BellingcatDec 21, 2022
Together with our partners at Lighthouse Reports, we analysed over 2,000 conspiracist Telegram channels as part of our joint project to track the spread of QAnon in Europe.
https://www.lighthousereports.nl/investigation/qanon-in-europe-tracing-a-viral-conspiracy/
QAnon in Europe: Tracing a viral conspiracy

Lighthouse Reports and Bellingcat have spent the past year working on one of the largest data-driven investigations into the spread of QAnon in Europe

Lighthouse Reports
Show threadBellingcatDec 21, 2022
Researchers found an explosion of GESARA-related terms across the collected channels at the same time as the percentage of posts containing classic QAnon tropes and keywords stagnated.
Show threadBellingcatDec 21, 2022
This link between the GESARA and QAnon ecosystems isn't new, at least not in the US where the former is known as NESARA. Author @RothschildMD has called GESARA the "grandfather" of QAnon. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct1xzv
BBC World Service - Trending, Nesara: The financial fantasy ruining lives

The growing popularity of a conspiracy theory that predicts all debt will be cancelled.

BBC
Show threadBellingcatDec 21, 2022

QAnon and GESARA share millenarian promises of an 'end of days', in which evil will be toppled.

“The grift and the belief are not mutually exclusive, they are mutually supportive,” the 'Q Origins Project' told us. “The entire grift falls apart without the apocalyptic belief system.”

Show threadBellingcatDec 21, 2022
Since its emergence decades ago, the promises of the GESARA conspiracy have buttressed dubious financial schemes which reportedly saw investors lose millions of dollars. https://culteducation.com/group/897-dove-of-oneness-nesara/5759-snared-by-a-cybercult-queen.html
Snared by a cybercult queen

Archived articles about Doves of Oneness founded by Shaini Goodwin

Show threadBellingcatDec 21, 2022
True to form, such questionable financial schemes were also seen in European Telegram channels with an interest in GESARA.
Show threadBellingcatDec 21, 2022
In July, UK influencer Nicholas Veniamin made it known to his followers on Telegram that they could purchase a 100 billion Zimbabwean dollar banknote for £350 apiece. Zimbabwe abandoned its hyperinflated currency in favour of the US dollar in 2009.
Show threadBellingcatDec 21, 2022
Followers of GESARA believe that a great 'reset' will see billions of secret funds distributed to people across the globe, the erasure of all debts, and the revaluation of low-value currencies — including that 100 trillion dollar Zimbabwe banknote.
Show threadBellingcatDec 21, 2022

One Dutch channel claimed this 'reset' would take place by May 23rd. GESARA influencer Rinus Verhagen said by October 22nd.

GESARA influencers constantly herald an imminent financial reset only for the deadline to silently pass by, with a new deadline inevitably set.

Show threadBellingcatDec 21, 2022
Verhagen also runs his own cryptocurrency which he claims are "backed by GESARA funds" and promises to buy back for far more than they are currently worth in the "post-reset world".
Show threadBellingcatDec 21, 2022
This fits into a trend. This year @logicallyai reported on a number of scams where QAnon figures encouraged their followers to invest in a cryptocurrency only for them to transfer their own holdings for more stable alternatives, like Bitcoin or Ethereum. https://www.logically.ai/articles/qanon-crypto-lose-followers-2-million
EXCLUSIVE: QAnon Crypto Trading Scheme Lost Investors Millions

A Logically investigation has uncovered a cluster of QAnon crypto trading chats promoting fraudulent tokens, causing their followers to lose over $2 million.

Show threadBellingcatDec 21, 2022
The channels we researched speak to the increasingly cross-pollinated nature of conspiracy communities online. They're a heady mix of QAnon, GESARA and much more besides — when one loses its lustre, another is just a click away.
Show threadBellingcatDec 21, 2022
We also scraped 7,000 additional #GESARA Telegram channels in order to map out the conspiracy's ecosystem. You can explore a network visualisation of the named entities on our GitHub here: 👇https://bellingcat.github.io/gesara-entity-viz/
Entities mentioned in English-language posts from GESARA channels

Entities mentioned in English-language posts from GESARA channels

Show threadBellingcatDec 21, 2022
Read our full article here: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2022/12/21/as-qanon-falters-european-followers-flock-to-a-financial-conspiracy/
As QAnon Falters, European Followers Flock to a Financial Conspiracy - bellingcat

As QAnon tropes wane, interest in GESARA and its promises of a 'global economic reset' has surged on Europe's conspiracist Telegram channels.

bellingcat
Show threadJordan Dimov
@Bellingcat I have a better one. Nearly 30% of the world are suckers who are always looking for the next illiterate leader to tell them what to suck on. The levels of stupidity going on there are wholly beyond the comprehension of the remaining population.
Dec 21, 2022 at 3:56pmWeb