For a whole eleven years, math teacher Nahid Momenian returned home every day to an empty, dim house, making her unable to help but reminisce about the good times she used to have.
Momenian’s husband tragically passed away in an accident. At that time, he was cutting down trees in the backyard when a tree trunk fell, taking his life instantly.
Later in 2023, she met Raphael through a dating app.
“He had everything a woman could dream of: very generous, kind-hearted, and always there for you when you need him,” Momenian described to The Epoch Times.
During that time, just the thought of him made her smile, and she looked forward to meeting him in person. Like her mother took care of her father so well back in the day, she also wanted to pamper him as he jokingly mentioned.
However, all of this was not meant to be. This charming quantitative analyst from Greece, Raphael, was most likely just a scammer from the other end of the earth.
No matter how cautious Momenian was, Raphael outsmarted her, successfully dismantling all her defenses.
Since the dawn of civilization, fraud has always been omnipresent. For thousands of years, merchants in the open markets have defrauded customers by tampering with weights. However, modern fraud methods have reached new heights in complexity.
In the dense jungles of Southeast Asia and remote border areas, scam centers operated by Chinese criminal gangs are emerging, aiming to carry out these new types of fraud. These centers, once casinos catering to wealthy Chinese gamblers (gambling is illegal in China), have now turned to fraud activities due to the global interruption of travel and business activities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2025, fraudsters scammed Americans out of $17.7 billion, averaging an hourly amount of up to $2 million. Approximately half of this amount came from fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes. Scammers first establish contact with victims on social media or dating websites and then promote these investment projects.
“This is industrial-scale fraud,” a senior FBI official told The Epoch Times.
He pointed out that a scam center recently investigated by the FBI is comparable in size to the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. The Quantico FBI Academy is a massive campus incorporating training and research, covering an area equivalent to 414 American football fields.
“They are like towns in themselves,” he described, saying these centers have “huge physical infrastructure” equipped with on-site medical facilities, generators, and internet access devices on rooftops to support their “high-yield business model.”
“Their scale is massive, and the numbers are quite staggering,” he added.
It is the same technology that connects the modern world which also makes it easier for scammers to carry out their deceitful schemes. A seemingly harmless message, an attractive social media profile, or a phone call creating a sense of urgency is enough for them to target new victims.
These fraudsters are extremely patient. They do not rush to talk about money but are willing to spend weeks or even months gaining trust. Chinese criminal groups call this method “shazhupan,” where victims are viewed as “pigs” to be fattened up before being “slaughtered.”
The fact that someone like Raphael showed interest in her left Momenian puzzled.
“Why me?” she once asked him when he first messaged her. “You are handsome, successful, and have a high income. There are plenty of other choices out there.”
But Raphael insisted that none of that mattered – Momenian was his “soulmate.”
“Age is just a number,” he said.
Their conversations were pleasant, initially on a public platform, then shifting to the WhatsApp social media platform.
Soon, he started calling her “baby” and “dear.”
She had some doubts. “You are almost too good to be true!” she once wrote.
She doubted if he was using his own photos and even asked what his last name was – as it wasn’t mentioned in his profile. “Scams are too common now,” she mentioned in the message, adding that he was “too good” to her.
Raphael seemed offended. “It hurts me when you view me like that,” he said. “Is it wrong to be nice to you? People have too many distorted thoughts nowadays.”
Raphael refused to video chat until Momenian expressed suspicion. He claimed that a past relationship experience had left him traumatized.
But that afternoon, he suggested a call to prove he was real.
In the video call, he appeared stiff-faced, almost expressionless. The call quality was poor, and Momenian could barely hear his voice. But in those few minutes, she caught a glimpse of a face that matched his profile picture. That was enough for her.
In Southeast Asia, fraud has evolved into a highly streamlined industry. The heads of network scam centers (mostly operated by Chinese nationals) manage multiple centers like they are leading military bases. Hundreds or even thousands of abducted laborers are detained in these large-scale centers, forced to work for long hours in high-pressure conditions, using meticulously tested professional scam scripts.
