An anonymous UK resident reportedly parted with nearly $200,000 of his savings after a woman he messaged in a dating app conned him. The man admitted he felt so desperate after the scam that he considered taking his life.
‘In The Blink of an Eye, Everything Was Gone’
According to a recent coverage by BBC, the British citizen, called Tom (which is not his real name), was struggling with a break-up in 2020 and joined a dating application to look for companionship. Shortly after, a woman who introduced herself as Jia from Hong Kong approached him, and the duo started messaging.
Tom revealed that he and his online date were discussing their mutual future. Jia also portrayed herself as a successful cryptocurrency investor with “inside knowledge” and lured the man into dreaming of building a wealthy lifestyle with her.
“Issues were flagging up to me, but everything she was doing to build up trust with me was enough to keep me there,” the man admitted.
At one point, the woman asked Tom if he knew anything about bitcoin. The latter said he had invested in it a few years back. Then, Jia directed Tom to an online trading platform and instructed him to download the application on his mobile phone.
Once again, the British felt suspicious but at the same time lucky as he seemed to have met someone with “insider information” who could possibly make him rich. The woman encouraged Tom to keep making investments on the dubious app, telling him he would…
