Clubhouse is a great place for networking and apparently scamming. So who’s scamming people on Clubhouse? It could be anyone… Dut dut dah…
The reason I ended up on Clubhouse is because I reached a point in my life where I was in search of opportunities. Opportunities to learn and network with like-minded people.
I’d spend hours on the platform. I’d regularly return to rooms to hear the moderators speak about specific topics. Topics like… Building Business Credit, Getting Your First 1000 Followers on Instagram, Travel Hacking, Rich Bitches Poppin’ (I’m just kidding).
Anything that I thought could move me forward, I’d take the time to listen and participate at times. Some rooms were filled with over a 1000 people.
Let’s get to the topic though.
What is a scam? I define a scam as a dishonest scheme to make money without the intent of providing the service or product that was paid for.
Any social media platform is an opportunity for sales and marketing. That’s a big reason people spend their countless hours moderating these rooms. There is a high return on investment in the time they spend providing value to their listeners.
These moderators are out there building relationships and trust with their listeners every day, but there lurks scammers to make some moneys on you.
I’d like to list the 3 different attempts that I have experienced in the few months I have spend in clubhouse.
Bot Trading
If someone follows you and you follow them back and the first thing that they communicate to you is:
“I’ve brought you a profitable online paying job, I’m not here to offer you millions but the idea whereby you can be earning constant money from home, I can teach and help you. Do you know you can stay at your home and be making $10,000 in two weeks trading (STOCK) it’s as profitable to you and also to me in this you’re not sending any of your penny and you will have full access to your profits and capital if you got smartphone or computer you are free to ask me HOW!!!”
Person goes on and says:
“This is all about placing a trade with a minimum amount you can afford for about 6-7 days and at the end of the trade, you may end up earning approximately 90% income, your profits ROI is calculated by the amount of your capital investment (The higher your investment, the higher your profits). How much would you like to start with”
I should just take a photo of the chat…
In the end, it’s about bot trading but the user is using a fake name and a fake picture and attempting to lure you in with the possibility of earning a lot of money.
No thank you, I make my own trades with my own money, on my own accounts with my own due diligence.
Bitcoin
This one was a little unexpected. There is a very very successful Real Estate Entrepreneur who moderates in many rooms. He is known for Real Estate.
Out of the blue, I get a message from said person.
What was very fishy was that this person messaged me How my family was doing and if I knew what Bitcoin was.
I responded that I did and he quickly responded that his cousin is great at Bitcoin.
Really!? Sign me up!
For those that don’t know, Clubhouse initially used Instagram as a back channel. It was a way for users communicate via chat and to also cross check profiles.
What happened here is that someone had created an Instagram account pretending to be this Real Estate Entrepreneur.
So when something like this happens, cross check the persons social media account and don’t forget to report it.
There are scammers who impersonate influencers to hopefully victimize their followers.
The Masterclass
So I’ve been investing in myself and taking “masterclasses” here and there to level up. It’s a way to get all the information you would have otherwise looked for in a very condensed amount of time. I spend between $50 – $300 and it is totally worth it.
In this particular instance, I took a Wholesaling masterclass.
It was a 4 Hour zoom call for $79. There was also a $97 1-2 Hour, once a week, 6 week coaching session to help you get your first sale.
This was a deal!
Knowing just a little about Wholesaling, the content provided in the Masterclass was awesome. Some disagreed but with the information presented, I know that I had enough to get started, well almost.
On the first day of the coaching sessions, said person delivered. They got on a call with a home owner and actually talked through trying to get a property under contract, unfortunately the wolves had got to them earlier.
During the call, we were all asking about the contract and the person started dodging the question. The question came up multiple times and the person continued to walk around it.
On the second day of the coaching session, I was not able to get on the call. I tried to contact the person, before, during and after on multiple social media platforms and received no response. Luckily I made a friend on the previous call and was able to let them know what was going on.
I missed that session and when I finally got in contact with the person, they said they were not going to provide replays or refunds.
Ended up missing the 3rd session as well as I supposedly didn’t get an email about the new room number.
I wasn’t gonna waste my time anymore and went to my Credit Card and let them know about the pickle I was in. Got my money back in a few days.
It slowly started to trickle into the Clubhouse rooms that I was not the only one in this boat.
I googled this person and found out they had multiple names. I even came across a local news video calling them out on scams just late last year.
This person had a story about how they got into Wholesaling and after putting two and two together, that was really how they scammed other people. WITW!
I was just invited to a room a few days ago where victims and associates discussed this persons actions. It was nice to see everyone coming together as a community.
Some associates knew of the persons character but did not bring it to anyones attention, some Wholesalers said the person didn’t know what they was talking about, some Victims paid the person via CashApp and will never see their money again.
Summary
In summary, scams can happen anywhere. Luckily, I’ve been scammed enough to know of ways to protect myself.
- Be skeptical if you are asked to pay via CashApp, Venmo or any type of peer to peer platform.
- Research the person or business and cross check social media accounts.
- Always use a credit card, I prefer American Express.
Until next time. Be vigilant!
Clubhouse and other platforms need to do better but it all starts with its users. Please report if you are a victim of a scam.
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