Reborn to Scam the Scammer Kingpin

The executive I meet on a dating app, Eric Cole, convinces me to invest in a supposedly foolproof investment scheme. After weeks of him wearing me down, I invest my entire savings of one million dollars. The next morning, I open the app and find a message saying the server is unavailable. Confused, I assume it's just a system update and immediately text my perfect boyfriend. But the message won't go through. Realizing the investment platform has vanished, I rush to the cybercrime unit to report it. After tracing the IP, the police tell me I've fallen for a classic scam. I'm stunned. Eric and I have even picked out names for our future children! No matter how many chat logs I provide, Eric is nowhere to be found. When my coworkers find out, they spread rumors that I lost my mind from being so desperate to marry a rich man. My boss uses the scandal as an excuse to fire me. Eventually, overwhelmed by severe depression, I swallow an entire bottle of sleeping pills. Even as I die, I can't understand why giving someone my everything leaves me with nothing. When I open my eyes again, I'm back at the moment Eric first messages me. This time, I become the ultimate player and turn the tables, bleeding the scam operation dry. Chapter 1 "Hi, I'm Eric Cole. The dating app suggested we connect." In my previous life, Eric used his daily sweet talk and fake investment screenshots to slowly take all my life's savings. One million dollars. Ten years of my life went into that money. When the investment platform disappeared, I ran to the police in a panic, only to learn I had fallen for a scam run from overseas. My coworkers spread rumors that I was obsessed with marrying a rich man, and my boss used the scandal as an excuse to fire me. Even as I died, I couldn't understand why giving someone my everything left me with nothing. I drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. Since I had been given another chance at life, I wasn't going to be anyone's victim this time. I accepted the match on the dating app, and Eric messaged me almost instantly. "Hi, Ms. Madeline Locke. It's nice to meet you. I looked through your profile, and I think we'd be a great match," he wrote. "I'm 32 years old and work as a senior executive at an investment firm. My job keeps me busy, so I'm hoping to find a grounded woman to build a life with." It was the same opening and carefully crafted persona. In my previous life, I had nervously sent him a long introduction about myself. This time, I couldn't even be bothered to type a response. I opened my photo gallery and found a picture I had secretly taken at an auction in my previous life while running an errand for my boss. In the photo, a woman in an evening gown held up a bidding paddle, and an antique vase was displayed behind her. I sent it with a short message. "I'm busy bidding. Don't bother me with small talk." The other end went silent for five long minutes. I gave a quiet, mocking laugh. For a bunch of scammers hiding in some overseas compound, nothing could be more tempting than an easy target suddenly flashing serious money. Five minutes later, he finally replied. "My apologies, Ms. Locke. I didn't realize you were familiar with the auction world. I've been following today's Sunderby auction myself. "That piece from the Cesteron period is quite remarkable. You have a very discerning eye." He sounded knowledgeable, attentive, and sophisticated. He was testing me, trying to figure out how much money I really had. I tossed my phone onto the couch and ignored him for the next two hours. The screen kept lighting up, then going dark again. "Ms. Locke, are you still busy?" "Is the auction over? Did you win anything?" "I collect art myself. Maybe we can talk about it sometime." I poured myself a glass of wine and settled into a lounge chair on the balcony. Finally, I sent him a voice message, keeping my tone lazy and casual. "I just finished dealing with my ex-husband's estate, and I'm exhausted. Honestly, I'm sick of looking at all those antiques. I was only bidding for fun. "Mr. Cole, if you're looking for some quiet, predictable woman, then we're not a match. "I just got divorced. I've got more money than I know what to do with, and I'm bored out of my mind. I just want something exciting." Once I sent it, I could almost picture Eric and his partners staring at their screens, seeing dollar signs. A newly divorced woman with a huge inheritance and a craving for excitement was the perfect target. "I like your honesty, Ms. Locke. The whole 'grounded' thing is mostly for appearances. At our level, who doesn't want a real connection and a little excitement?" Eric replied. He'd taken the bait. For the next three days, I kept him guessing. He would send me ten messages, and I would answer one. He sent me pictures from an exclusive party, so I answered with a video from a private yacht. He finally made his move and brought up the investment that had ruined me in my previous life. "Maddy, I've got access to a private investment opportunity that's usually reserved for a handful of major clients," he said. "You mentioned having trouble deciding what to do with all your money. Why don't you put a little in and see how it goes? Your principal is guaranteed, and the daily returns are incredible." Moments later, he sent me a link. I opened the poorly made app for the scam, which was surprisingly well disguised. I smirked. "Sure. I'll give it a try." Without hesitation, I transferred 100 thousand dollars into the account. The next morning, the account showed a five-thousand-dollar profit. Eric sent me a smug-looking meme. "See? I wasn't lying, right? That's just what you made from a small test. Imagine what you would earn if you put in serious money." I stared at the 105-thousand-dollar balance with a hard look in my eyes. Then I withdrew every cent. Two minutes later, my bank confirmed I had received the 105 thousand dollars. I immediately moved all the money to a separate account. I didn't just want to keep him interested. I wanted him to keep wanting more. The real game was just beginning. Chapter 2 "Maddy, why did you pull all your money out?" Eric's voice message came through, and he sounded noticeably rattled. That was the 100-thousand-dollar principal plus the 5000-dollar bait they had dangled in front of me. I tossed my phone onto the coffee table. Then I lowered my voice, making myself sound tipsy and upset. "It's only 100 thousand dollars. That's not even enough to buy a decent handbag with. "Eric, I'm having a terrible day. My ex-husband's freeloading family is causing trouble again. They want my trust fund. They can forget it!" Eric went silent. A moment later, another voice message came through. This time, his voice was gentle and reassuring. "Maddy, don't worry about them. You've got me now. How much is in the trust? If you trust me, I can help you put together a proper financial plan. I'll make sure they don't get a cent." I almost laughed. He'd fallen for the trap. "I'll get access to it next week. The total is 50 million dollars." I let out a soft, deliberate sob. "I'm just one woman. I have no idea what to do with that much money. "Eric, you know so much about investing. If you're really that good, maybe I should put myself and all my money in your hands." For a scam operation like theirs, 50 million dollars was a jackpot beyond anything they would have imagined. "Maddy, don't worry. I'll take good care of your money. We'll buy a beautiful house together someday, and we'll have two beautiful kids. That money will give us everything we need for our future." His voice was trembling. To make the 50-million-dollar story convincing, I opened my laptop. In my previous life, I had spent eight years as a senior finance professional. I knew exactly how to spot the flaws in all kinds of financial statements and proof of assets. I had spent the whole night using an offshore shell company to create fake documents. They showed that I had an offshore trust fund I would soon be able to access. I also forged a bank verification report and statements from my overseas account. Every screenshot and signature looked authentic enough to pass a close inspection. I put everything into one file and sent it. "Eric, here's proof of the funds. The entire amount will be transferred into my account next Wednesday. I'll move all of it to your platform once it clears." After I sent the message, there was nothing from Eric for two full hours. I could almost picture Eric handing the documents over to the people running the scam. They were probably gathered around a computer, trying to verify every detail. At noon, Eric called. I answered and started recording the call. "Maddy, I've gone over everything. It all checks out. You're incredible! Once those 50 million dollars come in, I guarantee I'll double it within a month!" He sounded ecstatic. I leaned back in my chair, my tone suddenly distant and icy. "Eric, do you think I'm rich and stupid?" He was stunned. "Maddy, what are you talking about? Why would I think that?" "Where I come from, you have to prove you have the means before anyone will do business with you." I tapped my fingers against the desk, keeping my voice cool and demanding. "If you want to handle my 50 million dollars, sure. But why should I trust a junior executive at an investment firm to protect that kind of money?" "Maddy, you know what I'm capable of," Eric replied. "Save it. Put 500 thousand dollars into my account as a security deposit," I said. "It'll only sit there for three days. Once I get my trust fund, I'll return every cent with interest. "If you can't even come up with that, why should I trust you with my future?" The other end of the call went silent. All I could hear was his heavy breathing. 500 thousand dollars was an absurd amount of money to put on the line for a scam operation. Their victims were supposed to send them money, not the other way around. "Maddy, that's not how this works. Most of my money is tied up in investments. I can't just pull that much money out on short notice." Eric stumbled over his words, trying to talk his way out of it. "So you can't afford it?" I gave a soft, mocking laugh. "Then don't pretend you can handle a wealthy woman. Goodbye, Mr. Cole." I hung up. And then blocked him. I did it all without missing a beat. If he wanted a shot at 50 million dollars, he was going to have to bleed a little first. Chapter 3 A day after I blocked Eric, I knew the overseas scam operation must have been in chaos by then. What did scammers fear the most? Losing a victim when they were already convinced the money was theirs—especially when that victim was supposedly sitting on 50 million dollars. After work, I logged into another social media account I used specifically to lure scammers. I posted a carefully crafted update. The location was set to Lorendale International Airport. I attached a photo showing the corner of a first-class plane ticket and two passports. The caption read, "Finally done cleaning up the mess back home. Taking my money and starting over somewhere new. The rest of my life is for me. Goodbye, Lorendale." Less than 30 minutes after I posted it, alerts started flooding my phone. Someone with an unfamiliar IP address was trying to break through my account's security. I watched the lines of code racing across my screen and smirked. I had paid a top hacker to set the whole thing up as a trap. The scammers would have to dig into my background to see if I was really leaving the country with millions of dollars. On the screen, I could see the security system had deliberately left a back door open. I picked up my coffee and calmly watched their progress bar move across the screen. My phone pinged with an encrypted message from Kane, my hacker contact. "Maddy, they took the bait. They're in and watching the fake countdown on your offshore account." I smiled. The countdown screen showed a line of gold lettering. "48 hours remain until the 50 million dollars is released. If no account is linked by then, the money will be returned to the family trust and frozen for five years." Time was the one thing scammers couldn't afford to waste. For one whole day, I did nothing. Those 24 hours must have felt endless to