I usually don't like talking about this type of stuff here, because it's generally counterproductive. But this issue affects both you and me, so I'm going to say a few words on it.
The bottom line is that there are shady (to put it nicely) groups out there that are posing as me and Trading Heroes. These groups are promising to manage money and provide fantastic rates of return.
Then of course, when people give these groups money, the money “magically” disappears.
So I'm going on the record to say that I DO NOT manage money, I have NEVER managed money and I probably never will. I'm perfectly happy trading my own funds.
If anyone approaches you posing as me or Trading Heroes and says that they can manage your money successfully, then run away…far away!!
In this post, I'll get into how scams usually work (as best as I can tell) and how you can avoid this scam.
But first, here's my official statement in this video:
Why are They Targeting Me?
Sadly, this type of scam happens to anyone with a public brand.
Some people are too lazy to build their own product or brand, so they have to leech off the hard work of others.
It happens.
But let's learn how to protect yourself against this, and other similar scams.
How Does the Scam Work?
The way that these things usually work is that they contact you randomly on a platform like Telegram or spam you via email. They pretend to be me and they invite you to a private “Trading Heroes” or “Hugh Kimura” Telegram chat where they try to get you to invest your money with them.
If they are successful in their sales pitch, you send them money, usually via Bitcoin or another method that isn't traceable or refundable.
Once the money is in their account, they string you along for a few weeks, with fake reports of wins and losses.
As far as I can tell, there are basically three methods that they use to keep your money:
- They tell you that there was a trading error and they lost all your money.
- They simply stop answering you.
- They give you a small payout to keep you happy for a short time (paid from the investors after you) and keep stringing you along for as long as possible.
There are probably variations that I don't know about, but you get the idea.
What Can I Do About It?
With most platforms, like Twitter or YouTube, I can just fill out a form to prove who I am, and the platform will take down the scammer's account or content.
I did it with the Adrian Shiroma scam back in the day, when they tried to post fake information about me.
So if they do post anything on platforms that allow a takedown, then I will do everything in my power to get their accounts closed.
However, Telegram is a little different and that's why these scammers are using Telegram. The difference is that Telegram does not censor any private chats. So even if I complain to Telegram, they won't do anything about it.
This is good policy from a free speech perspective…but not good if someone is running a trading scam.
Therefore, because of this policy and the fact that these groups are private (I cannot find them through a simple search), it's almost impossible to figure out that these groups are operating.
That's why I'm writing this post and recorded that video.
The best I can do is to publicly state my position on managing money, so people can do their own research and find my content.
What Can You Do About It?
If you're thinking of investing with anyone, it's your responsibility to do your own due diligence and find out if you're truly dealing with a legit money manager or a total scam.
So here are some tips on how to do that…
First, at the very minimum, find referrals and testimonials to find out if anyone has worked with the potential money manger before and what their results were. Is the money manager easy to work with and was the investor able to withdraw money?
Next, email the money manager directly and get on a video call with them. Many scams operate behind faceless Telegram chats, fake Gmail accounts, or Twitter profiles. If you can actually see their face, and you're getting emails from a domain that you know is credible, then that's a good first step to verifying that they are who they say they are.
Finally, find an alternate way to contact the money manager. There may be people posing as him or her on one platform (like Telegram), but you contact them via another platform (like Twitter), and that might be the platform that the real money manager uses.
A phone number would be ideal.
Final Thoughts
I always will do everything I can to prevent these types of scams from spreading. But I do have my own work and trading to do, so I simply cannot monitor this full-time.
Therefore, it's up to you to do your own homework whenever you're considering a money manager. If you do a minimum amount of research, most scams become apparent very quickly.
However, as I've always said, your best bet is always learning how to trade your own money. When you rely on others, they may not live up to your expectations or they may disappear one day.
Then you're back at square one.
Work on improving yourself and take control of your own future!
That's real freedom.
