America’s scam culture — from hip hop beats to gold heists

Cybercrime, including crypto scams, romance scams, gift card scams, and others, has been rampant in our nation and around the world for years.

This prevalence has even given rise to a subculture, with rap groups creating songs about digital crime. One notable artist in this genre, known as scam rap, is TJ6, who explores themes of credit card fraud, identity theft, and online scams in his music.

As you might expect, artists who rap about crime often attract scrutiny, and several have faced legal consequences. Albert Hill, aka Shred Gang Boogs, Jonathan Woods, aka Self Made Cash, and Malik Bell, aka Leak Obama, have all been accused, charged, or sentenced for their alleged criminal activities.

How did we arrive at this point? The long answer could fill a novel, but the short version is simple: too many people are gullible.

Recently, the FBI issued a warning in South Carolina about a new tech scam. It began with a pop-up on a computer, which led victims to call a fake tech support line. Ultimately, victims converted their life savings into gold to pay hackers. Yes, this really happened: FBI issues warning to seniors after South Carolina couple scammed out of life savings.

Here are some key takeaways: do not meet unknown parties to give them your gold; do not wire money to anyone without consulting your financial planner, the police, or family; do not share your passwords; avoid clicking on unknown links; and do not trust a phone number simply because the caller ID displays it.

In Florida, I received a call from someone seeking advice. The caller was contacted by someone who asked them to send money to invest in cryptocurrency. I asked one crucial question: “Have you met this person in real life?” The answer was no. I urged them to stop.

They revealed they had already sent $5,000 and were now being asked for $50,000 after being shown a 30% return. I had to spend 20 minutes convincing them they were being scammed.

The fake return is a classic bait-and-switch tactic, a textbook example of a romance scam. The hacker had been sending pictures and engaging in a months-long con to drain this person’s life savings. The depths of these scams can be overwhelming, but you can find a thorough summary in Mariana van Zeller’s show, Trafficked. Whether or not you consider journalists heroes, Mariana risks her safety to bring us vital stories we need to know to avoid becoming victims.

This year, in Naples, Florida, an elderly couple received a notice from hackers posing as police. The notice claimed there was a warrant for their arrest and demanded payment in gold to avoid prosecution. Remember, law enforcement does not accept gold, Venmo, or cryptocurrency as payment. If you have any doubts about warrants or fines, contact your local sheriff. Recently, someone in my family was approached about a fake warrant for their arrest, but they did not fall for it.

While this story has a partial happy ending — the criminal is caught — the gold is long gone.

If you know someone in your office, family, or community who might be vulnerable to these scams, encourage them to watch Trafficked or the new Netflix show, Love Con Revenge. Awareness is the first step to prevention. As for the music, every genre has pushed boundaries — think of the Grateful Dead and the hippie movement, the Sex Pistols and punk rock, metal music and religion, etc.

Crime will always exist, and some will seek to defraud others.

However, if we work together, perhaps in ten years, boasting about stealing someone’s life savings will no longer be celebrated in music. Perhaps.