Impersonation
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.
The scammer posed as a trusted contact on Instagram to build quick credibility and shifted the conversation to WhatsApp for privacy. They offered fake incentives like adding money to the victim’s investment and showed inflated balances to lure in more funds and get additional victims involved. Withdrawal was blocked by requiring large upfront fees, and all contact stopped after payments were made.
$19,500+
The victims lost all invested funds and fee payments. It was confirmed that the individual they were speaking to was an impersonator. No funds were recovered.