Entrepreneur and philanthropist Erik Bergman has revealed he was the victim of a sophisticated scam that cost him $1.25 million.
After co-founding Catena Media and driving it to a $200 million valuation, Erik Bergman launched Great.com, an iGaming company donating 100% of its profits to environmental charities.
Recently, Bergman shared his story on social media, explaining that scammers impersonated YouTube stars MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) and Mark Rober, luring him into what appeared to be a legitimate charity initiative for clean water projects in Africa.
After an initial genuine donation to the cause, Bergman was added to a WhatsApp group featuring fake profiles of celebrities, influencers, and billionaires. Over several days, the group persuaded him to invest in what was presented as an exclusive early crypto opportunity linked to Coinbase.
Caught up in the excitement and peer pressure, Bergman transferred a total of $1.25 million before realizing the entire setup – from the group chat to the supposed Africa trip – had been fabricated.
Erik Bergman noted:
I so deeply wanted to belong in this group that I acted way out of character. I trusted “Jimmy” and I followed the peer pressure of the “billionaires” and “super stars”.
Despite the loss, he emphasized his continued support for real charitable projects like Team Water and urged others to share their own mistakes instead of hiding them in shame.
