A HUGE fan of Today show host Jacob Soboroff has been scammed out of thousands of dollars after speaking to an imposter almost every day.
During Thursday’s episode of the Today show, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb discussed a type of scam that’s been plaguing victims.
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According to the Federal Trade Commission, the pair reported, imposter scams are the number one fraud reported by consumers.
One particularly nasty imposter scam involved Today’s very own anchor Jacob Soboroff.
Jacob, 41, and anchor Vicky Nguyen, 45, joined Savannah and Hoda to discuss an incident where Jacob’s likeness and personality was used by a perpetrator to fool a Today viewer.
The scam’s goal, as Vicky pointed out, is to obtain money from victims through wire transfers, gift cards, money transfers, and cryptocurrency.
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She introduced a woman during the story who had spent “thousands of dollars” convinced she was speaking to the real Jacob.
THE SCAM BEGINS
Jane Head of Tennessee called herself “the world’s biggest” fan of Jacob.
She was shown with several pillows with Jacob’s face on them and other pieces of merchandise.
Two weeks after she posted a message to Jacob’s official Facebook page, someone responded to her, claiming to be Jacob.
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They asked Jane to message them on WhatsApp.
“I was elated, it was just like, ‘oh my gosh’,” Jane said.
The pair exchanged thousands of messages over a period of months, though Jane’s daughter Joanie felt something wasn’t right.
The scammer continually asked for money in the form of Bitcoin and gift cards and Jane did so to the tune of more than $17,500.
“It was very hard for me to approach her about it,” Joanie said of the situation.
GETTING HELP
She reached out to NBC News for help, and Jacob himself spoke to Jane through a video call.
“Jane, thank you so much for your support, and I’m so terribly sorry that you’ve gone through what so many people have gone through” the anchor told her.”
“You’re going to help a lot of people by having this conversation with Vicky, he continued.
Jane thanked Jacob for what he does on TV, telling him he was a “joy to watch.”
“My journey brought me extreme happiness and then mortifying sadness, but I think I’m here to point out to other people to be careful,” she said.
Back in the studio, Jacob said he appreciated Jane’s journey and how what she went through could help others.
“I just want to say to Jane, thank you for talking to us, because there are so many other people that are in the position Jane is in,” Jacob said to sum up the segment on the Today show.
“She was doing this out of the goodness of her heart. She thought that we truly were communicating with each other, and it was completely innocent,” he added.
“That’s what so many people are falling for. These people are good.”
Today’s anchors urged people to go to the authorities and reach out for help if they find themselves a part of a similar scam.
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