First and foremost, I, Steven Hatzakis, do not manage any client money or ever ask people for money because I do NOT provide any investment services, period.
Scammers impersonate me – I am not sure why – but likely because I have over 20 years of financial markets experience in the forex industry and publish authoritative broker reviews (as part of my work with Reink Media Group), and have advised dozens of fintech companies and my articles have been read by millions of people.
WARNING: If you have been contacted by someone claiming to be me and asking you to invest, they are an imposter and scammer and trying to steal your money. Don’t get fooled!
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Background
Over the last few years, there has been a sharp rise of people on the internet who impersonate me, Steven Hatzakis, and illegally claim to offer investment services using my name, image, and likeness, in an effort to scam people for money.
Despite my many attempts to report such fake imposter accounts whenever they are brought to my attention, such as on Twitter, Telegram, FaceBook, Instagram, YouTube, and fake phone numbers, new ones appear, and platforms do not always censor fake accounts. And even though many such fake accounts may get banned, I continue to receive reports multiple times per week from potential victims who reach out to me via email or social media, and where I often have to try to convince them that I am the real Steven Hatzakis and not the imposter they have been dealing with up until that point.
Example response I usually have to write up or copy/paste when people contact me about such imposters: “Thanks for reaching out to me. It sounds like you are dealing with an imposter, as I offer no such investment services or advice and never ask people for money. You can read more on my personal site StevenHatzakis.com/scams-impersonation about such impersonation scams where people impersonate me on various platforms. Feel free to report them and send me any related screenshots or links for my records so that I can report them too, time permitting. Thank you.“
Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware)
In most cases, people get it and thank me for letting them know that they were dealing with an imposter, while in few cases, people are shocked and can’t believe it and doubt that I am the real one, as they are practically brainwashed by the scammer’s lies or realize they have been scammed.
Just yesterday a potential victim (first name Koel) reached out to me and despite all the information I gave them, they still doubted, and that prompted me to publish this article. At the same time, just yesterday, Twitter banned an account that was impersonating me which I Tweeted about here:
https://twitter.com/shatzakis/status/1422499899262881794
My official accounts
The best way to contact me is via Twitter my handle is @shatzakis (LinkedIn messages might not be seen right away). My handle on Telegram is also @shatzakis; any other handle on Twitter or Telegram claiming to be me is a scammer. I have a Facebook profile that is personal and non-public (https://www.facebook.com/stevenhatzakis/ and private Instagram), which I don’t use for work, and I have another FaceBook profile (https://www.facebook.com/shatzakis) work-related and Instagram public profile @StevenJosephHatzakis, but I don’t use these often. I also have a YouTube account (stevenhatzakis) where I have videos from industry events, along with a personal YouTube account. On GitHub I am @hatgit, and here is my profile on StackExchange.
What to do if you believe you have been scammed by an imposter:
If you believe you have been a victim of a scam or imposter posing to be me or someone else, contact your local law enforcement and/or financial regulator and consider hiring an attorney. I cannot help you. If you do contact me, please provide the imposter’s account and any contact information so I can include in my records and potentially report them, time permitting.
This has unfortunately begun to take up much of my time, but I am publishing this article today on my website, StevenHatzakis.com, in an effort to point users to this page whenever they contact me about such imposters/scams.
Again, if you believe you have been a victim of a scam or imposter posing to be me or someone else, contact your local law enforcement and/or financial regulator and consider hiring an attorney. I cannot help you beyond what I have written in this article to make it clear that: I NEVER ASK PEOPLE FOR MONEY AND DO NOT PROVIDE ANY INVESTMENT SERVICES!
Resources:
Articles I have written in the past to help investors avoid potential scams: