What Is the Discord Name and Shame Scam? How to Avoid It

zulqarnayniOctober 16, 2022Last Updated: October 16, 2022

0 3 minutes read

Did one of your Discord friends send you a message shaming you for inappropriate behavior with a girl and saying that his friendship with you is over? The text message may include a link to a server where he states that your secrets are exposed and directs you there to clarify your position.

It’s a scam, and your friend hasn’t sent the message; instead, scammers have likely compromised their account to send phishing messages to contacts, including you.

How does this scam work? How should you respond when you receive such a message on Discord? What should you do if you fall victim to it?

What Is the Discord’s Name and Shame Scam, and How Does It Work?

The Name and Shame scam on Discord is a phishing scam where cybercriminals compromise a user’s account and send messages to friends. The message appears to come from a friend’s account, but scammers actually send it.

In the message, victims are accused, seemingly by their friend, of flirting with a girl who exposed them on a Discord server. To confirm that it is not them being blamed, the message includes a link to join the server where they are being exposed.

It’s natural to believe the message since it appears to come from a Discord friend. Because victims are tricked into believing their friend has sent them this message, they immediately click it.

After clicking, they are encouraged to scan a QR code to join the server, a trick that scammers use to lure in their victims further. Users who scan the QR code lose access to their account, handing it over to the scammers.

Once cybercriminals gain access to an account, they send the same message to everyone on that account’s friend list. This is how the scam chain goes on and on.

At first, scammers used to invite their victims to join the same server called “Name & Shame”, but now they are using different servers. However, the scam process is almost the same. Be cautious if you receive an invitation with a different server name but the same text. Common server names being used by scammers include “Exposing Creeps”, “Discord Shaming”, and “Hall of Shame”.

The question is, how do you know if this is a scam or not?

How to Identify the Discord’s Name and Shame Scam

To protect yourself and others on your friends’ list from Discord phishing scam messages, follow these dos and don’ts:

Mistakes You Should Avoid

Here are some things you shouldn’t do:

Do not click on a link you received from a friend without confirming it with them first.

Don’t scan any QR code, even if it comes from a person you trust.

When you receive this scam text, don’t communicate with your friend via Discord DM, as you could be communicating with scammers.

Don’t share the message; this way, you avoid others falling victim to the scam because of you.

What to Do if You Receive a Scam Message on Discord

Here’s what you should do instead:

If you suspect your friend’s account has been compromised, contact them by other means and explain what happened. Furthermore, assist your friend in recovering the account.

After your friend confirms that their account has been hacked, notify all of your mutual friends to prevent them from becoming victims. You should warn them not to trust any texts they receive from your friend’s account.

What to Do If You Fall Victim to Discord’s Name and Shame Scam

If you’ve fallen victim to Discord’s Name and Shame scam, don’t panic. You should instead focus on recovering your account. Simply reset your password using your email or phone number, and your account will automatically be logged out of the scammer’s device.

Once you regain access to your account, quickly write a warning message to notify your friends about what happened and warn them not to click on the link in the last message that phishing scammers sent. Additionally, if you own a server, don’t forget to check any messages scammers might have sent or pinned.

Now use your antivirus software to carry out a manual scan in case anything malicious has also been downloaded.

If you recover your account immediately and notify your friends that you did not send the message, you need not worry about anything. Take some additional steps, however, to avoid phishing scams in the future and foolproof your security on Discord.

How to Avoid Phishing Scams on Discord

To avoid falling victim to Discord phishing scams, take these steps:

If you haven’t already enabled 2FA on Discord, do so now. Besides securing your account by blocking hackers’ access, enabling two-factor authentication will make it easier for you to recover it.

Next, open Discord, go to User Settings by clicking on the gear icon in the bottom-left corner, and select the Privacy and Security tab. Here, switch Safe Direct Messaging to Keep me safe. In addition, turn off the toggle next to Allow direct messages from server members.

Don’t scan any QR code you receive from your contacts, even if you trust them.

To prevent hackers from cracking your password, use a strong one.

Discord users are commonly targeted by scammers. By learning about those scams, you can prevent yourself from falling victim. In fact, it’s surprisingly easy to keep your Discord account secure.

Beware of Discord’s Name and Shame Scammers

There is no denying how convincing scammers can be. But if you better understand Discord’s Name and Shame scam, you can avoid it when it comes your way. Online scams are always on the rise, so keep an eye out for them and spread the word.