The Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (sic) imposed a millionaire fine on the influencer Yeferson Cossio for a digital course that offered for those who supposedly take it rich. This decision was based on an analysis that made the sic of several advertising pieces with which it was concluded that it incurred deceptive advertising.
The creator of content was imposed a penalty of 813,000 million pesos because it was checked, According to the SIC, a violation of consumer rights in promoting their course.
Also read: Millionaire Fine A Yeferson Cossio for promising that his course was rich in five months
Among the violations found, it was detailed that the released advertising pieces contained objective statements that were misleading, since consumers were believed to obtain significant economic results in a period of five months and the supposed recovery of the initial investment. The promise of ‘Cossio Method’ was to get rich, get more followers and monetize social networks.
In addition, according to the SIC report, statements in The promotion of the course had the potential to consolidate the idea that if the course was performed and applied according to the orientations of the advertiser, it was possible to recover the invested, in addition to a significant patrimonial increase.
Another anomaly in this promotion was the participation of the influencer in the strategy, then He took advantage of his recognition in networks to convey the idea that the results achieved by him were replicable by any consumer who acquired the course.
The evidence of the sic against the Cossio method
For the Consumer Protection Research Directorate, dependence on the SIC, there are some phrases within the ads that induced customers to the error when the idea that said course guaranteed growth in social networks and financial success were transmitted.
Some of the phrases that were used by the SIC to sanction Yeferson Cossio are: “You are going to regret not having made the decision. We are at the best time to take all the advantages and potential of the digital world. #Methodocossio ”.
“With my course you can make real ticket and learn all my secrets.”
“Get rich, and while I make them rich except dogs and cats, and I get rich in soul. We all win.”
“We all agree when we say that In Colombia I am the one who has taken the most out of this… my method is very ‘cool’. ”
“While you learn, while you become rich, you are literally saving thousands of animals.”
What is the Cossio method?
The influencer Yeferson Cossio invited his followers to access a program to earn money through social networks, through a program called Cossio Method where the content creator explained how social networks worked.
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Initially, this course had a value of 1,000,000 pesosHowever, this generated controversy, because some considered it a high price, so A few weeks later it was reduced to approximate costs of 250,000 pesos.
During that price reduction it was when, apparently, several people bought the digital course. These consumers, not obtaining the promised growth in five months, as offered by the influencer, began to put the respective claims before the sic.
The empty promises of the false “magnates” on social networks
In recent years, Influencers, creators of content and “gurus” have joined the trend in networks such as Tiktok, Instagram and Facebook To promote expensive courses and share tips on how to get income quickly.
For some specialists, this content is full of strategy that contains emotional manipulation, false promises and immediate results, since they become “professors of their own universities” and sell courses without substance, being a scam that is booming.
For Maximiliano Fortman, journalist and digital security specialist, there are some tips not to fall into these types of courses, which, he considers “digital chantas” or scams.
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In a publication of the Seoul magazinethe Argentine gave indications not to fall into this type of content, since most agree that they do not have clear and concrete information in a visible price, promoting miraculous results without detailing the process to achieve them.
For Fortman, these “digital chantas” usually show luxury of any kind or say they bill large numbers. Another detail is that They usually sell the result and not the process, because there, according to the specialist, there is a problem.
Colombian influencers in the sight of misleading advertising
Yeferson Cossio is not the first influencer that is involved in a deceptive advertising case, because Content creators such as Yina Calderón, Luisa Castro and Mariam Obregón have also been involved in this type of controversy.
In the case of Calderón, the SIC has opened research regarding the girdles it promotes, since sometimes it has ordered its consumers to provide clear, truthful, timely and verifiable information on the delivery times of the product and the change policies.
Besides, Castro and Obregón, have been requested by the same regulatory entity for an advertising issued on money collection servicesbecause the two influencers did not report their commercial relationship with advertisers, so they could induce consumers to errors.
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