Beware Lindale and Tyler, Texas as a Tragic Story is a Free PlayStation 5 Scam

Scammers are basically thieves without physically breaking into your home or car. They will use all kinds of methods to take your money or steal your personal information to be used in another scam. Sadly, even with so many warnings put out there, thousands of people fall victim to a scam every day. One such scam has been going around East Texas over the last week that uses a tragic story to bait you into a too good to be true deal.

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My Personal Story of Seeing this Scam

I've written many times about my love of gaming both old and new. I have the original Nintendo that my mom and dad got for me and my sister in the late 80's along with a collection of around 50 games. I have every PlayStation system with a collection of games for each one. The one PlayStation system that has eluded me, and many other gamers, is the PlayStation 5. I'm ready to pull the trigger if one becomes available at retail price (not those stupid resellers on eBay).

I think it was Monday evening, My girlfriend showed me a post from one of the Lindale Facebook groups. The story talked about how their son had died from cancer recently. They had bought a PlayStation 5 for their son but couldn't bear looking at it because of who it was for. The post said that they were willing to give it away for free.

When it comes to great deals, the above statement always sticks in my head. That's exactly what I thought with this. Actually, my exact reaction was,

I feel bad for this family but there's no way they are giving away a PlayStation 5 for free.

As much as it pained me to not look any further into it, I couldn't believe this deal was a real thing.

Fast Forward to This Morning (Friday, August 19)

My boss shared a post with me from the Tyler Rants, Raves and Recommendations Facebook group. There was that same story with the same deal being offered. Luckily, some group members realized what was going on and quickly called it out for what it is...a scam. The admins of both the Lindale and Tyler Facebook groups probably realized this as well as it seems both posts have been removed from the pages.

Keep an Eye Out on the Other Facebook Groups

My guess is, someone's Facebook page got hacked and that hacker is using it to scam people into this PlayStation 5. I'm just making a guess here but I would think if you did message this person, a time and place would be set to meet. This person would then "change their mind" and would want some kind of payment up front before giving you the PlayStation 5. They would then stiff you at the meeting time.

If you see this post in another Facebook group, DO NOT fall for it. Someone is crying wolf to scam you out of your money. Ignore it and let karma take care of the rest.