(WSVN) - A Miami doctor’s Instagram account is being used to scam people out of millions of dollars. The FBI is now involved. Heather Walker has the story in tonight’s 7Investigates.
Men searching on dating sites think they are falling for this young Miami doctor. But in reality, they’re falling for a scam.
Dr. Nataliya Bocharova, scam victim: “You’d be surprised how many like high-profile people are reaching out to me — CEOs, lawyers, wealth management people, so people with a lot of money.”
This is the real doctor, Nataliya Bocharova. She says all of these dating profiles that use her pictures and videos are fake.
Dr. Nataliya Bocharova: “They’re pictures of me with my grandparents.”
The dating profiles use her images from social media, along with her life story of being a traveling doctor and an immigrant from Ukraine.
Dr. Nataliya Bocharova: “There are a lot of pretty girls online, but that’s not what they’re going after. They’re going after my medical degree, my credentials.”
According to the FBI, the scam is known as “pig butchering.”
Supervisory Special Agent Zachariah Baldwin, FBI: “I will say it is a strange name. It’s not something that we came up with. It’s what the scammers call it.”
The scam is given that name because the victims are fattened up for slaughter, enticed by promises of romance and riches, then drained of their money using investment fraud.
Supervisory Special Agent Zachariah Baldwin: “I do see a huge increase in this threat down here. We get reports almost daily of this, definitely weekly, with large substantial losses.”
Scammers build a relationship with the victims, then get them to wire money to a fake investment site, where it will look like the money is growing.
Supervisory Special Agent Zachariah Baldwin: “They follow patterns of what a real trading site works. They function how they should work. You have two-factor identification on some. They’re to the tee. The thing that these victims don’t realize is, the second they send the money, it’s gone. It never even hits the trading site.”
While the investments are fake, the men are losing real money, and Nataliya says some have come after her wanting it back.
Dr. Nataliya Bocharova: “It’s scary. I don’t know how to protect myself anymore. I can’t tag my location, I can’t tag where I am at. I had to change my job. Like as much as I want to live my authentic life, I can’t anymore, because my freedom was taken away from me.”
Which is why she posted this video to her Instagram page to warn people and protect herself.
Dr. Nataliya Bocharova (on social media): “Crypto scam. I wanted to make an official and public announcement about an issue that has been happening for quite some time now.”
It was that video that saved one victim from losing everything.
Scam victim: “You’re going to feel embarrassed and humiliated, and it can happen to a very intelligent person like myself, and it did happen.”
This victim didn’t want to reveal his identity but says he lost $300,000. He thought he was talking to the doctor and investing for a future together.
Scam victim: “I also counted my stars, because the real doctor had put that on her Instagram profile.”
Now Nataliya and the victims are working with the FBI to try to stop the crooks, but these scams are typically run by organized crime groups overseas, and most of the money is never recovered.
Scam victim: “We all have our hopes and our dreams, and despite what other people may say to you, you’re caught up in these fantasies.”
The FBI agents say their best advice is the old saying: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Heather Walker, 7News.
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