Publishers Weekly
★ 05/29/2023
An unassuming Scottish grandmother takes down a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme in this exhilarating mix of memoir and true crime. After her father’s death in 2015, McAdam inherited £15,000. Wanting to secure a future for her son and grandchildren, she invested the money with OneCoin, believing the company’s pitch—buttressed by flashy videos and marketing materials—that the cryptocurrency’s value (reportedly quintuple that of the dollar) would turn her inheritance into a life-changing windfall. McAdam promoted the investment opportunity to friends and strangers online, until she started asking questions about the company’s operations when her contacts there started nudging her into ever more elaborate investment “packages” and she ultimately realized she’d never get her money back. When McAdam spoke out publicly, she was threatened with violence and lawsuits for defaming OneCoin. In response, McAdam founded online support groups for other victims and cooperated with London police and the FBI to track down the company’s founder, Ruja Ignatova, and expose OneCoin’s fraudulent practices. In the end, her actions helped bring about the company’s dissolution. This riveting account of a victim fighting back is an inspired, and inspiring, page-turner. Agent: Rachel Mills, Rachel Mills Literary. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
"[An] exhilarating mix of memoir and true crime. . . . This riveting account of a victim fighting back is an inspired, and inspiring, page-turner." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Swayed by the enigmatic business tycoon Dr. Ruja Ignatova, [McAdam] didn’t realize she was giving her money to one of the world’s most sinister scams. . . . A poignant dive into the rabbit hole of financial fraud and mysterious scammers.” — Kirkus Reviews
“[A] cautionary tale and a story of endurance in the pursuit of justice. . . . McAdam relates how she worked with law enforcement to uncover the scandal, weathered death threats, and continued to tell her own story and push for awareness in the media.” — Booklist
Library Journal
07/01/2023
In IT consultant McAdam's book, cryptocurrency meets network marketing, and it's a marriage made in hell. Charismatic fraudsters such as Billy McFarland and the Fyre Festival, Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, Bernie Madoff and his Ponzi scheme are well-known in the United States. But few readers will be familiar with the subject of this book: Ruja Ignatova and OneCoin. The author details how she came to learn of, and be taken in by, the duplicitous ramblings of Ignatova, who claimed to be an expert in cryptocurrency. In reality, she was running a global scam that took advantage of investors and average- to low-income people who were hoping to secure their financial futures. When McAdam, a middle-aged Scottish woman with a chronic illness, realized that she had not only invested her meager inheritance in a scam but also encouraged her friends and family to do the same, she fought back. This is the story of her quest to take down a criminal enterprise, despite death threats and the cult mentality of OneCoin's loyalists. VERDICT General readers can learn from McAdam's experiences.—Jennifer Moore
Kirkus Reviews
2023-04-17
A personal account of a Scottish woman’s fight against a fraudulent organization.
When she invested in the cryptocurrency OneCoin, McAdam sought to create a secure nest of savings for her family. Swayed by the enigmatic business tycoon Dr. Ruja Ignatova, the author didn’t realize she was giving her money to one of the world’s most sinister scams. OneCoin targeted “unbanked” and “underbanked” populations, and the vast majority of victims were unable to fight back when they lost everything. In this hybrid of memoir and vigilante origin story, McAdam clearly shows how she fell into OneCoin’s trap, but she dedicates most of the text to her journey of retribution. Spreading awareness about the scheme, she gave voice to the victims even as she received death threats from OneCoin. The author begins and ends the book with an overflow of emotion, while the middle concentrates on the scrupulous details of the con. Some readers may get lost in the wave of characters that weave through the labyrinth of Ignatova’s criminal network. McAdam’s work is an incredible story that requires focused attention. Meticulous readers will be at the edges of their seats, but others may feel the urge to skim. However, even without knowledge of cryptocurrency or OneCoin, it’s easy to empathize with the author. The prose is largely straightforward, reflecting the tone of a testimony with interviews and data. “Ruja had kidnapped my life and I was a changed person,” she writes, “still caring and concerned for others, but I was much more cynical, acutely aware of life’s dark side and finding it almost impossible to trust others….These bastards made people lose their lives, get sick, become hopeless—and then took off with all they had without regret or even a glance at their victims, who were nothing but a commodity.”
A poignant dive into the rabbit hole of financial fraud and mysterious scammers.
