- The Barefoot Investor, Scott Pape, took on crypto scammers by infiltrating fake Facebook groups posing as him.
- Pape executed a 100x long trade based on a scammer’s signal, resulting in an 81% profit, only to expose the scam later.
- Scammers used fake trading signals and impersonation tactics to lure victims into high-stakes investment schemes.
- Victims gained false confidence from manipulated profits and trusted the scammers, leading to exploitation.
Who needs detectives and cyber police when Australia’s financial icon, The Barefoot Investor (aka Scott Pape), has it under control?
The Aussie rose to national fame with his educational book, The Barefoot Investor, which has sold more copies than Craig Wright has issued lawsuits.
And now, Pape is back with a vengeance, taking on crypto scammers via prominent social media channels to teach the world how to avoid becoming a victim.
Related: Australian AI Plan In Progress, But Industry Warns Urgency Needed
Scott is a big name in Australia – so impersonating him is an easy way for scammers to gain an air of legitimacy.
According to Pape, his team identified hundreds of Facebook and WhatsApp groups led by someone pretending to be him.
Instead of waiting for the Facebook police to spring to action, like Batman, The Barefoot Investor took matters into his own hands.
Pape began by using a classic espionage tactic – the sting. Basically, he infiltrated one of these groups under a false name and began asking for investment advice.
It was only a matter of hours after making contact that Pape was whisked to a private, “exclusive” WhatsApp group that promised crypto and other investment education.
Being an educator himself, The Barefoot Investor was naturally intrigued.
But it didn’t take long for Pape to identify something was a tad askew…the press releases associated with the “investment firm” were AI-generated.
Then, things took a turn for the worse.
Crypto Scammers Use Fake Trading Signals to Lure Victims into High-Stakes Investment Schemes
The WhatsApp group was led by a “Professor” (what PhD they have, nobody will ever know). This authority figure would provide their daily crypto picks based on supposed trading signals.
Pape then took out a 100x long trade on a digital currency based on the Professor’s signal – which resulted in a huge 81% profit in a matter of minutes.
As was the custom, Pape posted his victory in the WhatsApp group, which led to a flurry of messages from users (likely bots) and importantly, the Professor.
The Professor spun a tale of an exclusive investment program, where Pape could offload between AU $20k and $5m to get even better advice.
Naturally, this is where Pape knew the scam reached its inflection point, and jumped ship.
But this is typical of crypto impersonation scams.
Victims already have confidence in the scheme because they believe the “Professor” is associated with an esteemed trader.
Then add on the “quick win” based on the Professor’s trading signals (no doubt pumped up by manipulating small-cap altcoins), and victims might be willing to trust the scammers.
And that’s when they pounce.
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