Donald Trump launched Truth Social in 2022 as a social media platform where the MAGA faithful could hang out without any liberals to spoil the fun. The biggest selling point? It was the only place where Trump was personally posting his unhinged screeds after getting banned from Twitter over that whole coup attempt. But new documents obtained by Gizmodo reveal the site has also been flooded with scammers who are swindling users out of enormous sums of money. We’re talking about people who’ve lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in a relatively short period of time.
Gizmodo submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the FTC for consumer complaints about Truth Social filed in the past two years. The complaints to the federal agency include some stories from people who’ve been banned from the site (unjustly, they claim) and others who say they got signed up for mailing lists they never wanted to be on in the first place. But the complaints about scams are the most shocking, if only because there are such large sums of money involved. And we’re publishing a sample of the full, unedited complaints below.
One person who says they lost $170,000 explained they were initially scammed on a different site but met someone on Truth Social who claimed they could help get their money back. That turned out to be a scam as well. But more often, the victims are first contacted on Truth Social before being told to take the conversation somewhere else, like WhatsApp. Truth Social seems to be a target-rich environment for people who are easy to con.
Another thing that sticks out about the complaints filed with the FTC is that they seem to involve plenty of elderly fans of Donald Trump. One 72-year-old man who reported chatting with a “beautiful” woman on the site was scammed out of $21,000. His complaint ends with, “I haven’t told my wife about this blunder. She still doesn’t know about it.” Another person in their 60s said they lost $500,000 to scammers on Truth Social and seemed to think there might be a way they could get their money back, telling the FTC, “After I pay this they promise there will be no more fees and I will receive my assets.”
Many of the people don’t seem to understand that any amount they might see on their end that’s supposedly sitting in an account is completely fictitious. The scammers will often give the victim access to a website that shows a certain dollar amount in “their” account but the money is long gone. It’s not sitting there for them to withdraw. It’s simply a ruse for the victim to see their imaginary money grow, luring them into “investing” even more.
There are many different kinds of scams on social media sites. We recently explored the dating app sextortion scams on Ashley Madison and sextortion that’s happening on Grindr with FOIA requests to the FTC. But the scams happening on Truth Social appear to be most commonly pig butchering, a method of gaining someone’s trust while getting them to give you increasingly large amounts of money, all while making it seem like the victim is making wise investments. Truth Social, with its older user base of Boomers who have access to a lifetime of savings and retirement accounts, appears to be an attractive target for scammers running pig butchering operations.
The complaints below were redacted by the FTC before being released to Gizmodo, making it impossible for us to verify each individual claim. But we believe the patterns that emerge give some degree of confidence that these are real scams. And publishing these stories has the potential to help other people, identify when to be skeptical after they’ve met someone online, no matter the social media platform. To be clear, this doesn’t just happen on Truth Social. Pig butchering is a scam that’s happening across the internet, from Facebook to Instagram, and it’s possible for even intelligent people to get swindled. But if you were a scammer, who would you think might be the easiest marks on the planet, ready to believe anything a conman might say? If you said Trump supporters, you’re clearly not alone.
Gizmodo tried to contact representatives from Truth Social on Thursday, but after sending an email to the address listed for media organizations on the social media platform’s website, it bounced back as undeliverable. After finally getting a hold of someone at something called the MZ Group, which works for Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of Truth Social, the representative said they have “a robust team that actively searches for scams and bots on the platform and bans them as soon as they’re found.” Follow-up questions did not receive a response.
1) “I paid a fee to get past this security risk.”
