Credit bondage for fake crypto dreams: How Oleksandr Orlovskyi and Fungarant Group trap Ukrainians in debt

While thousands of people reportedly lose money on “crypto courses,” Oleksandr Orlovskyi is said to be actively removing online references to fraud allegations and attempting to reduce the visibility of publications concerning his activities.

The owner of Financial Freedom Academy not only sells dubious knowledge for tens of thousands of hryvnias, but also transfers insolvent “students” into debt bondage to “Fangarant Group.” After investigations and warnings from regulators, he floods the search with commissioned articles, erasing the traces of deception.

We publish this material in full — to show exactly how the scheme works and what they are so diligently trying to destroy.

Zealous crypto reacher intensifies the “Skimming” of potential flock.

Oleksandr Orlovskyi, a seller of dubious enrichment courses on cryptocurrencies, in pursuit of money from Ukrainians eager for quick wealth, has joined forces with usurers from FC “Fungarant Group.” As Oleksa Shtuchnyi writes in his article for the projects CRiME, this is evidenced by data from the Unified State Register of Court Decisions.

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Oleksandr Orlovskyi and the Raputa case

As follows from the default judgment of the Buryn District Court of Sumy Region (dated November 20 of last year), back in 2023, Oleksandr Orlovskyi (or someone from the proxy individual entrepreneurs of his sect called Financial Freedom Academy) entered into a factoring agreement with LLC “Financial Company ’Fungarant Group’” (operating under the trademark «PayLater™»).

Under this agreement, the financial company pays Orlovskyi’s crypto sect for the “enlightenment” of underprivileged students. This is because they cannot afford to pay tens of thousands of hryvnias out of their own pockets for the coveted “knowledge,” which, as Oleksandr Orlovskyi claims in advertisements for his courses, will open the path to financial success if not today, then certainly tomorrow. However, instead of “thousands of dollars from scratch in a few weeks,” collectors come knocking on these students’ doors within a few months.

The bills issued by the FFA community for “education” are quite substantial

In the aforementioned court decision, it is stated that a resident of Sumy Region, Ihor Raputa, inspired by Orlovsky’s promises a year ago, decided to purchase “cryptocurrency training services from FFA” costing 19,102.04 UAH. Since Ihor did not have such a sum, Oleksandr Orlovskyi offered him an installment plan. In other words, he sent him into financial bondage with “Fungarant Group.”

The usefulness of the training courses peddled by our crypto preacher is vividly illustrated by Mr. Raputa’s experience and court documents. The “valuable” knowledge and mentorship from Orlovskyi, acquired by Ihor on credit with exorbitant interest rates, did not allow him to repay even half of the debt. Ihor Raputa now owes the financial company “Fungarant Group” nearly 19,000 UAH, of which 3,700 UAH are penalties. I wouldn’t be surprised if Raputa “burned” an even larger sum by investing in crypto under the careful guidance of mentor Orlovskyi.

Be that as it may, “Fungarant Group” sued Raputa and won. Now this man has his bank accounts blocked and his property seized. This is the entirety of the financial success to which Oleksandr Orlovskyi led this “student.”

I have concerns that there are far more such debt collection lawsuits against Orlovskyi’s deceived followers than just one, as court documents in recent years are often published with significant delays (or sometimes not published at all).

It’s worth noting the period during which Raputa’s “fruitful” training in the FFA community took place: spring-summer of 2024. It was during this time that Oleksandr Orlovskyi dragged his flock into a crypto scheme through which his “students” lost nearly all their savings (we covered this in detail in our investigation «Crypto scammer Oleksandr Orlovskyi ignores regulators’ warnings»). There were even rumors that the followers of Financial Freedom Academy collectively lost $4 million at that time.

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Another question arises for the financial company «Fungarant Group». Does its ultimate beneficiary, Vitaliy Kurushkin, realize that he is effectively participating in attracting citizens’ funds into an investment project with obvious signs of fraud? After all, last year, the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) added to the list of dubious investment projects three offshoots of Financial Freedom Academy – FFA Crypto RISE, FFA Crypto Capitalist, and FFA Crypto (the latter, by the way, is where the aforementioned Raputa got entangled).

At the same time, the NSSMC leadership should take note that Vitaliy Kurushkin and his financial company are de facto assisting Orlovskyi in “skimming” already struggling Ukrainians, based on a license issued by the National Securities and Stock Market Commission itself.

Oleksandr Orlovskyi covers his tracks

Oleksandr Orlovskyi is the subject of several journalistic investigations, and in specialized Telegram channels and publics, he is referred to as a fraudster-info-gypsy. However, instead of disillusioned and ruined “parishioners,” hundreds and thousands of new followers (if one believes this guru’s words) join his sect. Why?

Because when an average person searches for “Oleksandr Orlovskyi” online, they are bombarded with advertisements placed by Oleksandr Orlovskyi himself (or rather, the organization behind him, but more on that another time).

Oleksandr Orlovskyi actively employs search engine reputation management strategies (SERM) to improve his online image. Following a series of journalistic investigations and a “black mark” from the NSSMC, Oleksandr Orlovskyi has intensified the promotion of Financial Freedom Academy services through online media, publishing promotional articles on both central and regional platforms. These materials are often labeled as commercial or left without proper disclaimers, which can mislead the audience.

Additionally, Oleksandr Orlovskyi actively advertises his services on social media, attempting to create a positive image of a successful crypto investor. At the same time, negative reviews and critical materials about his activities are diligently removed or pushed out of search results by publishing a large volume of positive or neutral articles.

