- Key insight: A significant spike in complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been linked to two financial influencers peddling false advice.
- What's at stake: Consumers are being misled into pursuing baseless claims, potentially wasting their time and money on ineffective solutions.
- Expert quote: An attorney with the National Consumer Law Center described the influencers' guidance as false "pseudo-legal advice."
Overview bullets generated by AI with editorial review
A recent report suggests that two financial services influencers, Daraine Delevante and Gilbert Eugene Graim Jr., have attracted millions of followers by disseminating misinformation and "dubious financial advice" regarding consumer rights and compensation for payment app fraud.
During an investigation into a spike in complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, consumer advocate
Many of the complaints reportedly contain language that is nearly identical to what Graim and Delevante advised their followers to submit.
Graim has incorrectly said in TikTok videos that have gained millions of views that Zelle and Cash App would soon be handing out reimbursement checks to anyone willing to submit a formal complaint.
For his part, Delevante uses other social media platforms to sell a wide range of products, including $77 complaint templates designed to be submitted to the CFPB related to claims against Zelle, Experian, Equifax, Honda Finance, Cash App, and many other companies.
In its article, Consumer Reports quoted consumer advocacy experts warning against the advice hawked by Graim and Delevante, which one attorney with the National Consumer Law Center told the publication was false "pseudo-legal advice."
How scam reimbursement actually works
Delevante and Graim's advise consumers that complaints to the CFPB against payment companies over losing money to scams can lead to compensation. However, this is false.
While the CFPB has accused payment companies of enabling scams and requested compensation for victims, filing a complaint through the bureau's portal does not qualify victims for compensation.
In cases where a company has had a consent order against it, such as in the case of Cash App, the company is typically required to find, contact and reimburse customers who have been scammed.
Delevante: Self-proclaimed "Credit Hero"
Daraine Delevante says on the website for his company, Consumer Law Secrets, that he is a U.S. Army veteran and entrepreneur, positioning himself as "The Credit Hero."
Delevante markets educational products focusing on credit repair and consumer law, including AI-related content in the genre of prompt engineering, which is a technique that users of large language models such as ChatGPT employ to get more desirable outputs from these models.
Delevante is not an attorney, accountant, or financial adviser, disclosing that his products offer advice for "educational and informational purposes only."
In online reviews through Trust Pilot, a review website, customers have voiced concern that his paid products are poorly formatted, contain grammar issues and typos, or were "unclear."
Graim: TikTok influencer
Gilbert Eugene Graim Jr. also offers various financial products, including a credit repair guide and classes on purchasing property at auction. He also has a TikTok account where he posts content framed as financial education. However, among the videos has posted, he has explicitly urged followers to file claims against Zelle even if they had not lost money.
Graim states on the website for his eponymous company Graim Solutions that his mission includes providing consumers with a "robust negotiating toolkit, ensuring no one is disadvantaged due to a lack of knowledge or resources."
In 2015, Graim was arrested over drug charges that never went to trial. He pleaded not guilty in the case. Consumer Reports said a judge denied his request to expunge the case.
Self-represented lawsuits
Graim and Delevante have each separately filed claims against credit reporting agencies and others over alleged violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and an alleged data breach.
Graim's case is scheduled for trial later this month. He is representing himself in the case.
Delevante's cases have all been dismissed. Like Graim, Delevante represented himself in each of the cases.
In late 2024, Delevante separately sued TransUnion, Credit Karma, and Experian, alleging a variety of violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Delevante's lawsuits included allegations that Experian and TransUnion impermissibly furnished his consumer report and did not properly reinvestigate disputed information and that Credit Karma made 66 unauthorized inquiries on his Experian report, claiming the company knowingly obtained his reports under false pretenses.
The court found in the cases against TransUnion and Experian that Delevante failed to sufficiently plead the facts of his case and granted motions by each of the companies to dismiss all the complaints with prejudice — a signal from the court that Delevante never had a case to begin with against either of them.
Delevante voluntarily dismissed his own case against Credit Karma without prejudice, meaning he can re-file the claim at a later date.
For his part, Graim sued Experian and Toyota Motor Credit Corporation in Texas state court in November 2024. Graim also alleged violations of the FCRA; the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, or FACTA; and other state and federal laws.
Graim said Experian sent sensitive personal information — including his driver's license and Social Security card — to Toyota Financial Services, which then "negligently" sent this information to a person in Andover, Massachusetts, he alleged in his lawsuit.
Toyota Financial Services and Experian denied the allegations. The case is scheduled for a trial before the judge on Oct. 27.
