Joe Allen of Shelton, Connecticut, who says he lost about $228,000—his life savings—to a crypto investment pitch from a group calling itself “ZAP Solutions.” He told reporters the offer began with a text about a work-from-home trading opportunity: he was urged to start with $30,000 and shown a dashboard claiming his balance had jumped toward $368,000, which encouraged him to keep wiring funds from his 401(k), IRA, and other accounts. When he tried to withdraw, access was cut off and he was told to send even more money to “reactivate” the account.

The mechanics match today’s common online investment frauds: unsolicited outreach; a slick, fake platform that displays paper gains; escalating “short-term” deposits and surprise “fees” or “taxes”; then a withdrawal freeze once the victim is tapped out. Coverage in Connecticut outlets describes that exact sequence in Allen’s case, including repeated wire transfers and a final lockout after he questioned the payout.

As for suspects, Allen and his family say they reported the crime to local police and the FBI, but no individual perpetrators have been publicly named in the stories to date, and recovery is considered unlikely once funds are moved through crypto wallets and overseas accounts. Articles detailing his complaint and the broader investigation landscape in Connecticut note the difficulty of attribution in these cases, but do not cite an arrest or identified suspect tied to his loss.