Yik Li was swiping through Hinge in January, looking to connect with some new people.
The 34-year-old Carrollton resident was getting to know a man on the dating app who went by the name “Dillen.” Dillen had a profile that seemed like anyone else on the app — photos of himself cooking, working out and doing other normal things that might cause someone interested in Dallas to swipe right.
He told Li he was from France and operated a wine warehouse in Dallas.
Li took a chance and got to know him. He was actively showing affection, with constant compliments and talk of the future. She wasn’t really looking to date anyone. But things took a turn when she opened up about her investments in cryptocurrency.
Dillen told Li to invest online at coindealst.com, a name closely similar to coindeal.com, a cryptocurrency exchange site located in the Caribbean. All the while, he was love-bombing – an affectionate, yet abusive way of influencing someone in a relationship.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/Y7O57VC5IFCJ7ANHSW6DBE3ZDY.jpg)
“He introduced me to this website and I was like, maybe I am gonna do a little bit and test the water,” Li said. “I’ll see how the website goes. And so I did.”
The site was appealing because it allowed for short-trading, where Li would make more money in her crypto…
