How an online scammer cheated me for $78 in 2019

In 2019, an online scammer followed me in IG. I thought she was the usual type of follower who will eventually become my customer.

I was wrong. I became her customer instead!

She was well-known in the DIY cosmetics industry and is still well-known now.

She had a few thousand followers. Some protected her and claim other people copied her work. Some other followers vouch for her saying that her work is legit and she's the best makeup formulator.

At first, I believed them. There wasn't any sign of her being an online scammer yet.

She published her work in IG via posts and stories. Some of them include:

  • swatch videos of her DIY product against commercial ones - clearly her product looks the same!
  • give free formulas and claim that they work
  • promoting her books at a very high price at Amazon
  • created an online course and keep saying that her course is actually from her book

Why I did not suspect she was an online scammer

So in May 2019, I bought her online course.

As an online course creator, your students fully trust you. Otherwise, they will not purchase your course. 

Thinking that maybe she did not finish creating the course entirely, I totally accepted the 'drip content' concept.

A drip content is content that is "dripped" to you - given little at a time. Maybe a little every day or every week.

At first, very little content was uploaded during the first week. Then, a little bit more on the 2nd week. Nothing in 3rd and 4th week.

This was when it all started. I have never been cheated by an online scammer before and now I know it's legit!

The first red flag of online scamming

She began posting about her books being on sale. Like 80% off kind of sale. I did not purchase because I already spent usd$78 on her online course, why would I get the book?

Then, she started to sound like she's rushing us. Buy-the-book-before-I-sell-my-business-to-someone-else-because-you're-not-going-to-get-this-offer-again kind of pushy!

Again, I did not expect her online course to be affected in any way! So I ignored. 

Then, suddenly she announced in her story that she'll be giving away her books for free to her students.

Who wouldn't be excited to get a book that's worth USD $500 (if I remember correctly) for FREE?

And she gave us 2 books!

Wow. She must have had a BIG HEART for helping poor students like me!

Little did I know, in the coming weeks, she ghosted all of us. I wish she knew how much that $78 meant to me.

When I think about it again, the reason of 'selling her business' was probably because:

  • she already earned more than enough
  • she didn't want to handle queries anymore
  • never intend to finish her course due to personal reasons

Whatever her reasons were, I could have lodged a complain, mention her @ and shame her... but that's not me.

I totally believe in Karma. Sooner or later, online scammers like her will pay for what they did.

She is back in 2021

For those who want to know what is she up to now, she's into Herbalism and Tarot. She is still active in TikTok. But in IG, she's missing again. I wonder what is she up to now.

Beware of online scammers.
They will disappear once they feel that they are 'done' for the day. They will hide for a while and come back with a different identity. Sometimes you cannot tell.

  • Always practice caution.
  • Check for reviews.
  • Check with your spouse and friends and see if they are able to pick up anything weird or odd. It will really save you from being scammed!

Because of this incident, I strive to be a responsible online course creator. Never will I ghost on any students - no matter what problems I have!

Have you been cheated by an online scammer before? Share your story below!

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