A single mum has detailed how a scammer tricked her into believing she was about to make a fortune in cryptocurrency and pocketed her entire life savings.
Natalie Foster, a single mum-of-three, lost every penny of her £6,000 life savings to a crypto scammer on the dating app just three weeks ago.
The man introduced himself as 'James', and spoke non-stop about cryptocurrency to Natalie, who thought that the two were hitting it off from the get-go.
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James eventually convinced Natalie to get a crypto wallet, which allows you to buy and keep different cryptocurrencies.
She was then persuaded to upload real money and 'trade' crypto, though she later found out that it wasn't as honest as she thought.
Originally from Windsford, Cheshire, Natalie stated: "I feel stupid, I feel ridiculous I can't believe I'm one of these women I read about in magazines."
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The 42-year-old was currently off work due to her Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and said that after she matched with 'James' on Tinder, he was very forward: "He looked like a really good-looking guy, he had nice dogs."
It took him just one week to start talking about crypto with her, as he convinced her that it was a good way of investing.
Natalie said he was 'very convincing', adding: "He told me to put in £300 and then transfer it to a trading platform. I did it and then made £80 profit."
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She later invested £100 into the platform, making an additional £93, not knowing that she would never receive this money - James then told her later that week that the next evening was going to be 'a very big night.'
'James' convinced her to put another £2,000 in, saying he was 'in touch with his uncle' that was a crypto expert, telling him that there was a 'once-in-a-century' deal going through that would allow Natalie to make an 800 percent profit.
After transferring all of her funds into the crypto account, she was added to a WhatsApp group with a man pretending to be his uncle and another person, with the trade apparently bagging her a large profit of $86,000 (£67,000), though she saw on the account that she had exceeded the amount she could hold, as the funds fell to zero.
She explained: "I then contacted customer services who said I owed them 20 percent tax to a New York Bank account totalling £20,000," before 'James' transferred $5,000 (£3,900) into her trading account.
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Natalie continued: "At this point I thought it was still legit but I then talked to my ex partner and he gave me a reality check. I realised I had literally fallen for a textbook crypto scam."
None of her profits went to her apart from the first £80, losing six grand in total.
The mother confronted 'James' about the scam, when he simply told her to 'go and die quickly', followed by quickly unmatching her and disappearing as fast as he came.
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Since the incident, she reported the scam to Action Fraud, speaking to a solicitor who she says is hopeful she can get her money back.
She said the ordeal has caused her to have suicidal thoughts.
Natalie concluded: "It was my whole life savings which I inherited off my grandad - it's left me totally distraught."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.
Topics: Cryptocurrency, Community, Money, UK News
Joshua Nair