Being famous comes with various benefits such as receiving special treatment, recognition and countless opportunities that make you even richer. However, fame has its downside, and some of its cons can be dangerous. Security is one of the greatest challenges of being a VIP, dignitary or a celebrity.
Stalking
Having a large crowd of fans and followers can be fun and exciting until one of them turns out to be mentally unstable. Stalking involves someone repeatedly following you, sending you gifts, inappropriate correspondence, checking your social media, knowing your every move or stealing from you and sending threats. Obsessions or mental illnesses can drive stalkers. They can be very dangerous, and several celebrities have been victims of these strange people. VIPs and celebrities spend millions on protecting themselves against stalkers. Social media has made stalking even easier hence creating safety issues for those in the limelight. Besides security challenges, celebrities and VIPs suffer psychological issues such as depression and lack of sleep due to stalking threats.
Lack of Privacy
In this era of social media, the internet, and smartphones, privacy is a rare commodity, especially for VIPs and celebrities. These high-profile people have to invest a lot to have the luxury of privacy and confidentiality. Finding a person’s location, especially a famous person, can be so fast and easy. People will always flash their cameras at the sight of any public figure and share their locations with the world. One picture a celebrity posts a bad guy can get the latitude & longitude of picture & start tracking where the person is. This kind of exposure can be very risky as it makes celebrities easy prey to kidnappers, stalkers and burglars. Limited privacy not only threatens the famous but their families as well. Abduction of millionaires’ children for ransom could occur.. For this reason, celebrities and billionaires have been very careful about where they send their kids to school and are always investing in costly security measures. Violation of privacy & confidentiality, therefore, posses a great threat to the security of public figures and famous people.
Mistrust & the Internal Threat
Being a celebrity attracts a lot of new people in your life. Some of these people are genuine friends and fans while some have hidden evil agendas to destroy you or steal from you. Unfortunately, it is difficult to spot these fake people or protect yourself from them. They, therefore, become a deadly threat to a person’s security. Celebrities and VIPs should be careful about who they choose to trust & hire to work for them.
Political Crimes
Dignitary protection and leaders face numerous security threats such as kidnapping, torture, and assassinations due to the sensitive nature of their occupations. Terrorist groups and rebels driven by political agendas are known to commit such offenses. These crimes are risky as they not only threaten the security of an individual but could cause insecurity in an entire nation or destroy a company. It is the responsibility of every nation’s government to offer full protection to any foreign leader and dignitary by giving them executive protection agents and protecting their privacy.
In conclusion, high-profile people may be rich and famous, but they will always have to go through life looking over their shoulders.
