Rebirth for a Fraud Victim:The Money Didn’t Disappear — It Was Redirected(7)


scammer's wallet

The scammer’s wallet address

The Money Didn’t Disappear — It Was Redirected

(A Money-Flow Story)

A Simple Truth

I didn’t “lose” money in crypto.

My money moved exactly where I was told to move it — step by step — until it no longer belonged to me.

This is what that path looked like.

The Money-Flow Diagram (Story Version)

My Bank Account

A Real Exchange (Coinbase / Crypto)

Ethereum (Converted at His Direction)

A Wallet I Thought Was Mine (imToken)

A Trading Platform That Wasn’t Real (KikiTrade)

A Wallet I Couldn’t See — But He Controlled

Silence

Every arrow was framed as “just one more step.”
Every step felt temporary.
None of them were.

Stage 1: Where My Money Actually Started

My money began in ordinary places:

My bank
My retirement accounts
Legitimate exchanges like Coinbase

At this stage, nothing looked suspicious.
I still had full control.

This is why the story doesn’t begin with a scam —
It begins with trust.

Stage 2: “Just Move It to a Wallet”

He told me this was normal.
Professional.
Safer.

So I moved my money into Ethereum, then into a wallet called imToken.

What I didn’t understand then:
Wallets don’t protect you
Whoever controls the keys controls the money

I was struggling with authentication.
He “helped.”
The help costs me ownership.

Stage 3: The Platform That Looked Like Trading

Next came KikiTrade..

It looked like a real exchange.
It showed prices.
It showed trades.
It showed profits.

But it wasn’t connected to any real market.
It was a stage set.
The money didn’t stay there.
It only passed through.

Stage 4: The Invisible Transfer

This is the moment everything changed — without me knowing.

The money left:

My exchange
My wallet
My visibility

It arrived in his wallet.
I saw “sent successfully.”
I didn’t see “received by him” — not until later.
By then, the arrows only went one way.

Stage 5: Bigger Numbers, Faster Losses

Once the system worked once, he pushed for more:

Wire transfers
Retirement funds
Borrowed money

He said:

“The more you invest, the safer it is.”
That sentence still echoes.
What he meant was:
“The more you send, the less you can get back.”

Stage 6: No Exit

There was never a withdrawal phase.
There was never a profit phase.
There was only a deposit phase disguised as trading.
Eventually, the messages slowed.
Then stopped.
The money didn’t vanish.
It completed its journey.

Summary

The funds never vanished – they merely migrated.
Scams don’t snatch your money in one go.
Instead, they coax you to let go bit by bit.

My funds’ journey:

Bank → Exchange → Wallet → Fake Platform → Someone else’s Wallet

Each step seemed reasonable.
Each step was encouraged to proceed.
Each step was irreversible.
By the time I realized there was no turning back,
The path I came from had vanished without a trace.

 

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