The crypto industry represents one of the fields of activity where the most scammers abound today. We no longer count the number of victims they cause. But recently, a case of fraud particularly interested the press, it concerns a seven-figure loss.
An investment in trading, from crypto
In California, Cy, 52, revealed to the press that he was scammed out of over $1 million in crypto. According to his account widely reported by the crypto press, it all started with a WhatsApp message from a certain Jessica, who claimed to be a former colleague. Some time later and over the course of the exchanges, Cy confided to Jessica that he was having financial difficulties and that he needed to raise funds to treat his sick father.
The latter offered him an investment project which consists of investing in the retail trading application, Meta Trader. Indeed, Jessica explained to Cy that she invested in it following the advice she received from her trader uncle, and that she earned a lot of money.
Motivated by his financial problems and the need to treat his father, Cy launched himself. Initially, he unlocked $10,000, transferred the money to Coinbase, before sending it in crypto to his interlocutor.
MetaTrader offers a trading interface that scammers can use to monitor results within the application, simulating profits and losses. So after investing $440,000, Cy thought his profit had grown to $2.2 million. But in the blink of an eye, his fictitious balance showed a loss of $480,000. Jessica took the opportunity to push him to invest more.
He then injected an additional $600,000 and, miraculously, his balance returned to $1.8 million.
For information, the money that Cy invested came from his savings, the sale of shares, sums borrowed from his childhood friend and a mortgage on his house. This sum was invested in just two months and the unfortunate investor thought he could use the money generated to give his family a better life.
This type of crypto scam that involves taking everything from the victim is called the Pig Butchering.
The desillusion
When Cy insisted that Jessica help her collect the winnings, she wrote to him: “Go to the police to help you. Don’t call me, please. »
Later, the police established that it appears that the scammers themselves are victims of human trafficking, who have been lured to unknown countries with the promise of a better job. Authorities have also reported that they lack the resources to investigate crypto-related crimes.
“I never meant to hurt anyone, it was just me. I’m to blame, it’s my fault, I lost everything, I lost my parents’ money, I lost my daughter’s school fees. Instead of reducing my wife’s working hours, now she has to work more. »Cy told the press.
It took just two months for a 52-year-old American to have more than $1 million robbed in a crypto scam. According to police sources, there is very little chance that the latter will be able to recover his money.
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