I got scammed by whatsapp contact and exchange

[Taragor1337]

How does the tracking work?

You have to enter the txid in chain explorers like tronscan.org or (more sophisticated) oklink.com and trace until you find the transaction to a centralized service address that enforces KYC. Then you or your legal representative can contact the company to cooperatively identify the account owner.

Like a transaction to this address TS4.....H69 that end up at the kucoin deposit address https://www.oklink.com/trx/tx/a9db593835e3e2be70b1357499efb83d6f4f8db0ef57ade1cdb31274f79b19be

I used the trc20 scanner and followed my last deposit (17150$).

The USDT is in this wallet, also my deposits before : TE1bRKoKG6wAu5mFymZ8qyG3M1z12n7cqA

But i dont see a connection to kucoin?

[rat03gopoh]

I used the trc20 scanner and followed my last deposit (17150$).

Do you use oklink explorer? All 4 txids of your deposit were sent to this address TBsLxV5.....wEeFQ (belongs to the scammer), right? Just track the destination of the tx(s) output from that address, one of which is the address I posted earlier.

This tracking does require special skills and some help from intelligence resources, I also wouldn't say the destination addresses belongs to this scammer.

But i dont see a connection to kucoin?

Try this tool (free resource) https://www.oklink.com/chaintelligence/compliance-tools >> select "Address analysis">> paste the scammer's address >> click "analyze".

[Taragor1337]

Anyway, since you're still communicating with that scammer and they've already made so much money from you, although hoping against hope, is there any possibility you can sweet talk him/her that you be allowed to withdraw even a portion of your funds? You think the scammer still believes you're still falling for it, right? Perhaps a promise of an even bigger deposit soon might convince them to allow you to withdraw even a little for now?

I tried but no success as expected!

[Potato Chips]

The USDT is in this wallet, also my deposits before : TE1bRKoKG6wAu5mFymZ8qyG3M1z12n7cqA

Took a quick look and I also arrived to this address.

I think there's a chance the perp will either address hop some funds or send it to an exchange. This will take quite an effort with slim chances of recovery but you can try writing to top exchanges and request the address to be blocked so if the perp decided to send it out to an exchange who aggreed to cooperate, it will be blocked. Secondly, if you decided to do so, you'll most likely be asked for a police report or some legal document by the exchange.

[The Cryptovator]

You were deceived by a well-planned scammer that managed to control your mind. Otherwise, it was impossible to scam this way. I would never follow a stranger on social media. I often receive the message, "Are you interested in crypto?" But I simply ignore and block them. I am familiar with these types of scams and don't want to waste my time there. It's quite impossible to recover the scammed amount; they would mix their funds where you can't identify the address. If it ends up in centralised exchanges and they withdraw from there, you won't fund anything else. However, law enforcement would help you identify the scammer, and you have stepped up so far. So you have to wait for their actions.

[SatoPrincess]

so my question is what can i do to at least have a small chance to get something back.

As you now know, the scammers haven’t been trading your investment. They just input large numbers in your account to make you happy and then you can invest more. Hate to be blunt but your money is gone! The chances of you getting it back is very slim. Anyone offering bitcoin recovery services is a scammer and you may end up losing more than you initially lost. I understand you need your $40k but don’t fall victim a second time believing some tech guru is going to trace the bitcoins and get it back for you.

[Z-tight]

I connected police and Tether as Tether suggested to me in there reply.
Police will check if they can locate the person or can do anything with the mobile number i have.

Sorry for your loss, but if there is a bright side in this situation, it is that you have learnt from this and you would not be falling for cheap scammer tricks again. It would be hard to get any part of your money back, but you have to try. But i would say that if you have to spend money in trying to get your money back, by either hiring a lawyer or doing other things, then maybe you can accept the loss rather than spending more money in addition to what you have already lost.

I don't think the scammer would be stupid to use a phone number that is linked to them, they are probably chatting you with a fake number or a bought or hacked sim card.

[philipma1957]

Hi,

long story short, it just happend...and i knew i was so stupid, nobody must tell me that  

I would be very thankfull if someone could help me what to do now, it all just happend.

in short:

- meet a contact on the internet (financial manager)
- chatted on whatsapp for some days
- i was shown a site with cryto derivate trading : crypto currency exchangex .com (remove spaces for valid adress!)
- deposit adress is trc20 : TBsLxV5Lu68kaKmC ddontd39XnS8dwEeFQ (remove spaces for valid deposit adress!)
- other website dresses on that site: domain: cryptocurrencyexz.com, email: support@cryptocurrencyexz.com
- i deposited 1k, did trades and could withdraw all
- i deposited 10k and traded, i received a "bonus"
- i had to deposit more to unlock and be able to withdraw
- after that i a "supertrade", the amount was to high and i became a "vip" member but need to deposit more
- i stupid idiot did it, because of the contact in whatsapp talk me in
- now i should deposit another amount to unlock the "money laundering" laws because me transaction was "intercepted" from an authority
- i did nothing more, so many red flags

overall amount deposited there is around 40k in USDT.

I know im an idiot!

so my question is what can i do to at least have a small chance to get something back.

what i have done in the last 2 hours is:

- saved all screenshots, chats, transactions and so on
- contacted a lawyer
- made a report to the police
- i informed tether about it and reported the website



i know here are a lot good guys and girls with good answers and much knowledge.
Can i do anything additionaly or has anyone any tip for me?

This story has ruined me, i know its my fault, but changes nothing on my status now. i could cry all night.

i just want to ask kindly if anyone has any tips for me.

Thank you so much!

So why did you not come here first and ask around.

To me if this is a true story oh well.

But I am not so sure it is real.

you were smart enough to find us after you got robbed? not beforehand.


