Cops told me

My fear of reporting to law enforcement was worse than I thought.

After my crypto tracking report came back, the wallet tracking showed that my funds were still in the wallet, which gave me a glimmer of hope.

However, I never reported the crime to the local police because I thought my local police could do nothing to deal with a large-scale crime the butcher''''s plate. Between March and July 2022, when I learned that I had been massacred in an elaborate plot by con men, there was almost no news.

After six months of struggling with the truth about my reality, in January 2023, I went to the local police department near Atlanta, Georgia and filed a report in hopes that law enforcement involvement would improve the chances of recovering my funds. possibility.

After summarizing my cybercrime, the officer didn''''t know what to tell me, so he said he would consult his team.

The police officer led the detective to reply, and the first question that popped up was: "How could this happen?"

When she heard about the investment part of the story, she asked who my agent was. I need to clarify this question because I invested in stocks and even cryptocurrencies before the scam and I don''''t have a broker.

Long story short, her definition of legitimate investing involves brokers.

She then went on to tell me that I would put my money there for someone. If there is no brokerage involved; there is no protection.

Although she didn’t smile or mention how easily I’d been attracted to such “too good to be true” investments, I could sense the judgment in the room.

At that moment my anxiety kicked in and I doubted myself again.

My brain was thinking, “Bad choice to come here today!”

"Why should I make a fool of myself?"

Maybe it was just in the back of my mind that they could have made better choices in responding to the victim, rather than having me relive my victim story to validate victim shame.

While working on my story, I started to defend myself and told them, "I saw the red flags. However, I continued to invest more because when I could withdraw money from my account and see my profits, This con man built a trusting relationship with me and the relationship grows every day.”

At one point in the conversation, they literally said, "Cryptocurrency isn''''t real; it''''s air. Once you put it in, it''''s gone."

I was shocked to realize that the people we depend on to help us serve and protect us are poorly educated and that crime is happening right under their noses.

It was as if I was talking to an alien about this subject, even though we spoke the same language.

When I tried to get help, I became even more confused.

My worst fear became reality when law enforcement didn''''t understand or didn''''t want to understand when I tried to tell them more information about the crime.

The story was eye-opening when I mentioned that a certified crypto tracker had traced my funds to an existing wallet.

This misunderstanding was beyond my imagination when they had never seen the report I printed for them to investigate what I had to say.

But because they believe “cryptocurrency is air,” anything I say in the report is untrue. They continued to tell me that I was scammed because I paid a cryptocurrency tracker to track something that was untraceable.

Ultimately, my case was air to them because it was a cryptocurrency crime.

My glimmer of hope quickly dissipated in the cold air of the room, so they said something heartfelt , "I''''m sorry this happened to you, but there''''s nothing we can do. This is the FBI case.

As I tried to find help after refinancing two of my rental homes as a property manager and having to sell one to get back on my feet, I became even more confused. When I could afford cryptocurrency tracking, I thought I was one step closer to closure. Tracking shows that nearly $400,000 of my life savings are still in a Binance wallet and an OKX wallet, but when law enforcement shut me out because they didn’t know what they could and should do, I was Pushed back two steps.

I just wanted a police report and they told me they couldn''''t write it because I volunteered the money and we had no suspects. “Even if we have the IP address, we don’t know who you’re sending money to.”

I then told them that I acknowledged that my funds were gone, but was it their responsibility to write a report to raise awareness to prevent someone from becoming a victim?

They responded: "This stuff is all over the internet and happens all the time; these scammers always have new tricks to trick you; you can''''t trust the internet."

I''''ve been surprised when they forgot to look at my report and verify it themselves. Still, what’s more puzzling about their recommendations is that we live in a world riddled with crime and not enough is being done to protect citizens.

Nonetheless, my experience in law enforcement left me feeling an unfortunate victim and a fool who risked his life savings.

My voice was not being heard or understood; they made me feel everything that came out of my mouth was "just air."

Even though my case was just air to them, there was still hope for me. It should apply to all victims.

Since my next move is to contact the FBI and Secret Service in my state, I''''m still waiting for a call back from them to get a full report. It''''s been almost a month and I realize it''''s going to be a long wait.

At the same time, learning through meditation and paying attention to my flow has helped me gain more patience and perspective because I am not holding my breath to get my money back.

But I try to be as proactive as possible and reach out. If my story has no impact on law enforcement, I hope that all victims who have experienced this traumatic crisis will me in speaking out and seeking help.

Even if our voices are not heard by law enforcement, dare to share your story to impact other victims to real connections because you are not alone.

Because by telling our stories and helping each other, and those in law enforcement who work hard to shine a spotlight on our cases, is the best way we can bring justice to the world and, more importantly, heal ourselves.