My name is Victor Teng. I live in San Francisco, California, USA. In mid-March of 2020 when shelter-in-place was first enforced in the US due to the COVID-19 virus, everyone's daily lives started to change in a dramatic way. During that year, I had a bad experience that has been affecting my life a lot financially. I'm here to share my story of being an international investment scam victim.

I met a female investment trader named Wan Chen Cai in August 2020 through a friend-finding and dating app named Tantan claimed that she was working for a company named Golden Rule in Hong Kong. We first chatted through the app in Chinese, then we exchanged WeChat contacts and started chatting there. One day, I saw Wan Chen's postings and photos on WeChat. They were saying that she was working as an investment trader. I was curious about her job, so I asked her about it. Wan Chen told me the main focus of her work is foreign currency trading, but she also does other kinds of trading such as Gold, US Oil, and Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. She told me we could work together and offered to help me open a trading account with her company. I was a little skeptical at the beginning about whether it was legit since I had met a few scammers on the same friend-finding app where I met her. But Wan Chen insisted she and her company were real, and she said she could prove that by video chatting with me, showing me proofs such as her company's website, company's business and trading licenses, her business card, and her broker's ID number. We also did voice chat from time to time. That let go of my suspicion and made me believe what she said. I provided her with my Hong Kong ID and US bank card(debit card) number to help me register for a trading account through a mobile app named Insail Trader to start trading. I don't consider myself greedy at all. In fact, I was just curious about trading and investing since I had no prior experience and hadn't done any kind of investment or trading on my own before. Thus, I wanted to give it a try and start with a small amount of $1,000 USD as an initial deposit. But Wan Chen told me that the amount was too small, and she couldn't do her trade with that little money. I told her I was willing to do $5,000 USD, and she agreed with it. Wan Chen sent me a slip with a recipient's name, which is also the name of her company, the account number, and swift code with a Bank of China in Hong Kong and told me to wire transfer the money there. She also told me that I could report the reason for this wire transfer as a consultant fee instead of investment to avoid paying investment taxes in the future. At that time, I really thought it was acceptable and a common thing to do since I didn't know anything about investment and its laws. It took them about a week to receive the funds. After that, I could see my initial deposit showing up in my trading account on the Insail Trader app. A few days later, I could see the gains and losses shown there as well. After 2 weeks, Wan Chen asked me to deposit $10,000 USD into my trading account and told me that she could make me a $5,000 USD profit by growing my balance to $20,000 USD in my trading account, so there would be more defensive funds for her to better trade my account. So I wire transferred $10,000 USD to her company. Three weeks later, Wan Chen told me if I had $50,000 USD in my trading account, she could help me make more than $30,000 USD in profit. She was trying to persuade me by saying that it was a great opportunity since the US presidential election only occurs once every 4 years. So I thought that was a good opportunity for me to make some income, and I could also use that to help out my family who had been experiencing some financial difficulties in recent years. I checked my bank account and found out that I had about $35,000 USD left in there, but I was feeling uncomfortable sending more money out since it was a lot of money and that was everything I had left in my savings. Then Wan Chen told me I could sign a loan request form from her company, and they could credit those funds into my trading account right away, and I would have up to 30 days to pay them back. Wen Chen also said if I didn't pay her company back those funds in 30 days, then I would lose all the profits made with them. I also liked the idea that Wen Chen could help me trade with more funds right away without having to wait for my international money wire transfer from the US, which normally takes up to a week. I've been logging in to my trading account to see my gains, losses, and balances. During that time, I saw that my balance(my initial deposit plus gains)had not yet reached $20,000 USD, so I signed a loan request in the amount of $35,000 USD from Wan Chen's company making sure that I would have more than $50,000 USD in my trading account. Those funds were credited into my trading account on the following day, and I had more than $50,000 USD showing there. Two weeks later, I could see that Wan Chen had helped me make more money in my trading account, so I decided to wire transfer $35,000 USD to Wan Chen's company to pay them back what I owe them for the loan I requested earlier. Then a month later, Wan Chen told me that she had lost all my money in my trading account due to an unpredictable market crash. She asked me to put in more money to recover the funds or my trading account would be compromised and I would lose all the money invested in it. That was the time Wan Chen told me her company was merged with a bigger investment company in Hong Kong named Sino Grade Holding Group, and she had asked me to download another trading app named iEx Trader on my smartphone since the Insail trader app I was using before would no longer be valid. Then Wan Chen asked her boss Ming Hao Li, who normally charges his clients a 30% commission fee to be my personal investment trader and took over my trading account.'ve always been a prudent, frugal person and a saver. ISo I followed her instructions and wire transferred $5,000 USD to her company as my initial deposit.I was unemployed at the time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for some reason, I was unable to receive unemployment benefits like many others did. Also, for safety reasons, I didn't feel comfortable looking for work outside since I was afraid to get infected with COVID. I thought that was a good opportunity for me to try it out to see how the result comes out and then decide whether to deposit more money or not. From time to time, I would receive some email notices from Wan Chen's company about updates and changes to her company's policy, my account, and the trading app I'm using.

