They made comments on various unrelated posts offering $35,000 for those who message their Telegram account.

It’s spam obviously

What do they get out of it?

A lot of those groups incentives growth by rewarding people for every ____ account that joins via affiliate link.

Everyone that joins by that accounts link, benefits that account.

Sometimes it's just an idiot trying to gain social standing. Sometimes its trolls, sometimes it's a group that gate keeps illegal content.

Absolutely nothing good comes out of joining random telegram/discord/whatever groups based solely on a link and promises from social media about anything

It's either the hook for some scam (if they own that telegram handle) or some bait for distributed harassment (if that telegram handle is their victim's).
Whether they're trying to select gullible people or trying to have third parties harass someone on their behalf... the solution is the same: Report, block, move on.
Similarly, anything like "Call Veronica for a good time 555-555-5555" in sharpie in a bathroom stall is likely neither written by said person nor consensual.

PS: This one's already banned.

Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me. It makes sense now.

I'm probably showing my age, but that bathroom stall metaphor really clarified it for me.

Who are you?

Just guessing, but most likely: blah blah funds tied up due to legal reasons, something something family trust and lawyers; please send me 1k so that I can then totally send you the 35k afterward :)

It's weird because if a stranger emailed me the offer, I would have assumed that scam right away. I don't know why it seemed like something else for being on Lemmy.

A really easy mark, if the comments to this post are to be believed. I didn't message the telegram account, but the fact that I couldn't identify it for what it was immediately is concerning.

Oh, I genuinely thought you were a bot. Apologies. But yes, you may what to adjust your sensitivity to online scams.

No offense taken, and thanks for the advice!

Not sure why you're being downvoted. It's good to ask questions, especially about this. It's how you learn.

That guy was a scammer for sure. Not a single "millionaire" out there is actually giving $35k to a bunch of strangers online.

If it sounds too good to be true, it's because it is.

Thanks for the support. I'm grateful for the feedback I'm getting from Lemmy/The Fediverse.