Anna:
Recently, a classmate with whom we have not communicated for a long time wrote to me on a social network. She asked me a lot about life, about business, and then boasted that she did not work and lived only on investments. She told about a trading company that she takes money from clients, and then pays her income of 50-100% of the invested amount.
I went to the website of this office, read the reviews and decided to give it a try. A prerequisite was work through an electronic wallet - with its help, you can get a high percentage. I wanted to put in a small amount to test the service, but then I realized that it makes no sense to put less than $ 1500 - the payments are too small.
I took all the money from my bank card, $ 500, and put it on an electronic wallet, transferred it wherever I needed it. And that's all: no answer, no hello. I called the company by the phone numbers listed on the website - the answering machine was working. I wrote to a classmate, but she did not respond to messages, and she has not been online for a long time. Finally I found her phone through mutual acquaintances: it turns out that her page on the social network was hacked, and it was not she who communicated with me, but scammers! I went to the police, but they told me that there was little chance of getting the money back.
Financial Culture Expert:
Scammers love to use e-wallets because they allow them to remain anonymous. Some time ago, there was a widespread scheme called the "magic wallet": allegedly, when money was sent to special accounts, the amount was returned doubled. In mailings from bots or from stolen accounts, it was said about restrictions: transfer only an amount that is a multiple of 10; withdraw no more than $ 20 per day; use the wallet no more than once an hour. Sometimes, to make it more realistic, the scammers actually returned the victim twice the amount, but in the end they still lured out much more.
Later, “magic wallets” were replaced by “high-yield investment funds”. This scheme is no longer so primitive, scammers can describe earnings on the bitcoin rate or on forex, but one thing remains unchanged: the money must be transferred to an electronic wallet.
How to recognize e-wallet fraud?
Recently, a classmate with whom we have not communicated for a long time wrote to me on a social network. She asked me a lot about life, about business, and then boasted that she did not work and lived only on investments. She told about a trading company that she takes money from clients, and then pays her income of 50-100% of the invested amount.
I went to the website of this office, read the reviews and decided to give it a try. A prerequisite was work through an electronic wallet - with its help, you can get a high percentage. I wanted to put in a small amount to test the service, but then I realized that it makes no sense to put less than $ 1500 - the payments are too small.
I took all the money from my bank card, $ 500, and put it on an electronic wallet, transferred it wherever I needed it. And that's all: no answer, no hello. I called the company by the phone numbers listed on the website - the answering machine was working. I wrote to a classmate, but she did not respond to messages, and she has not been online for a long time. Finally I found her phone through mutual acquaintances: it turns out that her page on the social network was hacked, and it was not she who communicated with me, but scammers! I went to the police, but they told me that there was little chance of getting the money back.
Financial Culture Expert:
Scammers love to use e-wallets because they allow them to remain anonymous. Some time ago, there was a widespread scheme called the "magic wallet": allegedly, when money was sent to special accounts, the amount was returned doubled. In mailings from bots or from stolen accounts, it was said about restrictions: transfer only an amount that is a multiple of 10; withdraw no more than $ 20 per day; use the wallet no more than once an hour. Sometimes, to make it more realistic, the scammers actually returned the victim twice the amount, but in the end they still lured out much more.
Later, “magic wallets” were replaced by “high-yield investment funds”. This scheme is no longer so primitive, scammers can describe earnings on the bitcoin rate or on forex, but one thing remains unchanged: the money must be transferred to an electronic wallet.
How to recognize e-wallet fraud?
- The very fact that you are promised any income after transferring money to such a wallet is suspicious.
- The declared income is significantly higher than the average interest on deposits. 15-20% per annum, not to mention doubling the investment, is too much to be true, if these are not risky operations with stocks.
- They give you guarantees, they tell you that the scheme has been tested and already works well, they promise compensation in case of failure.
- The idea is presented as a unique proposal, exclusive or information leak.
- The main distribution channel is social networks or instant messengers.
