Is this a scam? What to do next.

[Distraction]

So okay, this story didn't happen to me. It happened to a friend (let's call him Bob) of a friend (I will call him Sam).

Bob came to me asking is this a scam and is it legal. Bob doesn't know much about bitcoins and crypto, Sam even less.
Sam somehow got in contact with people who offers to open an account and invest into crypto. These people guaranteed a lot of profit. Sam paid 500 EUR at first and other two times a 2000 EUR.
What is interesting, that these people calling him to invest more. But he has an app (I don't know what app, because I heard it from Bob and he doesn't know either) which shows that Sam has doubled his investment (9000 EUR), but he cannot withdraw it now and these people (from Russia) are calling and rushing him to invest even more.

Bob asked me about that, I said that this is some nonsense. There shouldn't be people calling you and asking to transfer money. All is too fishy.

What should Sam do? Will the police help?

It seems to me that it is definitely a scam. My guess is that the people your friend contacts are trying to attract your friend into their lie. They will most probably stole all of your friend's money, when he sends them more.

[Betwrong]

This is a typical scam scheme:

1. They ask you to invest $1,000 promising that the money will be doubled in a week.

2. A week later you check your "balance", using the app downloaded from the scammers, and see that, indeed, your money has doubled.

3. You celebrate thinking that you've found a way of making easy money. Tell your friends to follow your example, and invest more in order to make more than $1,000 per week.

4. After some time you try to withdraw some of your earnings, but nothing happens. You contact the scammers, and they persuade you to wait a month more for whatever reasons ... then a week more, another week and so on.

In the best case scenario they allow you to withdraw 10%-20% of the money invested, telling you that it's a part of your profit, and that your investment and other part of the profit still remains intact, and that you will be able to withdraw it later. They are doing this because they want you to tell your friends that not only you can see your profits on your computer screen, but you can actually withdraw it. This way they hope to attract more victims to their scam scheme(and sometimes it works btw).

Tell your friends to try to withdraw at least something, and maybe it will work. But what I'm 100% sure that they will never see all the invested amount again.

[coin-investor]

So okay, this story didn't happen to me. It happened to a friend (let's call him Bob) of a friend (I will call him Sam).

Bob came to me asking is this a scam and is it legal. Bob doesn't know much about bitcoins and crypto, Sam even less.
Sam somehow got in contact with people who offers to open an account and invest into crypto. These people guaranteed a lot of profit. Sam paid 500 EUR at first and other two times a 2000 EUR.
What is interesting, that these people calling him to invest more. But he has an app (I don't know what app, because I heard it from Bob and he doesn't know either) which shows that Sam has doubled his investment (9000 EUR), but he cannot withdraw it now and these people (from Russia) are calling and rushing him to invest even more.

Bob asked me about that, I said that this is some nonsense. There shouldn't be people calling you and asking to transfer money. All is too fishy.

What should Sam do? Will the police help?

You don't even have to think twice to think that's it's a scam, it is a scam you should call the police and your lawyer, and if these people cannot present documents to prove their claim and they do not have a certificate that they can do this kind of business, then they should be prosecuted,
but based on your story those people come from Russia, this is unfortunate, no way to get them liable unless your friend can go to Russia, this is a costly lesson for him.

[FlamingFingers]

What Sam should do is simple,  invite the police to trace the suspects and don't send any money to the scammers again,  it's purely a scam,  because it looks so fishy had to keep on telling him to send money again despite not seeing any return from previous investment.

[AicecreaME]

So okay, this story didn't happen to me. It happened to a friend (let's call him Bob) of a friend (I will call him Sam).

Bob came to me asking is this a scam and is it legal. Bob doesn't know much about bitcoins and crypto, Sam even less.
Sam somehow got in contact with people who offers to open an account and invest into crypto. These people guaranteed a lot of profit. Sam paid 500 EUR at first and other two times a 2000 EUR.
What is interesting, that these people calling him to invest more. But he has an app (I don't know what app, because I heard it from Bob and he doesn't know either) which shows that Sam has doubled his investment (9000 EUR), but he cannot withdraw it now and these people (from Russia) are calling and rushing him to invest even more.

