I was scammed by a company named Fluence, which later rebranded to Augment. I was working with them on optimization tasks, and they encouraged me to purchase cryptocurrency via Tether and deposit it into their platform. Initially, I paid small amounts (4% and 6%) to unlock my funds, but when they requested a 15% payment to unfreeze my funds, I grew suspicious and refused to continue.

Soon after, I was approached by someone claiming to be a lawyer, Alan Michael Smith, who said he could help me get a refund of $31,286. He referred me to Tether, the supposed refund specialist. According to their instructions, I needed to add 4% to my Trust Wallet to receive the refund. When another person (Robert) added the 4%, he received a refund immediately.

However, when I tried to add the same amount, Tether informed me that I needed an additional 6% to “unfreeze” my funds. I was confused but proceeded, and after that, I continued asking about my refund. But now, Tether is asking for 15% more to unfreeze the funds, which I believe is part of their scam.

Details:

The total amount in my Trust Wallet is $33,002.

They keep asking for more payments, and I’ve already paid the required 4% and 6%.

I need advice on how to retrieve my funds or any steps I should take to report this.

Wallet Address Associated with the Scam:

0x34c22b5fc105162fe4f89502f9a69a39b84e2bc1

Please help if you have any information on how to recover my funds or how to handle this situation. Any guidance is appreciated.