Crypto influencer FatManTerra claimed to have collected over $100,000 worth of Bitcoin (BTC) from crypto investors through an investment scheme, which later turned out to be false.
The crypto researcher said he created the fake investment program to test and teach people about blindly following the investment advice of influencers.
The account has about 101,100 followers on Twitter and is mostly known for being a former Terra supporter who opposed the project and founder Do Kwon following its $40 billion bankruptcy in May.
In a tweet on September 5, Fatman Terra told his followers that an unnamed fund had “accepted a high-yield BTC farm” and that people could message him if they were interested in the crop farming opportunity.
“I have raised what I can, so there is some allocation left over and I thought I would pass it on – the priority is for the UST victims. DM for more details if interested,” he wrote.
While the post received a ton of negativity Answers Despite the people calling it a scam, FatMan still managed to collect more than $100,000 worth of BTC within two hours of his first post on Twitter and Discord.
In a tweet on September 6, Fatiman Terra described the investment program as a “fake” as an “awareness campaign” to show how easy it is to scam people in crypto by using simple buzzwords and making huge investment returns.
“While I used a lot of words and acted very persuasively on all platforms, I deliberately kept the investment details vague – I didn’t name the fund and I didn’t disclose the business – no one knew. Product was coming. But people still invested.”
“I want to send a clear and strong message to everyone in the crypto world – anyone who can give you free money is a liar. It simply doesn’t exist. A popular influencer selling you a quick money trading coach is scamming you or a golden investment opportunity,” he added.
It is very easy to scam people with crypto.
And this must change.
If you don’t understand where the product comes from, you are the product.
Listen carefully to critics of any project or investment before getting involved. *Really* listen.
— FatMan (@FatManTerra) September 5, 2022
FatManTera has now issued a full refund and reiterated that “there are no free lunches”.
The idea of influencers allegedly promoting scams has been in the news of late, with YouTube’s Ben Armstrong (Bitboy Crypto) taking legal action against content creator Atozzi last month for allegedly promoting dubious brands to his audience, though he dropped the charges.
Related: Do Khun’s breaking the silence creates reactions from the community
FatManTera also said that his fake fund post was inspired by the Crypto Twitter account Mistress Accused Schilling’s dubious investment scheme for his 257,500 followers.
On September 5, the Lady of Crypto Opened. They set up an approved registry for their newly funded business that sells users’ money on their behalf and receives an 80/20 split of profits.