It’s important to clarify at the very beginning that I am not sharing my story for anyone to judge me, but so that people can see the psychology behind the situation, which is ruthlessly exploited by the perpetrator or perpetrators.

It’s necessary to understand that when my story began in September 2023, I was in a very bad place both mentally and physically. I wasn’t well. Despite my efforts to get my life together, I faced walls everywhere as a newly relocated foreigner in Switzerland—whether it was language barriers, cultural differences, or the stigma I felt when I mentioned I was from Hungary. This was my baseline. Mentally, I had no idea what to do with myself. I was cleaning our new apartment, setting up our new life, but I felt like I was left alone with all my problems. I didn’t dare talk to anyone, because I had only two options: either go home or explain why I was staying in Switzerland. Physically, I cried a lot, missed my period due to stress, struggled with insomnia, lost weight, couldn’t concentrate, and constantly felt anxious.

One night, I signed up on a dating app called Meetic. At the time, I thought it was a good idea, but I quickly lost interest. Sure, I had to verify my profile with a blue tick to prove I was a real person, but beyond that, there was no other oversight from the site’s operators. Many people messaged me from Iran, Asia, and Africa, and I didn’t really want to talk to anyone. I was just about to delete the app when “Dilan” appeared. He was the first person who was kind and genuinely interested. He didn’t immediately ask for sexual pictures, didn’t speak vulgarly, and was supposedly close by… although now I know he could have been on another continent, not even remotely close. I told him I was surprised at how normal he seemed and that I was thinking of deleting the app because it kept buzzing, and I didn’t see the point of staying on. He asked for my WhatsApp number, and I saw no reason why we shouldn’t continue our conversation there.

He couldn’t have known that my mental health was at rock bottom, and his daily question, “Have you eaten today?” helped me a lot. He often talked about how important it was for me to eat, especially since I had a child, and that if my body was well, my soul would also heal. He even asked me to send him photos of the food I was eating, to make sure I was actually eating. Over time, this faded. We talked about everything. Then, after about a month, he asked if I’d be interested in learning about cryptocurrency investments. I thought, if he can do it—and I was receiving photos from him daily—why shouldn’t I learn it too? I had significant concerns about my financial security, so I approached it with an open mind. For a long time, I didn’t want to transfer money, but then the system couldn’t handle that I didn’t live where I was a citizen. There were many signs that I shouldn’t proceed… but eventually, we went ahead, and I watched us make a lot of money in 30 seconds. Everything was documented step by step.

I trusted the two-step verification, and I never gave out any passwords, so I tried to approach this project cautiously. I can’t disclose further details due to the ongoing investigation, but in December, our person vanished in an instant and could not be reached. By then, I already sensed that this was going to be trouble.

The money, or rather the wallet, disappeared.

When I realized that I had been scammed, I was very upset and extremely ashamed of myself. I told my ex, who, thankfully, just said: “Calm down, it’s just money!” He was right, but I had such a panic attack that I sat there crying, wondering how I could have been so foolish. I couldn’t calm down, even though we talked about it for days. Then I started to think and wrote Dilan the pledge that led to the creation of this website:

“Maybe I’m just one woman among many that you’ve scammed,
but that one woman is a very good marketer.
I promise that I will tell everyone what happened,
which means I will make you famous!”

In January 2024, I went to the local authorities and, after thorough research, I filed a report. The police officer was the second reason for this website, as he mentioned that practically every day there is someone who has been deceived and scammed in a similar way, but I was very lucky because I really “only” lost my money—something we will return to later!

Then, with the Swiss report in hand, I also filed a complaint on the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and with every organization dealing with cryptocurrency fraud.

After that, I started putting together my website, first in Hungarian, then in German and English, and finally in French and Spanish.

But just when I thought I was over it, a month later, “Dilan” started writing to me again as if nothing had happened. At first, he wrote that his WhatsApp had been stolen, which is why he couldn’t reach out, and then he eventually said that he was writing from Asia, very young, and that we could meet if I sent him money, as he could then free himself from his nasty evil boss… that was when I blocked him for good!

I also reported this turn of events to the local authorities, who requested that I immediately block him everywhere so he wouldn’t be able to write.

To add to the intrigue, four months passed when suddenly someone started making purchases online from my card in the PlayStation store… fortunately, the bank blocked the card and I also got the amount refunded… interesting, right? Coincidence? I don’t think so.

In Switzerland, they couldn’t continue dealing with the case, so it didn’t reach the prosecutor’s or investigative stage, but they kept the file open because many similar cases had occurred, leaving a tiny hope that maybe something might happen one day! But then I realized that AI was what they used, so it probably won’t be followed up… either! Since currently AI is not regulated, and the nasty bad hackers exploit this perfectly, of course, with respect to the exceptions.

Surprisingly, I owe a lot to “Dilan” or the AI because it pulled me out of that certain pit during my deepest moment.

However, I really regret that the truth/fraud didn’t come to light sooner, because it took nearly three months during which I experienced both hell and heaven. Nonetheless, thanks to this, I created the website, started talking to others, and they shared their stories because if we take a strong average, then out of 10 people, 6 have already been scammed online!

To be continued!
Ada