Experts say impersonation scams are highly dangerous because they prey on society's natural trust in celebrities and the public's admiration for them.
CROTON, Ohio — A new push is underway to protect consumers from online scammers. It's a growing problem nationwide that is costing Americans billions of dollars.
These professional thieves are trying anything to get your money, including using names and faces the public trusts.
What better way to do that than posing as a popular local celebrity?
For Roger Bishop, his family-owned coffee shop in the town of Croton, Ohio was a dream come true. It's a dream that he and his wife poured their time and money into after opening in 2019. But this year the business hit a financial slump.
“No restaurant can be open for 11 hours a day and only bring in $200 in gross sales,” Bishop said.
Earlier this year, Bishop was forced to make the difficult decision to close up the coffee shop. After posting to Facebook thanking his customers, he received an unexpected reply. One, he thought, might be the lifeline to keeping his business afloat.
“I mean, I got a text from Yolanda [Harris] and said that 'Roger, you have been chosen to receive a grant because we saw your story about you losing your café.' I thought my gosh, you know what perfect timing because we desperately needed that money,” Bishop explained.
But there was one major problem. The Yolanda that messaged him was not the real Yolanda Harris that Bishop knows and trusts from 10TV. It was a scammer using her name, image and likeness.
“I actually thought I was talking to a local news anchor,” Bishop said.
Over nine days Bishop went back and forth exchanging messages with the fake profile, which started on Facebook. He even sent money via gift cards at their request, leaving him out of hundreds of dollars.
Unknowingly Bishop had fallen right into a celebrity scam.
“The scammer pretends to be someone you trust, to convince you to send them your money or your personal information,” said Christopher Brown, a Federal Trade Commission attorney.
Brown said this type of scam, which falls under the broader umbrella of impersonation scams, is increasingly prevalent and harmful nationwide.
“For the first three quarters of last year alone, we saw nearly $2 billion in consumer losses due to impersonation scams,” Brown explained.
Experts say these scams are highly dangerous because they prey on society's natural trust in celebrities and the public's admiration for them. This makes just about anyone a target for these elusive crooks.
“Frankly, they could be anywhere. They could be here in the United States, they could be overseas,” Brown said.
In light of surging complaints around impersonation fraud, including AI-generated deepfakes, the Federal Trade Commission is working to crack down on the problem with a new rule allowing them to file federal court cases against the scammers directly.
“Did you ever think you would be on this side of this falling victim to one of these scams? No, I didn't actually,” Bishop said.
While Bishop may never know who took advantage of him, he said it won't change his passion for helping others and his high regard for his favorite news anchor.
“I hate that this happened,” said 10TV News Anchor Yolanda Harris. "This is crazy that they're doing this. If my testimony helps others to be more aware then I've done my job” Harris said.
Experts say it's important to talk about these scams and to help alert others, just like Bishop did. However, they admit some of these scams can be challenging to spot because some of these scammers know how to pull at the heartstrings.
To help reduce your risk of falling victim, remember to never send money or gift cards to someone you don't know. And if you have fallen victim, report it to the FTC or attorney general's office.
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March 08, 2024 at 06:49AM
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Ohio man scammed by celebrity impersonator - 10TV
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