Coachella Valley woman wants to warn others after losing $1,000 by sharing cash app account password

A local woman is sharing her story of how she was scammed out of her money in a matter of 2 hours.

On December 12th, Carolyn Guapo received a message on Facebook from who she thought was a member of her church regarding a crypto, quick money deal.

She's still unclear if the message actually came from a trusted acquaintance or if it was an unknown scammer spoofing someone else's name.

Guapo says she was scammed out of $1,000, saying, "that money that was taken from my account was money that I had been saving for about three months for my kids' Christmas presents."

The Better Business Bureau says this kind of investment scam is prevalent on social media. The organization is seeing posts on TikTok as the platform's popularity has grown.

"Investment scams take many forms, but all prey on the desire to make money without much risk or initial funding," the BBB reports.

The BBB says to avoid money-flipping scams: use good judgment, do research, and understand how digital wallet services work.

If you have been scammed and want to file a complaint, go to Federal Bureau Investigation Internet Crime Complaint Center. Even if you just spot what you think might be a scam, the Better Business Bureau wants to hear about it on their Scam Tracker page.

Avoiding investment scams

From the US Federal Trade Commission, here is consumer advice on avoiding investment scams.

Investment scams

Investment scams often promise you can "make lots of money" with "zero risk," and often start on social media or online dating apps or sites. These scams can, of course, start with an unexpected text, email, or call, too. And, with investment scams, crypto is central in two ways: it can be both the investment and the payment.

• A so-called “investment manager” contacts you out of the blue. They promise to grow your money — but only if you buy cryptocurrency and transfer it into their online account. The investment website they steer you to looks real, but it’s really fake, and so are their promises. If you log in to your “investment account,” you won’t be able to withdraw your money at all, or only if you pay high fees.

• A scammer pretends to be a celebrity who can multiply any cryptocurrency you send them. But celebrities aren’t contacting you through social media. It’s a scammer. And if you click on an unexpected link they send or send cryptocurrency to a so-called celebrity’s QR code, that money will go straight to a scammer and it’ll be gone.
  
• An online “love interest” wants you to send money or cryptocurrency to help you invest. That’s a scam. As soon as someone you meet on a dating site or app asks you for money, or offers you investment advice, know this: that’s a scammer. The advice and offers to help you invest in cryptocurrency are nothing but scams. If you send them crypto, or money of any kind, it’ll be gone, and you typically won’t get it back.
   
• Scammers guarantee that you’ll make money or promise big payouts with guaranteed returns. Nobody can make those guarantees. Much less in a short time. And there’s nothing “low risk” about cryptocurrency investments. So: if a company or person promises you’ll make a profit, that’s a scam. Even if there’s a celebrity endorsement or testimonials from happy investors. Those are easily faked.

• Scammers promise free money. They’ll promise free cash or cryptocurrency, but free money promises are always fake.
   
• Scammers make big claims without details or explanations. No matter what the investment, find out how it works and ask questions about where your money is going. Honest investment managers or advisors want to share that information and will back it up with details.

Before you invest in crypto, search online for the name of the company or person and the cryptocurrency name, plus words like “review,” “scam,” or “complaint.” See what others are saying. And read more about other common investment scams.