Mid of March 2021, I fall into the hands of cybercriminals by an urgent package scheme scamScam A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime - is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost. where I lost about 18k in US$. Then they duped me to launder their money using my bank account to bitcoins. All outgoing transactions are made thru Bitcoin with their instruction. Not only that, they also used my name to defraud their other victims that caused me to get a FraudFraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain (money or other assets), or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compensation) or criminal law (e.g., a fraud perpetrator may be prosecuted and imprisoned by governmental authorities), or it may cause no loss of money, property, or legal right but still be an element of another civil or criminal wrong. The purpose of fraud may be monetary gain or other benefits, for example by obtaining a passport, travel document, or driver's license, or mortgage fraud, where the perpetrator may attempt to qualify for a mortgage by way of false statements. A fraud can also be a hoax, which is a distinct concept that involves deliberate deception without the intention of gain or of materially damaging or depriving a victim. case in the district court. Knowing that, I also filed a counter complaint that I am also a fraud victim. They also used romance scheme so as to further manipulate and control me. I almost fell into that trap, but glad I was able to back to my senses. I waited for almost a year about my case and fair justice has been given. I got my “Bill of Non-Indictment early of March 2022.
After the crime/fraud ended last March 2022, I decided to find an institution or an advocacy in our area where I live (Asia-Taiwan) to seek refuge and find the answer to my questions but unfortunately found nothing. I was not active in social media, I am a conservative person but why and how did those things happened to me.
I felt that what happened was really devastating, traumatic and lost my self esteem. I cannot interact with others because of shameShame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion typically associated with a negative evaluation of the self; withdrawal motivations; and feelings of distress, exposure, mistrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. and guilt and their negative judgement and criticism crippled me. Fortunately, I found SCARSSCARS SCARS - Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. A government registered crime victims' assistance & crime prevention nonprofit organization based in Miami, Florida, U.S.A. SCARS supports the victims of scams worldwide and through its partners in more than 60 countries around the world. Incorporated in 2015, its team has 30 years of continuous experience educating and supporting scam victims. Visit www.AgainstScams.org to learn more about SCARS.. There’s a lot of advocacy related to this crime, but SCARS was the choose of my heart.
SCARS has been my refuge, my comfort and stronghold. Telling my story was the best thing that I did and SCARS has a big heart and ears to listen and understand me. I felt relieved because at last someone out there understand my feelings, my fears. SCARS was and still my shoulder to cry and lean on. Now, I am on my 11th month as a “survivorSurvivor A Scam Survivor is a victim who has been able to fully accept the reality of their situation. That they were the victim of a crime and are not to blame. They are working on their emotional recovery and reduction of any trauma either on their own, through a qualified support organization, or through counseling or therapy. And has done their duty and reported the crime to their local police, national police, and on Anyscam.com”. SCARS played a vital role to my recovery. They comforted me when I was grieving. During the lowest monent of my life after the crime, this Advocate was my comfort zone. Their continued education, guidance, encouragement and motivation was and is still my strength to continue my journey to recovery. The advocate guides and mentorship open my mind to accept the reality that this world is full of evil that controls and manipulate every victim. Technology evolved so as criminals also take advantage of it. They don’t have to go to your homes to steal, they just say “hi or hello” and it all started from their and you only realized that our hardly earned savings is gone by the wind.
Now, I am more aware of the so many kinds of cybercrimeCybercrime Cybercrime is a crime related to technology, computers, and the Internet. Typical cybercrime are performed by a computer against a computer, or by a hacker using software to attack computers or networks. and try my best to stay safe and strong being a survivor. SCARS advocacy is more on educating victims about the crime and that we are not naive, the name I used to define myself during the crime before it ended. With SCARS, I learned a lot specially how to cope traumaTrauma Emotional and psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless in a dangerous world. Psychological trauma can leave you struggling with upsetting emotions, memories, and anxiety that won’t go away. It can also leave you feeling numb, disconnected, and unable to trust other people. Traumatic experiences often involve a threat to life or safety or other emotional shocks, but any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and isolated can result in trauma, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm. It’s not the objective circumstances that determine whether an event is traumatic, but your subjective emotional experience of the event. The more frightened and helpless you feel, the more likely you are to be traumatized. Trauma requires treatment, either through counseling or therapy or through trauma-oriented support programs, such as those offered by SCARS. on self-helf using the Guides they provided and it really helped me a lot.
For me SCARS is far and yet so near because they’re always with me (us) when I needed them the most. Saying thank you to SCARS is not enough, how they hold my fragile virtual bleeding heart and bitter spirit, fixing the broken pieces of me and my sanity, held my hand to get back on feet and stand.
Now, I can walk freely with head up high wearing a smile, and face the world again against all odds. SCARS empowers me substantial knowledge that I will carry it through everyday.
Finally, I wish and I pray that the advocacy of SCARS will continue to save lives, save more inoscent victims that some are still hiding in their comfort zone. May our small voices be heard with this testimony how SCARS help us from a victim to survivor.
Thank you for reading my testimony. May your generous heart be blessed for supporting SCARS objectives.