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January 8th, 2021
If you keep up with certain movies, television shows, and the news, you might have heard of the Mexican drug cartels that smuggle illegal substances all throughout Mexico and the United States. Scammers know how scary these cartels may seem, and have created scams revolving around cartel gangs, scaring people out of their hard-earned money. By pretending to be a drug cartel, they are able to seem tough and threatening to get what they want, which makes these scams so effective. These scammers have called family members and businesses, threatening to hurt a family member or the people in the business if they don’t do what they say. This is what makes these cartel scams so powerful, and why you should know some of the signs to watch out for.
Types of Cartel Scams
Business Scams
Scammers call these businesses up, demanding that the businesses give them money from their cash registers or safe in a threatening tone of voice. These businesses include hotels, stores, and restaurants that get continuous calls from these fraudsters pretending to be a drug cartel. Police officers have even investigated this situation further, and have found no link between the actual drug cartels and these scammers.
These scammers make employees and owners of these businesses believe that they are being watched by a bunch of drug cartel members, ready to attack if they don’t get the requested amount of money via CashApp, PayPal, gift card, or another payment service. This is because scammers research and memorize every single detail about the business, so they can make their threats sound more legitimate.
Family Member Scam
Scammers contact you via phone call claiming that they have a close family member of yours, and is able to describe every detail about them. From their hair color, their eye color, their name, their birthday, where they work or go to school, and any other detail that might be important about them. That’s because they do extensive research about who they are to fool you into thinking they kidnapped them and are now holding them for ransom. In some cases, they even send you gory pictures of someone mangled up so that you would believe them more.
They threaten to hurt your family member unless you allow them to drain your bank account. They usually instruct you to go to a store and send a money order over to them, demanding that you provide them with the transaction number so that they can take your money.
How to Avoid Cartel Scams
- Call local police officers if the scammer continuously spams you with threats.
- Call 911 if they are threatening to surround your business.
- Block the scammer if they continuously call you.
- Call your family member directly to make sure they are safe.
- Report the scam and send the scam email or message you receive to the FTC, which will allow them to put an end to these scams.
Social Catfish is Here to Help You!
At Social Catfish, we want to help you verify the identities of those who have scammed you. If you have their name, email address, phone number, social media username, or image, you can reverse search and see who the scammer was that you’ve been in contact with when dealing with cartel scams.
