The original article of the author Aqiu is as follows:

I started buying cryptocurrencies with my friends last year. The exchange app channels we chose were also very mainstream. We bought nearly 40,000 yuan worth of virtual currencies, which we converted into Bitcoin, Ethereum, and even the previously popular Dogecoin.

When I bought it, Bitcoin was experiencing a wave of fluctuations. I lost a lot of money all of a sudden, about 10,000 yuan. But I didn't want to withdraw it. Because I felt that virtual currency was still a relatively new thing, and the prospects were still good. It might just lack a hot spot, and it wouldn't be too late to sell it then.

I kept the money in it for more than a year. There were several ups and downs during this period, but at the highest point, I only made a small profit. I thought I would just leave it there, thinking that there would be opportunities in the future.

Starting

At first I ignored it because the message was simple, just a link and a "handle as soon as possible". Then I received another message, which was a little more specific, saying that if I didn't deal with it before the 30th, my account might be unusable.

This reminds me that the government has strict supervision over virtual currency, especially in the past two years, and even said that it will strengthen the control. There is indeed a possibility that this app will no longer be usable in China.

I believed it, clicked the link, and started processing. Soon, I received a call from someone claiming to be an official of this platform.

Calling from Thailand

The caller ID showed Thailand. The person on the other end had a strong accent and started to instruct me in Chinese on how to operate. I received some verification codes during the process, and he knew what I received. But what was even more strange was that he could even send me messages from within the app. This made me believe that this was indeed an official customer service who was communicating with me and following up on my operations.

Because before that, platform users could only talk to each other after a transaction was made, and strangers could not send messages directly to each other at will. Now thinking back, after the first few transactions, I actually didn’t update for a long time. When I logged in again this time, the system was updated, and stranger chat may be a new feature added later.

But for me at that time, the information sent by a person with an official avatar in the system seemed very real. The operation lasted for a long time and the process was very complicated. The account was even frozen because I forgot my account password. The whole process lasted for a day and a half on and off.

Enter the game

The other party did not ask me for any information during the process, but just kept guiding me to interact with him in the app. Until the end, there was a verification code received in the email, and he said he did not have the permission to view it, and asked me for it. I reported it to him.

Immediately, my account was offline. When I tried to log in again, the system showed that my account had been frozen. After a while, I received a message on my linked email address, indicating that the withdrawal of 143,886,667.499 SHIB in my account was successful.

It was like he changed all the currencies in my account into SHIB (Shiba Inu Coin), also known as shitcoin in the circle, and then emptied my account. At this time, I began to realize that I must have been cheated.

Policeman's Education

I immediately tried to contact the app officials.

This scammer was very clever. In order to prevent me from logging into my account immediately to recover or cancel the transaction, he used a method. He set up a Google verification for me, which was equivalent to adding a second-level password to the account. In order to remove the second-level password, I had to contact the official.

A very mature and advanced technique.

Maybe the entire app is still relatively hidden and there is no official customer service phone number. So I sent an email and the other party replied to me immediately and called me.

Officials said that according to inquiries, the transaction of transferring and withdrawing funds has been completed. "Because the block is irreversible" and "the block is anonymous", they have no way of finding out where the funds went or who did it.

Their advice to me was to call the police and request judicial intervention to resolve the issue.

I also know that virtual currency is not protected by law in China. The other party replied that it depends on how the local police or judicial departments handle it and what their specific policies are.

When we arrived at the police station, when the police heard that it was virtual currency, they said directly: It cannot be recovered.

But he still took my statement. I asked him if there was any possibility of recovery? Would there be any follow-up after taking the statement? He only said that he would call me if there was any follow-up, but it was basically impossible.

I also asked him if he had received similar reports before. I was just wondering if there was a last straw. He said that few Bitcoin-related cases were reported to the police, probably because everyone knew that this field was not protected by the judiciary.

I think the policeman who received me had some knowledge of this field. Perhaps in order to make me accept this reality, he explained to me why it was difficult to recover virtual currency while scolding me, meaning that I should not make such investments in the future and not do such opportunistic things.

Because of fear, I was deceived

After the incident, I have been reflecting on myself. I consider myself to be a person with strong vigilance. I used to work in the media and had come into contact with some cases. How could I be so gullible and obediently go through such a complicated process, and finally give away my money?

I also know that telecom fraud is quite common, so when I first received the spam text message, I didn't pay much attention to it. But perhaps it is precisely because the fate of virtual currency under national supervision is unpredictable that people are always afraid that one day my fund account will be frozen or even unable to withdraw cash?

It was out of this fear that I believed what he said and clicked on the link.

Moreover, virtual currency is a little special. Once it is taken away, it cannot be recovered. Its pre-transaction procedures and conditions are quite troublesome to set up. After registration, there are several levels of permission requirements. If you want to buy and sell coins, you have to pass some video authentication, which is similar to holding up your ID card and saying your name, saying that I am using this app voluntarily and will not do anything illegal during the use of the platform.

Maybe it’s because the whole process is so complicated, so when the scammer asked me to do a series of operations, I didn’t find it suspicious.

Later, I searched the platform online and found that it had a large-scale user data leak in the middle of last year. Only then did I look back and see that similar fraudulent information had appeared in my text messages as early as July and August last year. But when I asked about it, the platform responded that the Internet is now developed and information leaks are everywhere, and it is very likely my own fault.

status quo

My asset allocation is similar to that of ordinary young people today, with a little in stocks and a little in funds. This is the maximum amount of money I am willing to invest in the field of virtual currency. After all, the risk is quite high.

I just started working, and 40,000 yuan is still a lot of money for me now. Although it doesn't affect my life, it is money I saved with great effort.

The reason I shared my experience is that I think there may be many people who are like me. Because it is a very new thing, many people can't even play the app and trading model, but they are led into it by friends in a daze, or they think that they may buy a coin that explodes and make a lot of money all at once.

However, I do not fully understand all the possibilities of transactions on virtual currency platforms, and I do not know that there is such a possibility that I may be defrauded of my money.

I hope my experience can give you some reminders and references.

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