Twitch star Pokimane revealed how she was nearly a victim of blackmail after discovering a very elaborate and convincing scam.
Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys is the most-followed woman on Twitch — and one of the most Googled Twitch streamers in the United States.
The influencer has collaborated with numerous companies in the past, and often shares her favorite brands with fans in her vlogs.
However, she was almost the victim of a scam after nearly falling for an email pretending to be one of the brands she’d spoken about in a recent video.
i was recently almost blackmailed & wanted to share what happened to me as a precautionary tale.. i uploaded the storytime on my tiktok, highly recommend especially for smaller creators 🫶🏻 be careful what you share online!
— pokimane (@pokimanelol) November 9, 2022
The streamer opened up about the terrifying incident in a November 9 TikTok clip, where she claimed that someone pretending to be from a lingerie and loungewear company, Neiwai, had reached out to her via email for a possible collaboration.
Pokimane warns fans on TikTok about influencer scam: “I was almost blackmailed”
In the email, the company purportedly asked Anys for her measurements so they could send her items from their ‘new collection’ — but luckily, the streamer quickly realized they actually wanted a photo of her “bare chest.”
“I realized that they weren’t showing me how to take my measurements,” the streamer said. “They were asking me to put a tape measure around me and send me a photo of my bare chest.”
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
Pokimane went on to describe how realistic the email thread was, noting that the scammer had fabricated multiple email accounts using the company name to seem legitimate, and even created an entire PowerPoint to make it look like the real deal.
Anys urged her viewers to be cautious about giving out their information to possible scammers, asking fans to have any products sent to a PO Box instead of their home address.
“The amount of effort they put in is both comical and frightening,” she continued. “I don’t even wanna think about what they would have done if I had actually sent them anything.”
Users are speaking out in support of Anys in the comments section, wary of any new emails coming their way from possible scammers.
Pokimane is just the latest influencer to open up about being scammed after Twitch star QTCinderella revealed her own run-in with traffickers who pretended to be from the IRS.