The Expert Podcast

So we have a another example of the type of fraud cases that. Happened with Bitcoin. Cryptocurrency other types of scams that…Many victims fall into because of the fact there may seem like just credibility in this case. The victim was contacted by a scammer. That referenced many colleagues from their path They said look I used to work with. You and Joe Schmo here in this company in Oklahoma, remember when you know, you went to college with this person. And they'll drop names of people that you know, or have worked with or do work with. And even companies where used to work and starts that conversation going. At some point after many days weeks sometimes months they'll bring up the fact that there's an investment opportunity and the fact that they started out with this credibility. Might give you a false sense of security Well what's happening is they're looking you up. On LinkedIn on your social media, maybe even some commercial databases to find where you used to work, who are your colleagues who are your coworkers who are your relatives? And they use this information to paint themselves as somebody who knows about you or rosary referred to you. And that will open the door for them. To do an investment And initially they're not going to tell you Hey invest money in this. in this company, what they're going to do as part of that conversation is they're going to tell you that they made money in this investment, and it might just be a casual thing. They might tell you all. Congratulate me because I just made $20,000 on this cryptocurrency deal or they might send you a social media picture. Of them eating out at a fancy restaurant or on vacation and an island tropical destination and say, Congratulate me I just made 50 grand on this deal. And they're setting the bait. They're waiting for you to ask wait what deal did you make 50 grand on? And they'll even try to play hard to get oh just some deal Don't worry about it. And they'll get you to beg it out of them. What the deal is. And eventually once they kind of set the hook into reeling you in like a fish. They'll say well it's this deal through this company that does. Bitcoin or cryptocurrency…Well how can I get in it Well I don't know if you can that it was just something that I came up with They're going to play very hard to get, to get you to beg your way into this deal. Initially they're going to ask you for a small amount of money…five grand. Two grand. Eight grand whatever it is, and you're going to send some money to them relatively small amount It doesn't matter what the amount is initially. And right away they're going to send you. An account statement showing that you made all this money If you send them. $6,000 They'll send you a statement that says Hey your account was at 10 grand after a month. Right Maybe another statement 2000 more the next month. How can I send you more money then you'll invest even more, invest even more They'll keep taking money from you until you get to the point. Where you asked for a redemption or withdraw? Hey can I take some money out? Yeah you can take some money out but you have to pay taxes in audit fee. Broker fee whatever it is. And ask you to send more money in This is about the time you might start to realize that it's a scam. And that's when victims kind of wise up and realize they lost money. And then that's when they contact us about a, an asset investigation or recovery investigation. But. The thing to watch out for is somebody who you don't know that mentions maybe colleagues coworkers from your past as a way to get you involved with the conversation. Initially you may have. sound like they're looking for anything They're not asking you for money right away, but as soon as they do ask you for money, Think back in that conversation and ask yourself who are they talking about Who would they who did they mention? They mentioned Joe Schmoe or Sally or whoever from your past. Did they really know them? Right or did they just look it up somewhere online Did they find it on your social media Did they find it in your college your book? Did they find it in. wedding announcements for you. Funeral announcements. Right. So…this is a very common scenario and we've seen clients. lost millions of dollars. It needs to exit cases. So protect yourself from sending money And as always anytime you send somebody money make sure you know where the actual money is held, that you can verify third party not just a statement that somebody makes up on a laser printer or on a. some type of graphics program. Right They didn't Photoshop your results…The other thing you can do to test an investment If you send a small amount and you're at all concerned asked her a redemption asked her money back. If you get any kind of pushback for getting money back you know it's a scam.