What do Gurvin Singh of Plymouth in the UK, Faruk Fatih Ozer from Turkey, Jay Mazini of New Jersey, USA, Apiruk Kothi from Thailand, Raymond Abbas from Nigeria, Canadian Aziz Com Mirza and Israeli Joshua Cartu have in common, other than they all have been accused (some are already behind bars), of running investment scams?
There are several answers to the question, but my favourite observation is that they all like to pose with supercars.
Human psychology, with regards to the desire for wealth and the shortest route to success, is similar all around the world. This is the same psychology that scammers tap into when they try to lure you. The scammer’s job is made easier in an online social network where publicity and the image of extreme success can be shared almost at no cost.
Other than supercars, other props often used by scammers include piles of money, expensive watches, luxurious holidays, and sprawling homes. All of these help the scammer to project an image of extreme success.
Scammers may be social media influencers themselves, or they use social media users with already a massive following – known as affiliate marketers. Either way, let’s call them scamfluencers. The latter appears to be the case with Gurvin.
In a BBC programme expose, Gurvin’s work was revealed as a promoter of luxurious lifestyle to lure potential investors and make forex trading look like something that would bring in almost instantaneous high returns.
As part of his successful trader persona, Gurvin posed images of himself with supercars and luxurious hotel stays. In an even bolder gimmick, he handed out cash to random people on a busy shopping street in Plymouth, while standing next to a rose gold Maserati.
He said he wanted to “give back to the community” after making it big in forex trading. The cash handout gimmick even made it into the local newspaper, making people even more curious about Gurvin’s wealth, which he claimed he made part-time while being a university student.
Gurvin had vehemently denied acting dishonestly following the BBC mini-series.
In truth, Gurvin was not a licensed forex dealer. He earned a fee by introducing investors to a forex broker, which later turned out to be not regulated in the UK. Some 1,250 people were believed to have signed up with the forex trading scheme Gurvin promoted, with eventual losses amounting to almost £4 million.
After his successful marketing job for the unlicensed forex broker, Gurvin reappeared as a founder of an online learning platform that teaches students how to easily start an online business. The same images he used to lure forex investors were used to promote this new business.
Whether it is forex, bitcoin, gold or shares, dubious investment schemes promoted by scamfluencers have several similar traits.
Firstly, scamfluencers will always give the impression that free lunch is readily available if only you take the chance. They promise high profits in a very short period of time.
Instead of giving an indication of annual returns, they would say something mind-boggling like profits of 15 per cent per week, or 50 per cent a month. Or, they would claim to have started with very small capital and ended up with the world – in Gurvin’s case, from £200, to £100,000 in a matter of weeks.
Investors who are interested in achieving similar success can realise their dreams by either joining the investment scheme itself, or by signing up to seminars where you can learn secrets of the trade. Either way, investors will likely be pressured to commit to the investment quickly before a supposed opportunity vanishes.
The individuals mentioned in the beginning have influence, not because they have previously made a reputation for themselves elsewhere. But rather, in a very social media kind of way – their presentation of themselves in Instagram, Facebook or YouTube created an image of success that is seldom verifiable.
In Malaysia, in addition to luxurious cars and homes, a title and public acts of religious charity also add to the credibility of a scamfluencer. Some even specialise in cultivating a religious image and have no shame in calling their ill-gotten wealth as ‘rezeki’.
Every community has stories of persons with influence and the power of persuasion, deceiving people for personal gains.
The story repeats itself throughout time and it occurs more frequently as our social network becomes more efficient. It will continue to happen as long as there are people willing to believe in free lunches, serving Panerais and Maseratis.