Opaque advertising in front of YouTube videos promises wealth.
He's got the swag. And a Porsche. A gold watch and a cell phone. And whoever wants that should write “I want that” to a specific number via WhatsApp. It is exactly this lifestyle that is advertised in videos on YouTube.
In the promotional videos on YouTube, young men can be seen advertising a WhatsApp group by not only promising great wealth, but also openly showing what they can afford with the money they apparently earned.

This type of bait looks familiar! At the beginning of the year, the Standard on a warning from the Association for Consumer Information (VKI) about a dubious YouTube video that was intended to entice users to take part in bets on currency rates. Banknotes, Rolexes, expensive cars – the VKI warns against the empty promises made by the young men in the video with names like “Markus”, “Niko” and “Sascha”.
According to the young men, you should be able to earn 200,000 euros in six months. The Standard investigated the matter accordingly and joined the WhatsApp group. What was shown here were just trading tips with a recommendation link.
“I’ll send you some information about what we do in the group”
This is how they find out that “Markus” trades in so-called “currency pairs”. He is supported by a “large trading network” of “several professionals” with “live trends, analyzes and signals”. They then receive one or two recommendations per day via WhatsApp and Telegram - these contain instructions and a shortened link.
If you follow this link, you will reach the registration pages of portals such as 24option and BDSwiss. You quickly notice that these are so-called “referrers” with which the platform can determine who a new user was “referred” by. When asked by “Markus”, he assured that he “currently has nothing to gain” from sending his tips – but the recommender does receive compensation for “new customers”. Even if a referred user makes enough money there, “Markus”, for example, receives either a fixed amount or a share of the profits.
Is that dangerous now?
The advice is not entirely clear. Risk information can only be found by laboriously scrolling up to the first entry. Nevertheless, the chat immediately gives the impression that it is not particularly dangerous, or that you can protect yourself against losses and safely make profits.
You often receive very questionable information, such as that you should bet on the euro rising against the dollar due to the recent “government shutdown” in the USA or that you should invest in Bitcoin prices because they will soon rise to $100,000. Expert Bernd Lausecker from VKI warns:
“They are better bookies. These platforms have nothing to do with usual stock or currency trading. You don't put money directly into the currencies there, but instead rely on price increases or decreases. If the forecast works out, some profit can be made. If she doesn't, the stake is gone. In the vast majority of cases, it is of course the provider of these “binary options” who has the better end. ”
In summary, one can say that these “trading tips” actually represent “highly speculative financial gambling”
Result:
It is questionable whether “Markus” is really who he claims to be. Such “trading” scams are not new – there were already groups under the names “Daniel Jachter” or “Kay Zaremba”, whose authenticity could not be verified either. For laypeople, such price developments are difficult to predict and even with slight fluctuations and a bit of bad luck, a bet will end badly.
Unfortunately, there are currently no legal regulations; the only right thing to do is not to take part in such offers! VKI expert Lausecker advises:
“Personal responsibility and common sense are also required here. If it were that easy to get rich, there would only be millionaires.”
So: stay away from dubious trading groups on WhatsApp or other social platforms!
“Whether you believe that or not. It is like that."
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