A 25-year-old former captive who escaped from a scam center in Cambodia, which has since closed down, revealed to The Epoch Times that he was forced to work rigorously for months, starting from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day without any breaks.
Each person is equipped with three cellphones and dozens of fake accounts. Through real-time AI deepfake technology, they can mimic anyone’s appearance in video calls.
FBI officials stated that props are also used in fraud schemes. A wig, simple makeup, or a pair of glasses can completely change one’s appearance. To imitate a person’s voice in real-life, a short three-second audio clip is sufficient.
The documentary “Scam Slave: From Hell to Home” (2026) director Timothy Blackwood also agrees. He stated, “These fraudsters are ahead of the industry in terms of technological applications.”
“They have mastered these ‘deepfake’ techniques long before private companies developed them,” he told The Epoch Times.
Furthermore, victims are not just elderly people. “People of all ages can be their target,” he said.
The persona carefully crafted by Raphael had numerous loopholes. The 40-year-old man’s voice sounded like that of someone in their twenties. He had an accent that she couldn’t identify when speaking. The photo he claimed was taken on his “first day in New York” in June showed people in lightweight jackets, with trees just budding, giving a feel of a vibrant spring scene. Just as Momenian was heading to New York, looking forward to meeting him, he claimed he was off to Florida.
Momenian didn’t think much of it at the time. She wishes she had been more vigilant.
Raphael, a quantitative analyst frequently on business trips but constantly by her side, gradually drew Momenian into the world of cryptocurrency. He showed her the hefty profits he made when market conditions were favorable. He said she should try too and promised to impart all the necessary knowledge.
“Follow me in buying,” he told her. “I will be your king. Just follow me.”
So she did as he said, initially investing $2,000, then adding tens of thousands of dollars. The numbers on the investment board skyrocketed at a dazzling speed. She took high-interest loans, mortgaged her property, and borrowed money from her sister and brother-in-law.
Various warning signals kept flashing. Bank of America intercepted her transfers and refunded $60,000. Cryptocurrency trading platforms Coinbase and Uphold also issued warnings about potential fraud risks. She even attempted to transfer money through her joint bank account with her son, but was unsuccessful.
Each time she raised doubts, Raphael accused her of not trusting him. He made her feel too timid.
“You need to leave a fortune for your children,” he told her. He claimed that investing $500,000 could yield $1 million.
Momenian did indeed need $1 million. She did not need the money for a luxurious life but for her loved ones. Her brother-in-law had once set up college education funds for her two sons, and she wanted to do the same for him. She wanted to donate to a K-8 school founded by a friend, and also wanted to invest resources in helping children with ADHD and epilepsy, like her younger son.
Momenian thought she was trading on the Fidelity Investments platform. But, in reality, she was using a counterfeit website.
Similar to the real Fidelity Investments brokerage, the “Fidelity Options” app utilized a green logo with pyramid and radial sunshine patterns. The platform representatives claimed it was part of the Fidelity Investment Group, stating that the group is currently the “world’s largest professional fund company” managing assets of up to $1 trillion for “over 12 million investors globally.”
To the untrained eye, these fake websites appeared highly realistic and credible.
“These websites are well-made, appearing professional. They provide real-time trading data or display the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies for clients,” an FBI official shared. “But, in reality, it’s a simple money laundering scam.”
During a series of wire transfers from June to December 2023, Momenian ultimately deposited over $439,000 into “Fidelity Options.”
Raphael purportedly invested $10,000–or so she thought. She watched as their asset value skyrocketed, surpassing $1 million. Then came the time to cash out.
Momenian discovered a problem. When she tried to withdraw funds, the Fidelity Options platform froze her account. A customer service representative named “Robert” informed her that her account was under investigation for suspicious activity.
