Traders at a number of brokers in the UK were hit in the last month by a widespread pump and dump scheme, TradeInformer understands.
Trading activity in NASDAQ-listed penny stock Ostin Technology had been peculiar since at least the start of May.
The company, which ostensibly provides technology hardware, was one of the most-traded stocks across several investment platforms, including AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown, in May, despite its minuscule size
Scammers primarily targeted clients using WhatsApp and Telegram groups. They actively encouraged them to buy the stock, which saw a nearly 1,000% increase from mid-April through to June 26th.
On the same date, the company’s stock plummeted, presumably as a result of the scammers dumping all of their holdings in the firm. In the space of a few hours, the company’s shares fell by approximately 95%.
They are now down almost 99% since hitting that all time high towards the end of June.
TradeInformer understands that clients with Trading 212, along with several other large brokers, were also impacted by the scam.
It’s unclear who ran the scheme, although there are some suggestions the operators are based in East Asia.
Most of the scammers used a similar tactic to push the price of Osint stock up. They created fake, AI-generated video ads, often using celebrities or senior financial services industry figures. These then direct users to a WhatsApp or Telegram group, where they were pushed to buy the stock.
