Florida Man Loses $47K in Crypto Scam Triggered by a Text Message

A Central Florida man lost tens of thousands of dollars in a cryptocurrency scam that initially appeared to be a legitimate opportunity. The scheme started with an unexpected text message that seemed like a simple mistake.

Paul, who asked to keep his full identity private so his family wouldn’t learn the extent of his financial losses, shared his experience with News 6 to warn others.

A Mistaken Text That Led to a $47K Crypto Scam

The scam started when Paul received a text from an unknown sender searching for “Harry” and claiming to own a business called Boynton Health. He replied, clarifying that they had the wrong number, but the conversation didn’t stop there.

Over the following days and weeks, they continued messaging, talking about travel, and exchanging photos. As their conversations deepened, the sender eventually brought up cryptocurrency and asked Paul if he had any experience with it.

The scammer offered to guide Paul through cryptocurrency trading and persuaded him to download crypto-related apps. The first step was sending $3,000 to a bank in New York, after which the funds were transferred into a cryptocurrency account.

The victim quickly saw a $1,000 gain, which convinced him that the investment was legitimate. Encouraged by this apparent success, he sent additional amounts—first $12,000, then another $32,000 over several months.

His account balance showed that his $47,000 investment had supposedly grown to $196,000. However, when he attempted to withdraw the funds, he received a message claiming that his account had been frozen due to “insider trading.”

At that moment, Paul realized he had been scammed.

Expert Warnings on Crypto Scams

According to News 6, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that Floridians lost a staggering $624 million to investment scams in the first nine months of last year, with a significant portion linked to cryptocurrency fraud. This underscores the growing threat of financial scams in the digital asset space.

Given the rising fraud cases, experts have urged individuals to exercise caution when investing in digital assets. Brian Watson, a forensic financial analyst with the U.S. Secret Service, emphasized that investing in cryptocurrency carries significant risks.

“Investing in crypto is very dangerous. There’s very few places that are reputable that you can invest in cryptocurrency because it fluctuates so bad,” he stated.