Scammers are getting more and more successful, and it’s scary. They’ve had a lot of luck in the cryptocurrency market.
The new method they’re using is fake celebrity endorsements. On social media, they’ll use the face of a popular figure to advertise fake investment opportunities for crypto.
They’ve done this with people like Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Holly Willoughby, Martin Lewis, and even Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The way they do it makes it seem like the celebrity shown is endorsing this opportunity, but really, it’s just lies that nobody should fall for.
In the last five years alone, reports of scams have gone up by 400%, from 8000 to 34000, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Scammers are rarely the most creative people, but one thing that they can do is advertise their scams well.
They want to get as many victims as possible to give them some money or share their wallet details before they are shut down. And one way that scammers like to guarantee this is by using fake celebrity endorsements.
It’s almost impossible for potential victims to spot a fraud since celebrities usually really promote legit projects.
If you have fallen victim of Celebrity cryptocurrency scam, and you want to recover your money from celebrity cryptocurrency scam, the best way to contact a recovery expert. Here are some recovery experts waiting for you.
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Elon Musk’s deep fake
Elon Musk is a great example of this. On Twitter, he frequently endorses cryptocurrencies and talks about them like he’s on an official company board.
In fact, he’s seen by many as a spokesperson. The trickiest fake endorsement scam was a deep fake of Elon Musk himself promoting a crypto project. It said people could earn over 30% in return if they invested within three months.
But it adds at the end, “All crypto investments are risky.” A crafty element because all investments come with risk, and making it more real makes it believable.
Richard Branson’s deep fake
British billionaire Richard Branson is also one of the favorite people that scammers use as a focus for their fake crypto scams.
It still doesn’t hurt them, though, since he really did invest big and early in many crypto projects, including this one.
According to Bloomberg, Branson’s trying to step up his efforts to get scammers to stop using his name in fraudulent crypto schemes. Unfortunately, celebrities trying to tell us they’re not promoting any particular crypto project is unlikely to work.
Some cases of celebrity scams:
Take a look at the celebrities that fraudsters targeted this year:
- Vitalik Buterin‘s Twitter account hack resulted in $691K drained from people’s wallets.
- Peter Jones: People lost more than $345k due to a promotional article that featured an interview with him. It looked like a genuine newspaper interview.
- Sir David Attenborough: An ad on Twitter that claims he makes £125k a month from stocks and shares tied to gold, natural gas, and oil. So far, this has cost people £275k.
- Piers Morgan: £232k was taken through an investment that claims it was backed by Piers Morgan.
- Jeff Bezos: His trap was an ad on Google related to cryptocurrency investments. This caused a loss of £158k, and it didn’t even come directly from him.
- Martin Lewis: The scam used his face on Facebook in relation to crypto currency investments, and people have lost around £149k.
- Elon Musk: The endorsement of his name proved to be expensive. After falling for a crypto opportunity, even a single woman, Ontario, people $750k.
- Bradley Walsh: Being in an advertisement claiming he made enough money to buy houses and cars, some individuals believed it was real. They were told of a company to use, and when they did, it turned out to be fraudulent. Resulting in £10k gone from their pockets.
Crypto recovery methods:
Taking the time to report a scam is not just important; it’s a crucial step that should be taken as soon as possible.
You’d be surprised at how many people fall into the same trap, so by doing this, you’re helping out others and saving them from making that mistake.
There’s another reason why you should do this. You could get your money back. The more time you give them, the bigger their headstart on disappearing will be.
If you do it quick enough, there’s a chance they’ll find the thief and get your funds back. In certain situations, they may even compensate for what happened.
Get legal help:
Recovering stolen investments isn’t easy at all. Victims of these scams need to report them and consult an attorney immediately.
While doing so, they should make sure to save any communication between themselves and the scammer, as well as any details of transactions they have on hand.
