A 24-year-old lady from Tennessee, a state in the United States, lost $300,000 after falling victim to a crypto scam on a dating app.
Niki Hutchinson, a social media producer, acquired this substantial sum via the sale of her childhood home following her mother's death. But she has already lost everything after falling victim to a crypto romance scam last year.
According to Dailymail, Niki was visiting a friend in California last year when she connected on Hinge, a dating app, with a man named Hao. Hao allegedly informed her that he lived in the neighbourhood and was employed in the textile industry.
Niki and Hao continued to communicate over WhatsApp for more than a month after she returned to her home in Tennessee.
However, Niki had no idea that she was about to become a victim of a new sort of fraud – crypto romance scams.
When Niki informed Hao that she had recently received approximately $300,000, he advised her to engage it in bitcoin.
As per a snapshot of the conversation acquired by the NewYorkTimes, Hao once texted Niki, 'I want to teach you to invest in bitcoin when you are free, make some changes to your life, and bring an extra revenue to your life.'
Finally, Niki accepted Hao's proposal and transferred a tiny quantity of cryptocurrency to a digital wallet he supplied her, which he said was associated with an establishment on a cryptocurrency exchange named ICAC. She then proceeded to send more money once her money had properly shown on ICAC's website.
Niki was pleasantly surprised by the ease with which she could make money thanks to Hao's counsel, and she finally took out a loan to continue spending after making the call.
The Warning Signs
Niki first saw red signals in December 2021, as she was unable to make a withdrawal from her wallet. Then an ICAC customer service representative warned her that her account would be suspended until she paid her debts, which were in the hundreds of thousands of dollars!
Niki's practice of messaging Hao on a daily basis had, coincidentally, stopped at that point. Even in their previous video call, the man had just partially shown his face and abruptly hung up.
Niki's mistrust deepened as she realized how long she had been duped.
"I was thinking, oh, God, what have I done?" she told the NewYorkTimes.
Now, Niki Hutchinson is trying to play catch up while living with her father. She is also reportedly corresponding with authorities in Florida to pursue her scammer.
She was not, nevertheless, the only one who fell victim to scams last year.
As per government statistics, about 56,000 romantic scammers totaling $547 million in damages were reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2021.
