Noel Whittaker's Blog Scammers remain as active as ever, and there are still plenty of people who — despite continual warnings — are prepared to believe that they can profit by becoming involved in schemes that sound too good to be true.
Wendy emailed me to ask my opinion on Bitcoin Loophole. She told me she had heard about it by watching former football star Greg Inglis on “The Project”, and understood a person could earn up to $13,000 a week from the comfort of their own home.
Google is a great resource when investigating these scams, and it produced a wealth of information in quick time. The scammers had various websites, all claiming that Bitcoin Loophole is new cryptocurrency trading software that has been designed by “prominent investor” Steve McKay.
The trading software allegedly uses a “highly efficient programming algorithm” based on a so-called “Flock Principle” of economics. The platform’s alleged creator, Steve McKay, apparently found a loophole, which enabled him to apply the economic theory to a basic computer code.
If you read further, ignoring the “invest safely now” signs that keep popping up on your computer screen, you will see comments from readers pointing out that Steve McKay is a non-existent person, and that alleged photos of him are stock images. I pointed all this out to Wendy, who told me that she had downloaded the app, and had already been contacted by a “broker”.
There are red flags galore here. Firstly, if you had computer software that could make a guaranteed $13,000 a week by trading bitcoin movements, why would you be selling it? Furthermore, why would you need an army of “brokers”?.
It’s really nothing new. Years ago, we regularly received brochures in the mail about computer programs claiming to teach us to successfully back the winners in most horse races, or to trade currencies. ASIC keeps knocking them down, but they come up again like nut grass.
This may be time to remind yourself of some basic financial principles. There is no such thing as easy money, unless you receive a large legacy from your favourite uncle, or pull off the one-in-10-million-or-more chance of winning Lotto. There are no computer programs that can successfully pick racehorses or shares, and if there were, their owners would keep them closely guarded. The last thing they would do would be to offer such a program online to all and sundry.
The scammers must get some results, because they are always active. In the time it took me to write this column, I received six emails telling me how I could make an easy $10,000 a week investing in crypto currencies. They appeared to be triggered by my Googling Bitcoin Loophole!!