Here is the translated version of the story:
This is the story of a victim from Singapore named Eliza, in her 40s, a married professional in the legal industry.
**Not Refusing Private Messages from Group Members, Meeting a Scammer**
"Last May, I joined an investment group created on Discord (a voice chat app). The group had more than 12,000 members, and there were thousands of messages about stock investments every day. Discord allows groups to have hundreds of thousands of members with common interests, and at that time, I thought the group's atmosphere was very good. When Andy messaged me, I didn't think much of it.
He greeted me, asked what stocks I traded in the U.S., and how my investments were going. These were all relevant topics in the Discord investment group, so I shared my opinions with him, and we started a conversation.
Andy was an active member in the group who shared a lot of information. He had extensive knowledge, and his stock predictions in the group were often accurate. During our conversations, he also tried to discuss personal life, but I didn't share much because I was already married and not interested in seeking other relationships."
**Trusting a Group Member, Entering bbkx DT Trading**
"Later, on Andy's recommendation, we started chatting on Telegram. After about a week, he mentioned the hot investment product, cryptocurrency. This was a blind spot for me, as I had never traded cryptocurrencies before. However, I had an open attitude towards various financial assets personally, so I didn't realize anything was amiss with what he was saying.
Andy sent me a link to a cryptocurrency platform called 'bbkx DT.' He showed me how he was trading on the platform, making me believe that cryptocurrency trading was not difficult with someone guiding me. So, I downloaded the program as well.
I initially deposited only $2,000, thinking that a small investment wouldn't hurt, and I wanted to observe the returns first. Surprisingly, on the first night, I made a profit of 10% on my initial investment. Even so, because I didn't understand cryptocurrencies, I proceeded cautiously. Andy also agreed with my cautious approach and later introduced me to other cryptocurrencies and how cryptocurrency exchanges worked.
A month later, I decided to invest more and put in $50,000. This time, I made a profit of approximately $20,000."
**Realizing the Scam, Facing Self-Doubt After Being Deceived**
"When I tried to withdraw my funds, I couldn't get them out. It was then that alarm bells started ringing in my head. I immediately contacted Andy, but he insisted that he could withdraw successfully himself and asked me to contact the platform's customer service. The customer service told me that the reason for the withdrawal failure was that I hadn't activated the large withdrawal function and asked me to deposit 20,000 USDT coins (approximately $14,000 at the time) to withdraw all my account funds.
During this time, I negotiated with the platform for a long time, but they kept repeating the same reason. To get back my principal, I compromised two weeks later. Unexpectedly, the next day, the withdrawal didn't arrive, and both Andy and the platform's customer service had disappeared. Even the chat records I had with them were cleared, as if it had all been a dream."
**Long-Term Self-Doubt After Being Deceived**
"Afterward, I reported to the police, and I lost about $70,000 in total in this investment. But the actual loss was much more than the money on the books. This entire incident shattered my confidence. For a full four months, I stopped my regular stock trading. In the first two weeks, I even completely isolated myself. I understood why some people contemplate suicide; the incident of being scammed played over and over again in my mind. I realized that I shouldn't have blindly trusted someone online. In the process of trying to help myself, I found many other victims on different social media platforms who were also trying to recover their funds, but it turned out that they were also dealing with scammers."
Eliza mentioned that she is still in the Discord group, but the difference now is that she has turned off private messaging and refuses to engage in private conversations with group members. The editor believes that Eliza's final action is a good way for everyone to establish barriers and prevent falling into scams when interacting with investment group members.
