Instagram has always been a place for pretending to be hotter and more fun than you actually are. For a certain corner of the influencer space, it’s also a place for pretending to be richer than you actually are — and scamming people into paying you for your expert advice.
As reported in a recent New York Times profile, the anonymous Instagram account @BallerBusters has been exposing these frauds since February, publicly calling out members of a growing subgenre of internet scammer: the young business guru. According to the Times, these so-called “#FlexOffenders” pose with expensive cars, jets and other veneers of a luxury lifestyle without actually having the cash to back it up, then use the Insta-ruse to sell followers mentorship or classes that promise to help them achieve the same success.
“Snake-oil salesmen is the best description for the type of people he’s busting,” said 22-year-old entrepreneur Jason Wong, a fan of the BallerBusters account. “They’re preying on kids who want to become entrepreneurs and offering mentorship services in exchange for thousands of dollars and not delivering on their promises.”
The account’s anonymous admin told the Times they expose frauds only after a rigorous research process involving a thorough review of screen-shotted messages and legal filings, interviews with industry sources, and social media audits. “We’re not TMZ or a review page — we actually do investigative journalism,” they said.
The admin also added that they’re not just in it for the thrill of the bust: “I’m not all about the busts, I really want to teach people,” they said. “I’d like to bring experts in each field and talk on Instagram live. I want an attorney to teach people how to file claims legally, how to get legal counsel and their rights. I want to bring a social media expert to talk about personal branding, someone who knows Facebook ads. I would love to put them on and teach people for free.”
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