Katie Price ‘s Instagram followers were conned out of thousands of pounds after she promoted a rogue trader, it has been revealed.The model, 43, was paid to advertise the supposed money-making skills of Forex trader ‘Josh Chandler’ to her 2.6million followers.Kate Dalrymple, 40, a nurse from Newcastle upon Tyne, said she lost £825, nearly a month’s wages, to the scheme.She was guaranteed £1,250 if she transferred £100, but was then asked to pay a ‘release fee’ of £725 with the promise of receiving £4,000.The nurse has reported the scam to Action Fraud and at least five others were conned into sending money to the scam.Katie Price’s team said the star was also conned and had no idea it was a scam.Online users have been warned about rogue Forex traders who promise huge profits for small investments, but many do not have the necessary accreditation or qualifications to offer these services, which makes them illegal and means aspiring customers risk seeing their profits flop.
Forex trading allows you to speculate on the changes in the strengths of different currencies over time and buy and sell them against each other.Ms Dalrymple told The Sun: ‘I feel so stupid.But I was always a fan of Katie’s.I thought she was a good mother and related to her.’Now I feel so let down and embarrassed.
How could she put her name to this?’ The nurse said she saw Katie promoting Josh on her Instagram Stories and believed it to be genuine.She said: ‘My bank, Lloyds, even called me to flag that it looked like fraudulent activity but, again, because Katie Price had endorsed it, I told them it was genuine.’ Once she realised what had happened, Ms Dalrymple message Katie on Instagram but says she never received a reply and is ‘disgusted’ by her behaviour.Katie praised ‘Josh’s’ services at least twice on Instagram Stories where she encouraged her followers to invest in order to make a ‘safe income’.It is believed the glamour model made as much as £3,000 each time she promoted him.Last month, Katie said in an Instagram post still visible on ‘Josh’s’ profile: ‘Hey guys, so I want to tell you about a friend of mine called Josh.’He’s amazing at what he does and you may have heard about him or seen him on other media sites, if you’re interested in securing a new, safe and good income…
‘ Lloyds say they are investigating the payment made by Ms Dalrymple but believe they will not be able to retrieve her £825.In her messages to ‘Josh’, she was asked to give her bank details, date of birth and copy of her driving licence to open an account on crypto.com.
The mother-of-one was then asked to transfer increasing amounts of money.She became concerned and asked for reassurance that it wasn’t a scam, to which ‘Josh’ replied: ‘Katie Price does not promote fraud.’ When Ms Dalrymple grew worried and demanded to know what had happened to her money, ‘Josh’ made vile threats to her four-year-old son, adding: ‘Clearly u deserve to be scammed you racist motherf****r.’ It is forbidden to post sponsored content on Instagram without having disclosed it using the hashtag #ad, the Advertising Standards Authority say, but Katie did not declare that she was advertising the scam and being paid for it.It is not the first time that Katie, who was declared bankrupt in 2019, has promoted Forex traders online.The star, who still owns an estimated £3.2million to creditors, endorsed the Instagram page XChloesWorld, an unauthorised trader, six months ago.
Financial authorities asked to remove the account after a backlash online.
The Financial Conduct Authority has made warnings about unauthorised traders on social media sites hiding behind fake profiles.Katie’s spokeswoman admitted the reality star had benefitted financially from the scheme but did not know it was a con and said she had no idea of any previous warnings from financial authorities.She said: ‘Katie would never knowingly engage in a social media endorsement if it were questionable.This recent information has left her devastated.’ She added that Katie is also a victim and is not the only celebrity targeted, with Too Hot to Handle star Nicole O’Brien also promoting ‘Josh’s’ scam.MailOnline has contacted Katie Price’s representatives and ‘Josh’s’ Instagram account..
