrity
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Cruises before that now he's very active
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on Instagram and I've seen many fake
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profiles using his pictures offering
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people help to get work the fake Danny
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then aims to rip people off with fees
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for supposedly job applications visas
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Health screenings before of course
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disappearing with the money so in short
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beware of any Cruise Line employee
9:00
asking for anything online and again
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before you follow any of them just check
9:05
the numbers of followers and posts by
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the way I am also being used to scam
9:10
people but before I get into that I
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first want to talk about scams around
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other Cruise arrangements with the cost
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of flying to and from our cruises and
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pre and post Cruise hotel stay costs
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spiraling I'm sure you like me are on
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the lookout for cheaper ways of doing
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both the scammers have noticed this too
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the scammers are catching Cruisers like
9:33
us searching terms like cheap flights
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and hotels and they set up authentic
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looking but fake sites once booked
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several things may happen the site
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disappears and there is no booking or
9:45
close to the trip what I'm hearing is
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Cruisers are getting a call saying that
9:49
the flights or hotel booking has been
9:50
canceled new ones have to be booked but
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they're at a higher price and they have
9:54
to pay more a big Warning Sign by the
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way is if the site won't take credit
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cards and only debit or critically Bank
10:02
transfers for payment that is a big
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warning sign to avoid being scammed use
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companies you've heard of or simply go
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and check reviews of those that you
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haven't check the site has the padlock
10:14
so that it shows that it's secure and
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always always use a credit card because
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you can recover money from the credit
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card company if the provider does not
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supply the actual booking this also
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applies by the way to Cruisers I found
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sites popping up with names that sound
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like Search terms like cheaper Alaska
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cruises or similar however once you try
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and book the really really low prices
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you're seeing you're likely to find that
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it's no longer available surprise
10:42
surprise but higher cost grades are now
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while there are some deals to be had
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usually the line will have the best
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price so at least check the rates on the
10:51
cruise line site then look at well-known
10:54
agents who do do some sharp pricing
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times like Costco or vacations to go and
10:59
so on but next I do want to warn you
11:02
about me
11:03
how I may be trying to scam you first
11:07
off Believe It or Not scammers have even
11:10
been using my photos on dating sites
11:12
posing as a fake engineer on cruise
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ships like Holland America or Saddam so
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if you ever see me on a dating site and
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start getting messages and photos like
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these it is not me if you ever get a
11:25
message from me on YouTube with my
11:26
picture and channel name replying to a
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comment you've left where I say I have
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something great to offer you along with
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a WhatsApp number or a telegram details
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to contact me please do not scammers are
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creating clone channels using my profile
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picture and then the tips for travelers
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channel name and then they start
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replying to comments with enticing
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offers it takes me and YouTube time to
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spot them and block them and get them
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close they're doing it for many many
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channels so be on the watch out for this
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on your favorite YouTube channel if in
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doubt about a comment from me click on
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the profile picture in the comment if a
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scammer fake Channel you'll see that
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they have no followers and no content if
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it's me you'll see all the videos and
12:14
all the content if you found this
12:16
helpful watch this video where I talk
12:18
about scams to watch out for when you're
12:20
actually in a cruise port starting with
12:22
the one that unfortunately friends of
12:24
mine fell for just the other month see
12:26
you over there
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