Signs You’re Being Scammed Online, Ways To Avoid It
Scams are everywhere these days. Online and social media, scams are everywhere. You literally can’t avoid them. Either you yourself is falling for one or a friend or family member is. Let’s take a look at the latest somewhat involving Hollywood A lister Brad Pitt.
A French woman was scammed out of $850,000 by someone on social media posing as Brad Pitt. She thought she was in a relationship with Pitt for over a year. The 53-year-old interior designer named Anne gave the fake Pitt her life’s savings after she was duped into believing Pitt was sick in the hospital. He photoshopped pictures and told Anne he needed a kidney transplant and that he couldn’t access his own money because of his divorce from Angelina Jolie. Anne says it all began when someone pretending to be Pitt’s mother, Jane, contacted her saying “her son needed someone like me.” Ultimately, Anne went on to divorce her husband with the intention to finally be together with Pitt in-person but realized the whole thing was fake when she kept seeing footage of Brad’s real relationship with Ines de Ramon who he’s been dating for 2 years. Anne has since been hospitalized for severe depression ever since.
HOW TO AVOID GETTING SCAMMED:
Now this could have been avoided if Anne had just done one thing: ASK TO VIDEO CHAT WITH THE “BRAD PITT.” Video chatting solves most of your problems.
If it seems too good to be true, IT IS: If you’re getting promises of the world and they’re not delivering, if it seems too good to be true, IT ALWAYS IS.
Poorly written emails with grammatical errors: If the email seems written in broken english and has several grammatical and spelling errors, chances are it’s a scam.
Requesting of money or prepaid debit cards: If someone is asking you for money or prepaid debit cards and you don’t know them or haven’t met them personally, it’s a scam.
If you’re being pressured to act fast: If someone is asking for money and it must be paid immediately, that’s a major red flag.
You can read up on more ways to avoid scams by going to the FTC’s website HERE.
