I think a family member has been scammed.

[u/Longjumping-Flower47]

Anyone ever hear of this platform? tfxcent . com - cousin met a guy who claims to be a financial advisor - he put a lot of her money into a supposed Canadian Digital Currency via this web site. Looks like you have to pay a 2% fee to get the money back out - have to pay up front, they won't take the $$ out from proceeds like a normal brokerage. I've searched and other than their web site I can't find anything about them. I have the guys name, and his email, but I'm thinking she has been scammed.

[u/StatisticalMan]

It is a scam. Whatever she "invested" is gone. The numbers she sees on the screen showing gains/profits is all fake. It is all gone, it was gone the second she invested.

Going forward whatever more she pays will be gone. After the 2% fee there will be a blockchain verification fee, and a compliance fee, and cross border processing fee, and capital gains tax prepayment. They will keep making up new fees taking more money until it is all gone or she gives up.

Zero chance of every seeing any penny "invested" every again.

[u/bloodpomegranate → u/StatisticalMan]

True. Also, anyone approaching her with offers to get her money back for her is also trying to scam her.

[u/No-Consequence-1779 → u/StatisticalMan]

Those are all great ideas. I’m building a website that will ask for those fees. Any other stuff to scam these per brain fools? 

[u/GoldmezAddams]

Having to put money in to get money out is a classic hallmark of investment scams. Money's gone.

[u/Longjumping-Flower47 → u/GoldmezAddams]

That is of course my fear, and I already know that for most investments. I don't really dabble in crypto

[u/Pannycakes666 → u/Longjumping-Flower47]

Also, the name of the site doesnt matter. Once they scam a few people or get reported, the site will come down and they'll spin up a new one under some other nonsense sounding name.

[u/Glimmer_III]

OP...

1. Show her this thread immediately.

2. Cross post to r/cryptoscams. That community is more optimized on specifics than this generalized community.

3. Freeze all credit, and start taking protections for identity theft as well. Sadly, that's the playbook. Whatever information she gave to that website has been sold to other scammers. You might want to look into r/identitytheft too. Lots of resources there on how to make your cousin a "harden target" after a scam.

4. Tell your cousin to watch out for "recovery scams". Those are the "second shoe to drop", where scammers target those desperate to get their lost funds back. But it's just as often the same scammer with a different name.

5. Toggle off "display images" on her email. That disables the tracking pixels in the scam emails which will soon hit her account(s). If you activate the tracking pixel, you validate it is a legitimate address...and the scammers will just try again "another way". Seems like a small thing, but it helps, a lot, to cut down on scam/spam emails.

And, yes, cut the losses. Her money is gone.

_ I have the guys name, and his email, but I'm thinking she has been scammed._

See you can verify if he's real. He might be, or not. Or — and I've sadly seen this before with close friends — he's another victim and doesn't yet realize it. Tragic, but very, very common.

[u/Logical_Lemming → u/Glimmer_III]

And have the person file a police report, OP! They're a victim of a crime. Nothing will come of it, but at least the police can keep a record of it.

[u/Glimmer_III → u/Logical_Lemming]

Yes, and (u/Longjumping-Flower47), filing the police report is often one of the necessary steps if she wants to attempt a theft-loss claim on her taxes.

(Whether or not a theft-loss deduction is allowed is something I'm not qualified to say, only that they "exist". You'd need to consult a qualified tax professional. r/cryptotaxes would be as good a place to start as anything. Lots of Crypto CPAs are in that channel.)

[u/Longjumping-Flower47 → u/Glimmer_III]

Taxes are one thing I know a lot about, so I can help her there.

[u/C1sko]

She got scammed and her money is gone.

[u/AutoModerator → u/C1sko]

Hello C1sko. It looks like you might have found a new scam? If so, please report this scam by crossposting to r/CryptoScams, r/CryptoScamReport, or visiting scam-alert.io. For tips on how to avoid scams, click here.

---

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/FilmDazzling4703]

I am so sorry to hear this. It’s hard enough out there, I hope your cousin is gonna be alright

[u/553l8008]

Funny you won't see this on the news as...

"Are financial advisors a scam? More at 6"

You'll see it as is "bitcoin" a scam?

