Key Takeaways:
- Nicole Hutchinson was robbed of her entire inheritance as well as her father’s life savings in a scam.
- She signed up for the dating app HINGE to meet new people.
- On the app, she met a man named “Hao” who shared her interest in cryptocurrencies.
A woman named Nicole Hutchinson lost her entire inheritance and her father’s life savings after falling victim to a crypto romance scam. Nicole Hutchinson moved to California for a fresh start after her mother passed away.
To socialize and meet people she used the popular dating app HINGE but little did she know this would turn out to be the biggest mistake of her life. She met a man named “Hao” on the app and they instantly clicked because they seemed to have so much in common. He informed her he was from the same town in China where she was adopted, and they texted when she got home.
While talking Hao expressed his keen interest in Cryptocurrency investments. He also convinced Nichole to give it a try. Hao assisted her in “setting up” her account to start with the investment process.
Nicole began investing increasing sums of money after seeing earnings and finally persuaded her father to start investing as well. Their account had a combined balance of $1.2 million by December.
When they opted to cash out, the site informed her that she would be required to pay $380,000 in taxes on the money. That’s when she realized that something was indeed fishy. But by then it was too late, all of her money had gone straight into Hao’s pockets.
“I messed ruined my life. My father’s life was devastated as a result of my actions “Hutchinson said.
Scams involving internet dating are becoming more common. The FBI issued a warning this month about consumers losing $1 billion in 2021.
