TLDR: This is about 4 days post this situation. I feel better than I did when it initially ended that I can now talk about this. I lost $10k. I invested $5k and paid another $4k to pay the taxes to get it out and obviously it didn't work. My scammer actually gave me specific dates to meet and really wanted to have sex with me. This whole charade lasted 31 days.
I met my scammer on Facebook dating he came to Chicago from NY on a business trip and that's how we matched. I actually slid into my scammer's DMs on Facebook dating, he listed his job as a minimum risk bitcoin investor. I was intrigued and actually messaged him first. He almost immediately wanted to move to whats app. We talked about what we wanted in a family, our career, where to live, and all our future travel plans. We never talked on the phone or skyped (big mistake on my part) We exchanged pictures of ourselves and of our daily lives, (a very good-looking Russian guy, they looked so real, almost like they were taken just that second). He actually sent me pics/videos of his friends and him (never his face, but faces of his friend/performer) at a bar in NY (i was able to track down the bar on Instagram- a very Russian bar in a Russian part of NYC, find out that the performer at the bar was there the same time he sent me the video of her singing, I'm still mystified by this because this event made it seem so real/true) He really played on my emotions, saying we have the same morals and values, and I was exactly what he was looking for in a wife. After about a week of talking, he told me his uncle has insider trading and he would even show me the screenshots of his winnings. He sent me a link to download SKEX and I did. and at first I invested $1k made $700, was able to pull out $100, I got greedy and wanted to leave in profits to make more in trades. So I added $3300 more. I trusted the app if I was able to withdraw from it.
We traded a few more times and I never tried to pull money out. He kept telling me he was showing his love for me and proving himself to me by making me this money. I went out one night came home tipsy and started to actually sext him, in a broken weird translation he replied about oral sex, used terms like juicy/moisture ( i chalked it up to the language barrier). I'm not proud but I did send him a partially nude, and a picture of me in my bra. I then received an erection pic in his sweatpants, even though it was a day later. (makes sense now bc the scammer probably had to go and find a stock photo to send me) He wanted more pictures but I said I rather he sees it in person. He actually agreed and said he has off for Holiday from work in mid-August and will come to Chicago and we could go on a vacation together. I was obviously really reluctant and told him lets meet first before we plan something like that. He became angry saying has our past conversations did not matter, we have seen each other's pictures, that we share the same morals/values/hobbies that we will be perfect together.
At one point I was up $35k in the account, I could not take it out, customer service said I made too much money too fast I had to pay a 20% tax. He agreed to pay 5 out of the 10k I owed. Stating this is his love for me. I thought this was real if he paid half, so I agreed to pay the other half, I had to wait a couple of days for my bank to transfer money into my coinbase for the money to be tradable. During this time the messages were not as frequent but when they were he would talk about the upcoming vacation, and he was asking how much time I could take off from work? He had a final conference in Chicago on the 18th then he would be off for a month. I have to work on the 18th and he asked if he could pick me up from work and he would take me out to a romantic dinner and after we would go back to his place and do something more meaningful. He literally would sometimes just message me how excited he was to be together in a week, how I could wake up in his arms, take baths together, and just spend all this time together. I admit I was starting to eat it up. I actually went and bought outfits for this "vacation"
The money finally cleared I was able to transfer it, of course, I was hit with late penalties and had to owe a 5% penalty of the current portfolio: a total of $4k. I told my scammer I was done I can't do it anymore that's enough money. He tried a few times to get me to just send him the money and he would take care of SKEX for me. I said no and stupidly asked if we are still on for the 18th. I have not received any messages back since I said I will not be adding any more money. He hasn't blocked me and I can still see that he is "on-line" in the app.
The emotional toll has been the worst part. I feel like maybe it is a Russian guy in NYC that is pulling this off. I know I lost $10k but I feel like I lost a friend/partner. The stories/hopes/dreams for the future we exchanged, our day-to-day lives, the "intimacy", the vacation planning all abruptly ended. This thread has helped me out so much and I hope my story helps others: you are not alone and you are not stupid for falling for this. I "fell in love" with a picture/a fantasy and it wasn't real at all. It's ok to feel like a fool, but don't beat yourself up too much. Learn and grow from it, and move on, living in the past is not going to change it or make it better.
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