Poker Scams and Facebook?
I read an articled published by Sports Media Network that was claiming that some less than savory characters were using Facebook and other social networking sites to scam people out of money by claiming to be major poker players and asking people to purchase shares in their upcoming major tournaments.
The long and the short of this scam is: it’s easy to open up a facebook fan page, user profile or any other format to claim that you are a famous person. It’s even easier to convince people that you are who you say you are. The amount of pictures and information you can get off one google search alone is enough to convince most non-internet savvy people. They then carry on a conversation with “friends” or “fans” and start asking for money transfers between poker sites; a small loan or for you to stake them (partially or fully) in a tournament.
While most casual and even semi-serious players aren’t involved very much in the action of staking a player, this is a scam that could have a lot of people falling for it. People who have never staked someone before andaren ‘t aware that it’s done very formally (usually), or people who are just thinking of making a quick buck may actually end up getting burned.
How Serious is This?
Honestly, i’m not one to give people money just because they asked. Even if they promise me a whole lot of money, or if it’s a “really good investment.” But, one person is reporting (again to Sports Media Network) that he has been befriended by 12 “DanielNegreanu’s.” There have also been reports of multiple Willie Tanns and Mike Matusow. A quick facebook search of any of the top poker players (i searched Negreanu and Mike Mizrachi and a bunch came up for both) yields a lot of results…
So…to avoid being bothered in upcoming months by people just asking for money and posing as famous poker players, maybe take “poker” off your list of interests onFacebook..oh, and keep your money unless you know the person you’re staking very well!
