If you ever find yourself getting a message on social media from one of your favorite celebrities, be warned – it’s probably an imposter. According to reports, Fans are being scammed out of tons of their hard-earned cash by fake celebrity accounts.
One Bruce Springsteen fan says that she was convinced by someone she thought to be Bruce and shelled out more than $11-thousand between gift cards and transfers… and she’s definitely not alone. Another fan of country star Kenny Chesney was conned into forking over $10-grand. Someone purporting to be “Dancing with the Stars” champ Derek Hough even tried to get a fan to “donate to an orphanage in support of me.” She didn’t.
Now, celebrities, and companies like Western Union and MoneyGram, have started people about the “Fan Scams.” Just to be safe, make sure you see a verification badge, usually a blue check mark, next to the person’s name if you’re ever contacted by a celebrity.
- It’s not just fake celebrities getting into victims’ wallets, either. Federal Trade Commission officials say that all kinds of “imposter scams” have cost more than 350,000 people $328 million last year. Unfortunately, these frauds are a little hard to track down since they’re usually based abroad.
Source: CBS Chicago
