A man, who met someone on the dating app Grindr, ended up being a victim of a cryptocurrency scam, losing over £20,000.
The victim, who asked not to be named, said he met a man who goes by the name David. The victim, whom the online news publication named “James Evans,” described David as friendly and chatty, The Guardian reported.
“It started off as a normal conversation. We moved to WhatsApp and exchanged messages. After a few days he started telling me about crypto trading and how I could earn money from it,” recalled the victim, adding he honestly thought it was a genuine connection.
Scammer goes to work
Evan’s case was sort of unique, as the culprit did not ask for any kind of financial help, employing a different tactic to carry out his scheme.
According to the victim, the man he met via the dating app persuaded him to sign up for a fake investment.
David first convinced him to set up an account with Binance and pay £500. The victim then used his First Direct account to pay into the site.
From there, the fraudster demonstrated how to move his funds to a trading platform where it could be invested. Evans paid on three separate occasions, with total amount reaching £12,000.
An elaborate plan
The suspect walked Evans through moving the money and investing it. The screen appeared to show the still-unsuspecting victim still making money and still able to transfer back to Binance.
A First Direct queried payment to Binance for £3,000 was approved by Evans. He said, “At this stage, I was still keen to take part and did not believe I was part of a scam.”
But after some time, Evans can no longer use his account, realizing he was scammed for over £20,000.
Image courtesy of Cointelegraph News/YouTube