A WARNING REGARDING SOCIAL MEDIA & MESSENGER SCAMS

A WARNING REGARDING SOCIAL MEDIA & MESSENGER SCAMS

There is a growing problem on social media of scammers impersonating trading educators and firms and then contacting followers to attempt to scam you out of your money.

Their accounts will usually be copied straight from the original (same profile photo and posts). So they look legitimate. The primary difference is usually a very minor change in the username. Something you won’t notice unless carefully looking for it, such as a slight spelling change or the addition of a character such as a hyphen, underscore, period/full-stop or perhaps a number.

Please note: I will NEVER make unsolicited contact with you via direct message to sell you any product or service. And no other "representative of YourTradingCoach" will ever contact you to sell you any product or service.

This includes signup for a particular brokerage or managed accounts. And access to exclusive coaching services or groups.

In addition, I will NEVER ask you to pay for anything via transfer of Bitcoin or any other crypto funds.

If you are ever in doubt, contact me directly through proper means such as the contact page on my website so that I can confirm the offer does not come from me.

Please take care online.

And if you come across any of these scammers (whether impersonating me or someone else), please advise the real educator or firm so that they can request their followers report and block the scammer. The more reports they can get, the quicker these scammers are shut down.

Thanks,

Lance Beggs.

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Update: 26th July 2020

The following is an example of the type of scam these people are currently running. This is an example from Twitter. Similar scams are also operating through Facebook & Messenger. Please note that the exact nature of the scam may change in the future. Remain alert and sceptical of ANY unsolicited contact, especially when it involves money or sharing of personal identification details. And always check via legitimate contact methods if you're unsure.

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Update: 22nd September 2020

CAUTION: Scammers appear to be getting more sophisticated. Recent examples have an old joined date. And a significant number of followers. So items (2) and (3) above will no longer necessarily apply.

The username is still the primary means of confirming that this is a false account.

And as always – please again be assured that I will not contact you via direct message in order to sell any products or services. If in doubt please contact me via my website or legitimate social media account.

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Update: 31st March 2021

The example above is from Twitter. But they're just as prevalent on Facebook. Here are some items to help identify a fake account.

Check the URL (noting that the fake URL shown will differ in future. But anything that does not match the real URL, is a scammer.)

Check other details such as the date created and the follower count.

And again – please again be assured that I will not contact you via direct message in order to sell any products or services. If in doubt please contact me via my website or legitimate social media account.

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