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The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Securities Division has received a complaint regarding a Washington resident who may have been defrauded by a work-from-home scam which falsely claimed to be affiliated with the Target Corporation.
The complainant believed they were working for Target to review orders using the chat platform WhatsApp, and earning a commission on those orders. The complainant was directed to a website, k5gx4dwv.1212ll.blog, to create an account for this work. After reviewing several orders, the complainant was induced to deposit approximately $5,000 of additional funds, paid in the Ether cryptocurrency, to cover the difference between the order price and the amount of funds in their account. The complainant was asked to deposit an additional $7,000 after reviewing their last order, and the platform has refused to allow them to withdraw their funds because the order is supposedly not complete. These allegations have not been verified by DFI.
This appears to be what is commonly called “Advanced Fee Fraud”, which can take many forms.
How to Report
If you believe you are a victim of this alleged 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.
Other Resources
- Virtual Currency, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Assets Information for Consumers
- Investment Fraud
- What You Can Do to Avoid Investment Fraud | Investor.gov