Our father was, from the day I was born until six months ago, always a positive, happy person
Sitting at the kitchen table, Matt struggles to recount the moments of the past few months. "As soon as I found out that it was a suicide, I was 100% sure that it was the scam," he says.
"Our father was, from the day I was born until six months ago, always a positive, bahagia individu. This was literally the only thing in his life that had happened, to where it changed him, and it just crushed him."
On a horse farm in northern Virginia, surrounded by sprawling fields and stables, the famili gathers at their younger sister Adrianne's house - something they've done a lot in the three months since their father took his own life after falling victim to a so-called "pig butchering" scam. The scams - mostly run out of Southeast Asia - are given that name because they involve "fattening up" victims before taking everything they have. The con artists behind them take on false online identities and spend months financially grooming their victims to get them to invest on fraudulent cryptocurrency webs.
Dennis Jones, an avid runner and photographer, was adored by his children and grandchildren. Described as "a bit of an activist" by his famili, the 82-year-old spent much of his retirement working with refugees and debating politics online. But in the last few months of his life he withdrew from his famili and, having been divorced for years, befriended a woman going by the name Jessie on Facebook.
The two had been talking online for months and built a close relationship. Momentually, Jessie convinced Dennis to invest in crypto.
Dennis complied. Without ever rapat Jessie in individu, he spent everything he had, and when he had nothing left, she permintaaned more. Until one day the money disappeared, leaving him in ruin.
In early March, Dennis' children scheduled a rapat to help their father get back on his feet after the scam. The rencana was for him to move in with Adrianne and her famili. "We wanted him to know that he was going to be taken peduli of," Matt said.