How did you find us to complain about it?

[AbuBhakar]

Anyway, since you're still communicating with that scammer and they've already made so much money from you, although hoping against hope, is there any possibility you can sweet talk him/her that you be allowed to withdraw even a portion of your funds? You think the scammer still believes you're still falling for it, right? Perhaps a promise of an even bigger deposit soon might convince them to allow you to withdraw even a little for now?

I tried but no success as expected!

Scammers like them have no conscience. The only way you can possibly get back your money is by reporting to the authorities hoping to track them down. Threatening them is best way to deal with them since sweet talk is their forte and already mastered that’s why you got scam.

Your best chance is to track their wallet address hoping they will commit a mistake by depositing funds to CEX since you can report them to exchange to halt their funds then get the help of authority to claim the ownership of the money legally.

[Z-tight]

you were smart enough to find us after you got robbed? not beforehand.

This is something that happens very frequently on the forum, newbies come here to ask questions after they have been scammed or after they have messed up and lost their money, and not before. I wish it was the other way round, and that they come here to ask questions about suspicious schemes and platforms before sending their money to such scammers, but i don't think this is going to change, too sad for the victims.

[PX-Z]

you were smart enough to find us after you got robbed? not beforehand.

How did you find us to complain about it?

The OP have already an account here before asking this. He also asked some kind of site before that save his money. I don't know why didn't do it beforehand this time.
Surely, this is not the first time happened here, most newbies only realize asking things when it's already out of hand, you will find them on scam accusation board. And sure it's either expensive lesson to learn or not.

[KingsDen]

Hi,


what i have done in the last 2 hours is:

- saved all screenshots, chats, transactions and so on
- contacted a lawyer
- made a report to the police
- i informed tether about it and reported the website

The steps you took here are good, and I hope you get a positive response from your lawyer, tether, or the police. There have been issues like this before with other users too, but none of them ever gave feedback to let us know if they actually got back their money or not.

He actually took good steps to recovering his money but we honestly know that recovering such amount over the net is not an easy task. He said he contacted tether, if they can give him a response, Tether has the ability to trace and freeze the coin faster than any agency. In the case of people with similar cases not updating us, it meant they were unable to recover their money.

I got a few pieces of advice for you: before taking on a financial decision, always inquire from someone who is also very knowledgeable about the investment you want to put your money into. Don't take a quick decision when you are dealing with things that require a lot of money, like the $40k you're talking about here. There are a lot of crypto enthusiasts around; you could ask questions first and do concrete research or inquiries about a particular thing before involving yourself in it.

If you had actually slowed down things and made an inquiry on this forum about that website, you would not have been a victim. Sorry for your loss.

I actually have to blame him because he has made money. Someone who is able to make upto 40k dollars isn't a newbie, unless such amount of money was made offline. Any investment where the man in the other end is pressuring you and giving you deadline of few hours is a scam. I will recommend the Op to learn the principles of money. Bring one and collect two is an ancient way of scamming which is ought to be mastered by many.

[Pokapoka124]

Perhaps a promise of an even bigger deposit soon might convince them to allow you to withdraw even a little for now?

I’m sure the scammers are not going to fall for their own trick. OP just lost $40k, that’s close to owning one whole Bitcoin. He could have just bought Bitcoin and hodl. It pains me that someone would lose such an investment to scammers but there is nothing we can do. I am even more pissed at the fact that OP waited till he was in deep before coming to make a thread about it.

[EarnOnVictor]

Hi,

long story short, it just happend...and i knew i was so stupid, nobody must tell me that  

I would be very thankfull if someone could help me what to do now, it all just happend.
-snip-

I am happy that you have judged yourself already so there is no need for me to judge or blame you again. Still, I can ship in my advice. In this current dispensation, I do not believe anyone should be scammed cheaply online anymore and we should try as much as possible to avoid anything that is too good to be true. Again, any links, contacts and social media handles that are not directly from the official page of a trusted company should be 100 avoided. Even if a company sends an email to you, do not just click on the link thereof, just go to their official page and do whatever they want you to do. This will save a lot of people, and we should never trust inks from either friends or foes, we have to be thorough these days.

As for your request for help, I don't think you can get the money back. These guys are too smart for that. Sorry about this.

[Doan9269]

To go about with the reality of what is happening live, if you lost your money by any chance, there's more likely possibilities of you not getting it back, it's more better to see it coming and avoiding it from happening than watching it happen without having a remedy as well to fix it up, don't get scammed because once it happened, there's nothing you can do about it than to take the consequences of the whole show.

[jrrsparkles]

This is another old scamming method, feed the fish first to catch them and catch as much as they can.

I still receive such kind of messages from time to time on all platforms but my reply will be like shove it in your A*S. Never let the delusion of making easy money collude your rational thinking.

Since its USDT, its possible to track who did this but I doubt the scammer wait that long before you can make a move, he already converted them into multiple different currencies in different Dexes and laundered them.

[MFahad]

Hi,

long story short, it just happend...and i knew i was so stupid, nobody must tell me that  

I would be very thankfull if someone could help me what to do now, it all just happend.

in short:

This a very common way of scam people. Contacting people via any social media or messaging platforms (Mostly Linkedin, Telegram and Discord) talk to them for a few days and build sort of a friendship with them. then lure them to some kind of profitable investment opportunity. let them earn a little bit and withdraw so they start believing in it and decide to invest. and then ask them for deposit more and more for any obstacle.
so many obvious red flags but sadly you fall for them.
I honestly don't think there is anything you can do. except maybe reach out to law enforcement agencies and complain against them with all the prove and evidence you have. WhatsApp number. msgs screenshots, your transaction details and everything. if you are lucky enough you might get help from them.