Texas residents reported more than 46,000 imposter scams in 2023, making it the number one type of fraud reported.

Social media has given us access to interact with some of our favorite celebrities but it is also a breeding ground for scammers who create imposter pages to scam folks out of money.

From fake profiles impersonating trusted figures to fraudulent messages soliciting personal information or money, these scams exploit trust and familiarity. Texans have fallen victim to various iterations, including bogus giveaways, false investment opportunities, and romance scams.

Linda Moore-Evans Was A Recent Victim Of One Of These Scams.

According to CBS News Texas, Evans considers herself a "superfan," of the legendary funk bank Frankie Beverly and Maze and knows every song and has posters of Beverly all over her room.

So, when she got a message from a Facebook account claiming to be Beverly back in December, she was more pleasantly surprised than suspicious.

Evans said she had been speaking to that fake account beginning in December, and continuing through April. The scammer sent her pictures and AI-generated voice messages and even sent a marriage proposal.

The scammer eventually asked Evans to send them money.

The scammer claimed they needed the money for a personal meet-and-greet and visit with Evans and her elderly mother here in Texas. She ended up giving the scammers thousands of dollars with the promise that she would get the money back.

But it was too late.

She then received an email from Beverly's real media team that there was a scam going around, preying on his biggest fans.

In a recent post to Frankie Beverly And Maze's official Facebook page, the following statement was posted:

Frankie Beverly and Maze, it’s management and entire organization have been vigilantly working to put a stop to the cyber-thieves who have targeted Frankie Beverly, his social media accounts and Frankie Beverly fans and our extended Maze family.
We were notified by a fan that they had been approached on social media by scammers impersonating Mr. Beverly and his staff, including via Al voice impersonations. We have launched an internal investigation and uncovered several cloned social media accounts on Facebook including Facebook groups.
The scammers are interacting with fans through direct messages and instant messages and asking them to purchase fake memberships and to send money for other non-existent perks such as private meet and greets, dinners, backstage access and personal shoutouts.
We have notified our fans via our social media accounts and emails warning them of this predatory scheme and advising them not to engage, immediately notify us of any such activity and to contact local authorities if anyone claiming to be affiliated with Frankie Beverly asks them for money, offers memberships or otherwise purports to be him. We are in contact with Facebook, state and federal authorities to uncover the source of these activities and stop the criminals from targeting Mr. Beverly’s fans.
Mr. Beverly and the entire Maze organization are horrified by such deceitful actions taken by the scammers against Mr. Beverly and his devoted fans and we extend our sincerest regret to anyone who has fallen victim

Please remember that just like everything in life, if its too good to be true, it probably is so be careful and make sure you verify any information and most importantly, don't send people you don't know or trust money.