Wan Chen told me if I could put more money into my trading account, her boss Ming Hao could help me grow my profits to a larger scale and makes the process go faster. But I had to meet Ming Hao's minimum requirement, which is one million Hong Kong dollars. Wan Chen asked Ming Hao to give me a 20% discount offer for the initial deposit and lowered his commission rate to 8% per season. The minimum requirement for me to start would then be $102,500 USD. Wan Chen said if I could put in at least 40% of her boss Ming Hao's minimum requirement, he could help me slowly recover the funds in my trading account. I borrowed $22,000 USD from my family and wire transferred it to Wan Chen's company. Then Wan Chen gave me the WeChat contact of her boss Ming Hao, and we started chatting there. I waited for a month but still didn't see any progress with the funds' recovery in my trading account. Therefore, I wanted to deposit more funds to meet Ming Hao's minimum requirement so he could help me recover my funds faster. I would need to have $60,500 USD this time. I told Wan Chen about my intention, but I didn't have the money to achieve that goal. Wan Chen said she could lend me $38,500 USD. So I borrowed $22,000 USD from a personal loan at my bank and wire transferred it to Wan Chen's company, and Ming Hao started the normal procedure of trading my account. Then I continued chatting with Wan Chen every day through WeChat. She had been acting very serious and responsive throughout our conversation, always answered all my questions thoroughly and gave me detailed feedback on my sharing. Therefore, I've developed more trust in her from time to time.Wan Chen told me she could lend me $20,000 USD to deposit into my trading account. Since I didn't want to lose all that money I had invested,

Six months later, Ming Hao informed me that he had closed my account and made me a profit of $1,870,000 HKD. So the total balance in my trading account, including my initial deposit, was $2,870,000 HKD. Ming Hao asked me to pay him a 16% commission fee for 2 seasons of trading, which was $39,000 USD. I asked him how come he couldn't deduct these funds from my trading account, and he said that was his company's policy. I confirmed that with Wan Chen, and she told me that was because some other traders in her company didn't get their pay for their commission after they sent out their client's money. Then I asked Ming Hao if it was possible for me to go to Hong Kong in person to collect my money. He said it was definitely possible and that it would be a better option for both me and his company. Wan Chen also mentioned that to me and said if I was not in a hurry to collect the money, I could have her company hold it there and wait till I had time to go to Hong Kong to claim it. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided not to do that since I would be required to be quarantined there for a certain number of days. So I decided to borrow $39,000 USD for Ming Hao's commission fee. I was trying to borrow it from some loan companies, my family and friends. It took me about 3 weeks to get that money. I got $24,000 USD direct deposit funds from my credit card companies and $15,000 USD from my friends and family. Then I wire transferred them to Ming Hao's company. Then Ming Hao asked me for my Hong Kong ID and bank card(debit card) number for verification. Two weeks later, Ming Hao voice chatted with me on WeChat, giving me tips on how to evade investment taxes by saying that it was a gift from someone and stating the reason as a consultant fee if anyone ever asks me about the source of that income. Two weeks later, Ming Hao told me to check my bank account balance in the upcoming few days, and I should be able to see the incoming funds from the wire transfer showing on my account. Then I found out the wire transfer information I gave to Ming Hao was incorrect since I should have given him the Swift code and my bank account number instead of my debit card number to receive money from an international wire transfer. Ming Hao told me he would try to recall the funds for me from that wire transfer. A week later, he told me that the transaction was being handled by a third party, and the funds were already on their way to my bank account. Ming Hao told me the third party had paid six people to send out my money. Then I waited for a month and still didn't hear back from him. I mentioned that to Wan Chen one day while she was asking me about the progress and suggested I ask Ming Hao about it. So I asked Ming Hao about the progress, and he told me the third party couldn't retrieve the funds for me since it was too late, and some of those people asked to send out my money had fled due to committing crimes. I was very shocked after hearing that. Then I shared this with my family. My family was doubtful about that after hearing it and thought it could be a scam. They asked our tax accountant, my mom's friend in Hong Kong who has a lawyer friend, and a relative who was working at one of the HSBC banks in the Central District of Hong Kong to assist us with our investigation. I and my brother had talked to a Citibank banker in person here in San Francisco as well. That banker had told us a lot about recent scam activities and reports that he was aware of and had heard from his clients. That Citibank banker, our tax accountant, my mom's friend in Hong Kong, and the relative working at the HSBC Bank in Hong Kong had found more evidence to prove that it was a scam. That was the time when I realized this whole thing was a scam.

