Was This Client Kidnapped for Their Coins?

[SatoPrincess]

It’s unfortunate that the telegram account has been hacked and a different person now supposedly has control of the TG. $2500 is no small amount, there should be more than just a telegram conversation to initiate such a transaction perhaps you two must have exchanged emails at some point. I suggest you exhaust all attempts to contact your client before concluding that he’s been kidnapped.

[PX-Z]

Crazy story. I question if there’s really someone out there that would put a $2,500 deposit down with a stranger they met on telegram for a writing project,

Yes, i heard same story in services section, i dont know if the telegram user who he deal with enable to get the service they paid for, just like OP. But it's the same, the op got offers, paid 50% in thousand of $$$ then never got an update after.
About the assumption of being kidnapped, i dont think its the case and we should not speculate such kind of things.

[Adbitco]

Crazy story. I question if there’s really someone out there that would put a $2,500 deposit down with a stranger they met on telegram for a writing project, but I guess crazier things have happened. This is a good example of how escrow could have gotten the seller their full payment after the disappearance of the buyer, but again, seems like a bit of a tale to me.

If I am not mistakenly I have came across similar story with exact amount as mentioned by op, does it mean that is same story since then or what?
Sometimes it's very hard to believe cooked and formulated stories that is very hard to believe. Giving out such amount of funds and disappeared without even having to get the job to know if it was delivered as said, then who is running at lost? The op or his clients and who should get bothered that much if I may ask?

[btc78]

this title is definitely a clicker but i’d say let’s all calm down and don’t think of the worst

your client probably just lost their phone or got their phone hacked

Often these scammers use services that provide temporary numbers or even Telegram accounts, and after a period of time they sell them or the service provider sells them, and a third party may buy them. Therefore, this third party does not necessarily have to be a scammer, but it is better not to deal with any account on Telegram without using escrow.

Back to your story, did they pay you the remaining $4,000, or did the project stop, or what?

They paid $2,500. I did half the job as we agreed. I'd have completed it if they paid the balance of $1,500.

since you got your pay for the work you did, i suggest you just let it go and
don’t stress yourself too much about it
it’s enough that you’ve shared awareness here

[JoyMarsha]

I am thinking of a situation in which your client can reach you again since the telegram that serves as the medium of communication between you and him is under the control of someone else(scammer as you address the person to be).

Does it now mean he can't contact you again for the ongoing writing project that he has made an upfront payment of $2500? Any other telegram chat you will receive concerning the deal of the writing project will be flagged as a scammer by you since your client's telegram account has changed hands.

I think, wherever your client is now if he is alive, he will be thinking of the unsettled project he has with you and how to reach you back if he has or can remember your telegram ID.

[Mpamaegbu]

I don't know how they found out that Alex gave me a job and what link they have.

I'm sure I've read this type of story here a few months ago. No doubt,  many people also read it and the unscrupulous ones amongst us in this forum could be trying something sinister. Those who contacted you might've also read it here. You've a conscience and that's why you're doing all you can to contact your client because of the upfront they had already made. Keep searching, you're likely to find him one day. However, you must be careful because many imposters will approach on this.

[gunhell16]

That's why I don't tend to hang out in telegram groups because most apps like that are infested and hung out by exploitative people. I'm not saying that everyone on telegram is an opportunistic person; it's not like that.

That's why caution does something else, we know that when you enter the crypto space, the main goal of scammers or hackers is always one and that is to get money that is not theirs, and that's the only way. all they can do is scam and hack nothing else.

[joniboini]

This reminds me of when one of my friends suddenly contacted me, but then I realized the number had changed hands. Long story short, his previous number was suspended by his provider and then they sold it again as if it was a new number. I'm pretty sure somebody got scammed with the same method, although it is unlikely that a scammer targets some number specifically. The lack of security measures from the provider also doesn't help in this case.

OP, if the account really changed hands, it is possible that the scammer is doing the same thing and tried to log in to any social media/communication app and see if there's any chat history worth researching. If I were you I'd do what others have told you, just wait until he can prove he is the same guy with a signed message or something before you continue your deal.

[SamReomo]

In April, a client reached out to me via Telegram for a writing project. Eager to do this job, we agreed on terms, and they committed to paying $4000 for the job. An upfront payment of $2500 was made, setting the stage for what seemed like a promising collaboration.

I don't know what made that client to pay you upfront as most of the times the clients don't pay in advance but in your case the client send you $2500 out of $4000 which is really crazy. The client that you had might be so rich that sending $2500 doesn't impact him that much. It would be great if you can share more about the project I mean it's really crazy to see someone sending $2500 upfront to a writer without hesitation.

Fast forward more than seven months later (yesterday), a flicker of hope emerged. A Telegram notification lit up my screen, and to my surprise, it was from the long-lost client. Excitement quickly turned to suspicion as the messages unfolded. The person chatting with me was definitely not the client becase he knew nothing about our deal and rather was fishing for information from me.
Red flags waved as I realized that the digital landscape had shifted. The client's display name was the same until 24 hours later when it was changed from Alex Merg to John B. (so obviously fake).

