A Webster County man is suing an unidentified group of individuals behind a growing crypto romance scam, alleging he was threatened with $232,793 in damages and organ harvesting.
The alleged theft arose from an increasingly common tactic known as “slaughtering pigs.” In this type of scam, victims befriend online perpetrators and gradually “fat” them for financial carnage. Victims are tricked into investing through her website, which mimics a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange.
Such scams are allegedly involved in activities such as: $2 billion loss It happened in 2022 alone.
In a newly filed federal lawsuit, Fort Dodge resident Brian Hoop claims he received a text message on his cell phone from an unknown number in September 2022. The sender of the text introduced herself as “Emma” to indicate that the text was intended for another person.
Over the next six months, Hoop and “Emma” continued to text daily, eventually exchanging intimate messages and pictures, with Hoop treating her as his girlfriend. In December 2022, three months into their virtual relationship, “Emma” told Hoop to generate a large amount of income through carefully timed cryptocurrency trading, a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange called Energize Trade. He said he volunteered to help Hoop execute his own trades where he believed it would be. .
Over the next few weeks, Hoop cleared his retirement and savings accounts, borrowed money from his bank and his mother, and eventually put $232,793 into Energize Trades, believing his investment had yielded a $1.1 million return. delivered to
When he tried to access these funds, he was asked to pay an additional $100,000 in taxes. After Hoop’s refusal, “Emma” threatened to release intimate conversations and photos with Hoop to others, and threatened the safety of Hoop and his family in an attempt to extort money. The complaint specifically alleges that “Emma” hired agents to ambush, torture, and harvest organs for sale on the black market.
In the lawsuit, an individual known only as “Emma” and 20 others referred to as “John Dawes” are all believed to reside in China and have been accused of proselytizing, extortion, conspiracy, unauthorized disclosure of intimate images, and inadvertent disclosure of intimate images. accused of inflicting emotional distress. Also named as a defendant is a Delaware corporation called MEXC Global, which allegedly manages accounts with Hoop’s funds.
According to the complaint, defendants’ conduct “was not an isolated incident, but part of a broader scheme to defraud other defenseless victims for the same or similar purposes and to achieve the same or similar results.” It says.
The suit seeks actual damages of at least $232,793. $698,378 in damages, three times the federal law. Statutory damages allowed by state law are $10,000 for him. punitive damages of at least $931,171; plus attorney fees.
Defendants have not yet filed a response to this lawsuit.
In March, the Federal Bureau of Investigation warn consumers Pig slaughter scams based on cryptocurrency exchanges are on the rise. According to the agency, perpetrators use fictitious identities to develop relationships with victims, often through dating apps, social media platforms, specialized networking sites and encrypted messaging apps. is said to be targeted. A new iteration of this scheme contains the so-called “”.liquidity mining” and “Earn by playing The game, according to the FBI.
during February The Federal Trade Commission said: In 2022, it is reported that about 70,000 people will fall victim to various romance scams, with a total loss of $1.3 billion.
