If you are using social media accounts, there is a high chance that you might have come across handles promoting bitcoin trading promising unrealistic returns. For example, some accounts promise to double the money in just a few hours or days. OpIndia came across such accounts on Instagram and took a deep dive to understand how these accounts are functioning, often leading gullible individuals to financial losses.
Interestingly, many so-called influencers on these platforms promote these handles calling them “their friends” in exchange for money.
To understand what has been happening on Instagram, we targeted one specific set of scammers that go by different handles with “Neha Trading” in the usernames. With a simple search, we were able to spot at least 30 accounts of this scammers group. Some of the handles that the scammers use are neha.tradingg, neha__crypto__trader, nhea.tradingg1, neha__trading, nehatrading2023, nehatrading7, neha_tranding_, nehatrading7, tradingneha, neha.trading89, neha_trading_22 and others.
How do these accounts work?
During our investigation, we found that these accounts regularly publish stories, posts, videos and more luring victims to invest a large amount with them. In some cases, they return the money with profit to the victims to build trust and then run away once the victims make a second investment of higher amounts.
One of the accounts that go by the handle neha.tradingg has over 400,000 followers. Posts include messages like “A $500 investment in the right place can change your life”. This account has a lot of videos of so-called influencers from different platforms including Instagram, Sharechat and others, who made videos for them in exchange for money.
For example, in this video, a girl is telling the viewers that Neha’s account is trustworthy and they can earn Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per day by taking advice from her.
In another video, the girl tells the viewers to DM Neha Trading to get information on investing and earning money. She said it is a “trusted place”.
There are several other videos mentioned below that use the same script and ask the viewers to DM Neha Trading to invest and earn money. Here are some more examples.
Now comes the interesting part. We reverse-searched some of the images and found that there are several prominent “influencers” who are promoting these services. One of the videos was on Anjali Joel and another of a Rajasthani singer Priya Gupta.
In one of the stories that were posted 53 weeks ago on Priya’s profile, she wrote, “Disclaimer: If I’m promoting someone on my post or story about online earning and products. Do them DM’s on your own risk. I’m not responsible for any scam. Thank you.” The message was posted with a Halo emoji.
A similar note was found on Anjali Joel’s profile on Instagram.
Another influencer that we found was Rachna, who made headlines for uploading ‘inappropriate’ videos with her son. Netizens objected to the sensual content in her videos. We could not find any post on her profile warning viewers of to be vigilant while investing based on her video.
We also found the video on her profile.
Who is the person in the profile picture?
The scammers are using a photograph of Trading consultant Roberta whose Instagram handle is roberrtatraderoficial059. She runs a training program to “teach people how to trade”.
OpIndia is not claiming that Roberta is a genuine trader or coach. We were not able to verify her credentials either. It is highly recommended not to indulge with any of the accounts mentioned above including that of Roberta.
Victims exposed scammers
We came across several posts where victims said they lost money trusting the scammers. An account that goes by the handle neha_tradingggg_scammer wrote, “Biggestt fraud looted my 20k and block pls report”. It was posted 21 weeks ago. One of the comments mentioned that the scam was being run by the same group of person(s) who are making such profiles with different names and scamming people.
We at OpIndia request our readers not to indulge in trading activities based on the suggestions of shady social media handles and scamsters. Do not trust any influencer who suggests that you can earn Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per day. If you are the victim of such a scam, please contact the nearest police station at the earliest.
