Members of North Texas ukulele group warn about social media scam
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – There's a social media scam one local ukulele organization is warning about.
They've recently seen it target hundreds of their members and other local groups as well.
Dallas Ukulele Headquarters' purpose is to share the love of the instrument.
"It's people learning ukulele, people who have played ukulele forever," member Robert Thibodeaux said. "It's just a chance for people who have the passion to get together, learn and have jam sessions."
Thibodeaux says someone recently tried to use their social media group to take advantage of its 1,000+ members. They even posted a picture of a T-shirt with a ukulele on it.
"I read the note and it said 'my son is autistic, he just designed this,'" Thibodeaux said. Attached was a link to a website where you could purchase it.
"Being the nerd that I am, I took the picture and did a reverse image search which is a good way to tell and I got a bunch of hits on that exact image," Thibodeaux said.
The search confirmed it was a scam. He says he's also seen similar posts targeting Argyle High School and a chocolatier group his wife is a part of.
"It's a common tactic for scammers to use social media posts that tug at our heartstrings because once we have an emotional hook, that's how the scammers get us a lot of times," BBB spokesperson Monica Horton said.
The BBB says to do your research before clicking on a social media link that asks you to purchase something. They warn sometimes these posts can look like they're coming from legitimate people, but actually their profiles have been hijacked.
"They can use them to reach out to all our contacts, our friends, our groups that we're involved in and approach them with a scam," Horton said.
"It's not just that it's a scam," Thibodeaux said. "They're taking money away from people who want to give and help other people. It's sad that we can't trust people anymore."
If you come across a scam like this, the BBB says you can report it to their scam tracker here.
