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For fans of Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 film, Contagion, life seems to be mirroring art a bit too well.
And it just got even more close to home – in the movie a central character ends up being arrested by the FBI for falsely claiming they’ve got a cure for a deadly virus that’s caused a pandemic.
Now, guess what?
Yes, the FBI has just arrested an influencer for… falsely claiming they’ve got a cure for a deadly virus that’s caused a pandemic.
A Californian actor called Keith Middlebrook told his 2.4 million followers on his now-suspended Instagram page, that he’d developed pills that could prevent coronavirus and a “patent-pending” cure for those already infected.
Middlebrook – who describes himself as a “super entrepreneur” – on his YouTube channel, also advised people to protect themselves via taking mineral supplements and eating lean protein like chicken and eggs, to ward off Covid-19.
According to the FBI, Middlebrook created a business called Quantum Prevention CV Inc (QP20) and was fraudulently attempting to attract investors.
He told potential partners that for a $1 million investment, they would get up to $100 million in returned profits.
Middlebrook also said that basketball legend, Magic Johnson was a shareholder.
In response, Magic Johnson said that he had no knowledge of Middlebrook or his company confirming to authorities that he’d made no type of investment in the company.
Unfortunately, Middlebrook was caught out when he tried to court an FBI agent posing as an interested investor.
He’s now been arrested and charged with wire fraud, which could land him up to 20 years in federal prison
“While this may be the first federal criminal case in the nation stemming from the pandemic, it certainly will not be the last,” U.S. attorney Nick Hanna told Forbes.
I again am urging everyone to be extremely wary of outlandish medical claims and false promises of immense profits.
Basically: if it’s too good to be true or involves giving away vast sums of money in exchange for medical care that should be free, it’s probably a scam
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