Can anyone tell me if this scenario is a scam. ASAP My wife has started this

[kw012]

My wife was contacted from out of the blue. She is a Realtor. The person claims to be shopping for a 4 million dollar house. He later raises the amount to 6 million. My wife learns he earns his living trading bitcoin. He calls himself Mr Li. Over a few months the relationship continues but Mr Li lives in LA. We are in Scottsdale, AZ. He has spken by phone once and shares an email. He only wants to communicate by using snap chat. A month or so ago my wife got into a trade of say $500 and made profit. She did this a few times with Mr Li helping. He tells her the exact time to deposit or whatever they do to transact a deal. Weeks later he tells he she should increase the size of her investment. My wife has a bitcoin account. She tells me the process is to deposit US currency that converts to coin. Then trade. Then convert from coin to US currency. I guess Mr Li co-invests with her. The most recent time the initial investment was valued at $44K. Three trades were made on a specific date and time. Mr Li would send screen shots with markups from him as directions of what to do.
It really does not matter how much of these details I remember (I can get them cleaned up later), it's the process I want to validate. Apparently this trade event was so successful that when the money was deposited into the account, it was help by the conversion company under suspicion of fraud because there was nearly $77K profit made above a smaller beginning amount. NEXT- The party holding the funds until verified says that Mr Li and my wife need to deposit another $22,200 into the account to equal 20% of the balance for 3 days, then all money will be restored to the original account for withdrawal. With this, I am telling her no way. Scam alert. So Mr li deposits all but the last $3500 with over $42K of his personal money investment at rsik for loss by today. Original deadline was 6 days ago. Do any of these proceedures make sense? Wife claims all is done by her alone as far as creating proper crypto accounts, Tether accounts. The emails from the holding company are not grammatically correct and without a signature or contact line. Advice to my innocent but well meaning wife would be?.....

[electronicash]

i think i heard of this happening before.  he contact your wife the first? they know who to victimize. realtors has money.

there is no way a person would help you make that much money without intention. remember this all the time, when it sounds like too good to be true, you better be cautious. by the time you begin trusting him the biggest deposit you can make, he will disappear.

there is nothing like that that is happening in crypto to act as if they are your money manager. if you wanna invest in crypto just buy BTC and hold them as it's the safest way.

[Cantsay]

Advice to my innocent but well meaning wife would be?.....

Don’t proceed with it, it’s a scam. This is not the first time a case like this have been presented to the community(sorry for being to lazy to search for old thread).

Your post is a bit confusing to understand but  let me guess,  all the profit your wife has made with Mr Li has been in the site he introduced to her right? You’ve never withdrawn from it before, and now that you want to make withdrawal you’re being asked to deposit more before it can be processed right?

The whole idea of this scam is to make you believe that you’re really making profits from your small investment and after they’ve successfully convinced you that they are not a scam, then they’ll ask you to make withdrawal but that’s where the real scam starts from.
Before you’ll be allowed to withdraw you’ll need to deposit more… and since your initial investment was just a few bucks compared to your current balance which should be up to some thousands of dollars when asked to make deposit you won’t be hesitant because of what you’re expecting from them but as soon as you make more deposits that’s the end of your more they’ll cut off all form of communication with you and eventually block your account or they might even leave it for you to see.

[Marvelman]

Advice to my innocent but well meaning wife would be?.....

I would caution against moving forward with this "investment" opportunity.  There are clear signs here that raise red flags.   

While your wife did seem to make some profits on Mr. Li's website, the part that gives me pause is that when you went to withdraw earnings, you were asked to deposit more funds first.  Unfortunately, that is a common tactic scammers use - they try to build trust by letting people initially make some money but when victims try to access those profits, there is always another hurdle or fee required first.   

Similarities to known scams in the past make me worried here.  Protecting your existing assets should be the priority right now until more is known about the legitimacy of this company.  Please be careful moving forward - perhaps consult with a financial advisor or attorney before sending over any more money.  There are many predatory schemes out there so caution is warranted.  I wish you and your wife the best of luck getting clarity on what's happening here.

[LoyceMobile]

It's a scam.

[dimonstration]

My wife was contacted from out of the blue.

This is 100% scam if the story begins when someone contacted you out of the blue on crypto. Legit business won’t contact you personally without you showing interest by subscribing to their newsletter.

If someone unknown approached you and offer investment in crypto, run away immediately because that’s scam!