Eric and whoever was running the operation behind him. Suddenly, my phone buzzed, and a bank notification appeared on my screen. "Your account ending in 8848 received a transfer of 500 thousand dollars at 2:05 pm. Current balance is…" I stared at the string of zeros, my heart suddenly racing. They actually sent 500 thousand dollars! For a scam, that was almost unheard of. The 50 million dollars was too much for them to risk losing, so they must have forced Eric to use his own money to get me to invest. Kane sent me a voice message. "Maddy, that was brutal. I traced the IP back. The money came from an underground lender. "Eric probably borrowed the money for the scam operation at some insane interest rate. If this deal falls through, they'll take his organs." I replied coldly, "He deserves it." I logged into my online banking account with practiced ease. Without hesitation, I sent the full 500 thousand dollars to the anti-fraud account the local cybercrime unit had set up. The moment I hit "Confirm", I let out a long sigh. They had stolen one million dollars from me in my previous life. This 500 thousand dollars was just interest. I unblocked Eric. The second I did, dozens of messages came pouring in. "Maddy, I sent the money!" "Maddy, please answer me. I had to borrow money just to come up with it!" "Are you still there? The countdown is almost over!" I held down the voice-message button and said in a sweet, affectionate tone, "Darling, you're amazing. I knew you were a man who could get things done. I got the money. I'm about to link my account to your investment platform." He replied with a voice message almost instantly, his voice breaking with excitement. "That's great, Maddy! Just link the account and transfer the 50 million dollars. After that, we'll never have to worry about money again!" I waited a while before I replied, making myself sound hesitant. "But, darling, there's a small problem with the international transfer. I might need your help with one more thing tomorrow." Chapter 4 24 hours remained on the countdown. Eric was becoming frantic, bombarding me with messages. "Maddy, tell me what happened. I'm losing my mind over here!" I sat in my living room. I mussed up my hair, rubbed my eyes until they were red, then suddenly started a video call. The second he answered, Eric's unshaven face filled the screen. His eyes were bloodshot. A blank wall was all I could see behind him. His ragged breathing and darting eyes gave away his panic. "Maddy, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" I covered my face and shook with sobs, letting tears stream down my face. "Eric, it's over! I'm done for!" "What happened? Don't scare me like this!" He lunged toward the camera until his face nearly filled the screen. "The foreign exchange authorities have frozen the money!" I shouted, my voice hoarse. "They say the money is tied to an overseas trust. "I have to pay a two-million-dollar fee to get it all released. If I don't, the 50 million dollars will be sent back, and I'll be blacklisted!" "Two million dollars?" Eric practically screamed. "Where the hell am I going to get that money?" I pounded my fists against the couch. "All my money is tied up in investments and property. I can't get my hands on that much cash. "Eric, I'm exhausted. Forget it. I don't even want the 50 million dollars anymore. I'll just let it rot in the account." "No! Absolutely not!" Eric started yelling. "That money is our future. You can't just walk away from it!" Of course he couldn't let it go. The interest on the 500-thousand-dollar loan he took was growing day by day. If he failed to get my money, the people running the scam operation would kill him. "But I don't have any money! I really can't do anything!" I sobbed like I was about to pass out, then ended the video call. Intense pressure was the oldest trick in the book for scammers running operations like this. Now, I'd turned it back on him. For the next four hours, Eric called me nonstop. I refused to pick up. Kane sent me a live update. "Maddy, they're fighting among themselves. I intercepted their internal messages. Eric is desperately looking into the other victims' accounts tied to his boss." I smirked. When someone was backed into a corner, they stopped thinking straight. To cover the 500-thousand-dollar loss and chase the slim chance of a 50-million-dollar commission, Eric could only steal money from the scam operation. … At 8:00 pm, only four hours remained on the countdown. Another notification came through. "Sterling Bank: Your account ending in 8848 received two million dollars at 8:02 pm." Two million dollars! Eric had actually done it! I stared at the balance and laughed until tears filled my eyes. In my previous life, I had sold the house my parents left me and borrowed from every lender I could find just to give him the one million dollars he'd demanded. Now he finally knew what it felt like to have everything taken from him. Eric sent one frantic voice message after another. His voice was raw. "Maddy, I sent the money. Everything I have is riding on you!" "Pay the fee and get the 50 million dollars transferred!" "Maddy, answer me! Hurry up!" He could probably already picture the fortune waiting for him. I calmly logged into my online banking. With one tap, I transferred the money. 2 million dollars, plus the 500,000 dollars from before, made it 2.5 million dollars in total. Every dollar went straight into the frozen account the police had set up. The money would never make its way back to those disgusting scammers. I stood and walked over to my closet, then pulled out a blouse. The cool fabric brushed against my skin. I picked up my phone and took a blank-faced selfie in the mirror. There was no filter and no more pretense. My eyes were filled with hatred and contempt. I sent the photo, then held down the voice message button. I spoke slowly, my voice dripping with contempt. "Eric, enjoying the scam? How does it feel to take out a loan you can't afford and then steal from your boss? "I'll gladly keep your 2.5 million dollars. Maybe next time, you'll think twice before trying to scam someone."