Between scoring bank information from their followers, hawking shady cryptocurrency, and
a fight night that never came to pass, you won't believe what some of these influencers have done!
Keep watching to find out which YouTube stars have been accused
of scamming people out of millions! Paul Denino, a.k.a. "Ice Poseidon," got
his start on Twitch. He was then kicked off the platform in 2017,
and has since carved out a nice little niche for himself on YouTube — for his
roughly 730,000 subscribers. But as The New Yorker suggested in 2018, Denino has
never strayed too far from controversy — something that holds true to this day.
For instance, in 2021, there was his alleged scam involving his very own
cryptocurrency called CxCoin. As The Gamer outlet reported,
Denino allegedly encouraged his fans to buy as much of it as possible,
claiming the pursuit to be a long-term project. Denino kept this going for just two weeks,
before selling off his holdings of CxCoin — at which time the cryptocurrency took a nosedive.
"You probably have a lot of questions."
In what's widely-known as a pump-and-dump, Denino created large quantities of his own crypto,
got his followers to buy it and therefore inflate the value,
and then he quickly sold it all off. Thanks to all that, he pocketed $300,000 — plus $200,000
for the developers. As Kotaku noted, the streamer appeared, "remorseless"
when confronted by scam-busting-sleuth Coffeezilla, with Denino admitting,
"Yeah, I could give the money back. It is within my power. But, I'm gonna look out for myself."
Kayla Massa is better known as "Kayg0ldi" on YouTube, where she boasts just over 100,000
followers. But in February 2021, she had three times as many fans on Instagram when
she was busted for cheating a bunch of them out of over $1.5 million.
According to Quartz, Massa was arrested and charged for "conspiracy to commit bank and
wire fraud." And the alleged scam reportedly involved conning several of her followers into
giving her their bank information. Massa would post pictures of cash with statements like,
"If you have a bank account and trying [to] make some bread dm me (serious ppl only)."
Once she secured a person's bank account info, she promised to send them a few
hundred bucks. Instead, she blocked the unknowing victims, and as CBS reported:
"She deposited bogus checks made in the names of real businesses
and then quickly withdrew the cash."
Along with nine accomplices, she netted more than $1.5 million in stolen money.
As of 2022, the case is ongoing — and Massa has yet to reappear on social media.
Known to his more than 800,000 YouTube followers as "Omi in a Hellcat," Bill Omar Carrasquillo
got famous for flaunting his lavish lifestyle — including his massive collection of luxury cars
and seemingly endless jewelry shopping sprees. But things were nowhere near
as perfect as they appeared. As the New York Post reported, in September 2021,
the YouTuber was arrested and charged in a "TV piracy scam" that netted more than $30 million.
"I don't think I ever did anything wrong."
According to the U.S. Department of Justice,
Carrasquillo had been running an illegal streaming service from 2016 to 2019. In their words,
"[Carrasquillo] fraudulently obtained cable television accounts
and then resold copyrighted content to thousands."
His subscribers paid $15 a month for the bogus service. And, per the New York Times,
his wealth came straight from his illegal business — which brought him to the attention of the FBI.
Charges included conspiracy, violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and many more.
In February 2022, Fox reported that the star pleaded guilty to some of the charges.
At the time, he faced up to 10 years in prison and had all of his luxury assets seized by the FBI.
"We the ones to blame for what we've done."
"Yeah, cuz we're the the ones that made those decisions."
“Billy B" Altidor and “Eva” Louis launched their YouTube channel,
B.E.A.M SQUAD, in 2016. And they quickly built a massive fanbase with
videos featuring their adorable kids, family pranks, and viral challenges. As of 2022,
their channel boasts more than two million followers. But unlike the other culprits
on our list, B.E.A.M SQUAD committed their crimes before YouTube ever made them famous.
In a video titled "The End Of Beam Squad? FINAL UPDATE,"
the couple came clean about their mistakes, dating back to 2014. They each admitted:
"I was, you know, stealing identities to, you know, to make money."
"I allowed illegal money to come into my bank account."
According to CBS, the couple had accessed the Social Security Administration's site with
personal information stolen from other people. And then they directed the destination of those
benefit payments to their own accounts. As well as stealing money from more than 1,400 people,
they also filed false tax documents to get refunds they definitely weren't owed.
In 2019, they plead guilty to charges of conspiracy and aggravated identity theft,
and were later sentenced to prison. Altidor got two years, while Louis was given a year
and a day. Since serving their sentences, the "B.E.A.M SQUAD" has become more popular than ever,
gaining over 400,000 new YouTube subscribers since news of their crimes broke.
Austin McBroom and his wife Catherine launched "The ACE Family" channel back in 2016.
Crafting content around their growing family, they have since earned nearly 19 million subscribers.
But Austin has gotten himself into serious trouble on several occasions.
In 2021, he was sued for $200,000 by the city of Beverly Hills for holding an unsanctioned
parade ahead of a well-publicized fight night. Then, there are the scam allegations.
In 2021, Austin launched "Social Gloves," a boxing event billed as "YouTubers vs. TikTokers."
And Austin took the lead in his fight against TikToker Bryce Hall.
The event was a runaway success, with Complex raving,
"Just a few days after guaranteeing a knockout within the first two rounds,
Austin McBroom made good on his promise."
"I just hope I put on a show."
But accusations soon arose around Austin stiffing the fighters
and his primary investors out of their paydays. Two months after the event,
Forbes reported that LiveOne sued Austin for $100 million for defamation,
while primary investor James Harden sued him for $2 million. According to Billboard, Austin settled
both lawsuits, resulting in a $3 million payout from LiveOne — which was just a fraction of the
$10 million in unpaid event expenses. Harden's suit was settled for an undisclosed amount.