Bob asked me about that, I said that this is some nonsense. There shouldn't be people calling you and asking to transfer money. All is too fishy.

What should Sam do? Will the police help?

Yes, Sam was became a victim of scammer. Didn't Sam ask why the stranger need him to invest again? That was a bib amount of money dude, your friend became neglectful about the moment He talked to the scammer. But I guess after the incident happened He learn from his lesson now.

When we are searching a way to earn big amount of cash, always remember that there are also people who wants the same but want to earn it in a very filthy way.

Didn't Sam ask why the stranger need him to invest again?

Sam shouldn't deposited his money in the beginning nor asking this question, my presumption about this was Sam didn't even think for a second, the moment the scammer ask him if he wanted to invest in cryptocurrency to earn big profits, he acted as fast as he can being afraid  to lose this kind of opportunity which he thought was a legit one. Almost all of the beginners in cryptocurrency are like Sam, there are only few who are smart enough to be not a victim of this corrupted scheme.

[bhabygrim]

So okay, this story didn't happen to me. It happened to a friend (let's call him Bob) of a friend (I will call him Sam).

Bob came to me asking is this a scam and is it legal. Bob doesn't know much about bitcoins and crypto, Sam even less.
Sam somehow got in contact with people who offers to open an account and invest into crypto. These people guaranteed a lot of profit. Sam paid 500 EUR at first and other two times a 2000 EUR.
What is interesting, that these people calling him to invest more. But he has an app (I don't know what app, because I heard it from Bob and he doesn't know either) which shows that Sam has doubled his investment (9000 EUR), but he cannot withdraw it now and these people (from Russia) are calling and rushing him to invest even more.

Bob asked me about that, I said that this is some nonsense. There shouldn't be people calling you and asking to transfer money. All is too fishy.

What should Sam do? Will the police help?

It is so easy to see that it is a scam .
There are so many ways for them to know about crypto if they really want to learn all they have to do is search the internet have so many information that they could use.
And of course the app that your friend is using is just a tool for scamming people.
I have seen something like that before someone from Telegram tried to scam me by asking for help and giving me the details of some unknown trading site and in the site it shows that I have a huge balance but I need to deposit first before I could make a withdrawal.

[iMark]

That is a scam. I think the app itself is a fraud (balance changed by the developer or those who request Sam to deposit). The method similar to 'exchange withdraws' help where you need to deposit first before you can withdraw (if that's even possible).

Stop sending them more money. There is no way in hell legit business can double your investment overnight and not allow you to withdraw anything.

I don't know about the police, but you should report it anyway. The police might be able to help you as long as you have enough information about those who called Sam to invest more.

Honestly the police won't take the case that you are taking too seriously. they rarely solve scam investment problems in online, because they are difficult to track and their owners are anonymous. That's obviously a scam, because no legit investment site has personally contacted you to increase your capital to invest more. In an era like this, it should be easy to realize which investments are scam and legit. You have to be more selective dude

[teosanru]

So okay, this story didn't happen to me. It happened to a friend (let's call him Bob) of a friend (I will call him Sam).

Bob came to me asking is this a scam and is it legal. Bob doesn't know much about bitcoins and crypto, Sam even less.
Sam somehow got in contact with people who offers to open an account and invest into crypto. These people guaranteed a lot of profit. Sam paid 500 EUR at first and other two times a 2000 EUR.
What is interesting, that these people calling him to invest more. But he has an app (I don't know what app, because I heard it from Bob and he doesn't know either) which shows that Sam has doubled his investment (9000 EUR), but he cannot withdraw it now and these people (from Russia) are calling and rushing him to invest even more.

