A popular influencer, Kayla Massa, who uses the online alias @Kayg0ldi, has been accused of fraud after allegedly scamming her Instagram followers out of over $1 million (over £766,505). Hailing from New Jersey, it's claimed that Massa, who has over 330,000 followers, duped over 45 people into sharing their bank details with her.
As exposed in an in-depth Quartz report, Massa is alleged to have lured people into her fraudulent scheme via Instagram Stories, where she'd upload aspirational images of money, along with messages like, “If you got a bank account and you are interested in making legal money, (hit me up) ASAP.” Many of those who responded were under the age of 18.
Official documentation shows that Massa has been accused of then encouraging those “individuals to empty their bank accounts before providing their debit card and PIN” to “falsely allay any fears of losing money.” Next, she would allegedly deposit large fraudulent cheques into the accounts (under the names of legitimate businesses), before quickly withdrawing the money. She is alleged to have moved fast so that neither the banks or individuals had time to flag it as suspicious.
It's claimed that Massa would then block her victims on social media and cut off all contact with them.
Yesterday [19 February], she made a return to Instagram, having made her account private after the allegations were made public, and posted an Instagram Story saying: "People want me to slit my wrist and hang myself so bad. Wrong one I'm taking all this and turning it into positivity. I got me, my family got me and most importantly, God got me and through him anything is possible."
Many of Massa's alleged victims were left paying money out to the companies targeted, or had their cards cancelled. Some of the businesses whose names were used for the fraudulent checks also suffered losses.
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Quartz reported that "the investigation began in July 2018, when the US Postal Service learned that 53 blank money orders had been stolen from the Berlin, New Jersey post office."
Cosmopolitan reached out to Massa for comment but did not hear back from her, or her legal representatives, before this story went to press. If a comment is received, we will update this article accordingly.
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Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
