BBB Warns: The Death of Prince Brings Out the Scammers

When news broke that Prince Rogers Nelson was found dead in his Minneapolis home, millions mourned the news. However, there was another group of people that were to get started on the way they could use this news to scam consumers.

BBB warns consumers to be extremely cautious on social media sites, especially Facebook, and texts you receive on your phone. Actually be extremely aware of anything you receive that seems to be exploit this celebrity death, e.g. last photos of Prince, photos of Prince in elevator, last words spoken by Prince on video, autopsy photos of Prince and so on.

BBB Tips to Protect Yourself from “Click Bait” Scams:

BBB urges consumers to take steps to protect yourself from scams shared through email and social media:

Don’t take the bait. Stay away from promotions of “exclusive,” “shocking” or “sensational footage. If it sounds too outlandish to be true, it is probably a scam.

Hover over a link to see its true destination. Before you click, mouse over the link to see where it will take you. Don’t click on links leading to unfamiliar websites.

Don’t trust your “friends” online. It might not actually be your friends who are “liking” or sharing scam links to photos. Their account may have been hacked and scammers could be using another tactic called “clickjacking.” Clickjacking is a technique that scammers use to trick you into clicking on social media links that you would not usually click on. When clicked, it activates an invisible code where you may end up purchasing merchandise for others or having the settings on your computer changed.

Report scam posts on Facebook by following these instructions.

Report malware or spam on Twitter by following these instructions.

For more information on scams, check out BBB Scam Stopper

Report scams (whether or not you’ve lost money) to BBB Scam Tracker

For companies you can trust please visit bbb.org/atlanta.