Instagram, Reddit and other similar platforms are rife with accounts offering high returns with little to no work for a seemingly small initial investment. Most ask for around £500, some more – some less, at least to begin with.
You will often find accounts advertising a flashy lifestyle with nice cars, holidays and anything else they can use to look rich. They are often accompanied by photos of well-known personalities from the world of business or entertainment, who have nearly never authorized the use of their image. These images are used because they unconsciously arouse curiosity and thus influences the viewer to click and find out more.
Another tactic used in these marketing schemes is the narrative “from rags to riches”, which utilizes visuals to share a tale of transformation of someone who once struggled to make ends meet, but now is living the highlife, all thanks to Forex investments.
These offers of high returns might look appealing, but they are ultimately scams. Most, if not all investment opportunities you will find on social media will be scams. Once you are signed up one of a few things is likely to happen-
You will be told your investments are doing great, and you should invest more money. You will likely be pushed to put more and more of your savings in and they eventually become aggressive when you say you don’t have any more money.
You go to withdraw your money from your investments, and you are unable to do so.
The original profile/person that signed you up will disappear at this point, and sometimes the website that you have made your investment on will also disappear.
In most cases, victims of these scams are unable to recover their money. Those that do, never get the full amount back.
However, if you do wish to invest, we would recommend using a legitimate long-standing broker or consulting a financial advisor. Make sure you do your research, using reviews and checking that the services you use are registered correctly.
It is important to remember that over 95% of investors lose money when investing in things like Forex. There is no such thing as an easy way to make money and anyone telling you they have done so is likely to be a scammer.
Protecting your Instagram account can help prevent you, as well as your followers, becoming victims.
We recommend enabling 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication) on all your accounts – especially social media.
You can follow this guide for Instagram here - https://help.instagram.com/566810106808145
Note – You should NEVER share your 2FA codes with anyone!
If your Instagram account has been compromised, you can follow this guide to help recover it - https://help.instagram.com/149494825257596 although having 2FA will likely prevent the need to have to recover your account.
Alternatively, if you need assistance with this and wish to report it, you can contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or visit www.actionfraud.police.uk