The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted almost every single aspect of life. Since the physical contact between humans had to be reduced to a minimum, love dates and romantic activities became increasingly popular on dating applications. And while some people found their soulmates online, others turned into victims of cryptocurrency scammers who drained a significant chunk of their savings.
One such example is 33-year-old Tho Vu, who fell in love with a mysterious lover named Ze Zhao. After messaging on Hinge for several months, the couple began planning their wedding and honeymoon. Unfortunately for Ms Vu, the man pretended to like her and allegedly took $300,000 worth of bitcoins from her.
In a separate case on WhatsApp, another scammer lured the 24-year-old social media producer – Niki Hutchinson – to invest $300,000 in digital assets. Needless to say, she never saw that money again.
love can be painful
Crypto scammers are getting more and more creative. When Ze Zhao met Tho Vu on Hinge, he introduced himself as a Chinese architect who has professional duties in Maryland, USA. After texting for a while, he started calling her “little darling” and promised to meet her and her family in China once the pandemic was over.
As soon as Zhao realized that his victim had developed a serious crush on him, he changed the topic of conversation into bitcoin and other digital assets. The scammer further asserted that he worked in customer service for a security company and urged the woman to invest her savings in a dubious crypto exchange. He promised that the investment would help them get married and go on a honeymoon.
“I had heard a lot about crypto in the news. I am a curious person and he was very knowledgeable about the whole trading process,” Vu admitted.
In the following weeks, the victim sent over $300K worth of bitcoin (almost her entire life savings) to an account on the Hong Kong trading venue OSL. At first, the platform looked legitimate and provided 24/7 online customer support.
Soon after, however, Mr. Zhao seized the communication with the victim. Instead of starting a life together, Ms. Vu realized that the money she was sending was not going to the exchange account but to the scammer’s digital wallet.
“I thought I knew him. Everything was a lie,” she regretted.
Another similar case
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), romance scams resulted in losses of $139 million in 2021, while individuals defrauded numbered more than 56,000. Cryptocurrency fraud accounted for more than 1,800 of these cases . Jane Lee – a researcher at online fraud prevention company Sift – explained why there is an increase in such scams:
“People are lonely from the pandemic, and crypto is super hot right now, The combination of the two has really made this a successful scam.”
One of those victims last year was the Tennessee residence – Niki Hutchinson. The 24-year-old visited a friend in California when she matched on Hinge with a man named Hao. He says he works in the fashion industry.
Once she returned to Tennesse, the two started messaging on WhatsApp. She told Hao that she was born in China, but later an American family adopted her. The man said he was Chinese, too, and he comes from the same province as her. Attempting to win her sympathy, he began calling her “sister,” joking that he was her brother.
They even had a video call once, where Hao only partially showed his face. “I thought he was shy,” the victim revealed.
Once he understood that Hutchinson had inherited around $300,000, Hao advised her to invest the funds in cryptocurrencies. “Bring some changes to your life and bring an extra income to your life,” he told her at the time.
Convinced by her persuasiveness, she started sending small amounts of money to a crypto exchange called ISAC. Eventually, she invested all the funds and even took out a loan to allocate more.
A few months later, Hutchinson tried to withdraw some of the funds but to no avail. Attempting to resolve the issue, she messaged Hao, who stopped replying to her. At that point, she realized she had become a victim of a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme.
The woman currently lives with her father in their motorhome – one of the few assets they have left. Although Hutchinson doesn’t expect her funds back, she hopes her bad experience can serve as an example for people in the future.