Bob asked me about that, I said that this is some nonsense. There shouldn't be people calling you and asking to transfer money. All is too fishy.

What should Sam do? Will the police help?

Assuming that you belong to somewhere in Europe because you are saying your friends paid EUR. I think you may go to the police this definitely is a scam no legit scheme would invite you to bring more money like this. If they could have been selling some service or bot or API to earn profits even then I would have tried to have second look on that app but this definitely is scam. Police might just help in tracking down those people(What if they are from your city only using proxy of Russia isn't difficult). But if they are really from Russia then I don't really think anything can help you just try customer support if this site does offer any and ask them for money back.

[Eugenar]

So okay, this story didn't happen to me. It happened to a friend (let's call him Bob) of a friend (I will call him Sam).

Bob came to me asking is this a scam and is it legal. Bob doesn't know much about bitcoins and crypto, Sam even less.
Sam somehow got in contact with people who offers to open an account and invest into crypto. These people guaranteed a lot of profit. Sam paid 500 EUR at first and other two times a 2000 EUR.
What is interesting, that these people calling him to invest more. But he has an app (I don't know what app, because I heard it from Bob and he doesn't know either) which shows that Sam has doubled his investment (9000 EUR), but he cannot withdraw it now and these people (from Russia) are calling and rushing him to invest even more.

Bob asked me about that, I said that this is some nonsense. There shouldn't be people calling you and asking to transfer money. All is too fishy.

What should Sam do? Will the police help?

What Sam and Bob should have is a wide knowledge on the platform that they are entering, as well as the product knowledge. Right now, it was clear that the investment wasn't true every time that the business is calling him to invest event more. No investment do that in reality. But if they will be aware of the systems, they might avoid that and saved the money they have to be invested on legit investment platforms.

[ReiMomo]

Absolutely, That's a scam, Well I think you can do nothing about it and all you need to do is to accept the fact that you've lost the money that you invested. I would highly suggest not to trust anybody especially when it comes to money. Also, you need to check first if it's a trusted site before you invest. Digging research is a must and spent time on it to study, sometimes our greediness will push on us into one of their victims.

[ReiMomo]

you can compare it after trying both methods, there must be calculations when mining, whether it can cover the costs incurred
certainly for trading can't be considered something simple, we must pay attention to many factors and the possibility of things happening

Both of them are good. Cloud mining and bitcoin buying as well. They have a different way to earn also they have different ways to lose your money. If you think cloud mining is better. Then, that's good for you but I would prefer bitcoin buying because it is profitable for long term investment and less hassle as well. On my own, I better to chose simply buying of bitcoin.

[jonval21]

is amazin how scam people use the same trick and people get scamed. people should first read and understand the white paper befoare use crypto. where the Byzantine Generals Problem is solved.

[serjent05]

This is a typical scam scheme:

1. They ask you to invest $1,000 promising that the money will be doubled in a week.

2. A week later you check your "balance", using the app downloaded from the scammers, and see that, indeed, your money has doubled.

3. You celebrate thinking that you've found a way of making easy money. Tell your friends to follow your example, and invest more in order to make more than $1,000 per week.

4. After some time you try to withdraw some of your earnings, but nothing happens. You contact the scammers, and they persuade you to wait a month more for whatever reasons ... then a week more, another week and so on.

Same scenario on the person I know.  They were convinced to join an investment scheme where their money will increase exponentially, they tried to convince me to join them but I deny them saying it is a possible scam scheme.  After sometime, they were so happy because they saw their money growing on their account (website account).  After some months I ask them how is their investment going, they said they already profiting 3 folds, when I asked them if they were able to withdraw, they then say they have to wait for 1 year to be able to withdraw.  Now when I asked them about it, they told me that the company is gone and they lost $40k on that investment.  The quoted message fit in this scenario, so whenever we saw this kind of scheme, we should be warry about it and immediately stay away from it.

is amazin how scam people use the same trick and people get scamed. people should first read and understand the white paper befoare use crypto. where the Byzantine Generals Problem is solved.

