Hello, my name is Chris M. I am a German citizen and have been living in Bulgaria for over 2 years. I first became aware of JuicyFields in mid-2021 in Germany’s largest stock exchange and financial forum, where a user also discovered JuicyFields in his savings plan discussion and wanted to try it out.
I know this user and it’s also a regular user who only shares his experience and didn’t just write about JuicyFields as it was just an alternative to the many investment opportunities.
Personally, I like alternatives when it comes to savings plans, whether it’s stocks, ETFs or cryptocurrencies or other P2P platforms.
When I looked at the JuicyFields.io page for the first time, I had also seen my doubts or at least a red rag and also communicated this as constructive criticism to the user, without wanting to say anything bad right away, since I know industries where high margins can be achieved.
Of course you can doubt anything, but I didn’t want to let prejudices arise and I wanted to take the time to think and research. I had time and didn’t want to rush things.
A lot of time has passed and the user reported his withdrawals to JuicyFields even after the 108 days, with proof from his bank statement, because he too wanted to see whether withdrawals are actually possible.
So far so good and I figured I’d open a discussion specifically on JuicyFields in this forum as well. I’m a longtime and valued member of this forum, but the discussion was deleted by the volunteer moderators after a few minutes. Shortly thereafter, I addressed the moderators that I only opened this discussion to enable an exchange of experiences with other users and that ref links are not allowed in this forum anyway and that it should not be advertising, but only an opportunity to exchange experiences. In retrospect, you can see that the moderators in this forum behaved in an exemplary manner compared to larger social media corporations.
More time has passed during which I have also dealt with the subject of agriculture and of course also with the subject of (medicinal) cannabis. At least to understand something basic. E.g. how long does it take to harvest a cannabis plant, how many grams can you harvest per plant etc. and it seemed quite possible to me. But then again, I thought what I learned could be read by anyone and marketed just as well as JuicyFields. So there was still a certain “aftertaste” or doubt with JuicyFields.
During this time, I could certainly have written to the many partner companies that JuicyFields has always reported on, whether these partnerships actually exist, but I didn’t think of that.
More time has passed and the user has reported about their upcoming harvest and I have looked at other media to better understand JuicyFields. I mainly used YouTube and Facebook for this.
At the end of March 2022, the user reported on his harvest and payout at the German Financial and Economic Forum and another user wrote something like that that he would try it with 100 euros and that also prompted me to place my first order with JuicyFields.
It was kind of awesome to be part of a crowdvesting that can definitely be a breakthrough in the medical cannabis space and as an egrower you can be a part of it from the start.
I also joined a German JuicyFields group on Facebook to keep up with JuicyFields and to connect with other egrowers. It was not an official JuicyFields Facebook group, nor was it run by an “ambassador” and constructive criticism was allowed, although some members found it “unwelcome”, but my posts were never deleted and I was never left out thrown out of the groups.
Anyone who posted a screenshot of their purchase and/or successful harvest and/or payout to the Facebook group was cheered and congratulated by the group members. There was a hype surrounding JuicyFields.
Since I live abroad as a German, after the first purchase I considered increasing the number of plants in order to generate a regular cash flow. At JuicyFields, I’ve made it my goal to give the whole thing at least a year. With the cash flow I was able to cover my rent, utilities and other monthly expenses and invested another 100 euros in the following week, but it wasn’t to stop there.
After the big hype on Facebook and Youtube, I decided to invest 1500 euros in JuicyFields plants the following week and another 400 euros the next week and cashed in whatever liquidity I had left for another 1900 euros to invest.
I have invested my cash that I have set aside for my future in JuicyFields plants in the hope that the proceeds from the sale will cover my future expenses.
Yes, I even asked my mother if Temporarily could provide a liquidity buffer until October because then my crop would be sold and I asked her for an additional 1500 euros for a year for the JuicyFields project.
I used my mother’s 1500 euros for the next plant order and unfortunately also a large part of the money that she sent me as a temporary help. In total it was almost 9000 euros.
In Bulgaria, where I live, this amount is a very high amount for many locals as the legal minimum monthly salary is just over 300 euros.
I also told my friend from the Philippines about JuicyFields and she was amazed too when I showed her the Facebook groups and YouTubes and I suggested that I give her a small gift and more (of my money) at JuicyFields and she can use the proceeds for whatever she wants after a successful sale.
