A Thai YouTuber, Natthamon Khongchak popularly known as Nutty has defrauded her followers of about $55 million through a foreign exchange trading scam.
According to Bloomberg, Nutty who serenades her over 847,000 subscribers on Youtube with dance videos promised hefty returns on the forex trading investment.
She also advertised private courses for aspiring forex traders on her Instagram account, posting images of what she said were her profits.
More than 6,000 people who gave Natthamon money to invest, have been helped by a lawyer to file complaints with the Thai police.
She lured her followers with promises of returns of as much as 35% on their investments, the report said.
In her last Instagram post, in May, Natthamon said she owed 1 billion baht ($27.5 million) to investors. In the video, she claimed her broker had blocked her trading account and funds since March but said she would try to repay the money.
Natthamon didn’t respond to a direct message sent to her Instagram account on Tuesday.
A Thailand police unit involved in internet crimes last week issued an arrest warrant for fraud against Natthamon, according to Wattana Ketumpai, a police officer at the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau.
So far, the bureau has received complaints from 102 people claiming they’d lost a total of 30 million baht, he said. Wattana said that new victims come forward nearly every day, with most claiming to have lost tens of thousands of baht.
The numbers could be higher, he said, as complaints may have been lodged with other police offices.
While Natthamon hasn’t been seen on social media since June, followers are speculating that she’s fled the country, the Nation reported. Still, immigration records show she hasn’t left Thailand, said Wattana.