[Sim_card]

Mr Li is a scammer and he is working with the conversion company that is asking for a deposits before the money can be withdrawn. They are all working together and your wife is their victim, if she pays any money, it is also gone. And I must tell you that those money that you wife put into the trade and made profit, if she hasn't withdraw all the money and it is still in their custody, the money is gone. This was why Mr Li was telling her to increase the money that she wants to trade with so that gradually, she will get committed to them before they strike. This money that they asked for is the striking time, she will not seen any of those funds anymore as it is gone. It is better that she forget about the whole thing and never to trust strangers online. Most people giving trading signals and advice are scammers.

[kw012]

Thanks to all who have responded so quickly. I am told that some of my information is incorrect or not included. I am not convinced it makes a difference. I ask you to consider the following and a quick word if it changes anything:
 - The trading platform is crypto.com.
- The money has been transferred from my crypto.com account that I originated personally to my crypto.com DIFI account(security account).
She went thru a screening process in order get an approved crypto account to begin with.
- She purchased Tether type of coin.
- He guided her thru several trades within 2 hours and each trade made money. This was a teaching opportunity with small investment example.
The investment was $44K. The final number was $111K
With such a large profit in a short time, the DIFI people held the funds. They tell her they need a risk factor of 20% ($22K) because of the large sum that was made on her trades in one day. They will release all in 48 hours.

She created all of her own accounts. Nobody directed her to any of them. I think crypto.com, Tether, and DIFI are known in the industry, right?
She believes that due to the above, the situation is legit.

Does any of this change thoughts? I hope experienced people that know the mechanics of trading have more to say either way. Thank you for the support.

[dimonstration]

Does any of this change thoughts? I hope experienced people that know the mechanics of trading have more to say either way. Thank you for the support.

This line makes this thread from inquiry thread to promotion thread for Mr.Li scam service.  It’s smell fishy now.

Does any of this change thoughts? I hope experienced people that know the mechanics of trading have more to say either way. Thank you for the support.

This additional information doesn’t change the fact that your wife money is still unclaimed until now. It’s too good to be true profit. Don’t expect credibility on a too good to be true investment since legit investment take time to mature to hit that kind of profit level.

[Potato Chips]

[snip]

... She created all of her own accounts. Nobody directed her to any of them. I think crypto.com, Tether, and DIFI are known in the industry, right?
She believes that due to the above, the situation is legit.

Does any of this change thoughts? I hope experienced people that know the mechanics of trading have more to say either way. Thank you for the support.

Yes, crypto.com is one of the popular exchanges but I've never heard of DIFI. Did you mean DeFi or it's actually spelled like that--DIFI? because crypto.com has an app called DeFi wallet, it could be a phishing/fake app made and controlled by the scammers.

I don't think the additional information you provided changes anything, op mainly because what happened to your wife follows the formula of a well known scam. If you look up pig butchering scams, you'll find similar stories. Please don't send them anymore money, they will just milk you dry.

[Rengga Jati]

So Mr li deposits all but the last $3500 with over $42K of his personal money investment at rsik for loss by today. Original deadline was 6 days ago. Do any of these proceedures make sense? Wife claims all is done by her alone as far as creating proper crypto accounts, Tether accounts. The emails from the holding company are not grammatically correct and without a signature or contact line. Advice to my innocent but well meaning wife would be?.....

The more attractive and convincing the scheme, the more it gives big hopes and promises, and promises very high profits, especially the person who contacts your wife first, yes, this is a SCAM husk as usual.. They will do anything to appear trusted and convincing, with various evidence and also deposits that they may make. However, there is no guarantee that they will actually do it, or that they will definitely do tricks with the money. Currently, there are many types of scams. Don't easily trust anyone who suddenly contacts you and offers cooperation with extraordinary profits suddenly. There are no such good people in this world, especially those who have just met and offered themselves. Watch out for this scam scheme!

[Marvelman]

Does any of this change thoughts? I hope experienced people that know the mechanics of trading have more to say either way. Thank you for the support.

Well now, this puts a different spin on things. This means that Mr. Li does not really exist, and that you are a liar and a possible scammer. No need for pretenses. We know how to recognize bullshit here when we see it.

[kw012]

I am not a scammer. What would I be scamming?

My wife has been conned and I know nothing about crypto trading and am looking for expertise.

