Unfortunately, you're likely familiar with imposter scams. You know: when someone texts, calls, emails, or messages you on social media while pretending to be someone they're not — usually in hopes of extracting money from you. Well, they're more prevalent than you think.
In 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 2.4 million fraud reports, most of which were imposter scams. Usually, the person being scammed thinks they're sending money to a friend, family member, or loved one, and collectively, scammers raked in over $2.6 billion from this unsuspecting group.
Recently, several people have reported a variant of imposter scams they've never experienced before, and it can be both convincing and terrifying.
In the clip, Beth says that she received a phone call from her sister's contact information in the early morning. "It was her contact, it was her face that popped up on my phone, it looked exactly like my sister was calling," she said. "So I answered it and there was a man's voice on the other end screaming at me."
"[He was] telling me, 'You're not going to call anyone else. You're not going to call the police. You're not going to talk to anyone. I have your sister.'"
"He sounded completely unhinged," Beth continued while describing how real the moment felt. "I heard muffled sobs in the background that sounded like a woman's voice, so of course I was like, Oh my god, that's my sister."
"I fully, 100% believed that this was real, especially since it was her contact that popped up on my phone. It wasn't some random number."
Beth went on to describe her attempts to calm the man down, saying she tried to ease the tension and make small talk, but ultimately ended up sending the money he requested as ransom. "It's not like he was like, 'Send me $1,500 in gift cards,' it wasn't like that. He was like, 'I need you to send me the money, I need to get home. I just got out of jail, I'm just trying to get home. I'm not a bad person.'"
Soft sobbing continued in the background of the call, and Beth said the man told the person to calm down and that as soon as he got the money, she'd be free.
Throughout the conversation, Beth was near her mom, who ultimately decided to call police. After authorities were contacted, her mom also called Beth's sister and both were shocked when she picked up. "We realized my sister was okay...but this was really, really scary."
BuzzFeed reached out to Beth for comment, and though she did not want to be interviewed, she did give us permission to amplify her story.
Beth's experience rattled many who listened to the story, and for others, it stuck with them and helped them handle similar situations. Like Claire Gendel, a 40-year-old publicist who recalled seeing Beth's video when she received a similar call:
Well, someone just pretended to be my sister calling and threatened to kill her if I called anyone or the police. Thank god I had seen a @tiktok_us about this and hung up and called my sister and realized it wasn’t real. I’m shaking and don’t know what to do.
When speaking to BuzzFeed about her experience, Claire said the scam had all the same markers. 1) She got a call from someone who appeared to be her sister (photo and number included); 2) upon answering, she heard muffled crying in the background; and 3) a man's voice came on, instructed her not to call the police, and said he was holding her sister hostage.
"That's when I IMMEDIATELY remembered Beth's TikTok and hung up," Claire told BuzzFeed. "I called my sister...and I said, 'I need you to listen to me. Are you okay?' And that's when I realized it was exactly what happened to Beth. My sister was fine and this person had spoofed her number."
Claire did not contact authorities after her phone call.
Due to the prevalence of imposter calls, the FTC released guidelines for what to do if you should ever suspect you're in this situation.
"Don’t trust the voice. Call the person who supposedly contacted you and verify the story. Use a phone number you know is theirs," the FTC wrote on their website. "If you can’t reach your loved one, try to get in touch with them through another family member or their friends."
"Scammers ask you to pay or send money in ways that make it hard to get your money back," the organization said. "If the caller says to wire money, send cryptocurrency, or buy gift cards and give them the card numbers and PINs, those could be signs of a scam. If you spot a scam, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov."
Stay safe!
Have you ever received a scam call? If you’re comfortable, tell us in the comments what happened.