- Minnesota
- Total reported loss: $500,000
- Age: 60-64
- April 2024
Met on truth social. She said she was in the business of trading cryptocurrency. Got me to trade with a company called coincorner based in england. Money was sent via bank transfer to a crypto wallet then to coincorner. When i tried to withdraw money, i had to pay taxes up front. then site said i had one too many numbers in my bank account number and now a security risk. I paid a fee to get past this security risk. Then i was told i could not transfer my money by wire and i would be issued a check instead. Then they had a minimum amount they would write a check for and needed to fund up my account to reach the minimum. After this, i filed a report with the sheriffs office in Hibbing mn. Case[redacted]. Later i filed an online report with the FBI. On march 30 an [redacted] ph [redacted] contacted me. Says she is an accountant with coincorner and trying to get my funds returned to me. She tells me she is in oregon, but works for coincorner. My assets are now in a bank called Top City choice Bank. I need to pay a withdrawal charge of $10,000 wire transfer to [redacted]. Rte [redacted] acct [redacted]. Wells fargo. [redacted] new orleans la 70128. I made this payment. Then a COT cost of transfer fee $15,000. Same wire destination after that a bank account activation fee $25,000. Same wire address. Now they want $70,000 for an authentication transfer pin. After i pay this they promise there will be no more fees and i will receive my assets. This is unpaid. I have also texted with a guy that claims to be one of the 4 founders of coincorner, Phil Collins ph. [redacted]. This is where i am at today. [redacted]. Ph [redacted]
2) “After being scammed by another site…”
- Total reported loss: $170,000
- Tennessee
- March 2024
After being scammed by another site, i was given a link by a [redacted] on truth social social media to have them get my money back after she stated they could retrieve it! Supposedly they did, had me pay them 10% to go get it then told me there were no fees or limits to store my xrp and xlm their! When i got it in my account they said they were delivering a debit card for my account, it never came! I questioned it but they then said when my account reached 20,000 i would get one. I refused to add any more funds to my account after that! The lady is still harrassing me on truth social! Telling me to just pay it to get my card! I have snapshots of it all.
3) “Now that I want to withdraw my funds they are telling me I need to pay the taxes”
- Total reported loss: $168,920
- New York
- Age: 65-69
- September 2024
I fell victim to a cryptocurrency fraud and need guidance/help. I was contacted on the Truth Social media app, from a girl, she says her name is [redacted] phone [redacted] and lives in Queens supposedly and originally from russia, after talking for a few weeks she asked if I knew anything about bitcoin, I said I heard of it but didn’t know much about it, so she started explaining it to me and I was interested, she asked if I wanted to invest so I did I started out with a small amount, then asked to increase it a few more time for a total of $ 168,920.00, This was all a wire transfer from my bank account to coinbase into a USDT then since coinbase doesn’t USDT to trade she said I need to open a DeFi wallet now that I want to withdraw my funds they are telling me I need to pay the taxes to the DeFi wallet to be able to withdraw my funds, and coinbase does not receive USDT funds and they say I need to pay the DeFi taxes before I supposedly before they will do anything for me. I supposedly earned a total 1,061,155.26. the taxes they want me to pay is $196,972.69 at a 22%00 interest. the wallet is GDXTracex and the website is gdxtracex-web3.com. and they say I only have until 10/5/24 to pay them. or my account with them will be frozen
4) “…well-known investors namely President Trump (co-founder), Dan Bongino, Devin Nunes, and many more”
- Total reported loss: $150,000
- North Carolina
- Age: 60-64
- July 2024
August 2023 I was on the platform Truth Social interacting with [redacted] and what I thought was a response from him telling me to contact him for a chat on WhatsApp we talked and he proposed an investment opportunity in Crypto Currency. He referred me to Elite Republican Trades. I decided to check out the information. That is when [redacted] contacted me via WhatsApp and explained the platform and benefits for well-known investors namely President Trump (co-founder), Dan Bongino, Devin Nunes, and many more. We researched Mr. [redacted] and didn’t find any negative information. I was instructed to open a Crypto Account to invest in Crypto. Throughout the following 11 months I’ve been investing with this platform seeing profits daily as promised. As recently as May Mr. [redacted] came to me with a bigger investment opportunity with billionaire Carl Ichan, I checked out the information and what I was told was factual, and I was looking at gaining a 5000 profit on my account and was promised to make no less than 3M. I gave Mr. [redacted] 100K to put into this platform. In the beginning of July he notified me that I made 3.5M in profit. I requested a payout of my account at which time I found out I would get (1) bitcoin in my wallet per day until all profits were in place. At that time the money would be released–i.e. approximately August 2024 it would be released. A couple days later Mr. [redacted] contacted me and stated that he withdrew all the money from all the accounts I had invested with him because bitcoin was starting to rapidly lose money. He told me my account fell to 2.5M and he cashed it out and sent it to my Coinbase Wallet through Ethereum Meta Crypto. He used another platform to send the money to me the assets is on the BNB (Binance Smart Chain Network. I can see the money in my Coinbase Wallet but I cannot access the account to make transactions. July 11th Mr. [redacted] contacted me and told me I had to pay a fee of 50K for me to receive a code to open the wallet for me to access, that never happened, no code was received. I contacted Mr. [redacted] and asked him about the code, he said his manager would have to sign off on the letter releasing the code. Three days pass and I hear nothing, he’s unreachable. July 16th I finally hear from Mr. [redacted] and tells me that he plans to send money when the value goes back up. He then told me there was a slight problem I was being told I have to pay a fine because I had setup side accounts with Mr. [redacted] that they did not know about. I was not aware I had any side accounts, he told me it was all still part of the platform. Then he gave me a phone number to contact him manager to reduce the fine, I contacted the manager and he was not happy with me because he said I never paid the fee to withdraw 2.5M. He said I owed $250,000. He said Mr. [redacted] told him I could not afford this so he lowered it to $15,000. As of today 17 July 2024 they are wanting me to send this 15K today. I am not sending any more money that’s the reason for this fraud report. I have everything in detail, conversations, emails, bank wire records if they are needed. I would like this information shared with the FBI!