Having launched his career on YouTube back in 2015, Thomas Petrou went on to form The Hype House
influencer collective in Los Angeles. The YouTuber maintains more than 1.8 million subscribers on
his personal channel, and The Hype House even debuted its own Netflix show in January 2022.
Petrou and the collective further diversified their interests into other money-making ventures,
including their renowned Hype House merch line. One of their most sought-after items was
the "Hype Chain." When it was released in 2020, it was marketed as "free" with a noted value of $100.
But many have since claimed the chain-deal was a scam.
"Go match me with your beautiful hype. They are completely free,
all you guys have to do is pay shipping and handling."
According to Paper, the jewelry's value wasn't even a thing because the shipping costs were so
ridiculously high. Twitter users reported shipping costs running as high as $20. So was the "free"
chain little more than a "Free-plus-shipping" scheme? As of 2022, you can get your very own
hype chain for $20…now with free shipping. FaZe Banks has gained popularity through his
intense and innovative first person shooter game kills.
"We're not gonna fake it. We're just gonna roll with what we got."
But according to Business Insider, in 2021 several members of his eSports org, FaZe Clan,
were suspended and fired over an alleged pump-and-dump crypto scam. Centered around a
"Save the Kids" token supposedly designed to help children in need, the scheme raked in loads of
cash for the Clan, instead. Though Banks condemned their actions in a Twitter thread, and denied he
was ever involved, it wasn't long before he was implicated in his own pump-and-dump crypto scam.
"Crypto currency is the future, it's internet culture, and that's exactly what FaZe Clan is."
That same year,
BankSocial CEO John Wingate accused the star of having taken an undisclosed payment without
fulfilling the promotion deal he inked with the crypto company. Wingate told Mashable,
"They pumped it and then they dumped it. Then [FaZe Banks] backed out of the deal."
On Twitter, Banks continues to claim that he sold zero tokens himself and
that his wallet remains public. Adin Ross is best known for streaming
gameplay on Twitch. But he also has more than 2.5 million followers on YouTube. While he's no doubt
found a way to monetize his lifestyle, he may have crossed the line when it comes to hustling crypto.
In a since-deleted tweet from 2021, Ross offered a $10,000 giveaway of MILF Token to one fan who
could prove they were already holding some amount of the cryptocurrency in their wallet.
According to Sportskeeda, he promoted the MILF token through the giveaway — which was
then canceled — and was reportedly paid $200,000 for his efforts.
When the token blew up, his primary investors sold their holdings in an alleged pump-and-dump.
Initially, Ross denied the accusations. But…then he didn't. On Twitch, he joked,
"That MILF token s— I did a while back. I already told you guys don't buy that s—. I got paid a
bag to do that s—. Like, I don't give a f—. I hope none of you guys actually bought it."
One of the biggest influencers on YouTube, Jake Paul boasts more than 20 million subscribers.
But even with all that success,
Paul has been accused of some shady stuff over the years. As Insider once noted,
"The notorious YouTuber found fame through scandal."
"I'm sitting here with my d— in my hand, not knowing what the f— I'm gonna talk about."
True to his reputation, in March 2022 he was accused of "misleading […] investors
about SafeMoon." According to BeingCrypto, these allegations centered around Paul's promotion of
a crypto coin, which led to a class-action lawsuit against several people including
Nick Carter, Lil Yachty, and Soulja Boy, as well as himself.
Coffeezilla did some digging and connected a payment of $190,000 to Paul,
indicating Safemoon had paid him to promote its token. The YouTuber also managed to nail Paul for
$2.2 million in promotions and payments that were initially hidden. The issue was that none of his
posts were clearly labeled as "sponsored ads." As of 2022, the Safemoon lawsuit is still pending.
Alissa Violet started out on Vine, then moved to YouTube where she managed to amass
more than 3.6 million followers. Violet gained widespread attention when she briefly joined
Jake Paul's controversial "Team 10." But she maintained fame on her own terms as a model,
actor, YouTube star — and sketchy designer bag giveaway queen.
"I just don't understand how someone could do that to someone."
While it wasn't exactly a million-dollar crime, in 2019, Violet was accused of
orchestrating a scam via a Louis Vuitton giveaway involving her former partner company, Cheek.
Launched on Instagram, she claimed fans could win "free Louis Vuitton bags" if they followed Cheek
and tagged two friends in the comments. But according to BuzzFeed News, that caption was
quickly changed to, quote, "long day (announcing the winners Friday)" and then just "long day."
Winners alleged that they never received their prizes and that messages to Violet and Cheek went
unanswered. Eventually, Cheek folded, and two of the winners were disqualified.
Though Violet never commented on the alleged scam, Cheek denied the accusations.
Another former member of Jake Paul's infamous "Team 10," makeup artist Cole Carrigan built
quite the reputation. But it has less to do with his beauty skills and more to do with
all of the drama. Since firing up some public beefs with Austin McBroom and Cameron Dallas,
he's mysteriously disappeared from the online community. While the reason is unclear,
it could have something to do with an alleged scam he supposedly pulled on his followers.
In 2020, he launched a new "pay for shoutouts" campaign.
According to Dextero, anyone who sent him at least $100 would receive a shoutout on his feed.
But it didn't take long for people to become suspicious. As the outlet noted, users alleged
they sent him cash and never got their shoutouts. On top of that, Carrigan allegedly blocked them.
Plus, the YouTuber requested payments be made under the "family and friends" system on PayPal,
rather than as a business transaction. Not exactly legit.
If a Reddit thread of complaints regarding unfulfilled orders is to be believed,
Carrigan may not have scammed fans for millions, but he definitely made off with thousands.
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus,
even more Nicki Swift videos about your favorite YouTube stars are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don’t miss a single one.