Newly Divorced Mom Lost Entire 401(k) Savings in Tinder Scam
The latest cryptocurrency scam is sweeping the globe.
In case you didn't know, pig butchering in 2023 has nothing to do with the slaughter of livestock. The term has to do with a Chinese-based crypto scan in which a catfisher lures a victim into a financial investment scheme and then takes all their money. In the latest tragic tale of pig butchering, a newly divorced woman lost her entire 401(k) saving account after meeting a potential love interest on Tinder who convinced her to invest in cryptocurrency.
According to the Daily Mail, mother-of-three Rebecca Holloway, 42, was looking for love on Tinder. In March she met a man who claimed to be a French entrepreneur named "Fred" who claimed to live in Philadelphia and he went on to swindle more than $100,000 from her.
She told Daily Mail that "Fred" started encouraging her to invest money in crypto after the crypto crash fall of Silicon Valley Bank. She eventually invested her entire retirement fund with him.
"Single women approaching middle age are so vulnerable," Holloway said about the incident. "We have money but we might not have met the right guy yet. And suddenly this good-looking man starts talking to you and you're excited."
She added that she should have known better. "Looking back, the signs are so obvious. But at the time you want to believe it's real," she confessed.
She said that her communication with "Fred" was consistent and "attentive" and that they seemed to have a special connection. While they rarely video-chatted, he said that he had three kids just like her.
He urged her to transfer $1,000 into a crypto plan and she continued to make more investments. After her next, $6,000, she saw her savings spike. So, she went on to invest her entire 401(k). Afterward, she mentioned it to a friend who told her to be careful because it sounded like a pig butchering scam.
"It felt like a movie where suddenly everything around me blurred and became distorted," she told the Mail. "I didn't even try to withdraw my money, I knew at that point it was gone."
