Christian Influencer Found Guilty of Defrauding Dozens, Ordered to Pay Nearly $90,000 Dana Chanel was the co-owner of two businesses that she heavily promoted to her 1.1 million Instagram followers.
By Emily Rella
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
A Christian influencer is taking heat for her not-so-holy practices after being accused of scamming dozens of clients and being ordered to pay them nearly $87,000.
Dana Chanel, whose real name is Casey Olivera, has over 1.1 million followers on Instagram, where she promoted two companies she co-owns, Credit Exterminators (a credit repair company) and Alakazam Apps (an app developer).
However, customers at both businesses claimed that they paid upwards of $2,000 for services they never received and, after asking for their money back, never received a refund.
In the original lawsuit, which was filed in November 2021, one customer who enrolled in Credit Exterminators claimed she was told the service would help remove delinquent credit accounts for her, but it did no such thing. She claimed she received no refund and had paid the company over $2,000.
Another complaint from a nonprofit owner alleged that she paid Chanel and Alakazam Apps over $2,000 to help develop a custom app for her company that never came to fruition, even after she tried to follow up at least 10 times. She also claims she did not receive a refund.
Per this week's ruling, Chanel was found to have "violated state consumer protection laws by misleading consumers and failing to deliver purchased goods and services" and is now banned from promoting or selling any credit repair or mobile app service moving forward.
"Advertising in today's world has changed, and people trust personalities they follow online to promote desirable goods," said Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry in a release. "In these cases, consumers were misled by the influencer and businesses that did not deliver on purchases. My office has taken a hard stance against potential harm inflicted on Pennsylvanians online."
Chanel is also the founder of Sprinkle of Jesus (a Christian mobile app) and Curl Bible (a hair and skincare brand.)
Credit Exterminators and Alakazam Apps are listed as defendants in the suit. The defendants are being ordered to pay $87,269.91 in consumer restitution, $31,000 in legal costs, and $6,000 in civil penalties.
