When Trump intensified his campaign last year, many were so excited about their march towards the presidency that they bought all kinds of memories, from caps with the Maga slogan to coins with their face. But in some cases, Trump’s supporters were told that their purchases were an investment that would increase in value once Trump assumed the position, and that they could charge them.
Often, such promises were scams.
Shortly after the elections, a woman from Alabama was sailing for several groups of Trump followers in Telegram when she noticed that some members referred to a plan in which people could simply be paid for having memories, according to a registration order seen by Forbes . Interested in earning some money with his coins and other articles with Trump theme, he contacted a telegram account that promoted the plan and told him that if he could provide photographs of the products, he could obtain a reimbursement of 13 million dollars. All he had to do was pay transaction fees, for a total of just over $ 152,000, which would be sent in cryptocurrencies. According to the registration order, that money was directly to the scam cryptocurrency wallets and the 13 million dollars never materialized.
“Scams like this work well simply because they exploit psychological triggers …”
Jake Moore, Global Cybersecurity Advisor of ESET
This is the last evolution of a Trump theme scam that became known in the early 2020s. Known as the Trump Rebate Banking (TRB) scam, the scammers promised to the victims that Trump’s coins and tickets, as well as other financial instruments with the theme of the president, would help him win the elections and then they would be worth huge. In general, the losses were of a few thousand dollars because the victims were only deprived of the initial investment they had done, which makes the case of Alabama one of the most important scams.
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Scammers deceive Trump’s supporters making them believe that their memories are worth millions
Alabama’s victim contacted the Lincoln Police Department after not receiving his reimbursement, according to the court order. She should also recover her money: in November, the FBI made Binance freeze stolen funds and remain in federal custody, according to the court order. The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comments.
There are still many scams aimed at Trump’s followers on the main online platforms. Forbes He was able to identify several accounts on Telegram that promised to help people earn money with their articles related to Trump. It was easy to find many more in X, now owned by Trump’s ally and director of the Government Efficiency Department (Doge), Elon Musk. Many offered so much to help people who tried to collect their Trump theme products and, ironically, to help those who had been scammed.
“It is disgusting that (the people) use the name of President Trump to create scams or sell things,” a user wrote in a thread last month with another who had claimed to have spent up to $ 40,000 on Trump products with the promise that they would appreciate them and could sell them at a higher price. Later they came to believe that it was a scam, according to their tweets. “It is possible to help you withdraw your money now,” said a TRB theme, whose profile was linked to a Telegram user, who again offered the opportunity to earn money with Trump’s memories.
X did not respond to a request for comments.
“Telegram service terms explicitly prohibit fraud on our platform and are always eliminated when they are discovered through proactive or reports,” said Telegram spokesman Remi Vaughn. “Every day, moderators eliminate millions of pieces of harmful content from Telegram, including scams.”
Jake Moore, Global Cybersecurity Advisor of the ESET security company, said users should make their due diligence on the accounts or groups that promote such offers.
“Scams like this simply work well because they exploit psychological triggers that make people vulnerable to minor manipulations,” Moore added.
“In addition, many Trump followers are deeply committed to their brand and continue to support him politically (and even financially), so the idea that their memory objects have increased value with their belief in their possession, which makes it more likely to fall into the trap.”
This article was originally published by Forbes Us.
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