Influencer Dana Chanel Is Being Sued For Scamming Black Small Business Owners

Authorities in Pennsylvania are suing Instagram influencer Dana Chanel for allegedly using her social media platform to promote products and services that ripped off consumers, particularly Black small business owners.She is the founder of Curl Bible, a hair and skincare brand, as well as Sprinkle of Jesus, a Christian mobile app that she’s described as the largest online ministry in the world with 5 million users.

“Dana Chanel built a following online by presenting herself as a black woman-owned small business success story,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a press release Thursday. “She advertised the products of her companies as a way for other black small business owners to achieve what she did. Then, she ripped off the same community she claimed to care about.”

The lawsuit involves Chanel’s other companies, Credit Exterminators (which was rebranded as Earn Company), which helps consumers improve bad credit, and Alakazam, which helps small business owners make their own mobile app.

According to the lawsuit, regulators in Pennsylvania began investigating after they received multiple complaints from customers who said they either didn’t receive the goods and services they paid for or that the businesses misled them.