It's my household under attack behind my back.
Yes, the crypto.com uses Defi wallet? Not DIFI as I wrote incorrectly. My wife is so soaked in this she will not help on this forum, so
I am forced to try am learn and explain the details for the first time. I want nothing from anyone but advice.
So far you all agree with what I have been saying to her all along. Scam.
She thinks because she enrolled in her legit accounts all on her own that she is not in trouble. I disagree.
All I wanted to know is if anyone ever heard of legit practices regardless of the profit or loss? The greater the profit the greater the fraud chances. Agreed.

unless I misread, I believe two responders to this thread accused me of being a scammer.
What does it take to prove otherwise? I am new and born at night. Not last night.

[mirakal]

Trading does not require someone who will act as your advisor or financial manager. If you do that, the chance to be scammed is high. Just like what happened to OP's wife, she trusted a stranger and end up being scammed.

You need to know that you need only yourself and your funds when trading, and no other person either. And always trade with caution as scamming these days has already become rampant online. Once you see too good to be true offers and promises, that's a scam without doubt and hesitation.

And Mr. Li never really exist in real life. He might actually be in trading but rest assured he's not profitable and reliable, otherwise he will not resort into scamming someone if he is already earning well from his trading career.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

OP, there is a saying, "Never trust any kind of person you just meet online with your money." Some of them (scammers) can spend months or years just to establish trust with you, and the very moment they earn your trust, they will rub you off everything you ever invested with them. A lot of things are happening on the internet; just take precaution and interact with some you have actually met in person or someone you are fully sure of their integrity.

[Potato Chips]

My wife has been conned and I know nothing about crypto trading and am looking for expertise.

It's my household under attack behind my back.
Yes, the crypto.com uses Defi wallet? Not DIFI as I wrote incorrectly. My wife is so soaked in this she will not help on this forum, so
I am forced to try am learn and explain the details for the first time. I want nothing from anyone but advice.
So far you all agree with what I have been saying to her all along. Scam.
She thinks because she enrolled in her legit accounts all on her own that she is not in trouble. I disagree.
All I wanted to know is if anyone ever heard of legit practices regardless of the profit or loss? The greater the profit the greater the fraud chances. Agreed.

Just to be clear, where does the money sit currently? crypto.com exchange? crypto.com defi wallet?

Could you triple check that you weren't on some phishing link? how sure is your wife that no sensitive info was shared -- login information, seed, etc.

[kw012]

To Potato Chips

She did not ever click on a link directing her to a site.

She never shared any of her account sign-on details.

She went to crypto.com, got screened and was given an account.

She does not have very much invested. He contacted her as a potential real estate buyer.

Realtors qualify prospects by asking questions. He was a cash buyer and has been trading crypto with a team that
searches for trends. He did not solicit her to make trades.
I never have thought this is not a scam. Just making sure. But if she has legit accounts, how can she get scammed?

[kw012]

To Potato Chips

Yes, the funds are sitting in a crypto.com defi wallet. She showed it to me.

[Cantsay]

To Potato Chips

She did not ever click on a link directing her to a site.

She never shared any of her account sign-on details.

She went to crypto.com, got screened and was given an account.

She does not have very much invested. He contacted her as a potential real estate buyer.

I’m still confused, normally this type of scammed are normally done on a fake exchange and now that you’ve confirmed that your wife has never clicked on any link sent by Mr li and that she always input the site herself whenever she wants to access her account… This is really strange.

I can’t even imagine how they are going to pull this scam off. Let me ask again how sure are you that your wife never used any link (it could look exactly like the legit site, with just one thing that differentiates them) that was sent to her by Mr li? The fact that a site has the same name and design with the original site does not make it legit, if you don’t mind, can you copy one of the URLs your wife used to access her account let’s see if there’s any difference.

To Potato Chips

Yes, the funds are sitting in a crypto.com defi wallet. She showed it to me.

It’s just like I predicted.

There is something fishy about this exchange that you’re using, I doubt it’s the original one… please just do what I said above and paste of the URLs here let’s see… go to your wife’s browser history and copy the URL from there.

[AicecreaME]

100% pyramiding scheme or a ponzi scam.

This kind of scam is very classic, they browse through social medias to search for their victim, worst case scenario is that scammers will encourage them to deposit their money because of the promised big return of their money in a short period of time. But I believe your wife is professional enough to not believe in that kind of scam. Also, be careful about their phising links through email, that's also one thing to watch out.