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Dave Ramsey

Regulation and Compliance > Cybersecurity

Dave Ramsey Imposter Scams 72-Year-Old: Report

By Dinah Wisenberg Brin

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A fraudster posing as radio host and celebrity financial advisor Dave Ramsey tricked a 72-year-old woman on a fixed income into investing in a bitcoin scam, according to an Omaha TV news report.

Ellen Graham told WOWT-TV this week that she invested $2,000 after being fooled by a phony website that appeared to be connected to Ramsey, including a video of the financial-advice personality.

“It fooled me, fooled me, fooled me, fooled me,” she said, showing the faked website on her smartphone. That site led Graham to a text-messaging conversation with someone who claimed to be “Dave,” who pushed her to invest more, telling her, “You’ve got to have more money,” she told a reporter.

A fake bitcoin wallet appeared to show that Graham’s $2,000 investment had more than doubled to over $5,000, but another app showed her account really contained less than $6, the station reported.

WOWT reported this week it contacted Dave Ramsey program representatives about the fake website and they said the info was being shared with the show’s lawyers. Ramsey’s offices were closed Friday and spokespeople weren’t immediately available for comment.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission notes on its website that banks and brokers are unlikely to retrieve money stolen by crypto scammers. “If you transfer your life savings into a cryptocurrency wallet because someone told you to, it’s nearly impossible to get it back,” the FTC says.

“If it involves your bank account, retirement account, or life savings: stop. Hang up the phone. Call your bank or broker directly using a number you KNOW is right — not the number the caller used or gave you,” the FTC said, urging consumers to report suspicious emails, texts or calls to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

The U.S. Army Cyber Command offers information on spotting fake websites, including looking at the domain name to see if it matches the real website and using a website checker like Google Transparency Report that can verify legitimate sites.

Pictured: Dave Ramsey

Dinah Wisenberg Brin

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