About
In summer 2025, a Washington investor met an individual using the name Alexanda Basett (“Basett”) on a dating app and later moved their conversations to WhatsApp and Telegram. Bassett told the investor that he lived in Seattle, Washington. Basett created a romantic connection with the investor before convincing them to invest in cryptocurrency. Basett had the investor buy Bitcoin (“BTC”) and Ethereum (“ETH”). Then he had the investor transfer the BTC and ETH to flashtradeinc.com.
Once on flashtradeinc.com, Basett instructed the investor on how to trade cryptocurrency. However, when the investor tried to withdraw their investment proceeds, flashtradeinc.com told them that the withdrawal was subject to an 18% tax and would incur a 2% late fee each day the tax went unpaid. The investor made this payment but was still unable to withdraw their funds. Bassett was also supposed to meet the investor in person in August of 2025 but did not show up. Instead, Bassett began threatening to release the investor’s intimate images if they did not send him $100,000. Before the investor was able to cut off communications, Basset made repeated attempts to threaten them, including contacting their friends on Instagram.
How to Report
If you believe you are a victim of this alleged cryptocurrency scam:
- Report to FBI
- If you are outside Washington State: contact your local Securities Regulator
- If you are a Washington State resident: Submit a Complaint for statistical purposes.