As many of you probably know by now, I’ve had more than a few imposters. I spend some time each week going after them, finding them, reporting them, and blocking them, so that they can’t easily get to my follower list. But, they just keep on coming. I’ve had conversations with a handful of notable names in the trading world that have had similar situations that required wasting their time cleaning up the imposter nuisance.
But, these scams actually work enough times to pay the scammers motivated to keep doing it. If it netted them zero money for all the work, why do it? So, I decided to dedicate this “Thoughts from Enjoy the Ride” to a fun exercise that I just went through for your reading pleasure and a few chuckles.
Below are posts on a recent Direct Message on Twitter. I hope Mark Minervini and his followers find this as humorous as I did:
Note: Handle of scammer: @mineviniquote (Note: Minervini Quotes is really @minerviniquote with an “r” that is missing in the scammer’s handle.)
Imposter: Hello 👋
Imposter: How’s your trade going so far?.
Me: Great, except for cryptos. (Note, I'm making lots of money in crypto futures timing. I'm just saying this to encourage him to go on, since most of these are crypto scams.)
Imposter: Have you tried doing daily trades and making simple earnings rather waiting much more in months, you can do that daily with ease and make unimaginable profits within a short period of time. (Note: Mark is American and posts intelligently written Tweets. This writing is clearly from someone that uses English as a second language. “Daily trades” rather than day trades?)
Me: I don't want to sit here all day in front of a screen. (Note: I figure they are going to offer to manage my money, because I have indicated I'm busy.)
Imposter: Well i got some great ideas for you as i’m recently day trading on crypto and making sure earnings as low as $50k after 2-3weeks of trading, I’m keeping up with this for the main time. Are you in possession of any crypto?. (Note: Who doesn't want as low as $50K after 2-3 weeks of trading? Check out the i’s that are not capitalized.)
Me: Yes. (Note: I actually do own some actual crypto outside of futures, but I sure am not sending it to this guy.)
Imposter: Well i know there was a dip which led to a great loss, you should understand that this has let us traders open to higher chance of purchasing bitcoin and use it’s dip as a advantage to earn more, I could tell you how you can earn from trading crypto if you want though. (Note: Wonder what he says if cryptos are at an all-time high? Looks like he’s another “buy the dip” guy rather than a trend follower!)
Me: So, tell me. (This should be good...)
Imposter: How about you join my private cryptocurrency platform which Is very beneficial this period, you could benefit much more from the trades go that I have for you. You know not all stocks are available at all times to trade. (Note: Here we go…Also, they've mixed the cryptos with stocks? I’m not sure what they are talking about. Not sure they are either!)
Me: And how do I join your platform? (Waiting for the fee or initial investment amount here.)
Imposter: For you to startup trading on crypto and making sure earnings you are gonna need to create a trading account with a recommended crypto broker and then get it funded with the use of a bitcoin wallet, Do you have a bitcoin wallet? (Translation: Are you worth my time trying to scam you?)
Me: No, do you have a recommended broker through which you do crypto trades? (Note: Wonder where he wants me to send the money?)
Imposter: Okay then let me recommend you to a crypto broker that you will be making use of for your trades. (Note: Two days pass with no additional information)
Me: ? (Decided to wait for him to tell me who he uses for the scam.)
Imposter: make a signup with http://falcontradeoption.com and get back to me. (Note: now I can look up the firm!)
Note: This screen shot is from their website. Look at that: 875,000 Happy Clients with 100% satisfaction! I bet Morgan Stanley doesn’t have stats like that! I decided to look at reviews and found this:
Note: Mmm. 1.26 points out of 10. I’m going to not want to drop everything and invest with these scammers! So, now that I know what they are trying to do, I thought I try to get them to lie, so I made them think I was talking to Mark himself.
Me: Mark, this seems a bit outside your wheelhouse. I thought you were more of a stock trader?
Imposter: yes but I’m recently day trading on crypto and seen to me earning much from it as well, register and i’ll guide you through all the process. (Note: He acknowledges that he is Mark. Another small i, Mark doesn’t trade cryptos that I know of and the English is written like a guy who normally speaks something other than English.)
Me: But, I saw this on the Mark Minervini feed on Twitter?
(Note: I figure that he will either disappear, having been caught in lies or whatever he comes up with will be a doozy!)
Imposter: And what dose it has to do with me ? (Note: Dose??? Dosen’t this guy have a spell checker? I intentionally misspelt Doesn’t for those of you who are obsessed with such things)
Me: You aren’t Mark Minervini? Your account says Mark Minervini Quotes. (Note: I was trying to see if he would admit to not being Mark.)
Imposter: I posted it so why sending me ? (Note: More bad English. He now says he posted the warning? He is definitely trying to make me think that he’s Mark.)
Me: Because you are saying in the post that you don’t sell anything over Direct Messaging. Now you are actually recommending crypto trading. (Note: I’m trying to apply some pressure)
Imposter: Are you Okay ? (Note: He’s trying to figure out if he should cut me loose or if he can still scam me. Change the subject.)
Me: I am fine. I am asking questions to understand why you have gone from being a stock market wizard to cryptos. (Note: Especially since as far as I know, Mark doesn’t trade anything but stocks)
Imposter: I do both. shall we proceed further? (Note: Wondering why he hasn’t figured out who I am and that I’m stringing him along?)
Me: Falcon trader options doesn’t seem to have very good ratings on the internet. Why do you recommend them? ( Note: This should be interesting)
Imposter: Because i make use of it. Falcon broker which give you up to 5x your initial investment at the end of your trading session. (Note: Wow! 5 times my initial investment! That sounds really good. I might be able to retire. Oh wait, I’m already retired!)
Me: What do you consider a trading session? (Note: As an engineer, I like to be precise.)
Imposter: 2-3weeks (Note: Who in the world would call 2-3 weeks a trading session?)
Me: Wow! That’s impressive. I will try to find the time to open an account! (Note: After all, I’m a busy guy)
Imposter: why can’t you make a signup now? It won’t take much time. (Note: He’s a closer for sure. Ask for the order! It won’t take me any time, because I’m not signing up for this scam)
Me: I am in the middle of an election party. (Note: I actually was watching the poll results last night. This scammer is clearly in the far east, since the company is in the Philippines, and most of his messages happen during our evening, which is morning in Asia.)
I’m done with this and done having fun at this scammer’s expense. Reported and blocked. I hope you all had a chuckle along with me and learned a little about how these scams play out.
I can’t help but thinking, “What if these scammers took all this misdirected energy and actually worked on something that would improve their lives, the society they live in and the world? So much of their effort goes into stealing money from others and perhaps they end up with some ill-gotten gains, but have to live with themselves having shattered some victim’s life. It seems to me a sick way to live one’s life.
I’ve seen posts that indicate Twitter may be starting to go after imposters, which would be simple to do using photo recognition technology. If another account tries to open using my photo, with my name, Twitter simply notifies the original user and asks if the new account is me or an imposter. That would stop them dead in their tracks. But in the meanwhile, be careful out there in social media land and enjoy the ride!
Thank you Tom Basso
Always wanted to try this, maybe meet a Nigerian Prince too