Your client might have forgot about that payment as he might be too busy or you can say too rich to not care about the project. Sometimes as humans we lose our memories after a long period and that's not a thing to be worried about and changing of name doesn't proves that he isn't the same client that payed you upfront for doing that job.

I'm not sure if that happened in real or you're just making up a story but I'm pretty sure if that happened in real then there's something wrong with that client as no one would pay that beefy amount to a stranger freelancer whom they even don't know personally and no-one leaves the money the paid without getting the things from the one whom they paid that money.

[rodskee]

this title is definitely a clicker but i’d say let’s all calm down and don’t think of the worst

your client probably just lost their phone or got their phone hacked

Often these scammers use services that provide temporary numbers or even Telegram accounts, and after a period of time they sell them or the service provider sells them, and a third party may buy them. Therefore, this third party does not necessarily have to be a scammer, but it is better not to deal with any account on Telegram without using escrow.

Back to your story, did they pay you the remaining $4,000, or did the project stop, or what?

They paid $2,500. I did half the job as we agreed. I'd have completed it if they paid the balance of $1,500.

since you got your pay for the work you did, i suggest you just let it go and
don’t stress yourself too much about it
it’s enough that you’ve shared awareness here

yes that is what OP needs to do now because actually he is in favor here, 2500$ for half
of the job and the remaining 1500 for the another half , which means he had more than the remaining.

though Maybe OP is just acting towards human nature and not about the money anymore ,
because it is normal to have concern when you think there is something wrong happened and you can help
saving others in situation like this(if there is truly an speculation)

[Fiatless]

yes that is what OP needs to do now because actually he is in favor here, 2500$ for half
of the job and the remaining 1500 for the another half , which means he had more than the remaining.

though Maybe OP is just acting towards human nature and not about the money anymore ,
because it is normal to have concern when you think there is something wrong happened and you can help
saving others in situation like this(if there is truly an speculation)

OP's story doesn't look real because it will be difficult for somebody or a client to just give you $2,500 without an escrow. I don't think anyone has such money to waste even billionaires might not make such a mistake. The story is more suspicious because the writer has come up with the same story some time ago. I don't know what he intends to achieve from these stories, maybe he wants people to trust him. But I doubt if he would achieve such an aim by coming up with this kind of story. 

If I understood your narration very well, I wouldn't be too warried about who the new person is behind the telegram account. I am more concerned about the deposit that has been made to you. Are you going to inform law enforcement agencies and give them the money so that they can carry out an investigation and where possible trace and return the money to the owner since the job was not done? Just block the new person and the problem is solved. Whenever the old person resurfaces, they can always reach via your telegram handle.

OP said that the $2,500 was an upfront payment for the job and he has done half of it. His option should be to wait until the real client contacts him. And he should be able to verify that it is his original client not just through the telegram platform but through other means.   

[Strongkored]

Who would know a Telegram user with username Jesse Cooper? I don't know how they found out that Alex gave me a job and what link they have. This particular individual actually tried discouraging me from doing the job after receiving payment from Alex.

You don't need to find out about the Telegram account other than just waiting and If your story is true then you don't need to tell anyone about the agreement that has occurred as well as the funds that have been sent to your wallet unless someone contacts you and can prove that he sent the funds so that work can continue, and you are not the party is at a loss so reporting it to the police just with the evidence you have will not solve the problem, so just wait until you contact you again and can prove that he was the first person to contact you and of course you have no right to use the funds until everything is clear.

[Kakmakr]

We all know that "Telegram" is a scammers paradise, so you should never trust any anonymous user on that platform. This person obviously hooked you with the initial payment and then vanished into thin air.... getting 50% off on the work that was done.

This method are called a long con or exit scam... or so I am told, it is quite common for scammers to "hook" victims to gain their trust and then to cut and run, before anything else are paid. 

[dezoel]

Though I can't say that something like that cannot happen, it still sounds strange that a person would pay such a high amount upfront for work they are getting done online while being in contact with the seller privately without having any third-party or escrow involved which could reduce the chances of getting scammed because you could easily take the money and block the guy without completing and sending the work and he could obviously do nothing much about that, maybe the agreements had something which could prevent that from happening but since we don't know we'll assume the possible.

Like a few other members, I'm also curious to know what happened about the project, whether you've completed the work and sent it or delayed the delivery since the guy went missing. Though I don't want to blame you for it, it all seems like a made-up story at some points, true at some.

[NotATether]

Obviously it looks like the Telegram account was hacked. But a kidnapping? I'm not so sure, since there is so little information to back it up.

That's why I don't tend to hang out in telegram groups because most apps like that are infested and hung out by exploitative people. I'm not saying that everyone on telegram is an opportunistic person; it's not like that.

That's why caution does something else, we know that when you enter the crypto space, the main goal of scammers or hackers is always one and that is to get money that is not theirs, and that's the only way. all they can do is scam and hack nothing else.

It takes just one bad apple to ruin an entire Telegram channel. Especially when there is little to no moderation or the channel admins are not vigilant enough, "crypto-beggars" run rampant in people's DMs.