‘I fell for it:’ Central Florida man loses thousands in cryptocurrency scheme

ORLANDO, Fla. – A Central Florida man lost tens of thousands of dollars in a cryptocurrency investment scheme that started with an “accidental” text message.

“I’m hard to be scammed. And from the beginning it sounded very authentic,” Paul told News 6.

He requested anonymity because his family is unaware of the extent of his losses, but he came forward because he wanted to warn the public.

The scheme began with what appeared to be an accidental text message.

“Somebody asking for ‘Harry,’ and I replied back that I was not Harry,” Paul explained.

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The conversation continued via text when the person asked how Paul was doing.

The person on the other end described herself as a business owner of Boyuan Health.

It led to a text exchange that lasted days, then weeks.

They exchanged pictures and talked about travel.

Experts say this is called “financial grooming,” when the person builds a rapport and gains trust.

She eventually asked Paul if he had ever dealt in cryptocurrency.

“I said, ‘No, I don’t know nothing about crypto,’ and she says, ‘Well, I do. I invest in crypto, and I’ve done very well with it,’” Paul recounted.

She advised Paul to download crypto apps and offered to teach him how to trade.

Initially, at her direction, Paul wired $3,000 to a bank in New York, which was then transferred to a crypto account.

He quickly made $1,000, which made him believe the investment was legitimate.

Over the next few months, Paul wired an additional $12,000 and then $32,000.

According to his app, his $47,000 investment had grown to $196,000.

However, when he attempted to withdraw the funds, he received a message claiming his account was frozen due to “insider trading.”

That’s when he realized he had been scammed.

“I fell for it. Mainly because I got greedy and thought I was making a lot of money,” Paul admitted.

Brian Watson, a forensic financial analyst with the U.S. Secret Service, warned, “Investing in crypto is very dangerous. There’s very few places that are reputable that you can invest in cryptocurrency because it fluctuates so bad.”

According to the Federal Trade Commission, Floridians lost $624 million in investment scams in the first three quarters of last year.

The Better Business Bureau reported that investment scams, including those involving cryptocurrency, remained the riskiest in 2024.

Paul’s ordeal began with an “accidental” text message, a common smishing tactic used by crooks.

“There’s certain call centers in different parts of the world, different countries, where these people sit in front of hundreds of phones and or computers, sending out text messages to people to try to get them to respond,” Watson explained.

Paul now advises others, “If you ever get an accidental text message, do away with it.”