I am ashamed. I am embarrassed. And I am beside myself with grief over losing 266k to a YouTube scam. I have (had) 15 Bitcoin. I’ve enjoyed watching my Bitcoin grow since 2020. So on Sunday I listened to a YouTube video with Elon Musk and Cathie Wood. They encouraged us to send them Bitcoin, and they would send back profits immediately. I chose to invest 5 of them worth 44k at the time, and also some Ethereum, another cryptocurrency) in what I thought was a legitimate “make your money grow” scheme with them. The YouTube video showed them talking about their view on Bitcoin, and how if we went to their website, pressed a button, sent them Bitcoin, they would return to us double gains.
Please keep in mind that I am an upwardly mobile American, who is used to talking to investors, and sending them money to invest. I do this frequently with Merrill Lynch, Schwabb and Fidelity, where when I have extra money, I talk to my broker, chat about sending the money, and then I send it. I have experience with sending large sums of money (for me), over the internet, and trusting my investors to know how best to make it grow. It’s a fun repartee, whereby I enjoy having brokers who take care of me, know what they are doing, and will make my money grow.
Not in this case.
So it sounded like a legitimate YouTube video with Cathie Wood and Elon Musk. In case none of you are familiar with Bitcoin, it’s a way to invest aggressive funds in a new type of “digital gold”. I personally consider it an aggressive investment, and one that I’ve enjoyed while I’ve seen the dollar go down, and my Bitcoin go up in price during inflation.
This is when it gets hard. I sent the Bitcoin, to the address they recommended. They said that they would send the Bitcoin back in twenty minutes, with added profit from it. I was so happy to have Bitcoin investors! I was so happy to see my money come back, my Bitcoin, in the twice the amount.
But then I waited and nothing happened. I tried the chat room. The site was called: Arkgives.org. I thought that the “org” was a dead giveaway that it was some sort of non-profit way to help new Bitcoin holders profit from smart investors, who knew what they were doing. I also thought it was a 501©3 that helped them get people into Bitcoin, which is what they advertised. And they made profit from investments, and a tax write off.
Twenty minutes went by. My Bitcoin didn’t come back!
My limbs got cold. Heat rushed to my face. I held my dog. I…walked around the apartment a bit, and I took my dog for a walk. I couldn’t tell my partner. She was asleep, and so enjoying the silence. I couldn’t tell her.
I came back anxious from the walk and realized suddenly what had happened to me. I realized I had been scammed. I held my dog, breathed, kept him close. And said, “what now?” He looked at me with such loving eyes and said he would stay up with me late and hang.
I got back to my computer where I hold my Bitcoin, and tried to reverse it with Coinbase.com, which is my bank for Bitcoin. No reversal possible. I called them, wailing they need to help me! Nothing. Nothing. No one cared. They said, “madam, you have taken this decision on yourself, and there is nothing we can do. You have sold your Bitcoin to someone, and we can’t really trace them. It’s not our problem. It’s yours.”
I called YouTube, I emailed YouTube, and I did the usual American thing of no one wants to talk to you, and so you press a bunch of buttons. NOTHING. No one at YouTube returned my desperate calls.
I emailed Cathie Wood’s organization, and now it’s been four days, and nothing. I called Coinbase immediately, You Tube immediately, Cathie Wood immediately, and…
No. One. Cares.
I will never get my money back, and YouTube continues to carry these fake videos. Cathie Wood, worth billions, never replied. Coinbase CEO and company, washed their hands of the problem. Also worth billions, and not willing to help people who are scammed.
Bitcoin is the Wild, Wild West.
I’ve earned a lot of money from Bitcoin, and I am…comfortable. I don’t own a yacht, and don’t own a home, but I have a great life.
I am on a new Telegram channel of 9k people who have been abused by the negligence of YouTube, Coinbase, and Cathie Wood, of people who have lost their LIFE SAVINGS to this problem, and no one…answers the phone. It’s a scam that has victimized many people like me who are trying to raise themselves out of middle class and are excited about Bitcoin.
You know what I’m ultimately ashamed of? My culture around Bitcoin. All these organizations: You Tube, Cathie Wood, Coinbase.com, should have been there for me, and tamped down on this scam, and helped the small people who are just genuine loving trusting people.
Bitcoin is not fun. But more importantly, what I worry about is that the usual high-income players don’t care about the little guys.
Good night. My doggie and I are…going out for a walk.