Recently, someone cloned my personal Facebook account, copied my personal photos, used my name, and started messaging people about fake investment opportunities.

Not Rebel Finance School style index investing. Not sensible advice. The usual nonsense about stock tips, big returns, and a special WhatsApp group.

So let me save you some time and potentially a LOT of money!

If someone comes to you through Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram or anywhere similar trying to sell you investments, stock tips, crypto, or guaranteed returns, do not trust it. Delete and report it.

That rule alone will save a lot of people a lot of pain.

I am not just saying if a fake account pretending to be me approaches you. I am saying any approach about investing on these platforms.

A fake account appeared using my name and profile picture. See the image to the right. Looks just like me doesn’t it? They just stole personal photos of me.

Then that fake profile, that fake Alan, let’s call it Falan. It then sent friend requests.

It messaged people pretending to be me.

Then it quickly got to the real goal, which was not friendship, not conversation, not helping people with their finances. It was trying to funnel people into a fake investment group.

That is the thing to understand with a Facebook investment scam. The account is just the bait. The message is the hook. The goal is to get you into a private conversation where they can pressure you, flatter you, confuse you, and separate you from your money.

It is manipulative. It is a complete scam and it works far too often.

I still feel a little outraged seeing the image to the right. That is my wedding photo they are using to scam people!

Because they are not aimed at your logic first.

They’re aimed at your emotions.

Curiosity. Hope. Greed. Trust. Fear of missing out. The feeling that maybe, just maybe, this is a lucky break.

I care about this because I have seen the damage done by scams like this up close.

Three years ago, during debt week, we had a lady who had lost £50,000 to a WhatsApp Investment scam just like this. They persuaded her to take out bank loans to invest. Then they vanished. She was left with the debt, the stress, and years of repayments for money that was simply gone.

They had got her to invest £500 and she saw “returns”. They persuaded her to put in £1,000 and she saw “returns” slowly building her confidence little by little.

Then came the once in a life time opportunity. You are guaranteed to make a fortune. “We will be borrowing everything we can to take advantage of this opportunity, they” say. The lady borrowed all she could, sent them the money to invest and then…

The scammer disappears.

But the debt stays. The pain stays. The shame stays.

We don’t hear about it enough because people are too embarrassed to come forward and when they do the police say there is nothing they can do because it is an “investment”.

I want to tell everyone I can about this. This shouldn’t happen to anyone. Let me show you how to spot a scam (send this to your parents please!) and then read on for the final rule to keep you safe out there.

Here are the signs. These are the bits I want you to remember.

1. They contacted you first

That is your first clue.

Real investing does not usually begin with a random message from someone you barely know, or a “friend” suddenly offering stock tips in your inbox.

2. They are talking about investments in private messages

That is a giant red flag.

If someone wants to talk to you privately about amazing opportunities, special groups, or guaranteed returns, you are not being invited into a clever little secret. You are being lined up.

3. They promise big returns

This one is so obvious it almost feels silly writing it, and yet this is exactly how people get caught.

If someone is promising 20% returns, 30% gains, safe stock picks, or easy money, it is a scam. Or at the very least, it is something you should run from very quickly.

A broad based index fund increases by 10% a year on average over the long term. Be wary of anything offering more than that.

4. They want to move you to WhatsApp

This happened in my case and so many more I have seen. This is happening a lot at the moment with many of my friends having their Facebook and Instagram account cloned and used to push scam investment clubs.

The fake account quickly tries to move you from Facebook into WhatsApp. That is where they can build a little theatre around the scam. Fake experts. Fake testimonials. Fake success stories. Fake urgency. The whole rotten performance.

5. The account looks a bit off

Often the profile is thin. Hardly any friends. Hardly any posts. Strange username. Odd timeline. It has the shape of a real account, but none of the weight.

Like a cardboard cut-out pretending to be a person. In my instance you could see “she” updated her profile picture when the name on the account was Alan Donegan.

6. They are borrowing trust

This is the clever part.

They do not want to build trust from scratch. That takes effort.

They want to steal it.

They borrow a familiar face, a real photo, a known name, and hope your brain relaxes for a second. That second is all they need.

7. Check the FCA list of unauthorised firms

The Financial Conduct authority in the UK publishes a list of all unauthorised firms (that they are aware of) that aren’t allowed to operate in the UK.

For more information the FCA also publish articles about how to protect yourself from scams which they keep up to date regularly.

This is the bit that really winds me up.

I reported the fake account. Many of the people Falan approached reported the account and Facebook said:

“This does not go against community standards.”

Shocking.

Someone steals my name and photo, uses it to push fake investments, and apparently that is not enough of a problem.

So here is my challenge to Facebook.

Sort it out.

This is not harmless spam. This is not a quirky internet annoyance. Real people are losing real money. Some are left with debt they will be paying off for years.

If anyone reading this knows someone at Facebook or Meta, please share this article with them. Because real harm is being done to real people, and their standards are far too low.

Here is my rule, and I think it is a good one that you could borrow:

Never trust anyone coming to you through Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram or Facebook trying to sell you investments.

Simple. Clean. Easy to remember.

If they were genuine, they would not need to hunt for you in your inbox like a dodgy bloke selling knock-off watches out of a trench coat. (I fell for that one as a teenager)

Final thought

A Facebook investment scam does not look like a scam in the beginning. That is the whole point.

It looks friendly. Helpful. Familiar. Confident.

That is why you need a rule stronger than “I’ll see how it feels”.

Use this instead:

If someone comes to me privately trying to sell me investments, I do not trust it.

That one sentence could save you money, pain and time.

And if this article helps, please share it. You might stop someone else losing money they cannot afford to lose.

If Falan approaches you please report and delete. Who knows maybe we can get Facebook to listen…

Sending you peace and pineapples

Alan (the real one) and Katie

Please let us know in the comments of any other scams you spot and let’s stay safe together.