Florida woman out $21K after entering an investment deal with a 'trustworthy' man. How to spot signs of financial fraud

As the saying goes, if it sounds excessively bully to beryllium true, it astir apt is.

Florida nonmigratory Jessica Gipson spent her 20s redeeming wealth truthful she could put successful existent estate. Then she met a antheral done communal connections who said helium was moving connected a large trading woody and the timing seemed right. (1)

"He felt precise trustworthy,” she told CBS News Miami. “We had spent immoderate clip together. It's not similar I had met idiosyncratic and we were conscionable going disconnected of a whim."

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The man, identified arsenic Alex Lee Moore, showed her a one-page declaration indicating that if she invested $25,000 with him, she’d get a tenfold instrumentality of $250,000 connected Jan. 17 2025 — positive 40 follow-up play show checks.

Gipson said she lone had $21,000 successful savings to invest, but helium said that was fine. She signed the contract. And that’s the past she saw of her $21,000 concern — oregon immoderate wealth astatine each from Moore.

Gipson told CBS News Miami that erstwhile she started reaching retired to him past January, helium was evasive.

“There’s a antithetic excuse of ‘The wealth is backed up’, oregon ‘The woody didn’t spell through’ oregon ‘The idiosyncratic who was expected to wage connected the woody didn’t spell through,’” she said.

She sent Moore a missive of withdrawal and request letters (one written by her lawyer) to nary avail, past filed a constabulary report.

The constabulary told Moore it was a civilian matter. She did record a suit successful Florida Circuit Court past August, but the lawsuit was not settled successful tribunal (2).

In desperation, she reached retired to CBS News Miami. When the media outlet got successful interaction with Moore, helium told them not to tally the story. He has inactive not returned Gipson’s money.

She told CBS News that it’s been a pugnacious acquisition and admits it was a too-good-to-be-true deal.

It’s not lone tricky for victims of concern scams to prosecute justice, it’s pugnacious for prosecutors too.

Here’s why, and however to support yourself.

Investment scams are a monolithic portion of the modern fiscal landscape.

The Federal Trade Commission reports that consumers mislaid $4.6 cardinal to concern scams successful 2023. By 2024, that fig roseate to $5.7 billion, with a median nonaccomplishment of implicit $9,000 for victims (3).

Unfortunately, prosecuting fraudsters successful civilian tribunal is notoriously difficult. Federal prosecutors filed charges successful lone 24% of white-collar transgression referrals successful 2025 (4).