27-Year-Old CFP Lost $3000 to an Instagram Scam
We live in a world where scams are on the rise. A world where scammers like Elizabeth Holmes, Tinder Swindler, and Anna Delvy exist and are looking for the perfect opportunity to hit the jackpot, which is not theirs in reality. At times, their victims include professional finance pros. A 27-year-old financial planner, Andrew, was conned out of $3000 by someone who acted as an investment advisor on Instagram. Yes, you got that right! The person actually scammed a financial planner! Cybersecurity experts have to say that Andrew, who did not want his name to be revealed due to job security reasons, is not the first one to learn the lesson hard.
However, more than 95,000 people lost a total of $770 million due to scams as well as hacks through social media in the year 2021 alone, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Officials, including Theresa Payton, the CEO of Fortalice Solutions, says that these issues have actually become a part of their daily lives, and they simply have to put up with them, just like there were people in the past who tried to cash out fake checks.
Payton claims that the reason social media scams and hacks are so common is because of who and how they target their victims. She also said that there are many high profile people such as Elon Musk and Joe Biden who have been caught in similar schemes. Adding to this, she also said that these fraudsters and cybercriminals could even teach a masterclass about human behavior since they find people who are real, have followers, have a good background, and related stuff. They then lure them into using social media engineering so that they can lure other people as well.
When we talk about Andrew’s story, it actually had a good ending due to the fact that he was able to get his $3000 back. Read below and learn more about his story as well as the 4 red flags that he could not recognize, as stated by Payton.
1. An Unbelievable Pitch
The entire thing started when Andrew saw a video of his friend on Instagram. The friend mentioned that he got a huge return on a $3000 cash investment in no less than 24 hours through an investment advisor. Andrew’s friend also tagged the advisor in the post and added screenshots as well.
He also showed that his profit jumped up to $40,000. This was when Andrew was shocked as well as surprised. He had an interest in the stock market as well as cryptocurrency, just like his friend. This was when he messaged his friend to get more knowledge. He got a reply really quickly regarding the strategy. Payton says that the first red flag here was that his friend was literally bragging about how much money he was making and what he was doing. Now, if you are making money, there is nothing to brag about. She says that if something sounds too good to be true, even if it actually matches your friend’s career background, the chances are that it is. She added that in such cases, you should call your friend directly as you never know if someone else is using the account. If you do not have the number, then ask for a special detail, such as your favorite sports team. She says that, at times, such questions can actually scare the criminal and make him leave the account.
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2. Consistency in Replies
Even after this, Andrew wasn’t cured completely. He then got in touch with the advisor that his friend had tagged in the post and asked about the huge return on the investment. The advisor then said that there is some sort of crypto market that most people aren’t aware of. The advisor went on with the stories regarding the crypto market and as the stories increased, so did Andrews’ trust, and he believed everything was real. According to Payton, the speed of the advisor’s replies could have been another red flag. If a person replies this quickly, it seems like a script!
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3. The Return
This is when Andrew followed the fake advisor’s instructions and sent $1,000 in a Zelle amount and the other $2000 in Cash App in Bitcoin. He then gave the information of the accounts to the advisor, who sent Andrew a link to a website that seemed like Forex. This is when Andrew saw that his investment went up to $42,000 in literally seconds.
This is when Andrew felt a little uncomfortable and wanted to cash out. The advisor agreed to release the funds. Andrew said that he resisted initially since it was against the CFP code of conduct to provide unsolicited financial advice and promising returns. However, the advisor promised that the video would only be viewed by potential clients. Payton claimed that this was the 3rd red flag. Andrew should have recognized the scam tactic from his experience since he got hooked through a video of his friend.
4. Strange & Mysterious Links
Andrew then recorded an entire video with disclaimers mentioning that he was not promoting the advisor’s services and sent it. Next, the advisor sent links to extract the profit. The link seemed like a link to Forex but redirected to the Instagram login page.
Andrew logged in and was locked out of his account all of a sudden. This was when he realized he was scammed and called the police right away. Weeks passed, and Andrew still didn’t have access to his Instagram account still; however, a file was lodged, and a spokesperson from Facebook said that they would look into the matter. Apart from this, Andrew called his bank and got $1,000 back from Zelle and $2000 from Cash App. However, his credibility as a financial expert was at risk, which is why he and his boss got in touch with the CFP Board of Standards since he was not sure how his Instagram account could be linked to his company.
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