Instagram Influencers Tricked into Fake Charity Scam

Recently, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) announced a scam alert, claiming that scammers are trying to trick Instagram influencers into purchasing overpriced products to ‘allegedly’ support a charity. However, the purchase only goes to the scammer.

The New Scam for Instagram Influencers

According to reports, the scam begins when the influencer receives a direct Instagram message, claiming that it comes from a charity or a business allegedly partnering with a charity. The message involves asking the influencer whether they are interested in being a “model” or “brand ambassador” for the new nonprofit campaign. 

The BBB said that most complaints said that the scam is linked to everything from environmental conservation to women’s rights to LGBTQ youth.

Once the influencer agrees, the scammer will give a discount code to buy the products they want to model. The price is expensive but the scammer will claim that it will be directed to the charity.

Aside from that, most victims said that they never received their orders. 

Some of the cases involved non-existent charity. Meanwhile, some other cases involved a real charity. However, scammers only used the charity’s name without their knowledge. Moreover, the charities claimed that they never received money from the sales.

How To Know If It’s A Scam

BBB suggests that it’s important to ask a lot of questions before agreeing to the “cause.” 

According to some targeted influencers, when they asked for more details, the responder refused to reply. This goes to show that scammers don’t usually enjoy responding to a victim who has many questions.

“Don’t hesitate to push back if something seems off,” BBB added.

Editor’s note on Scammers Target Instagram Influencers with Fake Charity Scam:

This piece is to inform you that Scammers are targeting Instagram Influencers with Fake Charities. For more information don’t hesitate to send an email to Outreach@ConsiderTheConsumer.com, find us on Twitter or Facebook, or even connect with us directly on our website! We look forward to hearing from you all.

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