To unfreeze the account, she had to pay a 10% fee within seven business days, totaling $107,095.428.
To meet the deadline, Momenian maxed out her credit cards and borrowed money from multiple sources to gather the required amount. By early December, she found that the Fidelity Options website was inaccessible. Fraudsters informed her that they changed the website address due to “maintenance and updates.”
After depositing her last sum, Momenian suddenly realized she had been scammed. At that moment, Raphael went missing.
She sat in the living room and wept. She thought about ending her life.
“The feeling was like someone pushing me off a cliff, and I had nothing to cling onto,” she said.
She was supposed to see through all of this long ago. She was too greedy, too selfish, brainwashed too deeply to get entangled. Now, how would she face her children? She had worked hard to build a future for them. Now everything had turned to dust.
“This is the worst day of my life,” she said.
Even at that point, the scammers did not let her go. Momenian stated that afterward, she received dozens of WhatsApp messages from strangers claiming they could help recover her lost funds if she paid a fee in advance. She blocked all of them.
FBI officials pointed out that this scam is known as “refund scam.” Fraudsters establish a database of individuals they previously defrauded, targeting them again or selling the data to other cybercriminals.
Anyone asking for money is suspicious – emphasized the official: “Nobody should give money.”
Both sides on the network fraud chain are victims. On one end are individuals with no defenses, having their lifetime savings plundered, and on the other end are trafficked laborers who are compelled to engage in scam activities under high pressure.
According to the United Nations, there are at least 300,000 people forced to work in scam centers across Southeast Asia.
They come from all over the world, thinking they are taking up high-paying jobs, only to have their passports seized, lose their freedom, and endure torment.
A Chinese man who survived imprisonment in a scam center for several weeks told The Epoch Times that the Chinese bosses were “ruthless.” He said they used anything at hand to beat the workers, whether it was an electric baton, a chair, a keyboard, or a charger.
A supervisor once broke his teeth after getting drunk. He said that in those places, human life was worth less than trash; if someone died, a person would come to handle the body.
Momenian wondered if Raphael could also be among those hostages?
“That system is truly evil,” she said.
To combat transnational network fraud originating from Southeast Asia, US Federal Prosecutor Jeanine Pirro formed the cross-departmental “Scam Center Strike Force” in November 2025. On September 9th, authorities sanctioned an online trading platform run by Chinese operators on Telegram, designating it as a primary illegal trading platform used for fraud money laundering.
FBI Director Kash Patel recently revealed to The Epoch Times that the FBI’s goal is to “completely dismantle these centers, no matter where they are located on the earth.”
Patel stated that agents have severed thousands of terminal connections supporting these scam centers, thereby “depriving them of the ‘oxygen’ they need to operate.”
However, new centers continue to emerge. Once one center is shut down, criminal syndicates shift personnel elsewhere, giving rise to a new fraud hub.
Patel mentioned that fraud syndicates are constantly adjusting techniques to adapt to situations.
“Our only option is to never slacken.”
Momenian has yet to receive any updates from law enforcement agencies regarding the recovery of her defrauded funds.
The FBI official explained the issue lies with investigative resources. He noted that the institution received over a million reports of cybercrimes last year – an average of about 3,000 cases daily.
“Every report from each victim is crucial,” the official said. “Because they are all part of a wider scam and a larger criminal network.”
He added that the FBI has frozen over $2 billion in illicit funds and is working with the Department of Justice to seek refunds for victims.
For Momenian, almost three years have passed and her wounds are still unhealed.
Now she works seven days a week. She makes candles, engages in retail work, and does whatever it takes to “make ends meet.” Sometimes she wonders if she will ever be able to get rid of all this debt.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Justice, Department of the Treasury, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Amnesty International, Cyber Scam Monitor.
(The article was originally published as “She Thought She Found Love. She Was Trapped in a $500,000 Scam” in The Epoch Times.)