Flora looked at her boots. “Smart people get scammed too. That’s what makes it work.”
Lee wanted to calm the girls, assure them their mother was safe. She also knew she needed to protect what was left of her own fragile mental health. Instead, she heard herself say, “You’re right. We need to find your momnow.”
The girls looked at their aunt, alarmed, and Lee realized they’d assumed Lee would placate them and offer hope. Lee felt an old weight settle on her shoulders—the responsibility of being in charge. But this time, it wasn’t just family drama. This was real danger. Lee knew she had no choice. “We need to find her now,” Lee repeated. “Let’s get to work.”
14
Regan & François
The thrill of Bitcoin investingwas even better than drinking three skinny margaritas at Jalapeño’s, Regan’s favorite restaurant in Savannah. After months of François boasting about all the money he was making on the side—sending her photos of expensive handbags and asking her to help pick out one for his mother; asking Regan whether he should order the turbot or blue lobstermedallions at the three-Michelin-star restaurant Le Cinq—he finally relented and told Regan he’d teach her how to make some money, too. Via text (they never spoke or video-chatted), he walked her through using something called Tether to transform three hundred dollars from her checking account into Bitcoin, sending her screenshots to help.
When Regan opened an account on Kraken Futures, an online trading platform, François wrote:I’m proud of you. There is nothing sexier than an independent woman.
Don’t get too excited!Regan responded, though it did give her a thrill to see three hundred dollars of Bitcoin in her Tether wallet.
I love a sugar mama,joked François.I’ve never liked Matt controlling you.
Regan frowned. It was true that Matt handled theirinvestments, dismissing her questions and telling her to focus on being a mother. But François explained everything so clearly in his messages, treating Regan as if she were as smart as he, an equal. He wrote about museum exhibits he visited on the weekend; he taught her how the algorithms he created were able to trade on the millisecond. François was fascinated by Regan’s desire to create art. He told her about a book by the producer of the Beastie Boys’ music calledThe Creative Act. A copy arrived, sent from a local English-language bookshop, and Regan and François read chapters together, François asking Regan about her collage art, encouraging her to visit Athenian exhibits and report back. No one had ever respected Regan’s mind before; it was wholly intoxicating.
Regan’s heart raced as François showed her how to place her first trade, a “time to trade” bet on Bitcoin movement. François gave her inside intel from another math wonk at his job, and Regan placed the bet.
She made a cup of tea in her kitchen to have something to do while she waited. Outside her kitchen window, she could glimpse the Acropolis, which still seemed like an impossible miracle. But she had pulled it off.
In fifteen minutes, Regan was up $160.
How do you feel?wrote François.
Amazing! Is this what gambling feels like?
This is skilled trading, Regan. Gambling is for fools. You have natural talent.
François conveyed how to transfer the money back to her bank account. All night, as she cooked, cleaned, did laundry, folded clothes, she checked her bank app. The profit was still there. Real money. Her money. Not Matt’s.
15
Love Hackers
By Flora Willingham
For my First Year Lyceum, I decided to complete a multidisciplinary research project about the romance scam industry and title my project “Love Hackers,” which is one of the things the scammers call themselves in their online forums.
Why I Chose This Subject
I first became aware of romance scammers, or “pig butcherers,” when my mother was victimized. She was smart, self-sufficient, and loved me and my sister. How and why did she believe the lies of a romance scammer? And who and where was the person who stole her away?
How Do Romance Scams Work?
For myliterature researchcomponent, I am including a training manual for “pig butchering” that I found on a Chinese website. Pig butchering is the term for a scam where a predator builds trust with a victim, often through a fake romantic relationship, and then they manipulate the victim into investing large sums of money in fake schemes, typically involving cryptocurrency—the term refers to “fattening up the pig” before “slaughtering” them by taking their money.
I ordered a translation of the Chinese manual, and learned that scammers are taught “packaging must be realistic.” Your name, says the manual, should not be “crude,” though you can have a “nickname naughty and cute.” A fake persona’s age should be between 28 and 35: “Cannot be too young (childish without experience) or too old (unattractive).” As you craft your fake identity’s geographical location, the manual advises, “understand the tastes, snacks, scenic spots, main streets, ethnic customs, celebrities, etc.”
As for your photo, choose an image that is “mature, handsome, muscles, use full-length photos as profile pics, make very clear, if possible with short videos. Can use customers of other co-workers. If using [other] customers’ photos, find the ones that meet the above conditions for packaging!”
Recommended family backgrounds include “born in military, government official, teacher, artist, with good education and family upbringing, values and understanding.”
Here are some more excerpts from the manual that I found disturbing:
Grasping the customer’s psychology
