Rebranding a scam: How Oleksandr Orlovskyi swapped words to bypass NSSMC blacklists
Financial Freedom Academy is taking new measures to gain access to citizens’ savings.
In 2024, crypto scammers obtained at least 9.9 billion US dollars. As Oleksa Shtuchnyi writes in his article for the CRIME and [High-Profile Cases] projects, experts at the analytical company Chainalysis concluded that this amount could rise as new illegal addresses linked to financial fraud are identified throughout the year.
Despite preliminary estimates indicating a slight drop in scammers’ revenue in 2024, the real figures could prove to be record-breaking. Analysts note an average 24% increase in fraudulent earnings between annual reporting periods. As a result, losses suffered by crypto scam victims could exceed 12 billion dollars by the end of the year.
High-yield investment fraud (HYIS), built on the principles of a financial pyramid scheme, remains one of the most popular tactics. In 2024, this scheme accounted for 50.2% of all funds pocketed by scammers, even though its share in total fraud volume fell by 36.6% compared to 2023.
Chainalysis researchers overlooked a type of fraud known as crypto info-scamming, commonly referred to in our region as "crypto info-gypsyism"—where people are promised rapid, effortless riches in cryptocurrency in exchange for substantial sums of money.
Advertisements for these info-scammers are appearing more and more frequently on social media and messaging apps. Consequently, the reach of their networks is clearly expanding, right along with their profits.
The most aggressive promoter of these "services" is Oleksandr Orlovskyi, a figure already familiar to our readers and the nominal founder of the Financial Freedom Academy (also known as the FFA community). Our decision to highlight him once again is hardly coincidental.
Under the FFA brand, Oleksandr Orlovskyi peddles several info-scamming "products." Until November of last year, their titles typically opened with "FFA Crypto," but Orlovskyi later swapped the order to "Crypto FFA." This seemingly pointless rebranding was carried out shortly after the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) added Orlovskyi’s FFA Crypto, FFA Crypto RISE, and FFA Crypto Capitalist to its registry of dubious investment projects—specifically, those exhibiting hallmarks of financial pyramid schemes.
In June of last year
In December 2024
Since the activities of the NSSMC are widely covered by influential media, it was much easier for Orlovskyi to swap the words in the scam’s name. After all, if potential ~suckers~ investors Google something like "FFA Crypto Capitalist," they will find the regulator’s warning. However, if they type "Capitalist premium investment program" into the search bar, they might come across the "updated" project, which supposedly has no issues.
Furthermore, following the NSSMC’s "black mark," banks and payment systems may block payments associated with FFA Crypto. Meanwhile, Crypto FFA remains completely clean to them until the regulator gets around to dealing with Orlovskyi again.
However, replacing the sign doesn’t seem to be helping much, so Oleksandr Orlovskyi "counterattacked" the National Commission through the court. On March 19, Sole Proprietor Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Orlovskyi filed a lawsuit against the NSSMC in the Kyiv District Administrative Court. The plaintiff is asking the servants of Themis to:
"Declare unlawful the actions of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission regarding the execution of groundless control (supervision) over Sole Proprietor O. O. Orlovskyi and the inspection (analysis) of his activities, regarding the maintenance of the so-called ’list of dubious investment projects’ and the inclusion (entry) into it of the Plaintiff’s educational services, namely: the training programs FFA Crypto / FFA Crypto RISE / FFA Crypto CAPITALIST onto the list of dubious investment projects."
We will detail how a financial pyramid scheme is indeed built under the umbrella of pseudo-educational FFA Crypto projects and how it operates next time. You can read about how the operators behind FFA squeeze money out of "clients" through front persons [here]. By the way, they de facto encourage them to cooperate with residents of the aggressor state.
For now, it is worth paying attention to the ads Oleksandr Orlovskyi uses to lure Ukrainians hungry for quick gain into his web. After all, this is a textbook example of manipulative marketing used by info-scammers to drag new victims into dubious financial schemes.
Here is how Oleksandr Orlovskyi uses psychological triggers and dangerous promises:
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The illusion of easy, effortless money
Phrases such as:
"you just invest, the team does the rest"
"how to scale profits without getting involved"
create the illusion of passive income requiring zero effort.
Why is this a deception?
Any experienced investor knows that risk-free passive income is a myth. In reality, investing demands a deep understanding of the market, risk analysis, and capital management. Promises of "effortless profits" are a classic scam tactic designed to lure inexperienced individuals.
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Manipulation of the term "investing"
Oleksandr Orlovskyi deliberately labels this an "investment," even though it is actually a contribution to a dubious project promising guaranteed returns.
Oleksandr Orlovskyi avoids the word "speculation" so as not to trigger associations with high risk. People assume they are putting money into something like deposits or stocks, but instead, they end up participating in a questionable scheme.
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Social proof and "profitable case studies"
Orlovskyi references "investors’ profitable case studies." This is a classic social proof technique that functions as follows:
If others earned money, it means I can too.
"Everyone follows Orlovskyi, which means he is an expert."
However, there is a hidden trap here
"Profitable case studies" are usually either fabricated or showcase only short-term wins without revealing the complete picture.
Real investors may be losing money, but this is naturally left unmentioned.
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Using the word "Capitalist" as a brand
The name Capitalist creates a sense of legitimacy and professionalism, even though it is nothing more than a marketing ploy. In reality:
Orlovskyi’s Capitalist, much like FFA Crypto in general, lacks a license or regulatory oversight in Ukraine or any other jurisdiction.
Oleksandr Orlovskyi provides no transparent information regarding the financial model and associated risks.
This could be a conventional pyramid scheme, where new depositors’ funds are used to pay earlier participants until the cash flow dries up.
However, beyond targeting the minds of his "flock," crypto-preacher Oleksandr Orlovskyi appears to have decided to "hack" their devices as well.
For roughly six months, our team detected malvertising-type malware on the website https://orlovskyi.com—Orlovskyi’s flagship online platform—most recently in March of this year.
Malvertising (short for malicious advertising) is a form of cyberattack in which malicious software (a virus, Trojan, spyware, crypto miner, etc.) is spread through online advertising.
Given how long this "glitch" remained on Orlovskyi’s website, it is unlikely that a third-party hacker attached the malware. Most likely, it was done by this "crypto guru’s" own team. Why?
Theoretically, Oleksandr Orlovskyi and his entourage could stand to benefit from using Malvertising in several ways:
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Traffic monetization: Redirecting users to affiliate websites or paid subscriptions.
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Data collection: Gathering personal data (emails, phone numbers) that can be leveraged for further marketing.
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Behavior manipulation: Influencing users’ decisions regarding investing or purchasing courses.
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Increasing engagement: Employing psychological tactics to keep users’ attention anchored to Orlovskyi’s resources.
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Manipulating search algorithms: Certain types of malvertising can influence site SEO, artificially boosting its position in Google search results through simulated clicks and redirects.
Regardless of the intended purpose behind Orlovskyi’s cult using this "plug-in," it creates a curious legal issue. The deployment of software similar to malvertising constitutes a criminal offense under Ukrainian law.
For instance, if users suffer attacks or data theft due to malvertising, it may be classified as unauthorized interference with the operation of computer systems—an offense under Article 361 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
If Oleksandr Orlovskyi and Co. were simply spying on visitors to pitch their "informational products" more aggressively, that falls under Article 361-2, titled "Unauthorized sale or dissemination of restricted information stored in electronic computers."
To be continued.
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