So my total investment was just under 10,000 euros. It may be a “small” investment for many Northern Europeans and North Americans, but in countries like Bulgaria and the Philippines, €10,000 is a small fortune.
So far so good, and the Facebook groups kept cheering and reports of JuicyFields continued to appear on YouTube. Calling themselves “Ambassadors” on YouTube, the individuals have shared JuicyFields images and footage and/or have even been on site at JuicyFields offices and/or cannabis plantations and/or cannabis exhibitions around the world where JuicyFields has sponsored. Some have also used other social media platforms like Instagram, Tiktok and Twitter to increase their reach as ambassadors and also invited to ZoomCalls to cover the JuicyFields project. Probably a thriving business for the ambassadors.
A story that always received a lot of applause and felt good in the community, mainly because there were also users who showed their payouts or video recordings when you saw a truck on the highway with the big JuicyFields ads on the trailers . Everything seemed to be going according to plan.
Then, all of a sudden, the JuicyFields website was temporarily down for about 2 days. The reason given in a newsletter and presumably also via the official JuicyFields Telegram channel was that it was a so-called Ddos attack. Ok, I can understand that, because I’ve had web projects myself where there are such ddos attacks at a certain level. However, it can be unpleasant for companies if the server performance is not sufficient to withstand such large-scale attacks. However, this small problem was fixed by JuicyFields.
But that shouldn’t remain a problem, because around that time there was also a BaFin warning that JuicyFields had not submitted a basic information document to BaFin and it was therefore forbidden to advertise and sell these products in Germany. The JuicyFields terms and conditions also temporarily said something like “temporarily no new users who have their habitual residence in Germany may register”.
Presumably, German users and ambassadors of JuicyFields were also informed that they should not use words like “invest”, “crowdfunding” and the like, and JuicyFields is in the process of fulfilling the BaFin requirements in a timely manner.
Many people who were not yet registered with JuicyFields really pawed their hooves when they were finally able to register and buy plants, because German users who were already registered could continue to order plants from JuicyFields and also pay by bank transfer, despite the BaFin warning.
On 05/26/2022 I received a private message that JuicyFields has the required basic information sheet for BaFin and I asked other users about it and they confirmed that this information was confirmed by the official JuicyFields Telegram group. The reference from the terms and conditions was also removed and many new German users were able to register again. Many ambassadors also reported about it on YouTube and Facebook and other social media channels and it went on diligently and more and more users registered on JuicyFields and diligently ordered plants.
There were no other problems and e-growing seems to be working beautifully. At this point, I was already considering selling more of my investments in order to invest more money in JuicyFields, but decided not to do so because I could not liquidate these investments quickly.
The fun didn’t last long, however, and BaFin wrote again on June 17, 2022 that JuicyFields was not allowed to advertise or sell its products on the German market, which then unsettled many, especially Germans. But the ambassadors from JuicyFields said that you can register again and that JuicyFields has checked everything legally and is in contact with BaFin in this regard.
On June 22nd, 2022 there was another important post as JuicyFields was in Forbes Magazine with the headline “JuicyFields Aims to make Entering the cannabis Industry Easier with Crowdfunding”.
I’ve checked the site meticulously, knowing that you can also buy so-called “paid promotions” in such magazines, and I’ve checked for such notices, but nothing of the sort. I.e. JuicyFields is in Forbes Magazine and if it is in Forbes then I assume it is a correct Forbes article and it is not a paid article as it is not marked as “paid posting” or anything like that is.
When I placed my last order with JuicyFields in June, I saw that the JuicyFields IBAN had changed and contacted customer service accordingly to verify that this IBAN was correct and I was confirmed and I made my transfer to JuicyFields.
Then there was an email/newsletter that JuicyFields employees went on strike, and there was more chaos than before when JuicyFields and its ambassadors reported that the website and social media channels were being taken over by hackers and all e-growers were denied access to the website and no one could log in anymore.
On July 13, 2022 there was another message: “Dear E-Growers, The owners have informed our CEO Willem that the temporary suspension of all E-Grower and recipient accounts will be lifted in the next 48 hours. This was requested as part of the forthcoming changes”
Even in polls in the Facebook groups, at the time, over 50 percent of users still believed JuicyFields was “safe” and going on.
