On September 9, 2024, we received a detailed complaint about a job scam that resulted in a significant financial loss of $175,000.

The scam began with a fraudulent job opportunity introduced through the URL datadog.optimise.com, where the victim was persuaded to invest in cryptocurrency.

They were directed to use the platform gate.io to transact with USDT (Tether).

The victim believed the funds were invested in a legitimate job-related scheme to generate supplemental income.

Unfortunately, after completing five transactions over a few days, the victim discovered the hard truth when attempting to withdraw their money—the platform became unresponsive, and all communication with the scammers ceased.

At this point, it was clear that their entire investment was gone.

The fraudulent nature of this scam lies in its presentation as a professional job opportunity, luring the victim with promises of income.

Although the victim performed some initial research and felt confident, the scammers likely created a false sense of security.

They even provided what appeared to be formal documentation, though it’s unclear whether a legal contract was ever established.

Once the victim realized they’d been scammed, they contacted the centralized exchange to recover their funds, but by then, the money had already been moved and cashed out through Binance and OKX.

This scam illustrates how easily fraudsters can create convincing narratives using seemingly legitimate websites and cryptocurrency platforms.

In conclusion, this case confirms that we are dealing with a sophisticated scam. The use of well-known exchanges like gate.io, Binance, and OKX, combined with the professional presentation of the job offer, makes it challenging to identify the fraud upfront. If you’ve encountered any of these platforms or situations, we urge you to immediately halt any transactions and seek professional help.