Citibank has been sued by Michael Zidell, a self-proclaimed victim of a crypto romance scam, for allegedly ignoring warning signs that enabled scammers to steal $20 million from him. Zidell claims he sent a total of $20 million through several transactions to scammers, including $4 million to Citibank accounts, under the impression that he was investing in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) after forming an online relationship with a woman named Carolyn Parker. Zidell was directed to a trading platform for the investments but realized by late April that it had disappeared along with his funds. The lawsuit states that Citibank processed multiple transfers without investigating suspicious activity, even though the scale of the transactions and other factors should have triggered an alert. This incident highlights broader issues of crypto scams, particularly “pig butchering” scams, which have become increasingly prevalent, as indicated by recent reports estimating that such frauds stole approximately $9.9 billion in 2024.

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