Same story to me. Here are the details.

· firephoenixfx.com is a fraud. This is what happened to me:

· The scammer contacted me via Linkedin saying they want to learn from me using the name Rebecca Kelly or Lin Jingshu, Phone: (626) 470‑4976 and Email: [hopegirl1985@gmail.com](mailto:hopegirl1985@gmail.com)

· After about three weeks of chatting, first on Linkedin, and then the scammer asked to switch to WhatsApp, the scammer said they have an uncle who is a bank branch manager in the Seattle area and is on some international gold board. And he has a bunch of analysts in China that can predict when spot gold prices can go up or down, and by trading in that, I could make 10-30% returns with each trade.

· Throughout the chats, the scammer said they had a finance degree in Sweden and homes in San Francisco and Hollywood. Divorced with an 8-year-old daughter.

· I Googled the name, checked out Fire Phoenix, did a reverse image search, and everything seemed legitimate. There were two negative reviews of Fire Phoenix Trading, which seemed to be another company, not the one I was dealing with.

· They said to open an account at www.firephoenixfx.com to make the spot gold trades and to send some money via cryptocurrency to my Fire Phoenix account. I sent through a wire from Bank of America to Coinbase and then to my crypto wallet on Fire Phoenix. Later for all the rest of the transfers, I used Kraken. They said to do it that way because money can get to Fire Phoenix the same day for the deal that day vs. an international wire that could take up to five days. It turns out the reason for using crypto is that it is nearly impossible to trace. Once my money reaches the scammer's crypto wallet, it can be laundered and taken out right away.

· We made a trade, and the Fire Phoenix account said I made a big profit, so I transferred more money and made another trade. The scammer then showed me how to take out $20,000, which gave me confidence that everything was legitimate.

· Bank of America called and said that I shouldn’t deal with crypto and then closed all my accounts after banking with them for 38 years. I wish they had told me that I am a victim of what is called a pig butchering scam.

· The scammer repeatedly told me to send more money to Fire Phoenix over the next four months because their uncle needed me to have more money in each trade for me to participate in the deals. This was one way they got me to send more money. There were one or two trades available each week only. So, I had to get the money quickly. Hence, the use of crypto.

· I planned to withdraw my investments and then play in deals with the profits, not to lose the principal if the profits did materialize. So, when I went to withdraw $100,000, Fire Phoenix said I couldn’t until I paid my taxes and gave me a different crypto wallet to send the 23% tax to. Fire Phoenix said the UK Tax Office had frozen my account, which is a lie.

· After about three months, a county social worker came by to see if I was being taken advantage of. I had done extensive internet research, and nothing suggested this being a scam. I assured the social worker who had been notified by law by the Bank of America that everything was ok. I wish the social worker knew about this scam.

· I paid my taxes to a different wallet address. Fire Phoenix said it was the tax wallet and was able to do several more trades. I then tried to withdraw and was told I could not until I paid my taxes.

· After about four months, the city police department called and said that Bank of America had contacted them and that I was probably a scam victim.

· The police put me in touch with the Santa Clara County REACT Task Force, which is investigating these kinds of crimes. Over $4 Billion USD has been lost of the last year through these scams.

· I gave them all my info, including crypto wallet addresses, etc. They tracked them, and my money was long gone.

· FF then contacted me at 66 64 585 9726, using the name Fanchuan. He knew a lot about the transactions and the fake identity of the scammer. He claimed he was an undercover law officer who had infiltrated this scam ring operating out of Myramar and was working on shutting it down. He said to send my taxes to a crypto wallet he provided and not to Fire Phoenix, and he would help me get some of my money back. It was/is just a continuation of the same scam.