YouTuber Ben Phillips became famous with “prank videos.” But as another YouTuber reveals, Phillips reportedly lied to his fans about the crypto coin “Safemoon” for months while profiting himself with tips.
Which two YouTubers are involved?
- Ben Phillips is a 29-year-old YouTuber from Wales. He became famous with “prank” videos: these are sometimes tasteless pranks played on others. In his most viewed video, he buys a pair of boxers for a friend in a sex shop and can make them vibrate with a remote control, laughing as he follows him and repeatedly causes a thrill in his pants during everyday situations.
- Stephen “Coffeezilla” Findeisen is an American YouTuber who has made it his goal to track down “fraudsters” in the finance sector. He aims to expose what kind of fraud lies behind “Get Rich Quick” schemes.
YouTuber poses with fancy car and private jet
What the YouTuber is said to have done: As Coffeezilla reveals, Ben Phillips allegedly emphasized repeatedly that he owns the crypto coin “Safemoon” and believes in its continued success.
But in reality, he received huge amounts of tokens from the coin’s operator and sold them right after he assured on Twitter how absolutely sure he was of the coin’s success.
In this way, Ben Phillips is said to have enriched himself by 12 million USD, for which he then:
- bought a Rolls Royce
- flew with private jets
- devoured golden steaks
According to Coffeezilla, the press praised the success story of the man who went from “homeless to millionaire.” Similar to German Twitch streamer MontanaBlack.
Why is this critical? Cryptocurrency like “Safemoon” rises and falls in value depending on how many people are buying and selling the coin. What Phillips is said to have done is called “pump and dump”:
- Through social media posts, people are encouraged to buy, meaning they invest their own money in the product, and the price goes up (the pump)
- When the price is high, the fraudster dumps the product in large quantities, causing the price to plummet within a short time (the dump)
Because Phillips repeatedly received coins from the developers, artificially drove the price up, and then dumped them in mass, he is said to have enriched himself by this high sum of 12 million USD. On one day alone, he is said to have conducted transactions worth over 1 million USD.
Especially bizarre: Phillips is said to have repeatedly expressed anger on Twitter about people causing a crash in prices because they sold large amounts of Safemoon. To one of these “irresponsible whales,” he even wished death on July 30, 2021: he should be hit by a bus.
In the end, Phillips was this “irresponsible whale” himself.
How did Coffeezilla find this out? Phillips once showed the address of his wallet, allowing the crypto detective to track the transactions and compare them with the Twitter timeline.
He became aware of the case through a tip.
This is the current situation: After the exposé video, people storm to Phillips’ social media channels and confront him with the video and the allegations.
Phillips has not commented on it at the moment.
However, Coffeezilla believes he is onto something big and plans to continue investigating the “Safemoon” case. He also plans to confront the developers, who he believes must be involved (via twitter).
When the influencer becomes the friend you trust
What’s behind this: Experienced financial jugglers pull their hair out when they learn that “amateur traders” are listening to the tips of such an untrustworthy person. It seems strange to trust someone who became famous for “Haha, your pants are vibrating” pranks. But viewers grow with an influencer over the years; they share their life, the new girlfriend, the vacation in the South Sea, first successes and setbacks, maybe a child or the grandmother who is dying.
People celebrate the rise of their buddy, and trust develops. The influencer becomes a friend, a dangerous phenomenon.
It’s a very dangerous matter when this trust is then abused because influencers ultimately rise and fall with the trust of their followers. When it comes to light that this trust has been so blatantly abused, it’s a big problem.
In the past, there have been instances where influencers pushed such coins on their gullible followers. German streamers also had to face a lot of criticism:
Twitch streamer MontanaBlack is criticized for promoting controversial NFTs
