Lots of self-doubt & shame have manifested from it. I want to share to help prevent others from getting scammed.
And so I can heal:
The @FBI calls this scam 'pig butchering'.
The tactics are as disgusting as the name.
Step 1: After mining apps for potential victims, scammers create fake profiles and initiate contact via DM or text message.
Their goal is to start a cordial convo in hopes of gaining trust.
In my case, the scammer's app of choice was @instagram.
They portrayed themselves as a known crypto investor with an active podcast and YouTube channel.
@instagram showed we had mutual connections, so I didn't think to dig into the profile.
Initial conversations had nothing to do with investing.
We talked about dogs, podcasting, family - normal things.
I was under the impression that I was befriending a 'crypto bro,' and what I learned from him, I could share with other women and underrepresented people.
Step 2: After building trust, the scammer introduces the crypto investment opportunity.
The scammer created an @instagram story with a poll gauging interest in learning about crypto staking.
I responded, 'yes.'
That's when the scammer shared the 'opportunity.'
The scammer shared a link to a staking platform (which I'd never heard of) and told me to create an account.
It took me about a week to talk myself into doing this.
But somehow, this person played into my natural curiosity and being in a place where I wanted to take a risk.
I thought, what's the harm in putting in $500 worth of eth and seeing what happens?
That was all he said I needed to get started ($500-$1,000).
So:
The scammer asked to move our chat from @instagram to @telegram.
It was kind of odd, but I trusted this person, so we started chatting via @telegram.
In less than 12 hours, my 'dashboard' showed my $500 had grown more than 3x.
Step 3: The scammer 'fattens' the pig.
The scammer told me about this amazing opportunity and that if I invested an additional amount of eth, the platform would match it.
I had my mind set on playing with $500. This was way past my comfort level.
The scammer's tone also started to change to be more demanding.
But again, they had gained my trust, and after talking it over with my husband, I transferred more eth.
Over the course of a week, my 'dashboard' was showing stupid returns. It was actually making me uncomfortable.
My husband began having doubts.
I was still hopeful.
The scammer's next attempt to get me to invest is when I started getting uneasy.
He said I should become a 'full validator' which would require an investment of 32 eth.
If I did this, I could withdraw eth at any time during the staking period versus waiting until the end.
I started losing sleep over this, and early one morning, I started doing research.
I went back to @instagram and searched for the profile name.
I could have thrown up after what I saw.
There were four profiles of this person, three of which appeared fake.
Including the one, I was talking to.
After further searching the profile, I stumbled across an 'About this profile' option.
This showed the profile was based in Nigeria and had changed names 3 times.
The scammer said they were from California.
I realized then I'd been scammed.
At that point in my discovery, I still had 2 weeks before my 'staking period' was up, and I could withdraw.
I went back and forth between whether to confront this person with this information.
I decided to call him out.
Naturally, he denied that the account was fake.
I pleaded just to get my initial investment back, but he said I would have to wait until the 'staking period' was up.
This was another two weeks of why me.
This was another two weeks of self-doubt.
This was another two weeks of shame.
This was another two weeks of agony.
But in that dark time, there was light.
That light came from sharing and connecting with others.
I was supported by @salemleigh, @shippfaced_eth, @macklegravy and my @CoinQueens sisters @web3heather, @iytai, and @mh2studios.
And I connected with @debranipp, who, based on her experience, helped prepare me for what was to come.
Step 4: The scammer butchers the pig.
I held out hope that I might at least get my investment back - or at least some of it.
But I was butchered anyway.
The scammer said if I became a 'validator,' I could withdraw my money.
I contacted 'customer service' on the site, which was a waste because it was being controlled by the scammer.
I was done wasting my time, so I deleted my account.
Thousands of dollars and self-worth lost.
Pig butchering is considered a 'super scam.'
This can happen to anyone - even people who consider themselves digitally savvy.
According to @Forbes worldwide losses in these scams are estimated in the tens of billions of U.S. dollars.
Not to mention the emotional anguish.
It's hard not to let this experience rot my feelings for blockchain and cryptocurrency.
I remind myself technology is neither good nor bad.
It's how people use it.
And although this is a very dark side of crypto, there is so much light in the beautiful people I have met.
So, I'm not going anywhere.
I believe the universe knew I could handle this experience and turn it into something good.
I am holding space for anyone who has been the victim of a scam - crypto-related or not.
I will continue to bring awareness to crypto-related scams.
If you have been the victim of an internet-related crime, you can report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
You can also read this FBI public service announcement to learn more about the pig butchering scam.
If you've made it this far - thank you for reading my story.
*This article was adapted from a Twitter thread by Jessie Lynn*
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