Description

I am a victim of a crypto scam introduced by a linkedin/whatsapp user. In early February this individual/scammer invited me to connect via Linkedin. Then the scammer convinced me to move the conversations to whatsapp. The number the scammer used for whatsapp was 1-985-317-2300. The scammer then introduced me to a crypto trading platform called PBEX (https://pbexres.com/#/home and https://pbexep.com/#/home). Regrettably against my better judgement I agreed to the so-called "contract trading" on this fake platform. Over the 2-month period March-May 2023, under the scammer's "guidance" I invested hundreds of thousands worth of cryptocurrency on this fake platform (about half of which was borrowed money) and made $1,300,000 profit on paper. The platform initially allowed me to withdraw small sums of money (a few hundred to a couple of thousands), but when I tried to withdraw more money to pay off a loan I had taken to fund the trading, they demanded that I pay 20% of the total asset value for them to conduct a so-called audit before they could allow the withdrawal. Only then did I realize I was a victim of an organized financial scam.