Nick Van Tassell said he got tangled up in a cryptocurrency investing scheme that lasted nearly a year.
"It's very foolish of me," he said. “It's difficult."
Van Tassell had been a client of TD Ameritrade, which was acquired by Charles Schwab.
It was around that time that Van Tassell received a message from two people claiming to be Charles Schwab employees on the messaging platform WhatsApp.
"I said, well, that makes sense because they reached out to me within a week of acquiring TD Ameritrade,” he said.
The scammers, claiming to be analysts, sold Van Tassell on an investment in Bitcoin.
They used the names of actual Charles Schwab employees, had him download an app on Google Play, and even sent an investment agreement using the Charles Schwab logo.
As his investments grew, Van Tassell said the scammers asked for more money in fees and commissions.
"I took out a home equity line of credit on the house and I paid with that,” he said.
But Van Tassell saw none of those alleged gains. From October of last year to July, he said his losses added up to about $350,000.
Thousands report investment scams
Since 2020, the Better Business Bureau says it has received more than 4,000 reports from consumers about investment scams. In 2021, the median loss reported was $1,000.
That figure jumped to nearly $6,000 this year.
Melanie McGovern, the national spokesperson with the BBB, said 80% of people who reported investment scams to the organization lost money, “so it’s really important to know who you’re investing with,” she said.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers reported losing more than $4.6 billion to investment scams in 2023 — more than any other category.
Dan Barnett, a senior portfolio manager with Johnson Investment Counsel, said many more people are afraid to admit they’ve lost money to scams.
"It's hard to really say how many people are scammed, because there is this embarrassment factor,” he said.
The red flags of investment scams
Barnett said scammers may pressure you to invest immediately or promise annual returns of 20% or higher.
"Those kinds of returns are few and far between,” he said, “and for somebody to promise that rate of return, that is just not realistic."
“Investments are highly regulated. Advisors need a ton of licenses, a ton of education. There are so many different disclosures—there's a ton of paperwork,” McGovern said. “Keep that in mind, because if it’s too easy, the money is too good, it’s probably a scam.”
In Van Tassell’s case, Charles Schwab confirms its employees do not use private messaging apps for business use. The company acknowledged it has seen cases where its employees’ names were used as part of a “deceptive” investment scheme.
According to an email to Scripps News, Charles Schwab reports these scams to social media and messaging apps. According to the company’s emailed response, “we rely on platform owners to take appropriate action, which can take months or, unfortunately, may not happen at all, leaving scammers free to continue using these platforms.”
After reporting the scam to various organizations and agencies, Van Tassell said he wants to warn others.
"I wish I would have heeded my inner gut,” he said. “When I first got that WhatsApp message, that I should have just deleted it right away.”
So be suspicious if the offer seems too good to be true, so you don't waste your money.
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