Woman nabbed over P3.7-M crypto estafa, extortion scheme

A 40-year-old woman is facing estafa and extortion charges after a P3.7-million cryptocurrency transaction unraveled into an alleged multi-layered fraud scheme, culminating in a citizen's arrest along Roxas Boulevard on Pasay City on Tuesday, 28 July.

The suspect was promptly turned over to Sub-station 1 of the Pasay City Police Station around 11:35 p.m. by the resolute complainant.

According to police investigations, the ordeal began on 22 July, when the complainant and the suspect met at an establishment along Roxas Boulevard to execute a 60,000 USDT transaction valued at roughly P3.7 million.

After the complainant successfully transferred the cryptocurrency to the suspect's designated digital wallet, the suspect pulled a sudden about-face, falsely claiming she never received the funds and alleging that the digital assets were counterfeit.

Verifications via the peer-to-peer transaction application, wallet provider confirmations, and blockchain tracking paint a starkly different picture.

Records proved that the 60,000 USDT was not only successfully credited to the suspect's address but had already been covertly funneled out to a separate digital wallet.

Rather than settling the payment, the suspect allegedly escalated the scheme days later. On 24 July, the suspect manipulated the victim into handing over an additional P200,000 under the pretext of buying a recovery token.

Emboldened, she demanded another P200,000 for a bogus wallet top-up fee required to unlock the trapped funds.

The cycle of extortion came to a head on 28 July at around 9 p.m.. During a trap meeting orchestrated by the complainant, the suspect attempted to milk yet another P200,000 using the same hollow promises. This final demand prompted the complainant to execute a lawful citizen's arrest and bring the suspect straight to law enforcement.

The case has since been transferred to the Investigation and Detective Management Section of the Pasay City Police Station for comprehensive case build-up prior to inquest proceedings at the Office of the City Prosecutor of Pasay City.