Bitcoin trading 'mentor' mines for gullible investors
feed_watermarkApril 05, 2024
Facebook posts falsely claim Bitcoin mining advice from a trader is making people rich. Image by AP PHOTO
Australian and New Zealand Facebook users have shared screenshots of impressive earnings thanks to Bitcoin mining and investment help from a crypto trader named Joni Halverson.
But the earnings are not real. The screenshots do not show genuine bank transfers and Joni Halverson is not the woman shown in profile photos on her Facebook account (archived here).
AAP FactCheck has previously analysed dozens of Facebook accounts of supposed financial traders who have used deception and fake images to target users in the Pacific Islands (such as here, here, and here).
One account targeting people in Papua New Guinea scammed a victim out of more than 15,000 kina (about $A6000).
AAP FactCheck has since come across similar accounts, this time targeting users in Australia and New Zealand.
The Facebook account uses images reaped from Instagram.Fx Joni Halverson claims to be a Los Angeles-based "Trader Educator" for a Bitcoin mining and cryptocurrency investment firm, who can help people earn $15,000 daily.
But the woman in the photos on the account, which has scant information or posts, is Hither Mann, a London-based venture capitalist. Ms Mann has no connection to the Halverson account.
The Facebook account's profile picture is taken from this post on Ms Mann's Instagram, and the cover photo is taken from this post.
Ms Mann has nothing to do with the Halverson account.
Halverson has been praised by several New Zealand-based Facebook users as their "mentor" who helped them earn tens of thousands of dollars through crypto "legal mining".
These users, whose accounts appear to have been hacked or duplicated, have posted images apparently showing text message alerts from ANZ bank informing them that their accounts had just received huge sums of money (see here, here, and here).
But an ANZ representative confirmed to AAP FactCheck in an email that the screenshots are fake.
The Verdict
The claim bank transaction notifications show vast sums of money made by financial trader Joni Halverson is false.
The transaction notifications are fake. Images of the supposed LA-based cryptocurrency educator are actually a London-based venture capitalist.
False The claim is inaccurate.
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Sources
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