There are many scary scam stories of people who have lost their life saving or significant amounts of money by falling into a trap. Usually, we tend to believe that these people are easy victims because they know little about how certain businesses work. We imagine that, for example, they invest money in fake opportunities or send money to scammers disguised as brokers who promise massive returns. However, a story that emerged in the press in May this year shows us that we may all fall victim to financial scams, no matter how young and knowledgeable we are. Read on and discover the story of a 24-year-old accountant Jonathan Ruben, who lost more than $23,000 because of a Forex trading scam.

Long story short, Jonathan was lured into a fake investment opportunity by an Instagram Forex trader, Gurvin Singh Dyal, a young medical student. Jonathan used to follow Singh’s eye-catching Instagram posts featuring him in his rose gold Masserati. He got convinced by this enticing image, where Gurvin posed as a rich, self-made man. Besides his lavish lifestyle shared on the famous social media platform, Gurvin Singh Dyal had already drawn attention at 20, when he gave cash for free to strangers walking down the streets of Plymouth. Interviewed by several publications, Singh has always stated that he managed to make money by starting to trade with less than $300 on Forex. The amount supposedly brought him more than $138,000. According to the young man, he managed to make this money by buying and selling currency.

On Instagram, Singh also presented himself as a man who made money after discovering a foreign exchange trade investment opportunity. This is the scheme that would later make Jonathan lose his life savings. After following his profile for a while, Jonathan decided to try and see whether the same investment strategy used by Singh could benefit him. The decision was also influenced by the fact that Singh offered his Instagram followers the possibility to join his get-rich-quick scheme. After chatting with Singh, Jonathan got persuaded to create an account on the Infinox trading platform where he could follow his steps to make money.

The principle Gurvin Singh relied on was pretty simple. It is something major trading platforms also allow you to do to increase your profits: copying another user’s transactions. In other words, he was telling his followers that they could replicate his successful trades could. Therefore, they could earn the same percentage of profit, according to the amount they invested.

At first, Jonathan invested approximately $1,387 or £1,000. Then, as he started to make profits, he gradually increased the amount until all his life savings got invested in this scheme. In the beginning, everything was running smoothly. Jonathan was happy to see that the scheme worked and brought a return on investment.

After a few months passed, things started to change. Over two days only, the funds plummeted. Naturally, this raised suspicion and Jonathan decided it was time to withdraw his money. At this moment, what seemed to be a safe, quick, and easy way to get rich turned into a nightmare. Despite his attempts, Jonathan found it impossible to withdraw his money. Each time he logged into his account, Jonathan could see his balance drop. Since other investors had put their money in the same account managed by Singh, Jonathan wanted to warn them of what was going on. After trying to do this via their WhatsApp group, he got blocked by Singh and the group administrator.

When he asked for an explanation, he was just told that the funds plummeted because of Brexit. Another few days have passed, and Jonathan saw that there was no more money in his account. At the same time, it became impossible to reach out to Gurvin Singh.

Jonathan reported the case to the police. He also reached out to his banks and even Instagram. According to Action Frauds’ National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, Gurvin Singh is being investigated, but there is no criminal inquiry. The same bureau warns that this sort of scam targeting potential investors has increased by 50% since the pandemic began. In conclusion, you should always be cautious and even a bit skeptical when investing money in a scheme that promises a fast return.

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