3

I have to admit, greed overcame me - and made some questionable investment choices with a person who I think is a scam artist.

I gave $12.5k, I have not given banking information. The scammer asked me to send money to a blockchain.com wallet they setup in my name. I secured the account before depositing funds (changed password/ 2FA etc). But funds got pulled after that. Also following up with blockchain.com now. The scammers phone is from NY state.

The are asking for more money for "investment", and still talking to me. Is there a way to get help from law enforcement in such scenarios. I am in USA.

8
  • 2
    You should provide some more detail - Approximately how much money has changed hands? Did you ONLY send money or have you given personal information like bank account numbers or banking passwords? Is the person asking known to you in real life or only online? Add a state specific tag and even get down to the city if you're comfortable sharing that. This may end up being a better question for Law.SE
    – Freiheit
    Aug 21, 2020 at 13:34
  • 2
    @Freiheit I gave $12.5k, I have not given banking information. The scammer asked me to send money to a blockchain.com wallet they setup in my name. I secured the account before depositing funds (changed password/ 2FA etc). But funds got pulled after that. Also following up with blockchain.com now. The scammers phone is from NY state.
    – Imakesense
    Aug 21, 2020 at 15:18
  • 2
    Changing password and 2FA doesn't do anything. It's like putting your debit card in a vault when the scammer has a pile of signed checks. Sure, you've locked out your wallet, but your wallet isn't the only way of accessing the funds. Aug 21, 2020 at 18:48
  • 1
    I'm curious how you were convinced it was legit in the first place? Sharing those details won't help you recover your money, but it might help prevent others from falling victim to a similar scam in the future.
    – TTT
    Aug 22, 2020 at 16:24
  • 1
    Don't mean to be a Debby downer here, but in the future, never ever "invest" in something you don't understand. Stick to physical assets you control (after spending a loooot of time learning about them) or super boring low cost index funds run by super legit public companies.
    – Jonast92
    Aug 24, 2020 at 13:50

1 Answer 1

12

Tell your $12.5k "goodbye".

The probability of getting your money back is essentially zero.

Explanation:

  1. The scammer set up the account. It is their account, not yours. They have the options to get their access back by whatever password-recovery functions the website has. They may have set up automatic trading functions and/or automated transfers before you got access. And most important, it is up to you to prove that it is them abusing your account and not you abusing their account.

  2. Phone numbers in the USA are easy to spoof. The scammer is probably overseas and well out of US or US-friendly jurisdiction.

You may try to complain to the police, but you will be probably wasting your time (and the policeman's time as well).

You may also try to complain to blockchain.com, but see point 1.

0

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .