Stay sharp! Somizi Mhlongo warns fans of impostors trying to cash in
Media personality, Somizi Mhlongo recently warned fans to beware of scams and not to fall victim to people using his name to ask for money.
Image: Instagram
The scammers are at it again, but this time with a different celebrity.
South African media personality and reality TV star Somizi Mhlongo recently took to social media to warn his fans about scammers who are using his name to swindle people's money.
He warned people: “I’d never ask u for money nor send u a dm if I don’t know u personally.”
The “Sompire” owner shared two screenshots of two Instagram accounts that have duplicated his user name as well as the same profile picture as he does on his official account, claiming to have a “surprise package” or a mysterious “win” that is only accessible if you DM their numbers.
One message read: “Hi! I’ve noticed your comments, you’re such a big fan! Kindly send me a message on Whatsapp to win. I have something for you. I’m waiting your message. Say Pay Me.”
Even though these two screenshots are the only ones that Mhlongo shared, it is important to note that there is a high chance that there are quite a lot of accounts that are pretending to be him.
Mhlongo is also not the only victim of these scammers, as there are a lot of celebrities who have faced such in the past, including Connie Ferguson, who also warned their fans to be careful of these scammers.
Here’s how to recognise a scammer:
- If the followers of the account are low, especially if it’s a “celebrity account”.
- Always look out for spelling errors since many of these scam messages are filled with a lot of spelling errors or sentences that do not make sense.
- A celebrity will never ask for money unless they issue an official and professional statement about it.
- Spam messages are always filled with a lot of unnecessary emojis.
- If there is a message about prize money or exclusive offers, it’s a scam.
- Look out for misspelt names or random numbers in the account handle, e.g. @official_somizi231
- No verification badge (a blue checkmark) is a common giveaway that you are dealing with a scammer.
- If the quality of the pictures on the page is poor, it’s a scam because a lot of celebrities consider themselves brands and posting high-quality pictures is important for them.