LOUISVILLE, Ky. — If you saw a social media video of someone you know saying they made money quickly, and it’s not a scam, would you be interested? If so, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in Louisville wants you to think twice because there is a new scam on the rise that involves just that.
What You Need To Know
- BBB urges caution of messages or videos on social media by someone you know regarding something that sounds too good to be true, like an investment opportunity involving Bitcoin, Cash App, and Venmo
- Scammers have their victims make a video stating how much money they made, which is posted when the scammers take over the victim’s account
- People who see the video of someone they know and trust makes them more vulnerable to fall for the scam
- If you are a victim of this scam, report it to police and the BBB
“If it’s too good to be true, it’s not true,” said Joseph Thompson, which is a lesson he learned the hard way because he was recently scammed out of $300.
In late May, Thomson watched a Facebook story video by his son’s friend.
“It said, ‘I just got a grant. They gave me so much money from the grant. You know, try it out,’ and it showed him there holding his driver’s license,” Thompson said.
Thompson was curious so he messaged his son’s friend, but unbeknownst to him it was actually a scammer who had taken over his son’s friend’s Facebook profile. That person then connected Thompson to another person on Facebook who had information on the opportunity. Thompson chatted with both of them on Facebook Messenger at the same time.
“And they are using me back-and-forth, and because I feel like I’m in contact with him at the same time is why they were able to get me because I trusted him, and it wasn’t him that I was talking to,” Thompson explained.
Thompson said he was skeptical about the opportunity, at one point asking “his son’s friend” if it was a scam. Thompson also asked to call “his son’s friend,” but the scammer kept Thompson hooked.
“I kept telling him at first, ‘Call me, call me, let me talk to you,’ and then they were like, ‘Man, it’s 12 o’clock. It’s late; you want to talk now?’ And I was like, ‘I just wanna make sure it’s not a scam.’ He’s like, ‘Well, it’s me, man. You are talking to me. You are on here messaging me. You seen my video. I’m telling you just do what they tell you to do, and they are going to give you the money,” Thompson explained.
Thompson was given a Cash App link to transfer Bitcoin, which is how he was told he’d make money.
“‘We’ll invest it in bitcoin, and we’ll go from there, and then we’ll send you a check. We’ll put the money on your Cash App for the money that you gave us. We’ll double it or triple it,’ or something like that they told me,” Thompson said. “And it made sense to me at the time. I think I got more caught up, at the time, thinking what I was gonna to use the money to…
Read more:BBB warns of social media scam involving CashApp, Bitcoin
