Great.com founder loses $1.25M to elaborate MrBeast impersonation scam

Great.com founder Erik Bergman reveals how scammers used a fake group chat with MrBeast, Mark Rober, and billionaires to trick him into investing $1.25 million in a nonexistent crypto project.

Sophisticated scammers stole $1.25 million from Bergman using an elaborate scheme involving fake celebrity personas and a fraudulent crypto investment opportunity.

The Swedish entrepreneur shared his story publicly. He explained how scammers used his previous donation to MrBeast's charity to set up a complex scheme that lasted several weeks.

How the scam began

The fraud originated from Bergman's real $1 million donation to Team Seas, MrBeast's environmental initiative, which he made after meeting the YouTube star several years ago. Following this genuine interaction, MrBeast publicly tweeted about Bergman's contribution to provide "one million years of clean water."

It seems the con artists used this public information to single out Bergman. They created fake WhatsApp groups featuring impersonated profiles of major internet personalities and business figures, including MrBeast, Mark Rober, streamer Adin Ross, and billionaires Tobi Lütke (Shopify founder) and Ed Craven (Stake co-founder).

The fake investment scheme

In the fake group chat, the fake "MrBeast" presented what appeared to be an exclusive crypto investment opportunity. The scammers claimed that major crypto platforms were launching their own token, with the group getting early access at heavily discounted prices due to MrBeast's marketing partnerships.

The scammers were clever in how they manipulated him. Bergman said he felt like "a 13-year-old boy just wanting to fit in with the cool kids" while chatting with people he thought were some of the world’s top entrepreneurs and creators.

The financial damage

Over multiple "investment rounds," Bergman and a friend transferred:

$750,000 in the first round
$500,000 in the second round

They made it seem urgent by claiming there were only a few spots, while showing fake participants eagerly joining each round. They even staged a deceptive scenario where "Ed Craven" was initially excluded for being late, only to open a new round that everyone rushed to join.

Discovery of the fraud

Bergman started to suspect something was off when he noticed inconsistencies in the phone numbers. He observed that "Adin Ross" was using a British phone number despite being American, and that the "MrBeast" contact wasn't using the same number from their original legitimate conversation.

When Bergman contacted the real MrBeast to verify, the YouTube star confirmed that everything after the initial charity donation was fraudulent.

Response and aftermath

MrBeast responded to Bergman's public account on Twitter, stating:

This makes me sick. I'm going to see if there's anything I can do to help find who did this to you.

Bergman has reported the case to police but expressed limited hope for recovering the funds. He has published all chat logs, phone numbers, and crypto transaction details on Great.com's homepage, asking for public assistance in identifying the perpetrators.

Warning to others

This case shows how scammers are getting smarter, using real relationships and public info to trick people with believable schemes. Bergman's decision to share his story publicly aims to prevent similar schemes from succeeding against other potential victims.

Even experienced entrepreneurs can be fooled by well-planned scams, especially when scammers use real connections and fake celebrity endorsements to make things seem legitimate.