Miami real estate agent ruined by Instagram scam

A Miami real estate agent has come forward as one of the victims of a prolific social media scammer.

Kay Jenkins told ProPublica her 100,000-follower strong Instagram account has been repeatedly deactivated by scammer OBN since 2021, telling the publication he makes “sure that your life is miserable and that he’ll try and get as much money out of you as he possibly can.”

In addition to being a real estate agent, Jenkins is also a model with an OnlyFans account. She earned $15,000 to $20,000 a month in subscriptions and sponsorships, but started to see her Instagram accounts suspended repeatedly after moving from Utah to Miami in March 2021.

The scheme involves a hacker shutting down social profiles on Instagram and Meta before demanding a ransom to get them back online. The hacker also charges people who request OBN to take down an account.

OBN has dubbed himself the “log-out king,” claiming to have gotten a number of celebrities and influencers banished from Instagram and Meta, saying he has made $300,000 in the process.

Jenkins incidentally learned her accounts were being shut down by OBN after being on a podcast with an influencer who later confessed to having OBN target Jenkins out of jealousy. Her main account went up and down based on the status of her friendship with Celina Powell, the influencer. The Instagram problems were so pervasive and destructive to Jenkins that she contemplated suicide.

Jenkins ultimately paid OBN more than $10,000 to get her account restored, which didn’t initially happen, though it appears to be active again with significantly fewer followers. She hired a lawyer and is demanding $25,000 from Meta, which has not responded to her letter.

ProPubilca tracked the anonymous OBN — or at least someone closely linked to the account — down to 20-year-old Edwin Reyes-Martinez, a Las Vegas resident. Reyes-Martinez denied knowledge of the account before claiming someone named Brandon used him to funnel money.

A Meta spokesperson said that despite OBN’s success, the company has removed dozens of accounts connected to the scammer. The spokesperson added OBN’s abuse of community standard systems is trumped by his ability to scam people into thinking he can ban and restore their accounts.

Meta sent Reyes-Martinez a cease-and-desist following ProPublica making contact with the social media company, later banning him from the site.

— Holden Walter-Warner