SNS型がた投資とうし詐欺さぎ：ニュージャージー州しゅう在住ざいじゅうの男性だんせいに届とどいた見知らみしぬ相手あいてからのメッセージが、彼かれの人生じんせいの破滅はめつへと導みちびいた

One day, I received a friendly message from a stranger on my Facebook.

At that time, I had absolutely no idea that this would be the beginning of a nightmare that would ruin my life.

A man who fell victim to an investment scam through social media agreed to an interview with CNN out of a desire to help others in similar situations, revealing how he lost all his assets and sharing details of his interactions with the perpetrator.

Joe Novak 52 years old lives in Wallington, New Jersey, USA, and received a message from a stranger last October.

I dont know you, but Facebook suggested you as a friend, so I added you.

I hope Im not causing any trouble. ...Your post about your son was truly moving. Maybe we could connect.

Three months ago, Mr. Novak posted on his Facebook that it was extremely difficult to find safe fast food for his sick son.

The message does not appear to be malicious.

The profile image is of a slender blonde woman named Iris Danner.

I will introduce myself as a fashion designer working in the upscale shopping district of Madison Avenue in New York.

They started exchanging messages, and following her advice, they switched from Facebook Messenger to a messaging app called WhatsApp.

Their relationship gradually became closer.

A few months ago, Mr. Novak lost his job as the deputy IT director at a telemarketing company and was in the middle of a divorce, fighting for custody of his two children.

She said that she is a fashion designer who frequently travels around the world and that, like Mr. Novak, she has also experienced divorce.

She confided that she had lost her child due to a miscarriage and praised his devotion to his children.

When February came, the two of them confessed their feelings to each other.

By April, Novak had invested almost all of her assets—$280,000 about 43.6 million yen—in an investment site introduced by her.

Shortly after that, she and her Facebook account disappeared.