Scam Type

Bitcoin Investment Scam

Red Flag

  • Guaranteed short-term profits with no transparency.
  •  Constant introduction of new fees.
  • Use of separate Bitcoin addresses for different payments.

Details

The victim joined a trading blog on social media, where he met two individuals—“Mr. Charlie” and “Tina”—claiming to represent Fitbela Epro Limited, a UK-based Forex trading firm. They persuaded him to open a Forex trading account on the Meta 5 Trading platform and promised high returns. The victim initially invested $10,000 and was told the account had grown significantly, prompting him to invest even more. Following their direction, he eventually sent a total of $92,000 via wire transfer. Later, they claimed his account was now worth $200,000. When the victim attempted to withdraw his funds, he was told he needed to pay $87,000 in taxes before any money could be released. At that point, he recognized it as a scam.

Scammer Behaviour

The scammer used social media to make contact and establish trust, followed by staged promises of fast, compounding profits to lure in increasing amounts of money. She manipulated the victim into repeatedly paying new fees and taxes, delaying payout each time until finally cutting off communication altogether.

Potential Lost Funds

$14,000

Final Outcome

The victim received no returns and lost the full amount. Communication with the scammer was cut off after requesting a refund.