‘Far too easy’ — Crypto researcher’s fake Ponzi raises $100K in hours

Crypto influencer FatManTerra claims to have gathered over $100,000 worth of Bitcoin (BTC) from crypto investors in an investment scheme that was later revealed as fake. 

The crypto researcher said he created the fake investment scheme as an experiment and to teach people a lesson about blindly following the investment advice of influencers.

The account on Twitter has around 101,100 followers and is mostly known for being a former Terra proponent that now actively speaks out against the project and founder Do Kwon following its $40 billion collapse in May.

In a Sept. 5 tweet, FatManTerra told his followers he had “received access to a high-yield BTC farm” by an unnamed fund, and said that people could message him if they wanted-in on the yield farming opportunity.

“I've maxed out what I could, so there's some leftover allocation and I thought I'd pass it along — priority will be given to UST victims. DM for more details if interested,” he wrote.

While the post received a ton of negative responses from people calling it out as a scam, FatMan said he still managed to raise more than $100,000 worth of BTC from the initial post on Twitter and on Discord within a span of two hours.

In a Sept. 6 tweet, FatManTerra revealed the investment scheme was fake all along, describing it as an “awareness campaign” to show how easy it is to dupe people in crypto by using simple buzzwords and promising big investment returns.

“While I used plenty of buzzwords and put on a very convincing act on all platforms, I made sure to keep the investment details intentionally obscure — I didn't name the fund & I didn't describe the trade — no one knew where the yield was coming from. But people still invested.”

“I want to send a clear, strong message to everyone in the crypto world — anyone offering to hand you free money is lying. It simply doesn't exist. Your favorite influencer selling you quick money trading coaching or offering a golden investment opportunity is scamming you,” he added.

It is far too easy to scam people in crypto.And this needs to change.If you don't understand where the yield is coming from, you are the yield.Listen carefully to the vocal critics of any project or investment before getting involved. *Really* listen.

— FatMan (@FatManTerra) September 5, 2022

FatManTerra claims to have now refunded all of the money and reiterated that “free lunches don’t exist.”

The notion of influencers allegedly promoting scams has been in the news of late, with YouTuber Ben Armstrong (BitBoy Crypto) taking legal action against content creator Atozy last month for accusing him of promoting dubious tokens to his audiences. Although he has since withdrawn the lawsuit.

Related: Do Kwon breaking silence triggers responses from the community

FatManTerra also stated that his fake fund post was inspired by the Lady of Crypto Twitter account which has been accused of shilling questionable investment schemes to its 257,500 followers.

On Sept. 5, the Lady of Crypto opened up a whitelist for their new funded trading firm that touts it can trade users' funds on their behalf and receive an 80/20 split on the profits.