It seems like we can barely get through a day without encountering a scam. Here are some tips on how to avoid one of the best.
22 February 2023 | James Porteous | Clipper Media News
Long before the “cost of living crisis” or inflation, there were people attempting to cheat individuals out of their hard-earned money. It often seems like everyone is running a scam, from online groups and emails to dating sites. (The Federal Trade Commission reported that people lost $547 million to romance-based scams in 2021.)
Most scams are easy to avoid. We have been repeatedly warned not to click on links or attachments received from strangers, and most of the time, we can resist the urge.
However, the Foreign Exchange or Forex scam is a thing of beauty. I am not exaggerating. It is a slow and steady scam that, if done correctly, can convince almost anyone that it simply cannot be a scam.
Below is an excerpt from “The Far End of the Earth,” from my collection of short stories entitled “The Insolent Caretaker.”
This story is based on my own experience with “Huan,” a true master of the Foreign Exchange Scam.
Please note: The story uses the generic ‘foreign exchange scam’ rather than the often-used Forex scam. The Forex market and app are often used in this scam, but they are not involved in the scam.
The Far End of the Earth
Originating in China, this scam is generally referred to as “Butchering the Pig” or “Sha Zhu Pan” due to the amount of time required to “fatten” the mark before moving in for the kill. It is a slow and steady scam, but Huan can usually run three or four marks at a time.
The set-up is dead simple. Huan starts with a WhatsApp account and uploads a generic photo from the internet showing a woman who does not look too slutty, but also not too virginal.
She trolls popular dating sites for potential marks and contacts boys who look like they are lusting to fulfill their “good-girl/bad-girl” fantasies. Huan brings those urges to fruition with one simple, tried, and true message: “Hey. Why don’t you send me your WhatsApp so we can get to know each other.”
Over the next two or three weeks, they will chat about their kids, her fictitious kids, her ambitions, her dreams, and their sexless marriages.
The entire process is so casual and so convincing that Mark soon forgets their new internet friend is actually a complete stranger!
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The final sprint begins when she mentions, oh so casually, that she has a reliable ‘inside source’ who knows how to make money from foreign exchange trading. Foreign what?
‘No worries, my friend. Simply download the Foreign Exchange app to your phone and the demo will show you how easy it is to make real money without any prior trading knowledge at all!’
Mark is hooked as soon as they see that the sugar plum dreams dancing in their heads are real! The easy money machine is right on their phone screen.
Bingo. Do you want in? Okay, okay. Be patient, young man. I will contact my source and see if he can squeeze you in. I’ll be in touch.
“Wow,” she replies in two days. Her uncle has pulled some strings and he wants you to drop a note to @Alice_inside sales on Telegram. Tell her Huan wants you to set up a personal foreign exchange account so you can start tracking the trading investments made by ‘SunPor Group Limited.’
That afternoon, ‘Alice’ will send Mark the login details to his brand new personal foreign exchange account.
‘And listen, if you are interested, you can wire transfer me $100 and I can add it to your new personal foreign exchange account so you can start tracking your ‘investment’ on the MT5 app in real-time.’
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Well, yeah. Why not! He spends $100 a week on coffee.
The $100 shows up in his foreign exchange account in seconds.
Now the folks at her fake company, ‘SunPor Group Limited’ sit back and give him time to track what appears to be the slow but steady profit he is earning from his $100 investment.
All is good. The fish is hooked.
Next up, a trusted representative from SunPor Group contacts Mark.
‘Hey man, Alice tells me you have made some impressive gains so far. Well-done. Man, if I were you, I would wire a quick $5100 ($5000 + $100 service fee) to Alice and she can help you double or even triple your profits in a few days.’
Wow. The new $5000 investment also shows up in his SunPor Group personal foreign exchange account a few minutes later. The MT5 app displays his name, the company name, his total investments to date, and a wonderful bright green arrow showing his profits slowly going up and up and up. It is an actual slice of actual heaven.
And that is it. The scam is essentially done. At least on Huan’s end.
For the next week or two, his MT5 app will show what appears to be a real-time readout of the natural ebb and flow fluctuation of his market investments.
In truth, it is little more than their computer program feeding fake data to his app. All of the money he ‘invested’ went straight into the SunPor Group bank account right at the outset. At no point did anyone buy any s
SunPor will continue to encourage additional ‘investments,’ until such time that they determine the well has run dry. At this point, they will simply pull the plug. Mark will open his MT5 app one morning and discover that the ‘market’ has nose-dived overnight and both his ‘investment’ and ‘profits’ have vanished.
And sadly for Mark, it only gets worse when they inform him that the exchange market crashed so hard and so fast that his account has plunged into negative territory. He now owes SunPor Group money. Lots of money.
The next day the SunPor ‘Debt Repayment Department’ will move into high gear, hounding Mark relentlessly until he has paid off his fake debt.
And there is not a single thing he can do.
Huan has nothing to do with this final process. She could not and would not blackmail anyone.
Still, she will gladly bank her cut of the profits and then disappear. There is nothing else to do because all Mark has ever seen was a fake WhatsApp profile, a burner phone number, and a generic photo showing an enticing young housewife in China wearing a lovely come-hither smile.
How does it end? Find out The Insolent Caretaker. It is wild…
Excerpt from The Insolent Caretaker © 2022 James Porteous
Read more at: https://linktr.ee/jamesporteous
And be careful out there.
