A man in Webster County, Iowa, has sued a group of "online friends" who staged a cryptocurrency romance scam against the man that allegedly cost him $232,793 and threatened to harvest his organs.

Energize Trade and MEXC Global were unable to withdraw 1.33 million dollars, and Huiyou was angry

Brian Hope, of Fort Dodge, Webster County, claims that in September 2022, he received a text message on his cell phone from a cold call number. The other party is called "Emma", and after the exchange, the other party said that the wrong text message.

Over the next six months, Hope and Emma continued to text each other every day, eventually exchanging intimate messages and photos, and Hope considered her his girlfriend. In December 2022, three months after they established their "online relationship," Emma told Hope that she was generating considerable income for herself through elaborate cryptocurrency trading, and volunteered to assist Hope in executing her trades on Energize Trade, a seemingly legitimate cryptocurrency exchange.

Over the next few weeks, Mr. Hope liquidated his retirement and savings accounts, took out a bank loan and borrowed money from his mother, and eventually deposited $232,793 into Energize Trade, which has since earned $1.1 million on his investment.

But when he tried to withdraw the money, he was asked to pay an additional $100,000 in taxes. When he refuses, "Emma" threatens to disclose his intimate conversations and photos to others, and threatens his and his family's safety, demanding money from Hope. "Emma" specifically threatened to hire someone to beat him, torture him and harvest his organs to sell on the black market.

Hope filed a lawsuit accusing "Emma" and 20 "John" people, all said to be living in China, of conversion, racketeering, conspiracy, unauthorized disclosure of intimate photos, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Also named as a defendant is a Delaware company called MEXC Global, which allegedly controlled Hope's deposit accounts.

The lawsuit says the defendants' actions were "not isolated incidents, but part of a broad scheme to deceive other unsuspecting victims to the same or similar ends and to achieve the same or similar results."

The plaintiff seeks actual damages of at least $232,793; Triple damages of $698,378 allowed under federal law; The statutory damages allowed by state law are $10,000; Punitive damages of at least $931,171; And legal fees.

But the defendants have yet to respond to the lawsuit.

According to FX110, MEXC Global claims that it operates on every continent and in every jurisdiction around the world and is regulated. But the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has issued a warning against MEXC Global for operating a digital asset exchange (DAX) without registration, saying MEXC Global is an unauthorised trading platform offering investment services.

Investors' funds in the company are not safe and are not protected by any law.

This case reminds us to be alert to online fraud and not to provide personal information at will. In particular, if someone promises you a steady profit, it's not a real deal.

Remind again: investment and financial management can not be done overnight, strangers and friends can not be asked for no reason. There are many fake black platforms, and I hope investors can polish their eyes before investing, check the compliance of the platform first, and do not rush to transfer money. If you have doubts about the trading platform, you can also submit a consultation on me, we will help you check for free!