Scam Spotlight: Targeted Investment Scam

Recently, a consumer reported to DATCP they had been tricked into investing almost $40,000 in a fraudulent cryptocurrency by a scammer who impersonated the consumer’s online course instructor, and lost about $139,000 in total over the length of the scam.

Here’s what happened: The consumer had taken a legitimate online course about how to effectively sell products on Amazon. They were satisfied with the course and pleased when the instructor contacted them later via social media to check on their progress. What the consumer didn’t know was that this wasn’t really their instructor – it was a scammer impersonating him.

The fake instructor offered to help the consumer invest in cryptocurrency. After investing through a platform secretly controlled by the scammer, the consumer couldn’t withdraw any of their investments and was faced with constant obstacles, like needing to pay to “unlock” their account. After every problem was resolved, another problem occurred that required more payments. The consumer quit trying and stopped investing. Months later, the consumer noticed the money in their investment account had increased to over $1 million. It is possible this number was fabricated by the scammer to attract the consumer’s attention.

The consumer contacted the fake instructor again to retrieve the money in the account and was told it could be shipped to them in the form of physical bills. After another elaborate runaround involving a variety of fake people and businesses, the consumer had paid for numerous fake shipping and customs fees, fuel costs, taxes, and other miscellaneous costs to have the $1 million delivered to their home. The money never arrived and the consumer reported the scam to DATCP.

The takeaway: This is an example of a ‘pig butchering’ scam, where the scammer spends a lot of time and resources convincing a target to invest in a fraudulent scheme and then takes off with their money. Consumers should be skeptical about too-good-to-be-true ‘investment opportunities,’ even if they come from someone they know and trust. Online identities can be easily faked by scammers, who know how to find information about their targets and tailor their schemes specifically to them. If a consumer is faced with this offer, if they are ‘getting the runaround,’ or if they become suspicious for any reason, they should stop and talk to a friend or family member about the situation.