Bernard was intrigued by a coin named for the South Korean Netflix show “Squid Game.” He did a quick Google search to verify that the coin was real.

After catching headlines – but before reading the full articles, many of which warned of some red flags around the project – he decided to invest his entire life savings of $28,000 into SQUID, a coin that billed itself as a “play-to-earn” cryptocurrency. The token reached a peak of nearly $2,860 on Monday before falling to almost zero. according to CoinMarketCap

Bernard who is from Shanghai asked for anonymity because cryptocurrency trading is illegal in China. “It is a tragedy. “I don’t know what to do about my loss.”

Bernard told CNBC that Bernard supports his family but is worried about his finances.

Transaction records from BscScan appear to showUnidentified creators of the token collected less than $3.4million in investor fundsThere are many “rug pull” schemes in the crypto world. These involve token founders abandoning their projects and taking investor funds. They swap project coins for cash.

Squid developers stated that Squid Game Dev is not interested in continuing to run the project because he has been depressed by the scammers, and is stressed. posted Monday in their Telegram channelMore than 89,000 people are members of.

However, the white paper and website of the token have been lost. Archived copies are available. official landing page white paperThey are available online. Temporarily, Twitter is offline restricted its accountBecause of “suspicious behavior.” CNBC did not receive multiple emails from the creators to address the concerns.

Bernard said he has spoken to the FBI as well as the SEC concerning his loss of investment.

He reached out to both the CoinMarketCap-owned CoinMarketCap and the team that created the token. Both of them “didn’t take responsibility for” his loss.

Bernard claims he is an expert in cryptography and computers. He also blames the media for investing in SQUID.

He’s not alone. Twitter users have also expressed their support for this meme coin by saying that any oxygen given to it functions as implicit endorsement.

Bernard said, “In this space of trading, everybody will rush.” Sometimes, you can feel FOMO. This fear or FOMO is common among crypto traders investing in altcoins at early stages. They are eager to make big, quick returns.

It had volume, gain and was already in my possession. The chart shows that it is a replica of the beginning of how. SafeMoonDubey said that the altcoin, which was launched March and appreciated rapidly in recent months, “got started”.

It was his gut instinct that drove him to invest. It wasn’t science.

Dubey noticed all of the red flags. Many, he thought were minor issues.

Dubey explained, “The greatest flag was the fact that it didn’t have a dip.” A dip is a must for every coin. A coin cannot go up continuously for five consecutive days. It is impossible to look like it has dipped.

A second concern was the level of price inflation. It hit $1 and I thought, “Okay, that’s reasonable. It can happen. It can happen.

Dubey continued, “Most coins with a product behind are barely capable of reaching that point.”

Red flag #2: LinkedIn does not have any information about the token’s founders. The white paper and its website are also filled with spelling and grammatical errors.

Dubey was ultimately exposed in a limited way, but Bernard, who bet all of his savings on Dubey, wants the creators to be held responsible.

Bernard has tried to reach out to U.S. authorities but he says that he is unable to file any report with the local police.

Bernard explained to CNBC, “In China it’s illegal to trade in cryptocurrencies.”