5) “I then thought things were legit.”
- Total reported loss: $133,000
- California
- Age: 60-69
- February 2023
I met [redacted] on Truth Social. Talked about stock market and i was experiencing losses. she took me to WhataApp. She then spoke of mdyscoin.com. Had me sign up and then do practice trading for a bit. I then invested $3000 to just try it out. I did a wire transfer from the bank to crypto.com then to mdyscoin.com. I used that money to do bids. when I made some I wired money back to my bank. I then thought things were legit. [redacted] then said to put more money in for bigger payoffs. I then invested $130,000 to work with. A week or so into it, I decided to remove my funds and work with just what I made. Mdyscoin said my account was frozen that I had joined a 500,000 vip club. I told them I did not join this and to take me off that, they said it was a done deal and if I didn’t come up with the rest of the funds they would freeze my account. I told [redacted] of this and she said she wired $150,000 to my account to help but I needed to com up with the rest to unlock the freeze. I didn’t have the rest of the funds. So now the account is frozen and I take it all monies lost because they won’t wire money back to my bank. I’ve tried. I then went to file a police report, they sent me to the DA’s office, which I filed a report to. Basically they said sorry for you loss. they looked into the web page and found it to be a scam site. I do have the crypto.com wallet address to were it went to. But I think now I seek help in what to do at this point.
6) “The more I write the dumber I feel that I would even fall for something like this.”
- Total reported loss: $120,000
- Oregon
- Age: 70-79
- February 2024
I was talking to this person on Truth Social for several months, then was asked if I ever ran a business. He said yes and this person asked if he would be open to help her run her late fathers businesses and help with her inheritance and would pay him to do so. He was sent certificates saying he was part owner of the gold and diamonds that her dad left her in exchange for helping her run the business and help sell her gold. We ended up paying for all the supposed customs fees, attorney fees etc. Always through 3rd party people, the Gold was coming from the UK, went to Canada Customs then to US customs Adding up to over 100K, the money we sent was always through third party people one in particular that took in at least 60K of that amount, we have a receipt with her name and the bank on it. I know what idiots we are. What can we do to investigate this? Every certificate and website she has given us turns out to be fake. We don’t know where to go from here. It is such a long story but this is it in a nut shell. The more I write the dumber I feel that I would even fall for something like this.
7) “I was misled by a person who claimed to be someone he is not on Truth social”
- Total reported loss: $110,000
- Iowa
- Age: 40-49
- March 2024
I was misled by a person who claimed to be someone he is not on Truth social who coached me to invest money into an invalid crypto wallet called qledger.live, based in Texas. Now the ledger will not release my funds except in small amounts every few days. Still do not know if I will be able to withdraw funds.
8) “I took $92,400 from my retirement account”
- Total reported loss: $100,000
- Arizona
- Age: 65-69
- September 2023
I got involved with [redacted] through Truth Social which turned out to be a romance scam. She convinced me to at first to invest $6000.00 which she also invested $6000.00 In Forex trading through [redacted]. The [redacted] Account Is solely in my name so she transferred her money into this account. The trade made $1500.00. after further convincing from [redacted] I took $92,400 from my retirement account and then wire transferred $94,000.00 to the [redacted] account. I was very reluctant at first but she again convinced me because she also put $200,000.00 in the [redacted] account to show she wasn’t trying to screw me out of my money. We did 2 Forex trades which grew the account to $447,000.00. In the meantime [redacted] wanted me to move to LA so her and I could purchase a house together in Huntington Beach. we needed to raise $1.75 million to purchase this house. She again convinced me to sell my house which that is in process now and to be very honest, I needed to anyway.
My concern which was brought up by my family, is the money that I invested was legal but the money [redacted] added may not be. And I don’t want to get caught in some sort of fraud. The Red Flag that caught my attention was [redacted] only wants her initial investment back of $206,000.00. I’d like to know or be insured that if I take my original investment of $100,000.00 out of the [redacted] account I won’t be committing a crime of some sorts.