Everyone was excited to see what Friday the 15th would look like, but by that point many already realized that this was an exit scam and that those behind the scenes were just buying time.
That’s why I couldn’t sleep the night of July 14th to 15th and also had an interview on Friday afternoon. I’ve been walking around like a zombie all day chatting with other e-growers on Facebook about JuicyFields. My girlfriend also noticed that I was not doing well.
I had the interview at 2 p.m. and I don’t remember how it went because all I had on my mind was JuicyFields and the money invested, which is probably gone. It was one of my worst days in my life.
In the evening it was also not possible to log into JuicyFields, even though the 48 hours had passed. I told my girlfriend about the JuicyFields Exit scam and she asked for an exact amount for the first time and was appalled that it is so much money and she also asked if I left “her gift” there and I say Yes.
Anyone who thinks that the story ends here is wrong, because a lot has only just begun here.
An alleged e-grower from Italy wrote me on Facebook that she lost 10,000 euros on JuicyFields and is in contact with a hacker on Telegram who can probably help with the refund, but only with cryptocurrencies. She said it was her last resort to get her money back. She explained that this person wants 10% of the initial investment amount up front in cryptocurrencies. I pointed out that it could also be a scam as I know cryptocurrencies and why would someone who has access to the wallets want to share something for only 10%. She said she is trying now and she sent me a screenshot of her bitcoin wallet from where she paid the hacker and then there was silence in our conversation for about 10-20 minutes and then she sent me a screenshot where she had 10000 euros with her bitcoin wallet. I thought it was nice and congratulated her and since it was already late in the evening I went to bed.
The next morning this person wrote me again and also gave me the contact of the hacker I wrote with and I made the suggestion that he is welcome to get 10% after I have my money in the wallet. But before that, he asked me for proof that I lost that much money on JuicyFields too. I only placed a few orders and that was enough for the hacker, but I made a point of not paying anything up front.
I later took a close look at the screenshot and realized that it was a nice fake as although 0.2211 BTC was received and displayed as 10000 euros, the current BTC rate at the time was significantly lower and 0.2211 BTC would not even equal 5000 euros. But people unrelated to cryptocurrencies would probably fall for it and I deleted that contact right away. I’ve been getting messages like this every day since then, and not just on Facebook. After the collapse of Juicyfields was the heyday for the Refoundscammers, who chose their victims via private messages.
There have even been scammers who have taken over users’ deactivated Telegram names and new Refound websites have been published almost daily where you should do a full KYC and deposit at least 30% to reactivate your account.
A real heyday for more scammers.
But I also had to do something and explain to my mother what happened to the money. I reported it to her on our Sunday phone calls that same weekend and apologized to her for using the money she sent me for JuicyFields as well. I didn’t tell her the total damage that weekend because I could see her face turning pale and I told her the total damage the following weekend. At least 10,000 euros, that’s a one-year pension for my mother.
At that time I saw the first postings from user Daniel, who drew attention to the lawyer Lars Olofsson.
In the days that followed, I filled out a complaint with the German police using an online form and at the same time translated this complaint in order to report it to the local authorities as well, since I live abroad. The local authorities misunderstood me at first because of the language barrier and took my ad and got big ears at the word cannabis but they understood that it was a form of crowdfunding and just said why I was raising so much money invested and not first 100 euros. After a short time I got a letter from the local authorities that the criminal case was dropped because there was not enough evidence and JuicyFiels has no offices and the like in Bulgaria. I then contacted the police in Berlin again to see if my report had been filed there and they confirmed that the investigation was still ongoing.
After the collapse of JuicyFields, it took me three weeks to regain my composure and I decided to join Lars Olofsson’s class action lawsuit.
The reason for this is easy to explain. JuicyFiels backers are elusive or even elusive and there is a long list of companies and individuals who have enabled JuicyFiels to run this scam. Apparently, the major social media companies have allowed JuicyFiels to create content that isn’t actually allowed on the platforms, and nothing has been done about it. They made it possible for JuicyFields to grow so quickly and rapidly. Also, on 9/11, I did a Google search and saw JuicyFiels ads on YouTube. Nothing at all has been done by these companies regarding verification; not even after JuicyFields collapsed. Forbes just deleted the one posting as if nothing had happened. These companies share responsibility for what they allow, and we as users understand that these companies should review important information before it is made public.
