Students are working hard to raise awareness of the growing world of crypto fraud after their teacher was scammed out of $5,000. Deon Wessel was ultimately looking for ways to fund his eventual retirement and came across a crypto scheme that sounded like cash in the bag. Unfortunately, it looks like the scheme has done nothing but empty his pockets even further.
Deon Wessel Loses a Lot to Crypto Scammers
Wessel was contacted by what appeared to be a legitimate crypto expert on WhatsApp after he met with a digital currency planner and even attended a seminar. Figuring this was someone who remembered him from the class, he was instructed by the unnamed figure to begin trading on a new site called Earning Field, which would allegedly grant him his first exposure to cryptocurrency.
Convinced this was the right move to make, he purchased crypto from a dealer and transferred it all into a wallet on the trading site. The red flags began when it later turned out the money transfer was not traceable. However, figuring this was a mistake, the Wessel journeyed deeper into Earning Field and placed roughly $100 into his wallet on the site.
Within a short period, he received a 15 percent increase on his investment. He was then able to withdraw all the money from the wallet. However, the figure on WhatsApp approached him again and convinced him it was time to invest more and that he shouldn’t stop when things were just getting hot.
This is when the situation got ugly. After investing further, he was told by alleged representatives of the site that if he wanted to make any withdrawals in the future, he would have to invest at least $1,000 a week for the next six weeks due to new conditions set forth by the site’s managers. If he wanted out early, he would have to forfeit half his investment.
Choosing the latter route, he was told that he had to invest in a separate plan due to the system not being able to “deal with the change.” Wessel was eager to cash in on what he made, so he took the advice. In an interview, he commented:
Stupid me again transferred money in the hope of getting out. In hindsight, there were so many warning bells that should have stopped me from the word go… Bottom line, if you suspect something is off, bailout immediately. Don’t dig in deeper because the losses only grow as they are professionals.
Don’t Invest If You Suspect Illicit Operations
By the time he realized that a scam was going on, he had invested more than $5,000, and he soon came to the realization that those in charge of the site were not going to let him have it back.
The BBB says crypto scams are now the second most dangerous in the world.
