Celebrities influence us in so many ways from how we dress, to what workout routine we adopt, what music we listen to, or even the investments we choose to make. However, many times, celebrity names have been used by scammers who aimed to trick people and make profits. From false product endorsements to fake giveaways, here are some of the most common celebrity scam tricks you should know about.
Celebrity Impersonation Scams
These scams can take many different forms, but the aim remains the same – making money by tricking people into believing that a famous person uses a product or a service or promotes them for their high quality. Those who pull these tricks may ask for a donation to support different causes or claim they will attend an event and ask people to pay a fee to join them.
A famous case of celebrity impersonation scam emerged last year when Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder, Elon Musk was impersonated on Twitter by fraudsters who claimed they were giving crypto coins for free. Those who wanted to enjoy the giveaway were first asked to make a small cryptocurrency transfer to a specific account. After the scammers got the money they wanted, they simply stopped posting and, of course, didn’t transfer anything back to any of the people who fell for their scam.
Fake Product Endorsement
Seeing a celebrity advertise a product on TV or online is nothing uncommon. This type of promotional strategy has been used for decades. Companies are willing to pay impressive amounts to see their product endorsed by a famous person. This helps them achieve good returns as people are more likely to purchase something one of their favorite stars is using.
However, not all celebrity product endorsement strategies are for real. Some scammers simply manage to tag products with a celebrity name although they don’t have the permission to do this. If they use this trick online, in ads, or on different websites, it’s even harder to catch them.
Lottery Scams
Lottery scams are probably as old as lottery contests themselves. A recent lottery scam used Oprah Winfrey’s name to increase its success rate. Scammers sent people emails or letters where they could see Oprah’s face next to a text that claimed they’ve won a prize in a contest called Oprah Summer Show Sweepstakes. Those who wanted to get hold of their prize were asked to pay a small fee first. Needless to add that they received nothing in return once they wired money to the account scammers used to collect the alleged fee.
Twitter Celebrity Scams
Many celebrities’ Twitter accounts have been hacked. Bill Gates and Elon Musk are just two examples. Fraudsters used their accounts to post fake messages stating the famous men offered crypto coin giveaways. Another notorious case targeted famous pop singer Britney Spears. Someone hijacked her account and posted different sensational news and obscene messages. Although this trick and many similar ones are only aiming to make fun of the celebrity in question, some fake Twitter posts may contain dangerous links. Once you click on them, you risk downloading malicious software on your PC that can allow hackers to access your files.
Fake Opportunities to Meet Stars
These are other common causes of celebrity scams. Unfortunately, they are also some of the most profitable. Fraudsters who carry out these scams use different promotional strategies to convince people they have the chance to meet a celebrity in person either to perform by their side, train with them, or simply to have the chance to chat with them.
Many people have fallen for these scams and paid significant amounts of money to get the chance to see their favorite start in real life. Scammers often asked for money either as a sort of participation fee or for the journey expenses the participants or winners had to pay to get to meet the celebrity.
To be able to avoid celebrity scams, the best thing to do is check online for any extra information related to the ad, email, or letter you read regarding that celebrity. If your favorite actor or singer is attending an event in your city, asking for donations, or promotes a product, there is surely more information about this on their social media profiles or official website.
Post by Stratford Management Japan.
