Is Citibank really to blame? A $20 million love scam, should the bank be held responsible?

Recently, an outrageous love scam case has surfaced in the U.S. Federal Court in New York, dragging Citibank into the mess — the victim claims that Citibank is responsible!

Here's what happened:

According to CoinWorld, a man from Dallas named Michael Ziedel has officially sued Citibank, arguing that the bank's "negligence" indirectly caused him to lose a total of $20 million in a dual scam involving love and cryptocurrency!

【How did the story unfold?】

In January 2023, Ziedel met a "beauty" on Facebook — who claimed to be a California entrepreneur named Caroline Parker.

The two hit it off more and more, even having video calls, and a few weeks later, they were "falling in love." A typical "pig-butchering" scheme.

Next, Parker began to "educate" him about NFTs, claiming she had made several million on a platform called OpenrarityPro.

She even showed him investment accounts and profit screenshots, sounding very convincing.

Ziedel believed her.

In the following months, he made a total of 43 wire transfers, amounting to over $20 million, with $4 million going directly into Citibank's account.

The recipient was a company called Guju Inc., and the whole process looked like a typical "money laundering channel": different banks, multiple transfers, and an unknown recipient...

Even more absurdly, the platform showed him a "fake balance" of $300 million, making him believe he was making a huge profit.

Withdrawal? Sorry, pay a deposit first!

When Ziedel attempted to withdraw, the other party said he had to pay a "risk deposit" first, then they said he needed to pay a "handling fee" — it was just a step-by-step trap.

The deeper he got, the more entangled he became, and the platform suddenly disappeared overnight, with the website becoming completely inaccessible.

It was at this point that he realized: he had been scammed.

So he reported it, contacted the FBI, and began to seek accountability — which led to Citibank.

Should Citibank really be held responsible? Should the bank pay for the money its customers lost to scams?

This question is worth the entire cryptocurrency industry and financial system reflecting on together.

I am Xiao Peng, a senior analyst in the cryptocurrency circle. Follow me to understand the scams, trends, and values in blockchain, so you won't be scammed or treated like fodder! ##上市公司山寨币财库 ##香港加密概念股