<div><strong>$100,000 Stolen from us by Scammers</strong>
</div>
<div><em>Beware of Sophisticated Impersonation Scams: Our Cautionary Tale</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Like many, we never thought we'd fall victim to a sophisticated scam. Yet here we are, sharing our story to prevent others from experiencing the same.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>My husband,Greg, follows a popular financial and real estate expert, known as the Real Estate Ninja (also Economic Ninja), on YouTube. He left a comment on one of the videos asking about real estate and got a reply that said “Text me at (phone number).” It looked like the YouTuber's handle in the reply. They began a conversation over the course of several days through texts and voice texts.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>"Ninja" advised us to put our money into an interest-bearing investment account instead of keeping it in our no-interest checking account while we looked for a home to purchase. He emailed us documents about the investment company; its certifications and IRS tax certificate, and gave us the website so we could be informed on the company and both short and long-term investment programs they offered. We simply wanted to be in a better financial position to buy a decent house with a little bit of acreage.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>However, we were soon to find out the person we had been communicating with was not the real YouTuber—it was an imposter. The scammer used deep-fake technology to imitate the Real Estate Ninja's voice. He had a working knowledge of the Ninja’s presentations, personal life, and mannerisms.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Believing it was the real Economic/Real Estate Ninja, we transferred the money we made from the sale of our home—$100,000—to an account at Chase Bank, only to later discover we were victims of fraud when we tried to withdraw our money.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We filed an IC3 Report with the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission, and a report with our local police. We learned that what happened to us is part of what's called "pig- butchering scams," and is a multi-billion dollar industry operated by crime syndicates based in central Asia. Because the money they steal from people is quickly sent overseas, law enforcement is unable to help victims recover their money.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This event was a devastating blow to our lives, our finances, and to our future. Raising 13 children between us, we’ve never been wealthy or financially secure. The sale of our beloved- home in the country <em>was our one big chance</em> at having enough money to buy a home with a smaller mortgage payment, and spend our golden years in without living hand-to-mouth.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We are senior citizens, and at this point we don't have a lifetime left to work enough to replace what was lost. Greg has been unable to work since having complications from Covid pneumonia on top of existing health conditions in 2021.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We're sharing our story not just to raise funds, but to educate and protect others so they don't become victims of sophisticated scams. Please help us spread the word. Your support through sharing our story is a step towards combatting the deceitful practices used by these criminal organizations.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We want to thank our family friend, Shadi, for setting up this GoFundMe account for us. The donations will help us to get back into a home of our own and ensure we can live out our remaining years with the peace and independence we cherish.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Thank you for your prayers, kindness, and generosity. Words cannot adequately express how much that means to us!
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Tracy &amp; Greg
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>-----
</div>
<div>In a heartfelt 15-minute video by the Economic Ninja, the depth of deceit in the scam that took our money is revealed. We so appreciate him bringing this to the public's attention! The video can be viewed here:
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/pc5yuZoNMm4?si=5soIO63D7GDxCAU-" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Economic Ninja’s Video</a>
</div>

Anonymous

Raymond Hart

Cheryle Peterson

Steven Klobucarich

SANTOSH CHIRRA

Joe DeChristofaro

Dustin Atwell

Heather Gregory

Devin Haralson

Jason Tumarinson

M A Chiulli

Help recover family’s life savings lost to scam!

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Help recover family’s life savings lost to scam!

Still $16,959 to go. Help us build momentum.