Market News
- A 33-year-old woman has lost $300K worth of bitcoins in a cyberattack via online dating app Hinge.
- The fraudster promised the woman a honeymoon which they will finance with Bitcoin.
- The hacker claimed to be a Chinese architect living in Maryland.
An alien fraudster has defrauded $300K worth of bitcoins from a 33-year-old woman via an online dating app “Hinge”. The hacker claimed to be a Chinese architect who lives in Maryland.
As reported by The New York Times, the hacker succeeded in the phishing attack by promising the woman a honeymoon and life together which they will be financing with Bitcoin (BTC).
In addition, apart from the false promises, the fraudster convinced the woman to invest in Bitcoin and receive a higher yield. Meanwhile, all that the hacker promised the woman was a hoax. Moreover, the entities massaged themselves back and forth a couple of months but never met in person using COVID-19 restrictions as an excuse.
He persuaded and brainwashed the woman with different kinds of false hopes that tricked the lady into sending a whopping $300,000 worth of bitcoins to a wallet he claimed to be connected to Hong Kong crypto exchange OSL.The hacker was quick to block the victim and vanished as soon as the lady completed the transaction.
As an aftermath of the cyberattack, the woman is now desperate and heartbroken, grasping how she has fallen prey to the hacker’s trap.
The above scam is one of the newest schemes being developed by criminals today. Regardless of the heightened anti-money laundering (AML) laws and compliance measures by regulatory bodies including the US SEC, these individuals are still coming up with different means to extort money from unsuspecting victims.