9) “I invested $1,000 to start and eventually ended up investing $76,764.00”
- Total reported loss: $76,000
- Mississippi
- Age: 65-69
- June 2024
I met a lady on Truth Social and after several conversations I mentioned that I wanted to invest some money in the crypto market. She said that her and her uncle traded in Bitcoin and did pretty well and offered to show me how to get started. I downloaded the crypto.com app and their DeFi wallet app and by using screenshots back and forth between us I invested $1,000 to start and eventually ended up investing $76,764.00. I withdrew a small amount around $300.00 and it worked fine so I thought everything was safe and working. We only participated in trading bitcoin a few times and my account got up to $208,636.00 so I asked for a withdrawal of $100,000.00 to get my investment back and they said I needed to pay a tax of about $22,000.00 before I could withdraw that much money. I asked them to take it from the withdrawal and send me the balance. They said they wouldn’t do that and that I must pay it myself. This is making me very nervous because I don’t have much money left so I take out loan and pay the tax. Then they come back and say that I need to pay a deposit of $10,000.00 because I made so much money so fast that they were suspicious of money laundering. I didn’t have that much money so I sent $2,700.00 and my lady friend sent the balance directly to me account and they came back and said that the money had to come from my account. I told them that I only had $3,000.00 and they said would unlock my account if I sent it and they said would take up to 10 working days to process. I waited the 10 days and sent them a message (all communication with them is online) asking about the withdrawal and they said that they wouldn’t release my money unless I paid $6,000.00 and I asked to speak to a supervisor or their legal department and told them I was done sending money.
10) “…targeted by a pig butchering scam”
- Total reported loss: $73,500
- Michigan and Virginia
- Age: 60-64
- September 2024
11) “They keep trying to get me to invest more money…”
- Total reported loss: $51,000
- Texas
- Age: 60-64
- January 2024
I was contacted by a person claiming to be [redacted] after i made a comment to a post on truth social . I was given a contact number for Whatsapp [redacted] for [redacted] who in turn gave me another number to an account manager b(6) . I made 2 $500.00 transfers in august . My account was showing great returns and I became interested in investing more for my retirement . I made another transfer of $50,000.00 in december . My account was showing great returns then it stopped .When i contacted them about my account i was notified that i would need to pay $1,000.00 a week to keep an account manager who would invest my money .I was making over that each week and told them to deduct it from my account. They then told me it didn’t work that way and in order to continue I would need to upgrade to a high level by investing more money . I finally got in touch with the Real [redacted] who told me he was not involved with the investment firm and that it was a possibly a scam. They keep trying to get me to invest more money on a weekly basis. I have noticed that the first website is gone ,but the second link is for the site now. I told them my wife is dieing and that I will be getting an insurance settlement so i can upgrade my investment just to keep them hanging .
12) “I can only login and see my balance and I can’t do anything else with it.”
- Total reported loss: $40,000
- Michigan
- Age: 60-64
- March 2024
She reached out to me on truth social and after a few messages we moved the conversation to whatsapp and talked for a couple of weeks and then we moved to telegram and i was talked into doing short term spot gold trading on the Ivision Market through the ARADMAX APP , She told me that her uncle would let her know when to trade , so after making trades for a few weeks she decided I should withdrawal my funds , so while trying to withdraw funds I was told by Ivision Market I had to pay 30 of my funds balance to the monetary authority to authenticate my identity in order withdraw my funds and since I didn’t have the funds to pay it my account was locked and I can only login and see my balance and I can’t do anything else with it.
13) “None of this happened and the woman has been absent and unresponsive”
- Total reported loss: $34,500
- Age: 65-69
- California
- February 2023
A woman contacted me through Truth Social and requested money for a phone, her mothers medical costs and prescription, and then to pay delinquent storage fees and taxes on an inheritance. All this was based on developing a personal relationship with this person and a promise to repay everything along with interest when her inheritance could be liquified/sold. None of this happened and the woman has been absent and unresponsive. I’ve lent her a total of $34,500 since July/August 2022.
14) “He told me once the equipment was released he would fly to Austin where I live and so we could be together.”
