Crypto scammer swindles more than $1 million from Bay Area woman
Crypto-crime keeps exploding, often aimed at Americans by a worldwide network of criminals who don't care about whose lives they destroy. One victim, a professional woman, was willing to talk about the financial devastation.
U.S. savings and retirement accounts are prime targets because America is where the money is.
"It's a personal drive for me that I don't want this to happen to others," said Mary, in her sixties, and a professional who oversees that her employer adheres to all applicable laws, regulations, and policies.
Over her life, she amassed a $1.2 million retirement fund, some to pay for her son's college education.
The money is now gone.
"It's absolutely humiliating, devastating, I cried for weeks," she said.
Mary was initially contacted on LinkedIn, Microsoft's business and employment-focused social media platform with over a billion members worldwide.
Last March, Kenneth Ouyang, whose professional LinkedIn post claims he's a Google artificial intelligence and machine learning engineer, contacted Mary and told her he wanted to discuss AI in the context of her industry.
Ouyang said he wanted to discuss AI in the context of her industry.
"He's technically, very technically savvy," she said.
Over several months, they built trust by discussing common interests such as cooking and outdoor activities. They spoke via FaceTime and WhatsApp. Ouyang even sent a copy of his Seattle driver's license.
Eventually, he brought up his side business, cryptocurrency.
"I did have trepidations, but I thought, 'well, in the industry, crypto does exist. There's a lot of apps. People do it. They channel funds,'" said Mary.
He convinced Mary to try it by investing $1,000 in a platform called Xexbit.com. Almost instantly, she got $1,340 back, cash in her bank account.
More transfers eventually exhausted the retirement fund, with Ouyang claiming he was co-investing with her. She says he even tried to get her to participate in what appeared to be a multi-level crypto-Ponzi scheme to attract more investors but declined.
Nonetheless, Mary says she was told she had amassed a $9 million profit. But to retrieve it, she would have to put yet another 10% into her account; money she did not have.
"That didn't happen. And they also put a deadline that it would be due by Sept. 7," she said.
Ouyang took down his LinkedIn post and was gone with all her money. She is in contact with local police, the FBI, and the IRS.
With her nest egg gone, she is now rethinking the rest of her life.
"I was hesitant, and still, I fell for it," said Mary.
Users who fall for carefully crafted crypto scams often bear ill will to LinkedIn, believing they are dealing with legitimate organizations and professionals.
Aware of that, LinkedIn told CNBC that increased fraud last year caused it to remove 32 million bogus, fake and fraudulent accounts.
Nonetheless, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Cyber Crime Unit says social media needs to do a far better job of ridding their sites of scammers.
"Last year, $50 billion was scammed from everyday Americans by transnational organized crime…the problem is sophisticated scammers who know who to target, how to target them and how to target them in order to take everything," said Santa Clara County Deputy D.A. James Gibbons-Shapiro.
KTVU reached out to LinkedIn but did not hear back for comment.