As I write this, I feel the same as I did the day JuicyFiels went under. It’s mentally hard to ignore, and I hope that companies like Facebook, Google, Instagram and Co will take a closer look at what they allow on their platforms in the future to avoid future scams.
It continued on the JuicyFields homepage. Apparently people have access to the homepage and report “Your Story” and they also call themselves “Guys in Black Hoodys” or “Italian-Columbian-Russian” Mafia and apparently want the other people from JuicyField B.V. blame for it
On the other hand, JuicyFields AG distributes documents with a wide variety of content in the Telegram group “JuicyFields AG Facts”. Where these come from is a mystery, and when these documents are distributed illegally, courts cannot even admit them as evidence.
The guys in black hoodies also occasionally release something in a TG called “JF Update” which is quite the opposite and again the source or provenance is uncertain. These postings will also be deleted after some time.
It’s a back and forth and these two camps appear to be at war in public. Presumably it is about money that has not flowed to the other party.
Profile pictures and usernames have been used on social media platforms, particularly by old JF managers, to create further unrest. Within a few weeks, Moonvoyager created several newly found pages, all with the same intent. The e-growers log in with their original JuicyField login (phishing of login data) and are then supposed to verify themselves with KYC (to obtain further personal data for identity theft) with KYC nowhere to be read on the website or at registration . You should then pay a small activation fee of between 100 euros and 30% of the original investment so that the account is reactivated for a payout. These groups are occupied by a large number of bots, which then also appear to indicate Refound. We all know that this is a typical scam and no one gets their investment that way.
Wallet addresses were never shown or TX (transaction) numbers but in a few cases you could check a wallet or TX and yes money was sent but not in connection with the bot posting which was described as the current transaction of the refund. Because that’s how I was able to check a transaction and yes it was a USDT transaction but it was more than 140 days old and therefore could not be considered a current refund. When I posted this in the Telegram group, I was immediately kicked out of the group.
Some of these pages were only a few days or a few weeks old, and just a few days later, user Moonvoyager presented new websites with a refund promise. I have seen at least 5 such refund sites (logged in with a different login of course) and the refunds should only be paid out in crypto. If you looked at the wallets, you only saw empty wallets or wallets with a small amount but no transactions in the last few days.
This fraud triggered a chain reaction for so-called copycat fraudsters and none of those responsible at JuicyFields AG commented on it. I understand, since the investigation is ongoing, no one is commenting on it during the course of this and these people have been given significantly inflated sums to keep silent.
Also, none of the platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Google, etc. have ever questioned whether JuicyFields has a license to cultivate medicinal cannabis, for example, or to market it, etc., or that the so-called partner companies were asked whether JuicyFields, like every issuer, was such Products Selling financial or commodity products may also require regulatory approval.
JuicyFields failed to produce this 2-page basic customer information sheet after BaFin’s initial request, suggesting that this was never intended.
I also assumed that advertising that appears, for example, on Google and Youtube (from google ad), that these platforms also check the advertisers closely to see whether appropriate evidence is required for the advertised. The same applies to banks and other companies that have apparently not fulfilled their duty of care and JuicyFields had their doors open and everything was tolerated.
Just as an example: When I mean Ltd. founded, it took more than 4 weeks to open a business account and the banks demanded new forms and documents every day and also wanted to see proof of where the capital came from, etc. And for transactions abroad, the national central banks must be informed above certain amounts.
Regarding the BaFin warnings. German banks are subject to BaFin and are not (yet) obliged to respond to warnings. There were very few German banks that did not allow a transfer to JuicyFIelds due to the BaFin warning. Other banks may have said they are not required to implement warnings. I know from a German acquaintance who works at a bank that, under pressure from BaFin, everything is now being tried to check to what extent the banks have not fulfilled their duty of care.
It is a case that could only take on this dimension because many have contributed, because the money for advertising and clearly overpaid consultants is tempting and this affects more than 100,000 victims worldwide to an extent that I believe is between 1 and 2 Billion euro.
The only one conducting the investigation is Lars Olofsson, and he is now doing what should be the job of the authorities.
Chris