GREENE โ A Butler County man is asking the court to freeze accounts at a cryptocurrency exchange after he was allegedly scammed out of more than $119,000.
It is one of the latest court actions in response to growing โpig slaughter scamsโ โโthat encourage victims to invest in digital currency through a fake website and then move the stolen money through digital accounts.
Lawyers for Greene's Michael Bullock said the people behind the scam โ a woman identified simply as โXin Jessica Liโ and up to 20 unidentified men โ are likely from Turkey.
According to the lawsuit, filed by attorney Joseph Casey last week in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids, the scam began in April when Jessica sent Bullock a friend request on Facebook. They began communicating through the WhatsApp platform at her request and in the following weeks they developed an apparent friendship, contacting each other regularly.
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Jessica said she was familiar with Iowa and planned to visit. She also said that she was a successful amateur cryptocurrency trader.
"She further claimed that her success was due to information leaked by her godmother, an alleged insider and analyst at an options trading firm," the lawsuit states.
He offered to teach Bullock, who had no experience with cryptocurrencies, how to make money trading.
In July 2023, he opened an account at a crypto exchange and deposited a total of $120,000 over the following months from his checking account at a Charles City bank, records show. He also borrowed money and liquidated his 401k retirement account, investing the money in US Dollar Coin.
Jessica then showed you how to make your own options contracts and trades using the Zaifint exchange, giving you step-by-step instructions. She used a Telegram messaging application to communicate with Zaifint staff.
Jessica also claimed that she put $150,000 worth of cryptocurrency into a Zaifint account in Bullock's name that he could refund later.
Jessica then explained to him how to transfer funds from his account to alleged Zaifint addresses, according to the lawsuit. She showed him a screen claiming that she had made large profits from the trades (about $917,000), but in reality the funds went to addresses controlled by Jessica and others, according to the records.
โZaifint did not exist and does not exist as a legitimate website, investment platform, or cryptocurrency exchange,โ the lawsuit states.
When Bullock attempted to withdraw his money, people claiming to be Zaifint staff threatened him and told him they would not release the funds unless he provided them with bank statements and other personal information and paid an additional $91,700.
Bullock's attorney asked the court to prohibit the defendants from moving funds from the accounts.
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