{"id":30595,"date":"2023-09-25T11:08:40","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T11:08:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/manage.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/?p=30595"},"modified":"2026-04-10T09:39:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T09:39:39","slug":"pattern-templates-scams-how-to-protect-yourself-and-fight-back-against-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/manage.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/pattern-templates-scams-how-to-protect-yourself-and-fight-back-against-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"Pattern Templates Scams: How to SPOT, REPORT & PROTECT YOURSELF from SCAM Template Websites."},"content":{"rendered":"

… and help us stop the SCAM ADS INVASION!<\/span><\/p>\n

Have you seen this image of Melody Memory Bear<\/strong><\/a><\/span> popping up in lots of Facebook ads lately? It’s being used to advertise a set of plastic “ruler templates”…the problem is that this is totally a scam!!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd34These images have been STOLEN from a wholesale customer of mine!
\n\ud83d\udd34 I have NOT authorized anyone\/any business to manufacture plastic templates of my patterns.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I tested the scammers templates myself…<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

I bought a “Template Ruler Set” for a product that looked like my Melody Memory Bear<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/span> \u00a0– and yes, it is totally different!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What are we doing about fake template websites?<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

My sister-in-law Lori (a.k.a Tech-Fairy) has been spending hours and hours every day, reporting the ads to Facebook and Instagram and filing copyright infringement notices to get the fake websites taken down by the website hosting companies. UNFORTUNATELY… we are losing the fight because there are thousands of these scam ads and we have to report each one… which is why we want to make people aware of the scam.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

HOW TO SPOT SCAM ADVERTS:<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

We’ve heard from very upset people who did not know this is a scam, and they were angry when they were not sent pieces for Melody, if they got anything.\u00a0 We don’t want anyone to be fooled by these ads, so here are some tips to identify them (see graphic below).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How to Report Scam Ads\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

We’ve been working hard to get the ads taken down, but there are thousands (!) and we have to report each one. If you see an ad like this, please email us a screenshot (and the web address link\/URL if you can) to us at support@funkyfriendsfactory.com<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

If there’s a way to comment – feel free to write “This is a scam”<\/b> to prevent other people getting scammed. We’ve been told by several people this helped stop them!\ud83e\udd70<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

How to get your money back!<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

It doesn’t feel good if you’ve been taken for a ride – we don’t want that to happen to anyone! Luckily I was able to file a PayPal dispute and get my money back (Using the reason: Item not as described). Follow these steps if you got scammed:\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Contact your bank, card company or PayPal and lodge a dispute<\/strong> – most countries allow you to reverse transactions within 7 days.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Inform your bank to check and ask if you should replace your card.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Check your system for key logging software or any other spyware\/malware.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Change your passwords.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Lastly – A big THANK YOU!!!!!<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Thank you so so much to all the people who have reported these ads and for those of you doing the right thing. Without our really strong community this would feel impossible to face!<\/span><\/p>\n

    Stay safe online!<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n


    \"Pauline
    \nTill next time,<\/span><\/p>\n

    Happy Sewing,<\/span>
    \nPauline
    \n<\/span><\/strong>xxx<\/span><\/span>
    \n\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    … and help us stop the SCAM ADS INVASION! Have you seen this image of Melody Memory Bear popping up in lots of Facebook ads lately? It’s being used to advertise a set of plastic “ruler templates”…the problem is that this is totally a scam!!   \ud83d\udd34These images have been STOLEN from a wholesale customer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":30600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-fff-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/manage.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Melody-SCAM.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/manage.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/manage.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/manage.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manage.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manage.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30595"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/manage.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39385,"href":"https:\/\/manage.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30595\/revisions\/39385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manage.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/manage.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manage.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/manage.funkyfriendsfactory.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}