Carly Rowena, a 37-year-old fitness instructor, was duped into sending £5 716.60 worth of digital assets to a scammer who promised to return her crypto money.
Carly Rowena
Carly Rowena, a British fitness and health influencer, is embarrassed as she recalls being duped into handing over £5,700 ($7,450) worth of cryptocurrency in a scam.
“I was like, it’s too good to be true, and I still love it,” she told CNBC Make It.
Rowena transferred the crypto to an Instagram account she believed belonged to a financial professional who managed investments for a friend. But after realizing her friend’s account had been hacked, Rowena said she felt “stupid”.
Here, Rowena shares her story with CNBC Make It, including the red flags she now knows to watch for when navigating the online world.
No. 1 tip to avoid cheating
If something online seems “too good to be true,” because it probably is, according to Rowena.
Her main advice to avoid making the same mistake is to take a break and think carefully about your seemingly attractive online proposition.
“It’s stopping and thinking, and talking to other people,” he told CNBC Make It last week.
“It gives itself the opportunity to be like, there is no opportunity that will just disappear in a second. If it is the right thing for you, and it is legitimate, it will not disappear at the tip of your finger like that.”
Rowena also recommends taking pictures of relevant messages to keep as evidence for yourself – and, if necessary, the authorities – as well as contacting banks and other trusted institutions for advice.
Rowena, 37, is an entrepreneur and content creator on Instagram, where she shares fitness and health advice and stories about her experiences as a mother to more than 187,000 followers. The influencer, who also has 410,000 subscribers on YouTube and many followers on TikTok, has been living in Costa Rica with his wife and son since January.
How did the scam unfold?
In March, Rowena came across a fake Instagram story, allegedly posted by her friend, saying that she hired someone to manage bitcoins and made a lot of money.
After seeing the story, Rowena messaged her friend on Instagram asking for contact details for the person she claimed to be hiring – who, it turned out, was a scammer who had hacked her friend’s account.
“I’ve invested money into crypto, which I would hold my hands up and say I don’t understand,” Rowena told CNBC Make It.
“It’s a smart way, because it’s like: I’m in, but I’m not sure what to do… so I clicked.”
The scammer directed Rowena to a fake investment platform, sent her a contract to review and promised a 50% return on her investment within 24 hours.
Rowena can even see an online dashboard that shows the investment to the influencer. But in fact, this dashboard is fake, and Rowena’s crypto goes straight into the scammer’s pocket.
Rowena was told that she had made a lot of money – but, in order to release the funds, she had to pay a “commission” to a bogus investment company.
Carly Rowena
Rowena was then told that she had won a large amount of money – but, in order to release the funds, she had to pay a “commission” to a bogus investment company.
This makes Rowena suspicious. He sent a message to a friend, who said his phone and social media accounts had been hacked – as if it was a way to harm his followers and friends.
As a result – ‘I feel stupid’
Said Rowena who felt embarrassed when she realized she had been lied to is not common.
Research from cybersecurity firm Akamai published Tuesday on the impact of cybercrime on mental health showed that more than 60% of victims in the UK said they had been traumatized by the incident.
Of the 1,000 UK cybercrime victims surveyed by Censuswide for Akamai, 59% admitted to feeling ashamed, while 67% said they felt ashamed after the attack.
More than half (55%) reported continuing to experience anxiety after cybercrime, especially when using online services.
When someone gets scammed, “there’s often a sense of guilt, or maybe we feel stupid, incompetent because it happened in the first place, no matter what type of cybercrime victim we are,” says Tara Quinn-Cirillo, a Chartered. psychologist and fellow of The British Psychological Society,
It can be easy for the unsuspecting because of the fast-paced nature of modern life, according to Quinn-Cirillo.
“Maybe one fraud that we get caught, that one episode of cybercrime, then it makes us doubt our ability, our competence, our intelligence,” Quinn-Cirillo said. “We can develop a sense of shame, so we can be ashamed of it.”
This shame can then negatively impact people by doing things they enjoy or being active online. Rowena, for example, hasn’t invested in crypto since she got scammed because she’s too scared to get scammed again.
‘Personal circuit breaker’
Victims of fraud and online fraud are advised to contact institutions such as banks or the police to see if the money can be withdrawn.
“It’s about making sure that wherever you go for information, it’s a credible source,” Quinn-Cirillo told CNBC Make It. “All these big institutions will have advice on cybercrime, which is very important.”
If you find yourself in a situation like Rowena’s, Natalie Billingham, managing director at Akamai, recommends applying a “personal circuit breaker.”
“Whether it’s an email, whether it’s a conversation: just take that second to stop and think, and then allow you to put the protocol in place. How to check this link?” Billingham told CNBC.
“If you click too fast or rush to do something, often afterwards you are left with regrets and then you take a path that you don’t like.”
Persistent cheaters
“When it’s online, it’s like you don’t see it, “You know it’s not real. No one will care. That’s what makes you feel stupid,” said Rowena.
The account that interacts with Rowena on Instagram remains active on the platform, although the profile is private. The same account is also on Facebook.
Rowena said she kept receiving direct messages from scammers asking for a fee to unlock funds.
As long as the profile remains active, Rowena worries that others may fall victim to the same attack. “I can only imagine how much money he’d make with all those people,” he said.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, told CNBC Make It that fraudulent activity is not allowed on its platform and that it is investigating the account.
“We are constantly investing in protection against fraud on our platform, and are working closely with law enforcement and regulators to address this issue,” a Meta spokesperson said via email.