Greed cornered them for sure, no matter how knowledgeable we are and how we understand the whitepaper, if greed engulf us, there is no escaping on any scam attempt.

[Betwrong]

This is a typical scam scheme:

1. They ask you to invest $1,000 promising that the money will be doubled in a week.

2. A week later you check your "balance", using the app downloaded from the scammers, and see that, indeed, your money has doubled.

3. You celebrate thinking that you've found a way of making easy money. Tell your friends to follow your example, and invest more in order to make more than $1,000 per week.

4. After some time you try to withdraw some of your earnings, but nothing happens. You contact the scammers, and they persuade you to wait a month more for whatever reasons ... then a week more, another week and so on.

Same scenario on the person I know.  They were convinced to join an investment scheme where their money will increase exponentially, they tried to convince me to join them but I deny them saying it is a possible scam scheme.  After sometime, they were so happy because they saw their money growing on their account (website account).  After some months I ask them how is their investment going, they said they already profiting 3 folds, when I asked them if they were able to withdraw, they then say they have to wait for 1 year to be able to withdraw.  Now when I asked them about it, they told me that the company is gone and they lost $40k on that investment.  The quoted message fit in this scenario, so whenever we saw this kind of scheme, we should be warry about it and immediately stay away from it.

But the most interesting part here is were they able to withdraw at least something? OP is asking "What to do next?", and I think we can give some advices, based on our own experience or on the experiences of our friends.

Can you ask your friends, what part of their investment they were allowed to withdraw? Some scammers use more sophisticated schemes than those when you are asked to deposit more and more. They allow you to withdraw a part of your "profits" so that you could think they are legit and invest much more and convince your friends to invest as well. So, maybe, the friends of OP's have a chance of recovering some part of their investment.

[Astvile]

So okay, this story didn't happen to me. It happened to a friend (let's call him Bob) of a friend (I will call him Sam).

Bob came to me asking is this a scam and is it legal. Bob doesn't know much about bitcoins and crypto, Sam even less.
Sam somehow got in contact with people who offers to open an account and invest into crypto. These people guaranteed a lot of profit. Sam paid 500 EUR at first and other two times a 2000 EUR.
What is interesting, that these people calling him to invest more. But he has an app (I don't know what app, because I heard it from Bob and he doesn't know either) which shows that Sam has doubled his investment (9000 EUR), but he cannot withdraw it now and these people (from Russia) are calling and rushing him to invest even more.

Bob asked me about that, I said that this is some nonsense. There shouldn't be people calling you and asking to transfer money. All is too fishy.

What should Sam do? Will the police help?

Yes, Sam was became a victim of scammer. Didn't Sam ask why the stranger need him to invest again? That was a bib amount of money dude, your friend became neglectful about the moment He talked to the scammer. But I guess after the incident happened He learn from his lesson now.

Well that's what newbie who doesn't know to ask before they go into something gets, Sam simply got swayed by the scammer thinking that it would be good if he invest there and he ask no opinion about it and keep sending and sending money without even being able to withdraw some of his "profit",

[DabsPoorVersion]

So okay, this story didn't happen to me. It happened to a friend (let's call him Bob) of a friend (I will call him Sam).

Bob came to me asking is this a scam and is it legal. Bob doesn't know much about bitcoins and crypto, Sam even less.
Sam somehow got in contact with people who offers to open an account and invest into crypto. These people guaranteed a lot of profit. Sam paid 500 EUR at first and other two times a 2000 EUR.
What is interesting, that these people calling him to invest more. But he has an app (I don't know what app, because I heard it from Bob and he doesn't know either) which shows that Sam has doubled his investment (9000 EUR), but he cannot withdraw it now and these people (from Russia) are calling and rushing him to invest even more.

