In the wake of Trump’s victory, scammers sought to exploit supporters, telling them just photos of their memorabilia were enough proof they were in line for a huge payday.
All manner of Trump-related coins and campaign marketing products were snapped up by Americans last year. Some of them got caught up in significant scams. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images
As Trump ramped up his campaign last year, many were so swept up in his march towards the presidency that they bought all manner of memorabilia, from MAGA caps to coins emblazoned with his face. But in some cases, Trump supporters were told their purchases were an investment that would grow in value once Trump was in office — and they’d be able to cash out.
Often, such promises were scams.
Shortly after the election, one Alabama woman was browsing various Trump supporter groups on Telegram when she noticed members referring to a scheme where people could get paid for simply owning memorabilia, according to a search warrant viewed by Forbes. Interested in making some money from her coins and other Trump-themed items, she contacted a Telegram account promoting the scheme and was told that if she could provide pictures of the products, she was in line for a $13 million rebate. All she had to do was pay the transaction fees, totalling just over $152,000, to be sent in cryptocurrency. Per the warrant, that money went straight into the fraudsters’ crypto wallets and the $13 million never materialized.
“Scams like this simply work well because they exploit psychological triggers…”
Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor at ESET
It’s the latest evolution of a Trump-themed scam that came to prominence in the early 2020s. Dubbed the Trump Rebate Banking (TRB) scheme, it saw fraudsters promise victims that Trump coins and bills, as well as other president-themed financial instruments, would both help him win the election and then later be worth huge sums once he was in office. Typically, losses were in the low thousands because victims were only deprived of the initial investment they put down, making the Alabama case one of the more significant swindles.
The Alabama victim contacted the Lincoln Police Department after she didn’t get her rebate, according to the warrant. She should get her money back too: In November the FBI had Binance freeze the stolen funds and they remain in federal custody, the warrant said. The DOJ didn’t respond to a request for comment.
There are still plenty of scams targeting Trump fans across major online platforms. Forbes was able to identify a number of accounts on Telegram promising to help people make money from their Trump-related items. Many more were easy to find on X, now owned by Trump ally and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk. Many offered to both assist people trying to cash out on their Trump-themed products and, ironically, help those who’d been scammed.
“It’s disgusting that [people] use President Trump’s name to create scams or sell stuff,” wrote one user in a thread last month with another who’d claimed to have spent as much as $40,000 on Trump goods with the promise they would appreciate and could be sold at a premium. They later came to believe it was a scam, according to their tweets. “It’s possible to help you get your cashout now,” said a TRB-themed X account, whose profile linked to a Telegram user, which again offered the chance to make money from Trump memorabilia.
X did not respond to a request for comment.
“Fraud on our platform is explicitly forbidden by Telegram’s terms of service and is always removed when discovered through proactive moderation or reports,” said Telegram spokesperson Remi Vaughn. “Each day, moderators remove millions of pieces of harmful content from Telegram, including scams.”
Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor at security company ESET, said users should do their due diligence on accounts or groups promoting such offers.
“Scams like this simply work well because they exploit psychological triggers that make people vulnerable to minor manipulation,” Moore added.
“Furthermore, many Trump supporters are deeply invested in his brand and remain behind him politically — and even financially — so the idea that their memorabilia has increased in value aligns with their belief in his power, making them more likely to fall for it.”
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