- Total reported loss: $31,700
- Age: 50-59
- Texas
- June 2024
He friended me on Truth Social. Within a week we exchanged phone numbers. We chatted there for a few days then he told me he had to fly to Dubai he closed a contract he had been working on. Before he left he sent me a pic of his passport and private jet voucher. This all happened in late April 2024. By June he had mentioned that the equipment he purchased from China was being held up in customs in Dubai and needed help financially to release the equipment. He told me he paid for some a colleague paid for some but the remaining amount was $25k. He asked me to deposit the $ into bitcoin which in turn cost me $31,200 due to fees at the bitcoin machine. He also had me purchase a $500 Apple Card. He told me once the equipment was released he would fly to Austin where I live and so we could be together. We talked 2xs per day by phone by way of video chat but he indicated the rules on the oil rig were stricked so he had to black out his screen when we talked. Once he claimed the equipment was received on the oil rig he then stated the pilot he prepaid was not responding to his messages to return home to the states. He then asked me to pay $68,000 to get him and the equipment back to the US. I decided to disengage from him at this point.
15) “They were friends and blossomed into something more.”
- Total reported loss: $25,500
- Age: 60-64
- Wyoming
- February 2024
16) “At this point, I knew it was a fraud.”
- Total reported loss: $21,000
- Age: 70-79
- Missouri
- October 2023
Began a chat on Truth Social on August 12, 2023. The contact wanted to start a friendship. Her Truth Social name was [redacted]. The chat was friendly, but not romantic in nature. The person had a very beautiful photo and portrayed herself as a wealthy business owner. So I questioned immediately why she would want to be friends with me. It carried on from there and i looked into her background information. She had provided a link to Facebook and the name was [redacted]. It was the same picture as on Truth Social. She said that was her nickname to avoid predators. Unbelievably, I continued the chat. We ended up on WhatsApp and continued to the chat. After a while I saw others on Truth Social with the same picture. When I questioned her she said someone had hacked her accounts. She switched us to Telegram. Over weeks that passed she sent me numerous pictures that was the same person as originally shown. Sadly it turned a bit romantic and I developed feelings for her.
and of course she said she had feelings for me. The chat continued. She said she was harassed on Telegram, so she switched us back to WhatsApp. She eventually convinced me of an investment opportunity and to open an Account on Crypto.Com and transfer funds to Trust Wallet. I ended up sending $21,000. I can hardly believe I did that but she was very persuasive. I am 72 years old and probably just too gullible and lonely at this point in my life. After transferring the funds to Trust Wallet she convinced me to invest in a U Plan which was a smart contract on the blockchain. Last night she informed me that I needed to add $36,000 or I would lose my money. At this point, I knew it was a fraud. I should have know much sooner looking back. I was too confident with the Apps that I downloaded from Apple App Store. Crypto.com and Trust Wallet apps. I read online that Crypto criminals could modify the apps and make them look real. I suspect that she and her team modified the Trust Wallet app and stole my money. It was an elaborate scheme probably with a team which I suspect is very effective. It definitely worked on me. I saved all her photos and all our conversations. I haven’t told my wife about this blunder. She still doesn’t know about it.
17) “I believe now all 3 options are fake and rigged to draw one in further.”
- Total reported loss: $12,656
- Age: 60-64
- Texas
- December 2023
I was contacted by the person listed below on Truth Social. She started up a compelling conversation where she came across as a caring and trustworthy individual. Over time the conversation become more engaged and felt like there was a connection. She asked to continue the conversation on Telegram. We had a video call to confirm she was real. She sent me pictures of her which I now believe at least some are fake. I had suspicions but feared confronting her directly and rationalized it somehow.
As the relationship got as I perceived closer, she introduced XAUT.cc. site extolling the virtues of Tether gold (XAUT) and how she was getting great returns. And that I would be stupid to not get involved. Returns are made via Storage of XAUT tokens, Arbitrage (AI bots) or option trading. I believe now all 3 options are fake and rigged to draw one in further. I was very reluctant to get involved but she kept pushing and eventually helped me to set up a wallet. In hindsight she was very manipulative. Assured me it is all safe as it is all on the block chain. She talked about where she grew up in Singapore and how she moved to Switzerland, about friend b(6) and neighbor b(6) and all sounded so believable. She also talked about her mom and her dad and her uncles. What they did weekends around San Diego and what they had for dinner, etc. She indicated she works at a place in San Diego called ECOhomebuildersinc.com. She kept making a great case and questioned whether I cared about us. She kept pushing the stakes higher and higher. I realized eventually I was getting manipulated but did know how to get out safely. It all seemed so real, So continued to play along. All wanted to do is get my money back. I thought I could do it. I was wrong. They have threatened me. I wish I had known about this site to report fraud sooner. The info I have on the individual is what was volunteered to me and can not confirm it. I feel so stupid now and scarred of what they may do.
Have you been scammed on Truth Social? Send an email to [email protected] to tell us your story.