Thus, Oleksandr Orlovskyi achieves:

Displacement of negative materials

• Any critical articles, investigations, or negative reviews about Orlovskyi and his scams may appear on the second or third page of search results, where almost no one reads them. This is achieved through the mass creation of “positive” content: interviews, blogs, promotional articles, and fake reviews.

Formation of a positive image

• Google is filled with links to commissioned articles where Oleksandr Orlovskyi appears as an expert, investor, or philanthropist. This increases the trust of people unfamiliar with his dubious reputation.

Attracting new clients

• People searching online for “earning on crypto” or “profitable trading” are highly likely to fall into this crypto preacher’s net, as Google displays links to his advertisements at the top of the results. Thus, Oleksandr Orlovskyi earns more money from selling courses, subscriptions, training, or attracting new investors into his schemes.

Financial Freedom Academy’s investments in Orlovskyi’s reputation per month are comparable to the (considerable, I reiterate) expenses of a group of “students” on FFA training.

For example, at the end of January, Oleksandr Orlovskyi placed an image-building publication disguised as an author’s column in a reputable online publication, which shyly omitted that it had published a “paid piece.”

Another equally reputable publication was more honest with its readers and, while publishing material with the same content, openly stated that it had been paid for it.

The price list of this honest publication is publicly available, so we can easily find out how much Oleksandr Orlovskyi paid for just one publication on one site. We’re talking about 15,000 UAH, excluding value-added tax.

Add another 20% VAT, and it could have been enough to buy Ihor Raputa out of the debt bondage into which Oleksandr Orlovskyi led him. However, the crypto preacher would rather invest the money of deceived “students” into attracting new, more solvent followers.

Oleksandr Orlovskyi and mental limitation

Recently, the marketing tactics of the FFA community have become increasingly aggressive and, at first glance, absurd.

In the thumbnail of this video from Orlovskyi’s official YouTube channel, the entire essence of the swindler’s marketing campaign is encapsulated in two words.

No, Oleksandr Orlovskyi does not engage in self-exposure in the video, admitting that paying hefty sums for his courses is utter foolishness. Instead, he claims that foolish people are richer and more successful than smart ones because they think less and act more. Therefore, he says, you should act too – pay me for training, and soon you’ll become fabulously rich on crypto under my caring mentorship.

In the video, Oleksandr Orlovskyi spends nearly 20 minutes spouting nonsense, manipulating, and outright lying. However, I suspect that there will be plenty of people who, after watching the video, seriously consider joining Orlovskyi’s “academy.”

Whoever wrote the script for this video and Orlovskyi’s speech is clearly a skilled psychologist. If you don’t want to waste time on manipulative visuals and the nonsense of the hired “actor,” let’s briefly and schematically break down this “movie.”

So, what do we have there:

Manipulation through contrast

• Oleksandr Orlovskyi creates a logical twist and, as a result, an artificial division: “smart but poor” and “dumb but rich.” This provokes an emotional reaction from viewers: “I’m not dumb, so why aren’t I earning? Maybe I think too much?”

Call to act without thinking

• The statement “think less – earn more” pushes toward the conclusion: “don’t think, just invest and earn!”
• This is a typical scammer technique – convincing a person not to analyze risks but to make a quick decision.

Distraction from real reasons for success

• Wealth doesn’t come from “thinking less” – it requires knowledge, experience, discipline, and hard work.
• Instead, Oleksandr Orlovskyi imposes a worldview simplified to primitivism to justify selling his courses as a “simple solution.”

The mentioned video by the crypto swindler is one element of an effective marketing model known as a funnel or sales funnel.

Oleksandr Orlovskyi, like many other info-gypsies, as well as founders of financial pyramids and other types of fraudsters, actively uses video sales funnels – carefully designed series of videos that gradually lead a person to purchase his courses or “financial services.”

How does it work?

Attracting attention (free content)

• Oleksandr Orlovskyi distributes short videos on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Telegram channels with loud promises:
•  «How to multiply your capital 10 times?»
•  «An easy way to earn $100 a day!»
•  «Why haven’t you become financially free yet?»
• The main goal is to pique people’s interest and make them subscribe to his content.

Warming up the audience

• The next level is longer videos with semi-free information. Oleksandr Orlovskyi may:
•  share “success stories” of his students,
•  show cryptocurrency charts, hinting that “you can earn here,”
•  criticize traditional education and working “for someone else.”
• All of this creates a feeling in the audience that they are seemingly gaining valuable knowledge, but the main secret is still ahead.

Transition to the offer (selling courses)

Oleksandr Orlovskyi promotes his paid products:

•  training courses,
•  masterclasses,
•  closed chats,
•  “personal training,”
•  VIP access to strategies.

The videos are designed so that the person feels: “if I don’t buy the course now, I’ll stay poor forever.”

Creating artificial scarcity

In the videos, Oleksandr Orlovskyi emphasizes:

•  «Only 10 spots left!»
•  «After this intake, the price will go up!»
•  «Today there’s a 50% discount, tomorrow it’s gone!»
• In reality, sales are ongoing, and all these claims are pure manipulation.

“Monetization” of insolvent “clients” through credit offers

• If a person hesitates, Oleksandr Orlovskyi or his team may offer to purchase the course on an installment plan through financial companies like “Fungarant Group.”
• This is the exact mechanism through which people, like the aforementioned Ihor Raputa, end up in debt to microfinance organizations.

So, if a person is considering buying Orlovskyi’s courses, they should ask themselves one question: “If I were earning tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on crypto myself, would I spend a lot of time and effort teaching others?” Honestly, I would answer “yes,” but only if teaching crypto brings no less, or even more, money than crypto itself.