FRAUDULENT individuals have used a woman’s photos online to scam others through selling plants.
Malaysian plant influencer Jessy Christopher-Tham has warned other plant buyers of her identity being used by nefarious individuals, selling plants in many Facebook plant sale groups.
She was initially notified of the scammer impersonating her by another plant enthusiast from Australia.
“On Feb 2023, I was approached by a plant person from Australia. She wanted to let me know that a scammer stole my identity and photos to cheat others,” Jessy said in her Facebook video.
Jessy shared some screenshots of the transactions made between the imposter accounts and their victims. The account was under Jessy’s name and used her photos to further convince unwitting victims of their legitimacy.
Once the buyers have been won over by whatever deal ‘Jessy’ offered them, the money is transferred to the scammer’s account.
The victim who approached Jessy was unfortunately one of many victims who fell for their scheme.
“Unfortunately, she was one of the victims. A few in the same group have been duped too. She was told to approach me,” Jessy explained in her video.
She then reminded others watching her video to be mindful of any online financial transactions and cautioned not to fall for offers that are ‘too good to be true’.
“Don’t fall for the cheap bargains. That is always the first step done by the scammers to lure any potential buyers,” Jessy added.
Prior to this, Jessy was impersonated by an Indonesian woman who hacked someone else’s account on social media in 2017, scamming people globally, according to an interview with SAYS.
She only got to know about the incident in 2020 when two other plant sellers from India and Indonesia and then a buyer from the Philippines told Jessy that the woman scammed her.
