Social media scams are on the rise and crooks are targeting young people.
Lake County teen Octavia Holloway was scammed out of her hard earned money after saving up for weeks for shoes she saw on Instagram.
Holloway told NewsChannel 5, she became friends with a young man on Instagram who was advertising a bunch of discounts she was interested in, so she sent him a message.
"He would put the picture up of it and he would put up under what it was a little bit of information," she said.
Holloway 'talked' to him through the app for months and explained that she had graduated from high school early and was saving money for her next step, so she didn't have cash to pay for everything she wanted.
She said he told her they could set up a payment plan.
"I said this is when I get paid, so this is when I will have the money, and he said oh yeah I understand. Gotta save money here and there," said Holloway.
She wired him more than $100, just a few days ago, and never heard back. She knew something was wrong.
"I'm out of money. They stole from me! And tricked me, and lied to me," she told us.
According to Willoughby police, Holloway isn't alone. The department has seen an increase in crimes like these over the years.
Detective James Schultz, with the Willoughby Police Department, said if it sounds too good to be true, it's probably not true.
"There's a lot of predators and a lot of scam artists out there looking to find a quick buck, and people fall for it."
Detective Schultz said, unfortunately, in cases like this, there's not much law enforcement can do.
"We cannot track where these transactions go," he said.
Holloway, and her mother, said they learned a lesson and hope that by sharing this story they can stop this from happening to someone else.
"Be careful, really be careful. And be safe. And double check before you send your information," she shared.
The best way to protect yourself from becoming the next victim? Police said shop on verified sites or through companies like PayPal.
