FTC issues urgent warning over crypto romance scams

[sept4]

https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2024/06/

what-do-if-your-online-love-interest-offers-teach-you-how-invest-your-money

“No one thinks their online love interest is going to scam them, but scammers are good at what they do. …

This all starts with someone contacting you — seemingly at random — on social media. But they’ve done their homework, checking out your profile and other information on the platform. That helps them say the right things to build a relationship…and before you know it, your new friend is talking money. They want to help you invest your money in the crypto markets, or they say they can teach you how to do it. You might think they have your financial well-being in mind, but they don’t. They only care about their own financial well-being. …

If you think someone you met on social media is a scammer, cut off contact. Tell the social media platform, and then tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Share this post in your socials to alert your followers of this scam.“

[sept4]

I couldn’t post the full link but if you Google the words it should come up.

[Donna Andersen]

Sept 4 – Thank you for sharing the story. Here’s the link.

What to do if your online love interest offers to teach you how to invest your money

https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2024/06/what-do-if-your-online-love-interest-offers-teach-you-how-invest-your-money

[sept4]

Thank you Donna.

CNN just posted a front page story about a suicide victim of the same romance scams calling it so-called “pig butchering” scams.

“The scams – mostly run out of Southeast Asia – are given that name because they involve “fattening up” victims before taking everything they have. The con artists behind them take on false online identities and spend months financially grooming their victims to get them to invest on fraudulent cryptocurrency websites.”

“Dennis Jones, an avid runner and photographer, was adored by his children and grandchildren. Described as “a bit of an activist” by his family, the 82-year-old spent much of his retirement working with refugees and debating politics online. But in the last few months of his life he withdrew from his family and, having been divorced for years, befriended a woman going by the name Jessie on Facebook.

The two had been talking online for months and built a close relationship. Eventually, Jessie convinced Dennis to invest in crypto.

Dennis complied. Without ever meeting Jessie in person, he spent everything he had, and when he had nothing left, she demanded more. Until one day the money disappeared, leaving him in ruin.”

“Dennis was one of countless victims of a massive global criminal operation predominantly run by Chinese gangs who have built a multibillion-dollar scam industry in Southeast Asia. There, they’ve assembled an army of scammers, many held against their will in guarded compounds and forced to con people all around the world out of their life savings.

It’s theft at a scale so large that investigators are now calling it a mass transfer of wealth from middle-class Americans to criminal gangs. Last year, the FBI estimates, pig butchering scams stole nearly $4 billion from tens of thousands of American victims, a 53% increase from the year before.”

“Social media is flooded with scammers hunting for victims, on WhatsApp, Facebook, LinkedIn and, increasingly, dating apps such as Bumble and Tinder.

“The unfortunate reality is that scammers may pull on the heartstrings on those looking for love or connection – on dating apps and on all online platforms,” a spokesman for Match group, which owns Tinder, said in a statement.”

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/17/asia/pig-butchering-scam-southeast-asia-dst-intl-hnk/index.html

[Author]

Posts