Scammers Use WhatsApp Groups to Coordinate Millions in Victim Trades and Pump Real Stocks
Brief
Scammers are using WhatsApp groups to turn ordinary investors into an unwitting buying force. The operation does not need a hacked trading account or a stolen card.
Instead, it persuades people to place real trades through legitimate brokerages, then leaves them carrying the losses when the price collapses. The campaigns pair short-lived deepfake advertisements with messages that promise timely stock tips.
People who click are filtered by location and steered into groups led by a convincing “head analyst,” who gives members a small-cap share, a limit price and a tempting target. The apparent advice is actually coordinated market manipulation.
Analysts at Group-IB identified the activity while examining two organised investment-fraud operations, GoldBull and CoinLure.