Katie Price fled the country on Friday morning after being left ‘absolutely devastated’ that her fans had lost thousands of pounds after unknowingly promoting a conman’s business on Instagram.The model, 43, took to the social media site to reshare a snap as she sat in the airport with her fiancé Carl Woods , 31, son Harvey, 19, and daughter Princess, 14.’Where are we off to?’ Carl asked his family.To which, Harvey and Princess replied ‘it’s a secret!’ with Katie cheering with enthusiasm.Ahead of her holiday, the model took the opportunity to set the record straight with her fans by posting a lengthy statement on her Instagram stories.She lamented: ‘I am absolutely devastated to receive the news about this rogue trader Josh Chandler, if that’s even his real name ‘He has conned not only me but my family, friends, loyal fans and supporters.’ ‘I want to thank Action Fraud for reaching out, for working with me in investigating this awful situation.’ Katie continued: ‘This is precisely why Harvey’s Law is yet again so relevant, if we had the much needed support channels in place and required by law to provide ID’s to be set up on social Media accounts then people like this so called Josh Chandler would not be able to hide themselves, target venerable people [sic].’My heart goes out to all those that this conman’s deceit has affected.
I pledge to you all I will seek justice,’ Katie signed off as she hopped on her flight abroad.The model’s representatives told the MailOnline: ‘This has hit Katie hard, mentally, she needs some down time before embarking on setting out in putting a stop to these parasites that poach on vulnerable and honest souls.’ The statement comes after it was revealed that Katie ‘s Instagram followers had been conned out of thousands of pounds by the rogue trader she promoted.The model 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..