Social media is awash with finance gurus, but not all are on the money
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Messages like these proliferate on social media, promising endless wealth and the dream lifestyle. But how do you sort the valuable advice from the nonsense? And what happens if you take a gamble and it goes wrong?
Sarah Miller fell foul of a business coach she found on Instagram who ‘groomed and exploited’ her at a time when she was at her most vulnerable.
Falling under the influencer’s spell cost the single mum thousands of pounds and left her in debt.
It all began when Sarah split from her husband. She had been a successful account director at a marketing agency, but had stopped working when she fell pregnant to look after her two children. The divorce left her with nothing and she feared she would lose her home.
The 46-year-old writer from Surrey recalls: ‘I was in a very dark place. I was a nervous wreck and I was trying to rebuild my life. The stress of the divorce was making me ill. I had young children – aged one and four – and I couldn’t afford the childcare to go back into employment. I was completely stuck.
‘I started to work for myself, but I couldn’t earn the money I needed to pay the mortgage. Then I spotted these high-end coaches online.’
Intrigued by the idea of failsafe finance advice, Sarah connected with one money guru who promised her the world.
‘She started interacting with me a lot online, spending a lot of time on me,’ she recalls. ‘She was really supportive and positive, and would ring me to say that she thought I was amazing, that I had loads to give. She told me everything a person wants to hear; that I could do anything.’
Financial gurus can promise riches and success – something hugely appealing as many…..