What is a Cartel or Gang scam?

Cartel scams involve impostors pretending to have ties to criminal gangs or cartels to intimidate victims into giving them money. Despite their claims, these scammers have no real connections to any criminal organizations. Their goal is to extort money through fear, but there’s no actual threat to your safety. Another common terminology for cartel or gang scams is escort scams. A very similar concept, but involving threats from pimps and escorts.

For more information on text message scams and how to stay protected, click here. 

How can you stay safe?

The best response is to ignore them completely and avoid engaging with any further attempts at communication.