- Jurisdiction
- Alberta
In late May of this year, my friend told me she met this guy on a sugar daddy website that was basically giving her money for free and all she had to do was deposit money at Bitcoin ATM's. She had no income and was very short on money, hence why she was on a sugar daddy website. She had deposited online cheques for this guy, around $3000, and was told she could keep most of it if she withdrew some and deposited it into a Bitcoin ATM. She asked me if I would be willing to do the same, and with her being low on money, I agreed to it for her sake. At the time, I had a stable income and did not need the extra cash. I was reluctant to deposit the first cheque without knowing more about who this guy was and why he needed her to deposit the money into Bitcoin ATM's and why he couldn't do it himself. She assured me that he was legit and told me the cheque's from him deposited into her account with no trouble, and so I deposited a cheque from him. He emailed her a $1000 cheque and told her that I needed to deposit it into my account, withdraw $800 and deposit it into a Bitcoin ATM, and said her and I could split the remaining $200. I withdrew the cash, and e-transfered her the $100 of her half. Since the cheque deposited and I was able to withdraw the cash needed, I assumed the cheque was legit and all was well. The next day, she asked me if I would do it again. This time, the cheque looked different and I felt that it was fake. I did my own investigating and found that the address of the business that the cheque was issued from did not exist, and so I told her I wouldn't do it. He then sent her a new cheque that looked like the first and claimed the previous cheque just had a typo which is why it seemed illegitimate. She asked me to deposit the new cheque which was made out for $2000. I was told to withdraw $1000 in cash and deposit it into a Bitcoin ATM and to split the rest amongst herself and I. Again, the cheque deposited fine and I withdrew the cash without trouble so I felt secure. The next day, I find myself locked out of my bank account and when I went into my branch they confirmed my neglected worries that the cheque's were fake and that I was involved in a scam. I notified my friend, who apparently had been locked out of her bank account prior to me depositing my cheques but hadn't told me. She sorted it all out with her bank and was somehow able to come up with enough money to pay back the overdraft. I, on the other hand, did not have enough money saved up to simply pay back the $1800 I owed my bank for what had been withdrawn and deposited into the Bitcoin ATM. My friend had told me that since she convinced me to become involved in it that she would pay me back the overdraft in my account. It has been two months and I haven't received a dime from her. She has reneged on her promise to pay me back and I'm now left owing my bank for fraudulent activity I wasn't aware I had engaged in. Since she knowingly coerced me into this fraud, is there anything I can do to get that money from her? I understand I chose to deposit those cheques, but if her bank account was on hold from this fraud while she was still asking me to deposit the cheques, and she was gaining money from me doing so, can I do anything? Thanks.