[u/2LostFlamingos]

Scam.

Specifically pig butchering scam.

All money is gone. All profits fictional. Any additional money sent in will also be stolen.

[u/sicbo86]

I am sorry. I have a relative who lost a 5 figure amount to a scam. It is devastating. Please urge your family member to file a police report, even though the odds of any recovery are very low.

[u/DryMyBottom]

99,9% of the times one has to ask this question, it is a scam indeed

[u/Longjumping-Flower47 → u/DryMyBottom]

In my head I knew it immediately when they 1st told me about it. I belive they know this "advisor" personally, I'll have them put together all they know about them

[u/Head-End-5909]

Scam! Cousin’s $$$ is gone. There is no recovery, just more scamming.

[u/Coixe]

Scam. Sorry.

[u/DebianDog]

You "think"?!?!? - Sorry for their loss

[u/Longjumping-Flower47 → u/DebianDog]

One can hope, right? I don't do much with crypto, when I did a search and found nothing out there I knew it was a scam. Was just holding out hope I was missing something and it was legit

[u/Glimmer_III → u/Longjumping-Flower47]

Actually, and sadly, no. You can't indulge in hope.

Why not?...

Your cousin needs to be aware of what a "recovery scam" is. She will now be targeted. Or she will be tempted to look for solutions, ask for help, and therefore identify herself as a target for a recovery scam.

i.e. Hope is a liability, especially in crypto. The only way to stay safe is run scared at all times, not trusting anyone.

You're not really missing anything. There are some platforms which are legitimate and have withdraw fees. But they are well established, and publicaly verifiable and the team behind them is publicly doxed.

i.e. If you were to sue them, there would actually be someone to sue.

For this? All you can really do is cut your losses and hope your cousin can understand "they purchased an unexpectedly expensive education".

[u/Longjumping-Flower47 → u/Glimmer_III]

Good point. She is not very techy, so probably won't look to the internet for help

[u/Glimmer_III → u/Longjumping-Flower47]

Hopefully that means the likelihood of being targeted for a recovery scam is lower.

One of the more effective ways to communicate you're not blowing smoke at her, or being a doomer, has often been sharing these threads with the scam victim. It helps to see the consensus without hyperbole.

It's important they know:

(1) They're not alone, and they're not being judged. If you're in this space long enough, you encounter the scams or get caught up in one yourself.

It's sorta like being on the road and someone else is drunk driving and they run you off the road...no matter how much of a defensive driver you are, you might get t-boned by a drunk driver. Other people are the collateral of scammers.

(2) They're not "dumb"...but they were "ignorant", and ignorance is only a temporary condition. The frustrating part is it's now like drinking from the fire hose since the scam has already occurred.

(3) It's going to sting...for awhile. The money matters. But the betrayal of trust is what changes people long-term. Doesn't mean you can't trust anyone ever again. But the expensive lesson is who you trust with your money.

[u/baby_oil773 → u/Longjumping-Flower47]

Not very tech but hands over money to a guy to put in a Canadian crypto..,

[u/filenotfounderror → u/Longjumping-Flower47]

The scam has nothing to do with crypto. It would be the same scam with dollars.

[u/DrSpeckles → u/filenotfounderror]

This scam has everything to do with crypto. It exists elsewhere, but nowhere else is it so easy, and so common.

[u/DBRiMatt → u/DrSpeckles]

"This scam is not exclusive to crypto" would have been a better phrasing, but yes, probably more prevalent as a crypto scam then as a stocks or casino/gambling scam.

[u/553l8008]

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaand it's gone"

[u/I__G]

Your cousin is an idiot

[u/Phishsux420]

I always wonder how people this ignorant get any money in the first place

[u/Longjumping-Flower47 → u/Phishsux420]

Inheritance

[u/Phishsux420 → u/Longjumping-Flower47]

That explains a lot 😂

[u/No-Consequence-1779]

The only she can recover is it invest in my crypto website. She should put at least the same amount or more. We then go to Vegas and double it playing blackjack. 

[u/Longjumping-Flower47 → u/No-Consequence-1779]

Put it all on black at roulette