Woman Scammed of Thousands of Dollars by Frankie Beverly Imposter

Lately, scammers have found a new way to trick people i.e. by impersonating celebrities on social media. With the emergence of Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and its feature of using DMs, scammers attempt to slide into the inbox. They use this to create a sense of infatuation and then lure the victims into sending them money or sneaking away their personal information. The scammers pretend to be anything; be it actors, singers, sports stars, or musicians, just to fool users into thinking they're talking to their favorite celebrities. But why this scam even works? It is all because people are so indulged and connected with fictional characters that they go crazy over texting in real life. A similar incident happened with a Forest Hill resident who is a die-hard fan of the renowned singer Frankie Beverly.

Linda Moore-Evans narrated her experience to CBS New Texas by mentioning that the scam looked pretty real and fantasizing about being such a huge fan. She says she is a Beverly superfan and reveals that she gets up in the morning and listens to Frankie Beverly. Then goes back, takes a nap, and puts on Frankie Beverly. Whenever she is on Facebook, she sees Frankie Beverly. So, when she got a Facebook notification from an account claiming to be Frankie Beverly, she was excited but was more skeptical about the same.

This was not the end. The scammers lured Linda by sending pictures, and romantic messages and eventually asked her for marriage. All this sounded suspicious to her and she questioned the person, "How do I know that this is you?" he sent a picture, but it was still an imposter, and she ignored it. This went too far when the scammer posing to be the singer said he would visit her place and talk to her mother only if she sent him some funds. Linda was in her fantasy world and she believed him and ended up sending him thousands of dollars. This scam ended when Linda received an email from the singer's team warning his fans about the scam that is victimizing his die-hard fans worldwide. Reading the mail, she said, "My heart was broken. I was shattered. I cried and cried and cried".

Linda is not the only victim and according to the CBS News database, there have been 46 thousand imposter scams in 2023 targeting residents in Texas. She further narrated her story in public as she wanted to save the other fans from getting into the mess. Evans further says, "He's not the one responsible for this. I didn't want to put his name out there. But if I don't, it's going to get worse. Somebody is going to get hurt. Somebody is going to lose everything they have".

Beverly's media team shared with CBS News the warning statement saying, "Frankie Beverly and Maze, its management, and the entire organization have been vigilantly working to put a stop to the cyber-thieves who have targeted Frankie Beverly, his social media accounts, and Frankie Beverly fans and our extended Maze family". They further added, "Mr. Beverly and the entire Maze organization are horrified by such deceitful actions taken by the scammers against Mr. Beverly and his devoted fans and we extend our sincerest regret to anyone who has fallen victim".