After enough evidence has been gathered, only then can victims go ahead and make a proper report to their local law enforcement agency or speak with an attorney who specializes in handling cryptocurrency scams.
Two types of people are essential to getting money back from these scams: agencies and experts. The agencies are there to investigate the scam as well as identify and apprehend whoever is behind it. Naturally, they also try to gather the evidence needed for court.
Cybersecurity experts, on the other hand, focus on understanding the methods used by hackers to take funds, especially any weaknesses found in systems. They will also trace where the money went, so it’s easier for authorities to nab whoever was involved.
With digital footprints left behind by scammers, these experts manage to create profiles that help recover stolen funds and prevent future scams.
It’s important that both parties work together, but one cannot succeed without the other.
Contact recovery experts:
Online Investment Scams (OIS) provides cryptocurrency recovery service that victims can talk to about what they’re going through.
The company has a special skill in helping people get back money that was stolen from cryptocurrency scams. They’re experts at this, but they also have other ways to help, like guiding victims through the recovery process.
Cryptocurrency scams are really hard to understand, so it’s nice for victims to know that there are people who can help them get their money back. All the victim needs to do is tell OIS what happened, and they’ll be granted access to a network of professionals who are all motivated to help them get their funds back.
Making Contact with Crypto Currency Exchanges
Getting scammed is a bummer. When it happens, the key is to act fast and report it. Not only will this warn other users, but it will also increase your chances of getting your money back. Here’s what you need to do:
Collect the evidence:
You’ll want everything you can get from the scammer. Stuff like transaction details, wallet addresses, and screenshots of conversations should be enough.
Locate:
There should be a platform or exchange that they scam people on. Either way, try to find where the wallet they use is from.
Reach out for help:
Start up a conversation as soon as possible and let them know what happened. Most places have a specific way to report scams, so make sure you follow it. Also, give them all the evidence you found.
Keep in touch:
As they look into it, keep an eye on your phone. They may contact you for more information and updates about their investigation.
You can never be too cautious when dealing with this stuff. Make sure to stay vigilant and report any shady activity in your account immediately.
How to stay safe:
This scam is done with a lot of classic tricks. They’ll use big names and well-known sites to make everything look real, take little amounts of money from you that increase over time, and then give you back a puny amount. Then they’ll just go silent. Some people might think “Hey at least I got something back.” That’s when they get you.
I can say this for any type of investment; all the old sayings still apply. Be skeptical about anything that sounds too good to be true, and talk to someone who knows, like a financial advisor registered with the Financial Conduct Authority.
The most important thing anyone can do is teach themselves and their peers what signs to look out for when facing a crypto scam, as well as how to avoid them. If an investment looks too good (30% returns), it’s too good.
Never be the first person on a new project hype train. Don’t let FOMO make you jump into something so fast. The most stolen value is lost by those who immediately participate after a project launches and announces itself. Victims could have saved themselves if they simply waited hours or just one day before participating. It takes time, but scams can be discovered, unraveled, and stopped in their tracks.
I don’t recommend getting into cryptocurrencies, crypto exchanges, DeFi projects, or NFTs. A large percentage of these things are just frauds or doomed to fail. There are some good projects out there with the best intentions, and those will become something valuable. But right now, you shouldn’t be focused on finding those heroes because there are too many zeros.
Celebrities do not know crypto
Just because they promote a project doesn’t mean they know how it works. Celebs especially. They do it for one of two reasons: they either believe in it or they’re just taking the money and running. Both aren’t good enough, though. Floyd Mayweather, Kim Kardashian, Logan Paul, John McAfee, and Pankeeroy have all been accused of offering empty advice without saying that they were paid for doing so. This is supposed to be illegal too.
Like I mentioned earlier, no one can determine if a project will be good or bad, especially not someone who’s only famous. According to authorities, fraudulent celebrity promotions are becoming more common, and you should always treat their endorsements as nearly worthless.
Don’t let a celeb tell you what to do with your money.