I received a message from this woman through my phone’s Facebook messaging. She said she was writing to someone else, so I wrote back saying that she had the wrong person. We went back and forth a few times and she said she would like to befriend me on her Facebook page. I said OK and then we started conversing through the Facebook Messenger.
She stated that she was a financial expert trading in gold on a web app. When I told her my money was invested elsewhere she laughed and said that was a bad decision. She told me she trades in gold and Bitcoins and would teach me how, if I wanted.
So, on her recommendation I joined that website and she showed me through a Demo of how the trading works. It looked pretty legitimate at that time. After a couple more “Demos” I started investing. I started my investment with $8000.
All of the trading was done through a “platform” used for trading. One web page held your “wallet” while a “platform” would accomplish the trading. Even the platform is legitimate but I can’t say the name of it but essentially it consisted of a wallet and an investing “Platform”
When I saw the returns in the Demo and then with my own investment I was very impressed and sent more money (another 22K). In the end I wound up investing a total of 60K USD. She assisted me in my investing in the beginning by adding her own 40K USD. She said she was my “teacher” and in turn she was responsible for how I did. She walked me through numerous sessions of investing in Gold trading, with substantial profits on each occurrence.
Trading was determined by her “team of Financial Experts” that constantly monitor the market. For that reason trading was available only on specific days and times and usually would take about 30 minutes. I would start by sending her a screenshot of the web app with a platform running in the background. She would return that screenshot with instructions on what to do next. I would do as she said and then continue to send her screenshots and she would continue to lead me through the process. Numerous trading sessions enriched the account from 100K (my 60K and her 40K) to what was about 230K USD.
I did suspect a scam in the beginning so I thought I would test her. I told her we had a tree fall on our house and needed some money for the repair. She was not keen on the idea and asked why we don’t use what was left in our accounts. I told her I needed it yesterday and couldn’t wait. So we went on the app and we went through the “Withdrawal Function” and I received back $7000, which was what I requested. I eventually sent that money back, after a week or so. I sent it back with more added. But at that point I felt a little relieved but I still should have expected the scam would continue.
I continued to send more as I watched the profits go up. More money invested meant more profits, was her feeling. I fell for it. I never invested everything I had but it was at least 90% of it.
In August the “Platform” we were trading on announced a promotion using different levels of investing. 100K investment was a VIP2 while a VIP3 status required an investment of 300K. VIP4 was an investment of 500K and VIP5 required an investment of 1Million.
I was encouraged by this woman to sign up for VIP3 with her saying that if I needed, she would help with the additional funds needed to reach the goal of 300K.
The “Platform” required the investment of that amount by a specific date (September 30) and when I was unable to reach VIP3 (300K) by that date my “Withdrawal function” was disabled. An extension was given until October 31 but I still would not be able to use the Withdrawal Function.
The woman encouraged me to sign up for a HELOC, to be able to fund the 200K additional investment using my house as collateral and thereby obtaining VIP3 status. With the VIP3 status I was told there would be a monetary reward with additional monetary rewards to follow.
When I suggested to her that I was suspicious of the promotion, she became upset and continued to recommend that if I find as much of the 200K as I could, then she would help with the remainder of cash. I reminded her that she said she would help.
The scam really showed itself when I attempted to withdraw $50k on or about September 28th. I was intending to buy a new car and do some home improvements. The withdrawal failed and I found out it was because I had not yet reached the VIP3 status ($300K in investments). I emailed and questioned the “Platform” about that and I was told that as soon as I would send the 200K they would release the Withdrawal Denial and I would be able to withdraw any amount that I wanted. I found out later that the “Platform” that we had been using was not a legit platform on that particular web app; That real “Platform” was purchased by another crypto investing firm during the past year.
So she continued to suggest that to get the additional funds I should apply for a HELOC. I told her that if she borrowed 300K and gave me 200K, I would be able to reconcile my account. I could then withdraw 300K (her initial 40K plus an additional 60K, a gift) to help her make her VIP4 status (500K invested). If she would loan me 200K I could then return her 300K as soon as my withdrawal function was approved. She refused that scenario.
Instead she told me she would not promise any more than another 50K to my account and she couldn’t see the reasoning behind my suggestion. I had a house to do a HELOC, so what was my problem?
I know now that this was a scam and was not legitimate. I felt more and more that it was definitely a scam based on emails I received from the “Platform support” team. Their Emails did not answer any of my concerns and it was then that I became very fearful that I would never recover my 60K investment.
After calling the Web app support and speaking to them about the situation I was told that the platform I used is not used by them anymore. This past year it had been sold to another Crypto firm and was being used as a Trading Platform on a number of other sites but not on the web app I was using.
When I told my scammer what I had found out, she told we were using the “Pro” Platform site, which you must be invited into. I didn’t believe that and at that point I terminated all communication between her and myself. She then reported to me that her Facebook account is messed up and wanted to know what I did. Then all of a sudden I could not reach her. I see now that it was all part of the scam.
I am embarrassed and disgusted with myself and the whole matter. And I am depressed too. I considered taking my own life as I felt so stupid that I didn’t think I could ever recover from this scam. That was my life savings. But I couldn’t do that as I think that is cowardly and it would have left a huge financial mess for my wife.
So now I am trying to stop others from this same mistake. It is too late for me but not for others, if I could get to them first. If anyone has any information about this woman I would appreciate it. I also wondered whether she was actually a woman. The name she used is one of the most common Asian names. I must have found hundreds of people with the same name in my searches.
Don’t be taken in by ANYONE sending mistaken messages, meant for someone else. Since then I have had others do the same thing and have been telling them to go F themselves. I hope that someday I will meet this person and beat her silly! She deserves even worse treatment than that. My money will never be recovered and at the moment I have been unable to find any employment. Being 74 years old does not help…