U.S. authorities uncovered a fraudulent scheme to make a hundred million dollars through Twitter

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused eight people of creating a fraudulent scheme to manipulate stocks for $100 million using the social networks Twitter and Discord, according to a statement from the U.S. regulator released Wednesday.

“The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed charges against eight individuals in a $100 million securities fraud scheme where they used the media platforms Twitter and Discord to manipulate publicly traded stocks,” the document said.

According to the SEC, beginning in January 2020, members of the criminal enterprise promoted themselves on social media as successful traders, amassing hundreds of thousands of followers. The defendants allegedly bought shares of certain companies and publicly encouraged their large audiences to follow their examples.

Once the rising demand for these securities led to an increase in their value, the perpetrators sold the shares at a profit, thus manipulating the market. Their audience, meanwhile, remained in the dark about the sale.

According to the list of defendants, they all reside in various American states, including Texas, California, New Jersey and Florida.