All ways of Trump -related coins and campaign marketing products were captured by Americans last year. Some of them were caught in important fraud. (Photo from Beata Zawrzel/Nurphoto through Getty Images)
Nurphoto through Getty Images
AS Trump increased his campaign last year, many were so involved in his march to the Presidency that they bought all kinds of memoranda, from Maga Caps to coins decorated with his face. But in some cases, Trump’s supporters were told that their purchases were an investment that would increase in value as Trump was in office – and they would be able to make money.
Often, such promises were fraud.
Immediately after the election, a woman in Alabama was browsing different groups of Trump’s supporter in the telegram when she noticed members referring to a scheme where people could be paid for simply possessing stale. Interested in earning money from her coins and other Trump -themed items, she contacted a telegram account promoting the scheme and told that if she could provide photos of products, she was in line for a $ 13 million discount. All she had to do was pay the transaction fees, reaching just over $ 152,000, to be sent to Cryptocurrency. According to the order, they went straight to the cryptocurrencies of the fraudsters and the $ 13 million never materialized.
“Frauds like this simply work well because they exploit the psychological causes …”
It is the latest evolution of a Trump -themed fraud that came to light in the early 2020s. Called the Banking Rebate Banking (TB) scheme, it saw the fraudsters promise victims that Trump’s coins and bills, as well as other president -on -the -topic instruments, would help the two win the elections and then later he was in office. Typically, the losses were at thousands of low because the victims were deprived only of the initial investment they rejected, making Alabama’s case one of the most important frauds.
Alabama’s victim contacted the Lincoln Police Department after she did not receive her deduction, according to the order. She also has to return her money: in November the FBI had binance to set up stolen funds and they remain in federal custody, the order said. Doj did not respond to a comment request.
There are still many frauds that target Trump fans on the main online platforms. stale He was able to identify a number of accounts in the telegram promising to help people make money from their Trump -related items. Much more were easy to find in X, now owned by Trump Ally and the head of the Government Efficiency Department, Elon Musk. Many of them were offered both of them helping people trying to make money on their Trump -themed products and, ironically, to help those who would have been deceived.
“District disgusting than [people] Use President Trump’s name to create scams or sell things, “one user wrote in one thread last month with another who would claim he had spent as many $ 40,000 on Trump’s goods with the promise they would appreciate and could be sold with a premium. They later came to believe it was a trick.” Now, “said an X account on the TB -themed, whose profile was linked to a telegram user, who again offered the opportunity to make money from Trump’s memorandums.
X did not respond to a comment request.
“Fraud on our platform is clearly prohibited by telegram service conditions and is always removed when detected through moderation or proactive reports,” telegram spokesman Remi Vaughn said. “Day every day, moderators remove millions of pieces of harmful content from the telegram, including fraud.”
Jake Moore, a global online security adviser at the Eset security company, said users should take their proper care for accounts or groups that promote such offers.
“Frauds like this simply work well because they exploit the psychological causes that make people vulnerable to small manipulations,” Moore added.
“Moreover, many trump supporters have been invested deeply in his brand and remain behind him politically – and even financially – so the idea that their memorandums have grown in value matching their faith in his power, making them more likely to fall for him.”
More for Forbes