Through this experience, I've learned a big lesson in my life. I really hope that those scammers get punished by the law eventually and learn to do something productive for society instead of scamming other people's hard-earned money. My advice is don't easily trust or rely on anyone, especially someone you met on the internet, over the phone, or on any social media platform when it comes to dealing with money(not even a little) for whatever reasons no matter how real they seem or how good they make you feel. Don't be greedy when someone is trying to offer to do a favor for you in return for profits, and don't be scared when you're under threat or in an urgent situation when someone is giving you a timeframe to accomplish something; these could be those scammers' strategies. Just because someone is willing to video chat with you and even meet you in person doesn't mean they are genuine. Don't get emotional, and always use logic and common sense to think and act rather than your own feelings. Scammers are getting smarter nowadays, and there are lots of legitimate scams out there trying to target people of different backgrounds, education levels, as well as social and financial statuses. Investment plus romance, business, and job offer scams are more likely to entice people, gain their trust, and make them believe because they usually involve a large amount of money as an income benefit as a return. Try to be of good integrity and avoid anything that sounds too good to be true, and make sure you have a general idea and sufficient knowledge of whatever you're intending to do or achieve. Even if what you heard sounded real, be skeptical and always conduct a relevant and thorough investigation before taking any further action or making any decision. If you don't have sufficient knowledge of something that seems to make sense to you, try to find ways to verify the truth or learn more about it, and don't just rely on other people who tell you they're professionals or experts. Those scammers I met seemed very knowledgeable in investment and trading, and they always gave me good explanations in response to my related questions. And that's how they made me believe in them with my limited knowledge of trading and investment. Please don't think you're smart enough to analyze and distinguish those scammers from the legitimate ones, as they are very crafty and deceptive. They were very patient and always gave me different reasons and options to choose from so that I could make my own decisions rather than say they were the best choice whenever they asked me for money, which eliminated my suspicion of them. Also, those scammers were trying to put me in the same boat as them by committing crimes like evading investment tax laws and making it personal like a deal between me and them, so that I wouldn't be aware of their conspiracy and would be scared to investigate them. Recently, I've heard on TV news, YouTube, and various social media platforms talking about Chinese scammers from China and Taiwan trying to scam people to go to Southeast Asia for decent job offers and forcing them to scam other people. Those kinds of incidents have been increasing dramatically recently, and they've become a hot topic for people to talk about. Another point is that I was educated in Hong Kong from kindergarten till 7th grade, and I'm used to the culture there. In fact, Hong Kong has always impressed me with its well-developed justice system, and those scammers are from Hong Kong rather than mainland China or a less developed country. Oftentimes, you won't find out the truth until the very end, and things could be unexpected before they actually happen. Don't be too stubborn, and try to follow the advice of our beloved family and friends rather than people we haven't known for a long time. When we doubt that there is something suspicious going on, learn to let go and forget about the loss, or else it may potentially turn into a bigger loss.

I reported the incident to Hong Kong police, the FBI, and a government agency named econsumer that handles international scams via their websites. I've realized that the chances of getting the whole or part of my money back from this kind of cyber crime are very low. I owe about $46,000 to my bank and credit card companies. Recently, I enrolled in a debt relief program with a debt settlement company called Beyond. They're trying to help me reduce the debt that I owe to my bank and credit card companies by close to 50%, and they're charging me a $9,000 service fee. I owe this debt settlement company about $32,000 for a 55-month program with an installment plan, and I'm making monthly payments to them. I have to pay off these funds to them completely before they can settle all of my debt on my credit card and bank loan accounts. This debt delinquency is affecting my credit score, and it may take up to a few years to recover. Other than that, I still owe $30,000 to my family and friends. I'm living with and taking care of my 86-year-old physically disabled father, working 2 jobs(hotel front desk and food delivery with Doordash), and studying to become a notary signing agent. I've been stressed out lately and have had some levels of anxiety and depression. My friend suggested that I give this Go Fund Me fundraiser a try to gather some funds to help me pay off my debt sooner to reduce the financial burden I'm facing. Any amount would count. Your help and support are greatly appreciated!