In recent years, the pandemic and global economic downturn have caused many to feel anxious about the economic situation. The argument that "keeping money in the bank equals devaluation" has only intensified this anxiety. In situations where wage increases are not possible to offset this anxiety, many choose to invest their savings rather than keep them in the bank to earn interest. However, investing is a high-risk activity. The risks include not just the potential loss of the invested capital but also the risk of being deceived.
Nowadays, various scam websites have formed an industry chain, with agencies specifically providing website building and operation services for scam sites. With just a monetary investment, they can create a seemingly professional website for you, even forging regulatory and registration information, deceiving most investors.
Jiaoyi Encyclopedia has always been educating investors about various scam websites, but many investors still end up being deceived. Recently, an investor from Mexico, referred to as A, was scammed. Let's share his experience:
A met a girl named B on Facebook, who claimed to be from Hong Kong, China, visiting family in Mexico and planning to stay for two years.
Afterward, the two became online friends and started to communicate online. Six months later, B felt the time was right and invited A to join an investment platform, which is also recorded on our platform as a scam site. Unfortunately, A did not notice this and trusted the recommendation of his online friend, entering the website known as FTooo.
Initially, A still maintained some rationale and did not deposit a large sum of money, but started by investing a small amount. In this process, he also earned some profits, hence his trust in the platform gradually increased, leading him to invest more and more until he eventually deposited 40,000 Mexican Pesos (about 17,500 CNY), which led to a profit surge to 184,000 USDT (about 1.303 million CNY).
At this point, A wanted to withdraw his money. He began trying to withdraw, but the platform requested he pay 24,000 USDT to release the funds. Having already paid 17,000 USDT in "fees" before, he believed the platform, but after paying the fee, the platform still did not allow him to withdraw, setting up various barriers asking for more fees, otherwise, he would not be able to withdraw the funds.
A finally realized something was wrong and started to seek legal advice. He contacted a lawyer named Victor Hollender, who provided him with a fake SEC website, claiming he could attempt to request a refund from it. However, when A accessed the site, it showed his account had been frozen and demanded a payment of 1,057 USDT to unfreeze it so he could continue with the withdrawal.
Of course, A did not fall for it this time, but he had already invested a total of 44,000 USDT, and the 184,000 USDT displayed in his account was still inaccessible (the website displayed USD instead of USDT).
During this period, A had negotiated with the customer service staff of FTooo for a long time, but to no avail. They continued to persuade him from all angles to increase his investment, otherwise, he could not withdraw his funds. Here are some screenshots of their conversations.
Currently, A has not received any follow-up solutions and can only look for ways to expose this situation. Every investor hopes not to encounter such situations, so it's important to learn from A's experience.
Firstly, it's crucial to remain vigilant. Making online friends is quite normal, but when someone starts recommending platforms, be cautious. When choosing investment platforms, ensure they are safe and reliable after thorough investigation and verification, rather than entering them merely based on advertisements or promotions.
Secondly, for brokers, regulation is essential. Make sure they can be found on local regulatory websites, so you have recourse to relevant institutions and administrators if problems arise.
Lastly, be cautious when it comes to money, whether depositing or withdrawing. A refused to pay the fees requested by the so-called lawyer after realizing he had been scammed, avoiding further deception in a desperate situation.
