Dating agency scam costs NC State student $41,000
An NC State student lost tens of thousands of dollars after university police said he fell victim to a global dating agency scam.
We're talking about the equivalent of $41,000.
A family member signaled something was wrong after they noticed the student was making "unexpected bank withdrawals."
After investigation from local law enforcement agencies, federal officials are now involved.
NC State police said this started as a welfare check back on April 10, after the student’s family reported they’d been acting strangely.
What police found was a type of scam that experts say is only getting more common. The biggest red flag was the bank withdrawals.
According to NC State police, a grand total of 300,000 Yuan - about $41,000 - was transferred from the student to scammers.
That student told police he’d been the victim of a “dating agency scam.”
Melanie Devoe is the director of public engagement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission - one of several federal agencies that have been sounding the alarm for years.
"It’s horrible," Devoe said. "We’re seeing all types of people getting scammed."
These fraudsters are professionals, they’re professional criminals. And they have a playbook to deal with potential victims.
Devoe said typically it starts with a text or message on a dating app. Scammers then move the conversation to an encrypted messaging service like WhatsApp.
"And from there, you know, it’s off to the races," Devoe said. "They develop a long-term relationship with a person, and eventually, they bring up the idea of investing in cryptocurrency."
According to data from the CFTC, these scams exploded in popularity in 2020, and numbers have steadily increased from there - costing Americans $3.5 billion last year alone.
"You would never think this wrong number text could lead to you to be defrauded out of your life savings, but that is actually what we’re seeing happening," Devoe said.
NC State police said their investigation has been handed over to officials in China, where the student is from.
