HOLMES COUNTY, Ohio — A Northeast Ohio man lost more than $1 million in a cryptocurrency scam.
The victim, a 68-year-old Holmes County man, went to the Lowe’s parking lot in Mount Vernon, Ohio to pay what he thought was a courier who was investing his cash in crypto, WOIO reported.
According to court documents, criminals convinced the man to use an app that looked almost the same as the real thing, WOIO reported.
The man lost a total of $1.3 million.
The man said in August someone named Caitronia Lee messaged him on Facebook about hunting. The man told the woman he wanted to hunt wild animals in Africa. Lee claimed she had the perfect investment opportunity to make his dream a reality, according to WOIO.
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The victim downloaded an app, and a scammer pretending to be the service director told the victim to drop off cash to a courier in the parking lot of Lowes. The scammer said the courier would put the money into a crypto account.
The victim met a courier five times from September to December, handing over hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, WOIO reported.
His investment skyrocketed to more than $15 million, but then he couldn’t withdraw it.
“Eventually you will not be able to access your money,” said Charles Johnston, the Assistant Special Agent in charge with the Cleveland FBI. “You might be able to the first time or the second time you want to withdraw, but eventually your access to your own funds is going to stop.”
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He finally realized it was all a hoax when the scammers started giving him excuses.
He reported the crime to the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office in December, WOIO reported.
Johnston said some victims do get their money back.
The FBI took the lead and set up a sting at Lowe’s. Agents gave the victim $1.5 million in phony cash.
According to court documents, Lin Kai was caught red-handed as he drove up and grabbed the bag of cash from the victim, WOIO reported. Federal agents took the New York man into custody for conspiracy to commit money laundering. Kai told agents he didn’t know who he worked for, and he made $2,000 every time he made a pickup.
f you believe you may have been the victim of a cryptocurrency scam, you can report it to your local police department and the FBI online at the FBI’s internet complaint center.