Bob asked me about that, I said that this is some nonsense. There shouldn't be people calling you and asking to transfer money. All is too fishy.

What should Sam do? Will the police help?

Yes, Sam was became a victim of scammer. Didn't Sam ask why the stranger need him to invest again? That was a bib amount of money dude, your friend became neglectful about the moment He talked to the scammer. But I guess after the incident happened He learn from his lesson now.

Well that's what newbie who doesn't know to ask before they go into something gets, Sam simply got swayed by the scammer thinking that it would be good if he invest there and he ask no opinion about it and keep sending and sending money without even being able to withdraw some of his "profit",

Most of the time, newbies become the victim of scam, they were targeted by the scammers since the limit of their knowledge about cryptocurrency is limited. They can be an easy target as long as they were promise a big return, they will blinding an individual with having a huge profit in a short period of time which is actually impossible, there is no such investment as that.

[abel1337]

~snip

~snip

Well that's what newbie who doesn't know to ask before they go into something gets, Sam simply got swayed by the scammer thinking that it would be good if he invest there and he ask no opinion about it and keep sending and sending money without even being able to withdraw some of his "profit",

Most of the time, newbies become the victim of scam, they were targeted by the scammers since the limit of their knowledge about cryptocurrency is limited. They can be an easy target as long as they were promise a big return, they will blinding an individual with having a huge profit in a short period of time which is actually impossible, there is no such investment as that.

Thats right! These cases happen a lot. We are here in this forum to help others specially newbies to avoid these kind of cases. Newbie easily fall from sweet talks, We can help them about the investment that they are doing and the things they do that involves money and crypto.

[LogitechMouse]

A common investment scam and that happens all the time and those newbie investors are the ones who are falling into this kind of trap.

First of all, there is no guarantee in investment (my first rule). Even in other investments, there are no guarantees so if you saw the word guaranteed profit the best thing to do is to stay away from the investment because it will end up as a scam.

Some scammers' strategy is that they will put in your dashboard an amount which is twice the money you invested but in reality, you can't withdraw it because in order to withdraw it you must invest a certain amount. Best thing to do to prevent being scammed is either you learn how scammers scam people or just don't invest at all.

[Naughty Princess]

A common investment scam and that happens all the time and those newbie investors are the ones who are falling into this kind of trap.

First of all, there is no guarantee in investment (my first rule). Even in other investments, there are no guarantees so if you saw the word guaranteed profit the best thing to do is to stay away from the investment because it will end up as a scam.

Some scammers' strategy is that they will put in your dashboard an amount which is twice the money you invested but in reality, you can't withdraw it because in order to withdraw it you must invest a certain amount. Best thing to do to prevent being scammed is either you learn how scammers scam people or just don't invest at all.

I agree. That is just a bait. There is no investment that will double over night so go away from that and do not believe because if you do you gonna end up of losing than gaining from it. Very few can be trusted but other just copying the project with bad intentions. Beware where you are going to take your investments.

[jarhed]

A common investment scam and that happens all the time and those newbie investors are the ones who are falling into this kind of trap.

First of all, there is no guarantee in investment (my first rule). Even in other investments, there are no guarantees so if you saw the word guaranteed profit the best thing to do is to stay away from the investment because it will end up as a scam.

Some scammers' strategy is that they will put in your dashboard an amount which is twice the money you invested but in reality, you can't withdraw it because in order to withdraw it you must invest a certain amount. Best thing to do to prevent being scammed is either you learn how scammers scam people or just don't invest at all.

I agree. That is just a bait. There is no investment that will double over night so go away from that and do not believe because if you do you gonna end up of losing than gaining from it. Very few can be trusted but other just copying the project with bad intentions. Beware where you are going to take your investments.

I can’t believe that there are so many people in the cryptocurrency space who believe in easy and quick money making in this market. We must understand that the rate of return on the cryptocurrency market also exists. I think that this rate of return is not more than 30% per year.