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OGDEN — An Ogden woman says she lost more than $185,000 in a romance and cryptocurrency scam. “If you think you are impervious to scams, that should be your danger sign,” she said.
Dianne, 48, who did not want her last name used, said she now faces a decade of hard work to pay off debt that she amassed in a short time, pouring money into a fake cryptocurrency program.
She was led there by a man she met on a dating app in January. “He was just very thoughtful, helpful, with communication all day long — what did you have for breakfast, how are your kids — thoughtful, kind interactions.”
Her online beau said he was a wine importer who traveled a lot — Salt Lake City, San Francisco, other places. The dating app showed the location of the message sender, and those locations matched where he said he was at the time, Dianne said.
As they conversed, she told him she had refinanced her house last year and had $30,000 she wanted to use on home improvements. He asked if she could spare $2,000, telling her he could show her how to trade in cryptocurrency. He told her she wouldn’t have to work so much any longer and wouldn’t have to worry about her house payments. He said he wanted to travel with her in the future.
“I have friends who do crypto and it all seemed legit,” she said. She downloaded the app and went to the day trading site he provided. She learned later those sites were fake, but they were sophisticated and seemed real, she said.
As Dianne made money trading — or so she thought — he encouraged her to put in more. She invested the rest of the $30,000, then he sent her links to legitimate lenders where she could take out more loans. She signed up for two $50,000 loans and took out another $70,000 in home equity.
When she reached what she thought was a $530,000 portfolio, she asked to cash out.
“This is a person who I thought was my boyfriend,” she said in an interview Monday. “It might not have even been a man. It might have been a whole team of people. I’m sure they’re treating it like a job.”
The online boyfriend directed her to another fake site where he said she could get her money. The phony support people there said the taxes and fees came to $120,000. She thought that was exorbitant, but asked to just take her remaining funds.
“They said, no, you have to pay the $120,000 up front,” she said. They sent her a link to an official-looking Internal Revenue Service page that forebodingly said she could face a year in prison and a $250,000 fine if she did not comply.
She asked the boyfriend to help her, and he said, no, his money was all tied up in investments. What about his three houses, two cars and motorcycle, she asked.
Then she looked at the IRS penalties page’s address, which did not seem to be an IRS internet address. Ironically, Dianne works at the IRS in Ogden.
“That’s when I thought, ‘Oh, my God, this isn’t real,’” she said.
She called the Ogden Police Department, which told her it does not have jurisdiction over such cases.
Lt. William Farr, the department’s spokesperson, said Monday that crimes that cross state lines are in federal jurisdiction. “Most crypto scams are across state lines and even international,” Farr said.
Dianne filed complaints with the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission. She hasn’t heard back and is not hopeful.
“I was really having desperate thoughts,” she said. “I’m 48 and now it feels like I’m starting over.” She said she weighed the thought of “checking out early,” but she realized she could not traumatize her children, friends and other family.
“I was in survival mode and I’m in problem-solving mode now,” she said.
She continues to work, and takes as much overtime work as she can. She also grooms and sits pets.
She started a Facebook page where people can share scam stories. A friend started a GoFundMe page to help raise money to pay on her high-interest loans.
People who prey upon desperate scam victims also tried to entice her on Facebook to engage them with their “debt recovery programs,” which were scams as well.
“There are scams within scams within scams,” she said.
The entire experience was “terrifying,” Dianne said. “People think of me as strong, smart, intelligent,” she said. “But I had no idea so complex of a scam could exist.”
She endured abuse from online commenters and others. “There’s been a lot of judgment,” she said. “People called me stupid, told me I’m an idiot. But this was not a simple scam.”
She said she decided to speak out because “I’m afraid the people I love and care about, and others, are going to get sucked into a scam.”
Farr, with Ogden police, said the department advises people to be on the lookout constantly for scams, often in email and phone programs. “If you don’t know who it is, don’t accept it, don’t click on it,” he said.
One common scam now is targeting users of a local credit union, he said. “Don’t assume it is your bank or credit union’s website,” he said. “Call, verify them, make sure they’re a reputable business.”
He added, “It’s so sad, the people that end up falling for some of these schemes.”
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