Woman describes being kidnapped, forced to work as cryptocurrency scammer abroad

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Bay Area victims of a cryptocurrency scam, often referred to as "pig butchering," are bravely sharing their stories in an effort to warn others.

The name "pig butchering" comes from an analogy comparing the initial phase of gaining the victims' trust to the fattening of pigs before slaughtering them.

The victims are often highly educated and trusting. The latter can cost them their life savings in a matter of days. Some perpetrators of the crypto con are victims too, kidnapped and forced to participate.

Warren Dang was dancing his way through retirement until he got duped out of his life savings.

"I was angry. I was angry for the last two years," Dang said.

Warren was previously a 30-year scientist in big pharma. He has a master's degree.

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In spite of his education, he says he trusted people who contacted him on LinkedIn with different enticing investments.

"'Hey, I've got this great investment, here's some numbers, look at the statistics on these,'" Dang said.

"And so you dive in a little bit, maybe $5,000 or $10,000 at a time and your return was like 20%. Then they entice you to give more and more money invested until they pulled out my 401. One week after another, each of those platforms disintegrated. One was my account got dissolved, the second the scammer just took off, and the third I couldn't even get my money out," he said.

The FBI tells ABC News that losses from investment scams rose from $3 billion in 2022 to $4.5 billion in 2023.

"Fraudsters are going to fatten up the victims by enticing the victims to put more money into an investment, and then they're going to slaughter them by walking away and stealing their money," said James C. Barnacle Jr., deputy assistant director of the Criminal Investigative Division with the FBI.

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Single dad and Thai massage therapist Shai Plonski met "Sandy" online, who he says broke the bank and his heart.

"She spoke in a very kind of poetic way that spoke to me and that's how we got started talking to each other," Plonski said.

It was Plonski who ultimately asked "Sandy" for investment advice. His initial investment was $2,000.

"I made about $300 in a few minutes. We did probably three or four trades that first night," Plonski said.

He was even able to take out some money at "Sandy's" suggestion to celebrate. There were no problems until...

MORE: Woman loses nearly $1 million life savings in 'pig butchering' scam

"I made a decision to essentially put in my life savings," Plonski said.

Soon after, scammers told him his account was flagged and that he'd have to pay a $10,000 refundable deposit to take out his money again.

"I certainly thought that that was bologna," Plonski said.

Friends helped Plonski realize he was a scam victim.

"You know, my heart just broke," Plonski said.

MORE: Scammers hack into Bay Area victims' phones accessing photos, camera and location in crypto fraud

It's not clear who he was actually talking with but ABC7 News did track down the woman Plonski thought he was communicating with in these pictures. The real woman in the photos has nothing to do with what happened to Plonski, but she says she knows her photos have been used in scams for years. She's even received text messages from victims asking for their money back.

"They're very good at building trust. They know how to do that," Plonski said.

Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Erin West has taken on the battle against crypto scammers.

"Unfortunately, we find ourselves in a period of time that we need to be weary of anyone that comes into our circle," West said.

The people who lose their life savings aren't the only victims. Some people are being kidnapped and forced to scam others.

MORE: Bay Area software developer loses $1.3M in cash and retirement in popular crypto scam

It happened to "Sara," who agreed to speak with ABC News, using a pseudonym and with her voice and face disguised.

She was living in South Africa when she applied for a new job she believed would be in Bangkok.

"Well, I was expecting to be a customer service consultant," said "Sara."

Instead, "Sara" was kidnapped and brought to a compound in Myanmar where her passport was taken and her cell phone SIM card destroyed.

"When I got there, the first three days they couldn't tell me what I was doing. All I could see were people that were stressed. They were not happy, and they just had their eyes glued on the computer," she said.

MORE: Bay Area man loses $380K investing in cryptocurrency suggested by woman he met online

"Sara" said she was instructed to play a part.

"So I had to, to actually, I need to learn to be Asian woman," "Sara" said.

"I used to work for like 20 hours. I wanted to make an honest living be an honest citizen and here I am now. I'm a prisoner forced to do things that I don't want to do," she said.

"I feel for the people who are being trafficked in that way and who are being conned on the other side," Plonski said.

The crypto con has law enforcement and prosecutors working overtime.

MORE: FBI launches 'Take a Beat' campaign to increase awareness of frauds, scams

"This is so pervasive and is happening to so many people," West said.

"It's very difficult on the backend when money goes to China and foreign countries, for us to recover the money and for us to necessarily work with the different law enforcement agencies in some countries that maybe the United States doesn't have the best diplomatic relations with," Barnacle said.

"I've come to the realization I'm never going to get that $2.5 million back, so that's why I went back to work, as a consultant," Dang said. "And I owe $600,000 in back taxes to the state and feds."

"No, I definitely was not able to get it back," Plonski said.

"Sara" said the compound she worked at is still operating with increased security and worsened conditions.

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"I escaped this," said "Sara."

An ongoing battle, with wounds beyond broken trust and obliterated savings.

"I don't want to lose my, my heart. I don't want to lose my love of life and of the world and the way that I live my life. I don't want to become a cynic," Plonski said.

If you're a victim of this type of scam, law enforcement officials say you should file a report with both your local police department and the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center or IC3.