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  Geebo 9:00 am on November 18, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: cryptocurrency ( 43 ), hostage, Instagram ( 17 ), investment scams ( 8 ), Scams ( 1,224 ), social media ( 73 )   

  What is the Instagram hostage scam? 

  

  By Greg Collier

  If you’re a regular reader of our blog, when you hear the words ‘hostage scam’ you may think it has something to do with the virtual kidnapping scam. Or since Instagram is involved, you might think it has something to do with your Instagram account being held hostage by scammers for money. However, it’s really an investment scam that forces its victims to help perpetuate the scam.

  While scrolling through Instagram, you may have come across posts of people claiming they’ve made a lot of money investing in cryptocurrency. If you have, you may have seen a victim from one of these scams. The scam usually starts when an Instagram user sees one of their friends make a post like this. The victim is directed to another Instagram user who can help them have the same financial success in investing.

  In one instance, a woman from Indiana was told by a so-called cryptocurrency expert, if she invested $500, she could multiply that investment. She sent the man $500 and later was told her investment ballooned to $5000. When she tried to get her money, the story took an ominous turn.

  The victim was told that if she wanted her money, she would first need to make a video where she has to say she made money through this investment scheme. This is where the hostage aspect of the scam comes in. Her money was being held hostage until she made the video. She did make such a video, but never received any money and was out her $500. But the story doesn’t end there.

  The video she made was shared by the scammers all over social media. This allowed the scammers to make their scheme appear legitimate, and they were able to lure in more victims. This led to the woman being harassed by other victims of the scam, thinking she was the scammer.

  Social media is not really a place where you should be taking investment advice. Considering how much misinformation is already shared on social media without verification, would you really trust investment plans from there?

  Unless you are already savvy about the ins and outs of cryptocurrency, it really should be avoided as an investment, as a recent crypto crash demonstrates. And as always, no investment is ever guaranteed a return. You should only ever invest money that you can afford to live without. There are no magical get-rich-quick investments.

   

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  Geebo 8:00 am on September 30, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: hostage, hurricane ( 4 ), hurricane ian ( 3 ), natural disasters ( 17 ), Scams ( 1,224 )   

  The hurricane hostage scam 

  

  By Greg Collier

  Whenever there is a hurricane or other natural disaster in the country, we typically warn our readers about the usual scams. For example, we warn our readers that if they ever experience damage to your home from a natural disaster, be wary of contractors who drive up to your home offering to make repairs. Often these contractors are unlicensed and are looking to make a quick buck with shoddy work. We also tell our readers to be wary of unsolicited calls from FEMA or insurance companies. They could be scammers looking to get your financial or personal information. Our readers from outside the disaster area also get warned to be aware of fake charities claiming to be collecting for the victims, as they could be scams as well. For the first time, we now have to warn our readers about scammers who claim to have found a family member in the storms.

  A retiree from Florida did not evacuate her home in the days leading up to Hurricane Ian making landfall. She had survived many previous hurricanes in her home, and the hurricane was predicted to miss her area. The predictions were incorrect. The retiree was on the phone with her daughter during the hurricane while showing her daughter video of the flooding taking place in the home.

  The call then went silent. The daughter, who also lives in Florida, called everyone she could think of to try to assist her mother. She called 911, the Coast Guard, and people she knew in the area her mom lived in. As a last resort, she took to social media, hoping someone could help her find her mother. She received a text from someone who claimed to have found her mother. However, the text sender said that the daughter needed to send close to $600 first to cover the cost of a hotel. The daughter knew something was suspect about the text and asked the person for her mother’s middle name. The person didn’t know it and stopped communication.

  Thankfully, some of the people in the area were able to find the retiree, who was relatively unharmed.

  If this scam sounds familiar to you, that’s because it’s the same scam that targets the owner’s of lost pets. It’s disturbing to think that there are people out there who are just waiting for someone to ask about a missing loved one in a hurricane, so they can try to scam them.

  The daughter handled the scammer about as perfectly as anyone could. She asked a question that only her mother would know. When confronted with that kind of questioning, scammers usually disappear.