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Possible Scam on Instagram


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So I wanted to post this as a "warning" to you all here. There is an account on Instagram who is soliciting "donations" for ALS through the email "alsforcefund@gmail.com"

The Instagram account is: http://instagram.com/episode_vii
They're going about it by claiming to be an "official" Star Wars account asking people submit photos for them to share. Once you submit a photo they ask you to donate $35 to the ALS fund to get it posted. After you submit payment they message you the day before they're going to share your photo and tell you to donate another $215 to keep the photo on their account indefinitely.
I happily donated the $35 — and probably would've done more — but it was this "bait and switch" that made me rethink.

The domain name registered under their Gmail and PayPal realaudience.net which comes up as private under "who is" information.
My HOPE is that they are really donating the money and they are really related to Lucas. But they have yet to reply to any of my questions after the fact so I wanted to email you all in case.
I don't mean to cause problems but, like I said, I felt it was the right thing to do in case people are getting scammed. I've done all I can in regards to reporting them... I would suggest just be wary of anyone asking for money to share photos.
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I am sorry about your money but I believe at this point are gone forever.

I reported this to our Legal Team in San Francisco (Lucasfilm security) which is the best place for these things.

I would suggest to avoid any request of money from anyone but the official channels.

IMO If I wanted give something to the ALS I wanted be sure that I was giving the money to a trusted charity and not to an Instagram page which posted an official link to a countdown on its details.

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I am sorry about your money but I believe at this point are gone forever.

I reported this to our Legal Team in San Francisco (Lucasfilm security) which is the best place for these things.

I would suggest to avoid any request of money from anyone but the official channels.

IMO If I wanted give something to the ALS I wanted be sure that I was giving the money to a trusted charity and not to an Instagram page which posted an official link to a countdown on its details.

Thanks!

And yeah, I don't "believe" people saying official... but they have 20K followers and I figured, "Hey, $35 to a good cause to get featured is a fine deal." Had they left it at that I wouldn't have suspected them scamming people. BUT... then when they "switched the rules" and told me that it was only gonna be up a week unless I "donated" more... well, I was like, SCAM!!!

What's funny is my photo they shared (and removed) had the most likes of ANY of their photos!!!

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Hi Noel the guys in San Francisco just sent a req to the Anti-Piracy group to investigate.

I have a 10yo niece and a brother with genetic disorders and I know well how much the charities around the world can make a huge difference supporting research and care.

I'll keep you posted


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