![Warning: Minnesota Targeted by New Scam Pretending to Aid Schools Warning: Minnesota Targeted by New Scam Pretending to Aid Schools](https://i3.wp.com/townsquare.media/site/715/files/2024/05/attachment-mall-40.jpg?w=1200&q=75&format=natural&w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1)
Attention, Minnesota! Another scam just popped up and this time it’s not trying to victimize you on Facebook Marketplace or ask you to buy thousands of dollars in gift cards. No. This time, he is using our children and schools as bait. And this scam is good and could easily scam you… It took me a little while to find something to prove that someone has already been scammed. But I did it.
Another scam just appeared in Minnesota
I’m not sure what your true feelings are about scams, but here’s mine: I know people who have been victims of scams and lost thousands of dollars. Scammers are smart and know exactly what they are doing. They’re the reason I never click on links or attachments on basically anything: Facebook, emails, text messages. At work, I hit the “phishing” tab several times a day. Some of the messages I receive about scams are ridiculous; However, people fall for these scams every day.
Not sure what scams are like? Below are some examples of scams that have been in the news and have been happening in Minnesota:
Minnesota High School Warns Community About Scam Aiming to Raise Money for Football Team
While I was at work today, one of my friends sent me a note alerting me that a company in California was soliciting business in the Rochester, Minnesota area, stating that they were raising money for the John Marshall High School football program. Hmmm…we have local marketing companies (aka…Townsquare Media) that can do whatever it takes for our local businesses and non-profits, and yet a company in California wants to “help.” Yes, I would love to see that company sitting in the stands at John Marshall cheering on the home team when our Townsquare Media team is at every game and at all of our local schools. California is NOT local and this sounds fraudulent.
RED FLAGS to watch out for in the latest scam to appear in Minnesota
I asked my friend to send me the documents to see if they looked legit or not and as soon as I started reading, I immediately pulled out some red flags from my back pocket and started waving them.
There’s a lot more to this email, most of it involving sponsorship levels, pricing, the results companies will receive for their sponsorship, etc. However, there are a lot of red flags that popped up right away that I wanted to make sure you saw:
- There were some links in the email (RED FLAG)… that I did NOT click on.
- One important thing missing from this email was the company name. It didn’t appear anywhere other than the email address it came from. (RED FLAG).
- The signature line with the person’s name did not include a last name. (RED FLAG).
- The phone number in the email does not match the phone number on the website. (RED FLAG)
- While I search for that phone number in various ways, that phone number does not exist. (RED FLAG)
- Speaking of the company website, it doesn’t appear in the email either. (RED FLAG)
Then the real fun began for me. Seriously, if I didn’t work in radio, I’d be hunting people on the Internet. I’m really good at that. As I was speaking during my radio show, I was looking to find out who this company really was. I already knew it was probably a scam, but now I wanted proof that someone was actually scammed.
The GameDay Live website was created about 6 years ago, is hosted on GoDaddy.com, and hasn’t been updated in a long time. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, just information. According to scamadvisor.com, there are quite a few positive things about the website, but there is one thing that was a red flag for me: they were hiding their identity.
GameDay Live Reviews Tell the true story of this company
There will always be good reviews. People who want to scam you will make sure there are always good reviews to see. I don’t care about those. I wanted the land… and I found it.
The Better Business Burea MyGameDayLive Inc game has an F rating.
Several complaints were listed on the BBB website showing how people or businesses were scammed out of money based on information similar to what a Rochester, Minnesota, business received from GameDay Live.
But that is not all. I also found some nasty reviews on Google about the company.
John Marshall High School in Rochester, Minnesota alerts community about My GameDay Live
Many phone calls, text messages, Facebook messages, and meetings were made in Rochester on Wednesday to figure all of this out and help keep our community safe. If you have a second, send a shout-out to your kids’ booster clubs, athletic directors, and volunteers who work with your sports programs because I saw some of the text threads throughout this issue. Honestly, today was a waste of time, but hopefully all that behind-the-scenes work saves a company or individual from being scammed. You can help ensure that doesn’t happen too.
John Marshall posted the following message to alert families and businesses about the scam. Please share this story so everyone knows NOT to work with My GameDay Live.
20 Common Scams to Watch Out for in Minnesota
The more you know about common scams, the better you can protect yourself against them.
Gallery Credit: Lauren Wells
Keynote USA
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