Trusting Professional Cryptocurrency Investors

As a moderator of a Facebook group with nearly a quarter of a million followers, I see posts every day promoting crypto investors, with lots of ‘people’ claiming to have made it big because of “Investor Name”.

A word of extreme warning. When it comes to professionals in the field of cryptocurrency, you need to be really, really cautious. In the rare instance that you may find a person who actually made millions out of cryptocurrency, there is a high chance it was fluke. I kick my 20 year old self for not investing in Bitcoin when it was cheap, and Bitcoin was one of many good investments I missed out on. As was Tesla, and also the big pharma companies during this pandemic.

A quick point in the rare instance you find a legitimate crypto millionaire: Even if someone has made millions out of cryptocurrency, it doesn’t mean they are even a good investor. It could have been a fluke, they may then have gone on to trade their cryptocurrencies for others and may look to have an impressive portfolio, if it’s not a photoshop job. A person just had to invest by accident at the right time and all of a sudden they have a mansion, their Lamborghini Aventador (because they’re not cool enough to drive a Countach) and a supermodel wife/husband. It happens. It doesn’t mean they are an expert. They may even have made more money than their initial investments out of crypto and just don’t tell you about all their insane losses and bad investments.

My advice to anyone that considers looking for a pro to manage their money, think about one basic question: “Why is someone asking you to perform an action if they themselves are rich?” As often as Elon Musk shoots me a personalised email asking if I’m going to promote Tesla because his Twitter posts just don’t cut the mustard, I can definitely say I’ve dealt with my fair share of Facebook and email related fraud. I am very guarded and probably would be regarded as paranoid for the way I handle my interactions online, however it has served me very well.

Not only do I run my own corporate synergy company and have previously owned a marketing firm and also run this website, but I also work with a criminal defence solicitors regularly so fraud is definitely not unknown to me at this point. Many cases have dealt with cyber crime and digital fraud which ranges from hacking to tricking people out of information such as passwords ultimately leading to loss of capital. It’s pretty vile to be honest, what people are capable of doing to each other, which is why it’s important to be wary online and be mindful that strangers may have a reason to try and ‘help’ you.

I am not only a cryptocurrency person, but I am also a digital marketer and as a marketer, I know how easy it is to create fake pages and profiles on Facebook. People can have thousands of friends, hundreds of likes on their posts and still be as fake as press on nails. It is not hard for a marketer or in this case a con artist to use the internet to perpetrate fraud and attack you financially. 

So Let’s Think About Success and Popularity on Social Media…

Real people, real money, real success posts do well, even if they are fake. A few years back my most popular Facebook post ever was when I joked about how I was going to be working with Jessie J on a new album. Most of my friends knew I am a composer for independent film, under the name of Chan Walrus. You can look this up, as silly as it sounds it’s all true. You wouldn’t believe how many old school friends wanted to get to know me when they thought I was going to be rich or how many girls contacted me. “Hey Alex, how’re you doing, we haven’t talked in a while.” They all wanted to know about my success and I was overwhelmed. But the main point is the post got likes.

If you started following someone and they were talking about success for their clients, you are also likely to like their posts out of support because you also want their favour and in some way to share in their success. It’s natural.  The thing is, success on Facebook or any social media usually results in a lot of interactions with posts. People love success and abandon failure. This is why everyone is so damned depressed these days, I think Simon Sinek mentioned something similar to this a while back.

So what does this have to do with crypto investing? Well for starters: As a marketer, I can say that everyone in a crypto group is a hot lead when it comes to selling crypto or if you are aligned with the forces of evil, stealing crypto – even if it’s not a currency currently listed on the group. We all want profit and we all want leads, and we are hungry, not just for tasty double cheeseburgers, but sweet sweet money with which to buy said burgers. Heck I’d love to make it massive, this is why I’m hodling Shib, Algorand, Solana and more! I’ve got my fingers in so many pies praying that I’m gonna wake up tomorrow and be surrounded by wealth.

When it comes to money, most people will only help others if they get something in return. The chance of meeting a genuine Good Samaritan is so unlikely that if you’ve read this article, I’m your Samaritan for the day. Some ugly balding geezer typing on his iPad trying to give some sage advice. Not the hero you’d expect, but that’s your Samaritan count down to zero so you can safely avoid the next few million ‘experts’ and ‘pros’ you meet.

Think about how some of the people in these groups approach you, recommending that you get investing advice from someone? Why does someone recommend someone else to a stranger? This is not really normal human behaviour when it comes to people communicating online. I don’t just go not random people’s feeds and spam them about how Elon Musk changed my life by teaching me about Bitcoin. It’s not normal, though telling my friends how Scott Adams helped me look beyond my narrow horizons I would tell a close personal friend, and if there’s a big SECRET, which is the biggest sell in marketing, NO one is going to share that with you. Usually people who have made it big quickly are more interested in finding ways to avoid taxes and spend cash than in trying to help others make money.

If you are considering trusting a Crypto Investor/Mentor:

Look them up on Facebook. Do they have a lot of pictures of them? If so, how many photos are actually them and how many are just a model taken from any photo buying site like pond-5 or if they’re cheap and lazy, Pixabay and Pexels. Most of these so called pros have very little in terms of a life portfolio, so if someone has only a few photos, that’s a red flag right there. Real photos on Facebook tend to have plenty of visual noise as everyone is being shot on their smartphones rather than a perfectly photoshopped picture taken on the newest Sony pro cam. You’ll know someone is more likely to be real if they have real pictures of them as people, with friends, family, etc, rather than photoshopped perfection. No one on social media has a ‘perfect’ life. 

Do their posts have likes? Oh the likes, the likes and interactions! Of course they do! That’s impressive, hundreds of likes! Well two rules to remember here! Rule one. All positive posts about success will usually have lots of likes as I mentioned before, not just because of the fact normal people LOVE success, but because of Rule two… And Rule two… You can buy Facebook Likes. Type buy Facebook likes into Google to become disappointed in everything you new and loved or thought looked great or to impress your friends. Why would someone pay for Facebook likes? Well if you can make thousands out of people by scamming them. Then it’s worth spending a few hundred to get set up. All it takes is one decent con to get your money back and when you are targeting hot leads/victims in a crypto group… It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.

Do the people you are tracking post about anything other than crypto or success? Now here’s the interesting thing. Facebook is a social platform, and people are social beings. People constantly focusing on one particular thing, such as in this case crypto, is a red flag, as most people who use social media a lot tend to whine about politics, talk about life and make a big deal about things. No one is purely business oriented.

Do people say it’s definitely not a scam. If so, I’d bet my remaining head hair it is, and I like what remains.

Don’t have any illusions, strangers out there on Facebook are not there to help you, and they are not your friends. Take care of yourself, learn about the Cryptocurrencies you invest in and don’t take any financial advice from anyone you don’t know. Just remember that everyone is capable of being tricked and exploited. I’ve been tricked before, lured into marketing funnels when I was younger and it SUCKS, it really does. Just be careful and watch your back, because everyone offering to help you is likely painting a bullseye on it. I’m not saying this because I’m trying to be cruel, but because I want to try and help. Look out for yourselves!

If this post has been helpful and you want to donate Cryptocurrency for more content like this, you can do that here. I always appreciate anyone who supports my content! Thank you, stay safe and have a lovely day!

Alex O’Neil

I am a blogger based in the UK. I work as an SEO specialist and Web Designer, and my hobbies include making small films and writing music.

https://chanwalrus.com