25 November 2023 , 21:50
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A grandad has lost his entire life savings in a cryptocurrency scam after being approached by a woman on .
Disabled veteran Bob Nelson thought he was investing the money wisely but it turned out to be a scam.
He3 was approached by a young woman on social media, where they innocently began building their relationship, he revealed. During one of their conversations the woman brought up investing in crypto and Bob, from Fort Pierce, Florida, was intrigued. He hoped it was his big break.
“They were all very professional in how they were presenting this. I had no idea. No idea until all my money was gone,” Nelson told local CBS affiliate WPEC-TV.
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Bob speaks to reporters about being defrauded (cbs12)“Truly disappointing, humiliating, and infuriating,” he added.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, cryptocurrency schemes cost consumers $3.8 billion last year, twice as much as in 2021.
Bob explained how it happened: “She started telling me how much money she was making on bitcoin futures and that interested me, of course."
She convinced him to make an account on what he thought was a well known site called Curve, instead the one he was told to use was a fake replica. He watched his initial investment grow rapidly within weeks and he appeared to be making hundreds of thousands of dollars.
He carried on pouring money in, including even borrowing some. But when he tried to move the money into his digital wallet, it came up with a security error. It said he'd need to put in almost $100,000 more in order to access the money.
It was then he realised it was a scam. He said: “I don’t know where I go from here. I don't know. It's real tough."
He contacted both local and federal authorities but reclaiming money in cases like this can be very rare.
According to the FTC: "Only scammers will guarantee profits or big returns. Don’t trust people who promise you can quickly and easily make money in the crypto markets."
They also warn against mixing relationships with financial advice. Their website reads: "Never mix online dating and investment advice. If you meet someone on a dating site or app, and they want to show you how to invest in crypto, or asks you to send them crypto, that’s a scam."
They add: "Scammers guarantee that you’ll make money or promise big payouts with guaranteed returns. Nobody can make those guarantees. Much less in a short time. And there’s nothing “low risk” about cryptocurrency investments. So: if a company or person promises you’ll make a profit, that’s a scam. Even if there’s a celebrity endorsement or testimonials from happy investors. Those are easily faked."
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