The Disturbing Scam Pokimane Is Warning About
Pokimane has typically been transparent about the struggles she's faced as a streamer. In early 2022, Pokimane revealed that she'd almost quit Twitch after experiencing a hate raid. Soon, her experience with the hate raid morphed into drama with Ninja and a much smaller streamer, JiDion. No one expected a major twist in that story – where JiDion and Pokimane made up over chicken sandwiches – but even though Pokimane resolved one mentally taxing situation, there were others. Pokimane has explained in the past that she receives a large number of toxic messages from Twitch viewers, and though she tries to keep up her spirits, dealing with that much negativity can be difficult. The bottom line for streamers like Pokimane is that interacting with others online can be mentally and physically taxing, and being a public figure invites all sorts of unwanted attention.
The streamer recently shared a new horrifying experience she had, where a scammer tried to trick her into paying them an absurd amount of money. Even for the internet savvy, scams can seem incredibly real at first glance, and Pokimane almost fell into a dangerous trap. She took to both Twitter and TikTok to explain exactly what happened to her viewers.
Don't believe everything online
On Nov. 9, Pokimane tweeted that she had almost been blackmailed as part of a scam meant to exploit content creators. She emphasized that the story was an especially important lesson for smaller creators, who might not have as many resources to help them if they ended up falling for the trick. Pokimane elaborated on the incident in a TikTok, telling viewers that ordeal began after she'd gotten an email from the clothing brand Neiwai. Neiwai wasn't the problem, as Pokimane enjoys its loungewear and wears it regularly, and what happened next wasn't an issue, either. Neiwai heard that Pokimane liked its goods and quickly emailed her offering a PR package. All it needed, the email said, was the streamer's measurements so it could send her the correct size. Then, things took a turn for the weird.
After looking at the email more closely, Pokimane realized that the instructions actually asked that she photograph herself nude taking her own measurements and upload those pictures for the team. Needless to say, that sounded suspicious to Pokimane, and she declined.
"No company is going to ask you to send you a photo of your yiddies," she laughed. "That's when I realized that this whole time I'd been speaking to a scammer." After she became suspicious, Pokimane began searching through her emails with the alleged company and discovered that the email addresses had been edited to appear official, but they were actually from a Hotmail account – not the official Neiwai website. Pokimane was so alarmed by the incident that she had some helpful tips for other content creators who may be facing similar situations. The most important trick? Never trust a Hotmail account.
Fans feel suspicious of Pokimane's story
Pokimane warned viewers to always be cautious of online offers, even if they initially look legit. "The amount of effort they put in is both comical and frightening," Pokimane said. The scammers created a lengthy presentation for Pokimane describing the fitting process and communicated with her several times, so it's easy to see why the streamer might have been convinced. However, Pokimane took advantage of tips to help protect her identity, and she encouraged others to do the same. Pokimane told viewers to always have promotional materials sent to a PO Box, not a home address. That way, scammers won't know where you live, which could be potentially dangerous.
"Please take this as a precautionary tale to really do your due diligence with whoever you're working with online. Be careful what information you're sharing, especially if you're a smaller creator," Pokimane emphasized.
While many fans were concerned about Pokimane's safety and thankful for the tips, others suggested that by posting the TikTok video to Twitter, Pokimane was attempting to drive views to her TikTok account, which may receive less engagement than Twitter. A few fans shared their own personal stories about being scammed online, like one viewer who had their bank account closed and was banned from the bank for years.
Thankfully, Pokimane didn't fall for the scam and used her experience to help others avoid similar operations meant to target online creators. In some ways, Pokimane's viewers were just happy to get an update from the streamer after she delivered an emotionally charged announcement that her content would be changing in September.