How not to steal $1 million: Inside an Instagram influencer’s alleged debit card scam https://t.co/OaGhMOsrSN
— Quartz (@qz) February 15, 2020
-An Instagrammer and Youtuber by the name of Kayg0ldi (government name Kayla Massa) and 10 others were arrested after investigators unraveled a 1.5 million dollar debit card and check cashing scam
-The network of scammers fabricated checks in the name of local businesses and stole blank postal money orders from a local post office
-Kayg0ldi then advertised on Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook promising her followers "quick cash" in exchange for using their bank accounts and debit cards(!!!) for a few days to deposit the fake financial documents and withdraw the funds
-Most of the users to fall for the scam were teens and college-aged. They were unfortunately left holding the bag (or lack thereof) when their banks reversed the fraudulent deposits, leaving them with overdrawn accounts
-When the scammed followers tried to get in touch with Kayg0ldi, they found she had blocked their phone numbers and social media accounts
-Unsurprisingly, they were caught because they were dumb and sloppy
-The crew spent their scammed millions investing in commodities, ETFs, and real estate properties.
JUST KIDDING!!
-According to the feds "The group financed purchases of luxury items, including jewelry, watches, other luxury goods and apparel, vehicles, with the stolen funds."
Sources: OneTwo