Description

In September I was contacted through Facebook Messenger by a personal friend who believed she had found a legitimate online income opportunity. I later learned she was also a victim of this scam. She referred me to a platform using the name Youth Surge DIR / YSDIR / Direction Media. I joined at a free ‘VIP0’ level. After joining, I was encouraged to upgrade to higher ‘VIP’ levels by paying money with the promise of higher earnings. I paid approximately $1,120 to upgrade and later paid approximately $2,300 more. The platform showed fake ‘earnings’ inside my account, but I was unable to withdraw any funds. I was later told I needed to pay an additional $400 to “unlock” and “re-verify” my account to access my money. After paying this, I still could not withdraw funds. All payments were made using Bitcoin or Etherum through a cryptocurrency app and were sent to wallet addresses provided by the platform. This appears to be a coordinated cryptocurrency investment/employment scam designed to make victims keep paying more money while blocking withdrawals.