Shreya Datta has converted some of her savings into cryptocurrency.
Philadelphia, United States:
The online “wine merchant” has been wooing her for months with his flirty smile and emoji-filled texts. Then he went for the kill, defrauding the Philadelphia-based tech professional out of $450,000 in a cryptocurrency romance scam.
The scam, which drained Shreya Datta, 37, of her savings and retirement funds while saddled her with debt, involved using digitally edited fake videos and text so sophisticated that she felt her “brain had been hacked”.
The scam is commonly known as “pig slaughter,” in which victims are likened to pigs that scammers have fattened with false love and affection before the proverbial slaughter, tricking them into a fake cryptocurrency investment.
The rapid growth of the scam, believed to be run by Southeast Asian crime syndicates, has led to billions of dollars in losses in the United States, with victims saying there are few resources to recover the money.
As is the case for many victims, Datta's experience began on a dating app — Hing, in her case, where last January she met “Ansel,” who introduced himself as a French wine merchant based in Philadelphia.
Datta said she was “charisma bombarded” as the conversation quickly moved to WhatsApp. A gym enthusiast with a dreamy smile deleted her Hinge profile to give her “focused attention,” a refreshing experience in the age of online flings.
They exchanged selfies and emojis and made short video calls in which the cute but “shy” man posed with a dog, later identified as a fake AI.
They texted daily, with Ansel inquiring about little things like whether she had eaten, taking advantage of Data's desire for a companion to take care of her after her divorce.
Plans for a physical encounter continued to fall through, but Data wasn't immediately suspicious. On Valentine's Day last year, she received a bouquet from Ansel from a flower shop in Philadelphia, with the card labeled “Honey Cream.”
When she sent him a selfie with flowers, he sprayed it with a red kiss emoji, according to WhatsApp correspondence seen by AFP.
“shock”
In between the tender exchanges, Ansel sold her a dream.
Datta, from India, told AFP, “The dream was that I would retire early and live well. What is your plan?”
“He says, 'You've invested all this money. Do you really want to work until you're 65?'
He sent her a link to download the cryptocurrency trading app — which comes with two-factor authentication to make it appear legitimate — and showed her what he called his money-making processes through annotated screenshots seen by AFP.
Datta transferred some of her savings into cryptocurrency on US-based exchange Coinbase, and the fake app initially allowed her to withdraw her early gains, boosting her confidence to invest more.
“When you make astronomical amounts of money trading, it messes with your natural perception of risk,” Datta said in hindsight.
“You feel like, 'Wow, I can do more.'
Ansell urged her to invest more savings, take out loans and, despite her reluctance, liquidate her retirement fund.
By March, Datta's investment of about $450,000 on paper had doubled, but alarm bells went off when she tried to withdraw the amount and the app demanded a personal “tax.”
She turned to her brother in London, who reverse-researched the photos Ancel had sent her and found they were of a German fitness influencer.
“When I realized the whole thing was a scam and all the money was gone, I was experiencing symptoms of PTSD — I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, I couldn't function,” Datta said.
“It was very painful.”
– “brainwashing” –
Dating sites are full of misinformation, with Facebook groups like “Tinder Dating Tricks” and “Are We Dating the Same Person?” This phenomenon is emerging, and researchers are calling for the increased use of AI-generated profile photos.
But using romance as a means to commit financial fraud raises a new alarm.
Last year, more than 40,000 people reported losses totaling more than $3.5 billion due to cryptocurrency fraud, including pig slaughter, to the bureau's Internet Crime Complaint Center, the FBI told AFP.
But this estimate is likely low, as many victims tend not to report the crime due to shame.
“The horrific thing about this crime is that it aims to take every penny from its victim,” California Attorney General Erin West told AFP, adding that she is “inundated with victims every day.”
Activists say self-harm among victims is a common concern, with most unable to recover their losses, and some falling prey to another generation of scammers – fake recovery agents.
Datta, who is undergoing treatment and moved to a smaller apartment to manage her debts, said she had little hope of recovery after reporting the crime to the FBI and Secret Service.
Neither body responded to AFP's inquiries about its own case. Neither did Coinbase, which informed Data in an email — after being scammed — that it “may have sent cryptocurrency to a fraudulent investment platform.”
What's even more painful, Datta said, is dealing with general judgments like: “How could you be so stupid?”
“There should be no shame in becoming a victim of this elaborate psychological fraud,” West said.
“The victims have really been brainwashed.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
