That online fraudsters are common should surprise no one. If it isn’t strange Facebook ads promising impossible returns, it’s fake celebrity endorsements luring you into scams. We’ve previously tested what happens when you take the bait. But what we see is likely just the tip of the iceberg. Now Swedish entrepreneur Erik Bergman reveals he was recently conned out of $1.2 million, over 10 million SEK, in a scam involving both charity and YouTube star Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson. Bergman became very wealthy from the affiliate company Catena Media, and by the age of 28 he was worth hundreds of millions of kronor. He later shifted gears, deciding to dedicate his life to charity. He does so by running the same type of affiliate operations as Catena Media, funneling players to gambling sites, but instead of pocketing the profits, he uses them for social good. It was his philanthropic work that led to contact, just over a month ago, with the world’s biggest YouTuber, MrBeast. He runs a charity project drilling wells in Africa. After a week of consideration, Bergman decided to donate $1 million, about 9.5 million SEK, to the project. So far, so good. The money was donated, and both Bergman and MrBeast shared the news on social media. Then things went wrong. A couple of weeks later, a message arrived on Bergman’s WhatsApp. Believing it to be from the water project, he soon found himself invited to a private group called “Team Water TopGs.” In the group were, besides himself and “MrBeast,” YouTuber Adin Ross, Shopify founder Tobi Lütke, and billionaire Ed Craven. “I can’t believe I’m in this group,” Bergman wrote in a long post on his company’s website. He didn’t dare to say much at first, afraid of embarrassing himself. “Looking back, I realize I felt like a 13-year-old boy just wanting to fit in with the cool kids.” The group was invited to Malawi to watch the well-drilling firsthand, an opportunity Bergman jumped at immediately. Then came another message, again from “MrBeast.” They had struck a deal with crypto exchange Coinbase, giving them early, and very cheap, access to a new token. The reason they were getting this offer: their $1 million donation to the water project. At first Bergman wasn’t interested. He admits he isn’t skilled in crypto. But after some persuasion, he was convinced it was a great opportunity. With help from a friend, he scraped together $750,000 in cryptocurrency. Even so, he missed the first investment round. Another chance came up, at a slightly higher valuation but still a “great deal.” “I didn’t want to go on this trip to Africa and be the only one not in on the investment.” In total, he transferred $1.2 million in crypto. Only then did he realize he had been scammed. “I feel so stupid and ashamed,” he wrote on Great.com’s website. Someone had likely seen his public post about donating $1 million to the water project and designed a tailor-made scam targeting him. But there’s a glimmer of hope. After Bergman contacted the real MrBeast and revealed the fraud, the world’s biggest YouTuber announced a $100,000 reward for evidence that could help catch the scammers. Bergman has been open about being duped on social media, and for a specific reason. “The more people hear about this, the harder it will be for these kinds of scams to succeed.”
