No matter what type of music you prefer listening to, you know about Longview, Texas own Neal McCoy. The East Texas born and bred country music star dominated the music charts in his heyday, especially on country music stations in East Texas. Like any celebrity, Neal's name has been taken by those with nefarious plans and have tried to scam his loyal fans out of money. This latest incident marks the third time in the last few years that a thief scammed Neal's fans. This is disgusting.

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Nothing New

This is not a new trend. Scammers will pose as a celebrity such as a musical artist or a movie star and send you a message through social media (Facebook, X, etc.) with some very personal messages. These messages will sound like the artist is talking directly to you. After getting comfortable with you, the scammers will start asking for money. Some have become so comfortable with these conversations that they will start sending money.

This is an unfortunate situation, which saw an innocent woman being unknowingly taken advantage of. We’d love to pursue charges, but these internet scams are rarely solvable, and some of the hardest cases to prove because scammers could be anywhere in the world. - Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson

Being Catfished

Sometimes these conversations get to the point where the person being scammed believes they are in a relationship with that celebrity. That's what happened recently to a woman in Leavenworth, Kansas. A scammer using Neal McCoy's name on a dating website stole $94,000 from the woman. The scammer got that money through a combination of cryptocurrency, cash, cell phones, account passwords, gift cards and even money from her selling an antique car. The woman even reached out to Neal's staff. After that, she realized she was being scammed (KETK).

Incident in 2018 and 2022

In 2022, a woman traveled to Longview to meet up with Neal McCoy. According to KLTV, this woman was also scammed out of $94,000 and believed she was in a relationship with McCoy. Another scammer used Neal McCoy's East Texas Angel Network, which raises a lot of money to help East Texas families with children who are dealing with a life threating disease (easttexasangelnetwork.com), in 2018 to send money through a cash app or through Western Union.

Anyone who has ever crossed paths with Neal McCoy either at the grocery store or at a concert knows that Neal would never just ask any of us for money. He is a genuine dude who loves his fans and loves East Texas and never wants to see any of them hurting. If you get a social media message saying that they are Neal McCoy, it's not. It's someone looking to steal from you. Report them to Facebook and block them from your account.

And to whoever is trying to get money this way, may karma pay you a visit soon.

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