Woman Falls For Crypto Scammer On Tinder, Loses Entire 401(k) Savings Of $100,000

A divorced woman lost her entire 401(k) savings of $100,000 to a crypto scammer she met on Tinder, according to reports. 

What Happened: Rebecca Holloway, 42, fell for a “pig butchering” scheme designed to target lonely people. 

The scheme involves a months-long process of “fattening up” victims through fake romance, followed by “butchering” them with false investment advice, reported the New York Post.

Holloway alleged that she was swindled by a scammer pretending to be a French entrepreneur called “Fred” after they matched on Tinder in March. Fred persuaded Holloway to invest in cryptocurrency after the crash of Silicon Valley Bank, she said. 

See More: A Stay At The Floating Palace From James Bond's ‘Octopussy’

Why It Matters: The scammer reportedly sent consistent and attentive messages and claimed to be a parent of three children — just like her. She invested $1,000 into a crypto platform at his behest, and after her savings spiked, she invested her entire 401(k).

A 401(k) plan is a retirement savings account offered by employers in the US. Employees contribute a portion of their paycheck to the account, and in some cases, their employer also contributes. The funds in the account grow tax-free until retirement age.

She adds, "Looking back, the signs are so obvious. But at the time, you want to believe it's real." 

Investment fraud allegedly caused the highest losses of any 2022 scam reported to the FBI's Internet Crimes Complaint Center, totaling $3.31 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin BTC/USD, the world's largest crypto, was trading at $26,814, up 1.50 % in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro.

Read Next: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin Rise On BlackRock ETF Optimism: Analyst Says, All King Crypto Needs Is ‘Single Spark’ And It’d Be On Fire