Following our 16 October 2024 exposé on the Hot Farm Scam, the scam has predictably collapsed as of Wednesday, 20 November 2024.
The Collapse of Hot Farm
Hot Farm, also known as Hot Farm Agricultural Technology, has officially crumbled. Both of its websites, hotfarm.info and hotfarm.top, are no longer active and now display default browser notices stating, “This site can’t be reached.”
The collapse began with withdrawal issues reported by so-called investors on Friday, 15 November 2024, when withdrawals were either delayed or completely unprocessed.
Administrators of the scam’s WhatsApp groups initially claimed ignorance, later alleging that withdrawal limits were being imposed.
By Tuesday, 19 November 2024, the WhatsApp groups were restricted to admin-only messages. That same evening, many group members reported being removed entirely.
Despite these developments, the websites hotfarm.info and hotfarm.top remained operational until Wednesday, 20 November 2024, likely to collect final deposits from unsuspecting victims.
When the websites finally disappeared on 20 November, many participants realised that their investments were gone forever.
The Premise and Modus Operandi of Hot Farm
As we previously detailed, Hot Farm presented itself as an agricultural investment platform, offering unrealistic and unsustainable returns.
It claimed to invest in agricultural technology and innovation to generate high profits, luring participants with promises of low risk and significant rewards.
Premise
Hot Farm marketed itself as a legitimate agricultural business with ties to advanced farming technologies, appealing to those seeking ethical and profitable investment opportunities.
Registration Tactics
To build a veneer of credibility, the scam registered with South Africa’s Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) in June 2024 and inexplicably in the US state of Colorado on 12 September 2024. These registrations were used to promote both local and international legitimacy, helping to lure unsuspecting investors.
In-Person Events
Hot Farm invested heavily in community trust. It held in-person seminars at high-profile venues such as the Galleria Conference and Eventing Venue in Sandton. These events were well-attended, with scammers presenting themselves as legitimate businesspeople.
Advertising
Advertorials promoting the scam appeared in hyperlocal newspapers, further solidifying its false image as a legitimate enterprise.
Links to Other Scams
Hot Farm employed tactics eerily similar to those seen in previous scams, such as:
- Promises of High Returns: Like most Ponzi-style schemes, Hot Farm promised consistent, unrealistically high returns to attract participants.
- Community Integration: The scam exploited social trust by hosting events in local communities and presenting themselves as trustworthy entrepreneurs.
- Digital Disappearance: As with many collapsed scams, Hot Farm’s websites and communication channels vanished suddenly, leaving victims stranded and without recourse.
These tactics are consistent with other fraudulent schemes operating under the guise of investment opportunities, such as Koonox and similar digital scams.
Claims and Background
Hot Farm leveraged its dual registration and public image to dupe victims into investing in what appeared to be a credible agricultural initiative. It painted itself as both a South African success story and a global player in agricultural technology.
Its claim of providing sustainable agricultural investment opportunities turned out to be nothing more than a façade to gain trust and funnel deposits into the hands of scammers.
Final Collapse and Lessons
The collapse of Hot Farm is a familiar story in the scam world:
- The scam builds credibility through registration, professional-looking websites, and in-person events.
- It encourages word-of-mouth recruitment, ensuring rapid growth.
- When payouts become unsustainable, withdrawal delays are introduced, communication is restricted, and administrators vanish with the funds.
This predictable trajectory highlights the importance of thoroughly vetting investment opportunities, particularly those promising unusually high returns.
As of now, Hot Farm’s so-called investors are left with little recourse, and their losses are likely unrecoverable.
The scam serves as yet another reminder to remain sceptical of too-good-to-be-true investment opportunities, especially those heavily reliant on unverified claims of credibility.
For a detailed breakdown of Hot Farm’s tactics, read our previous article:
Hot Farm: A Freshly Packaged Scam Disguised as Agricultural Investment.
Hi. So what recourse do all these people have, even if they cant get their money back. What can they legally do against these scammers? Open a fraud case at the police? Get Fica Involved?
Hi Wynand, you can’t do anything about it. The investor willingly paid the fund using the accounts provided. No one was forced or threatened to do so.
I knew it was a scam but predicted it will knock off in desb after receiving the communities hard own bonuses… I invest 1500 and it’s a big lost because just from friends and family they run of with about 30k plus
We lost our life savings and bullied our friends and families to invest as well
Sorry guys
Lucky me i did not invest… Just used my hotfarm cash as I collected and bought a tree 2 days ago
I bought trees for more that R30,000, fconvinced family and friend to buy in as well. Sure hope and play I can get some of the money back
No one is getting their money back
I had invested my month salary buying trees, I got an extra cellphone to have an other account. Money we who don’t have want, those who scammed took millions, what a lost
Lord have mercy on us they are gone gone with everything what can we do to trace them can someone please assist our poor south African people 😫
I have invested in this app with everything I had, if they can’t pay the rest of the money just give us our 4200 that’s all we asking back
I borrowed money to buy the pine tree special and when I tried to with draw. It was one excuse after the other why my money was not showing in my account. I didn’t even have money and now I sit with debt…
What a about Farm Homestead. Have u ever heard about them? Please anyone?
Why can’t hotfarm just give us our money back then
what are the cops going to do? What can they do
i mean we know some people used their real names for this rentals
Wow this thing deceived us i am also a victim of the scam and i put almost 45k to invest there n yesterday i was waiting for 23k that i withdraw on Friday i was supposed to get it on Monday mara dololo
I get that we can’t get back what we invested, but reporting it to our banks so that they flag those account numbers we deposited our funds into does that not help us find the account holders and maybe the people behind it?
They use people to open account for them and they tell to transfer the money using USD so I think it’s traceble
I too fell for it , and I even got a friend to invest a decent amount too , how stupid of me!
As much as I also got scammed,I feel for the people I introduced cause now they’re looking at me for their money..am in depth towards December.ahh it’s cool though we got to move on. This Bastards will pay one day.
Well guys now they are trying to log into bank accounts, my uncle was also caught in this scam, they called him today after he got a otp number, they were pretending to work at the bank and needed that otp number.
They used SA bank accounts. We can try to get a hold on the accounts
Can’t we ask the hawks to prosecute them, I am sure they can..it seems they are in Nigeria now..what does it mean the withdrawal was completed,will we at least receive it?
Please if someone can warn the Nigerian people Hotfarm is there now we need someone to follow them and finish them for good.
Very sad day for many. I was so convinced. My heart is broken.
Those f**ker’s ma se p*o*se, all of those thieving varke. They will get their day, including their children as well as their children’s children too, they are all gonna suffer due to the badluck these n*aiers have placed upon their lineage, die vuil n*aiers