Honestly, I'm really helpless here and would really appreciate your guys' advice. Before we start I know I probably look stupid, an idiot, an imbecile, etc. but you have to understand where I am coming from. I run a business and it relied on my TikTok account to generate lead flow/ clients. A few months ago, my account was wrongfully banned on tiktok due to their new AI moderation systems and flagging systems, a glitch occured where it banned my tiktok account of 4 years. Tiktok is absolutely F\*cking terrible since they don't have a real support system and dont care that people's livelihoods and businesses that depend on their brand. I submitted many tickets, even did the appeal process, but the auto moderation and internal system didn't care and kept the account banned. this happened on june 25th, and THOUSANDS of other people had the same issue. Out of desperation, I reached out to a “connection” I was referred to by another entrepreneur in my niche/space who is my trusted friend. This person claimed they could get it unbanned through their internal contacts at TikTok through their representatives who can manually unban accounts and get human intervention. This individual has 200k followers on instagram, and 3.4 million followers on tiktok. My trusted friend who is a big influencer in my niche has around 200k as well on instagram, and this "connection" did work for his account getting his instagram account unbanned and un-shadow banned through their connections with meta representatives They initially asked for $2,500 upfront. I went through with it because I was desperate to get my account back and keep my business alive. Mind you im not stupid guys, im not gonna send money to someone random. The only reason i trusted this person to do work for me was because I was referred to them by someone trusted that they did work on, and with proof actually got the job done. The problem is, after I paid, they continued to ask for more money saying that their reps need more money to get the job done. A week after the initial payment of the $2,500, they said they were getting to work on the account unban process and would update me. A week goes by, nothing. I was getting extremely unsettled and skeptical. I hopped on a face time call with this individual to ask for updates. He assured me on facetime he was still working on the account with his team, and he even showed me more proof of him working on someone else's account. This person is an only fans model with 9.4 million followers, and he literally showed me SCREENSHOT by SCREENSHOT the same unban process that happened with me that he did with her to assure me. Theres no way he could've faked it since it was face time screen share so that put more confidence into what I paid him. He told me she paid $50,000 to get her account unbanned but its like okay she can afford to do that she makes 200k a month. it was going like back and forth for about a month. During this whole time this individual was extremely unprofessional, never reaching out to me or updating me, talking in cryptic terminology, etc. He then asked for another payment of $5,000 saying that the job couldn't be done unless that was paid. At this point i'm mentally wrecked because he just kept asking for more and more money. just to give you some backstory, My business did well in 2024 and generated profit. I reinvested that profit back into infrastructure and resources. 2025 has been the hardest time for me since I really haven't made any money. Basically what im saying is Im broke. i had zero dollars in my bank but my business credit cards. All this money I was paying him was through credit taking cash advances on my personal and business credit cards. At this point I had sent him $7,500 all under my credit card and personal credit card cash advances. I used payment platforms like venmo, cashapp, and zelle to pay him. after I sent that last payment he had PROMISED me he would have got that job done. A week goes by he says, he needs another $2,500 and he will 100% get the job done. But at this point financially im exhausted. Im maxed out on my credit cards limits. I have ZERO money. On top of that I have to maintain my business expenses. I begged him and pleaded him to get the job done and that he promised me, but he had no heart. no empathy. manipulated and lied telling me that he cant get it done unless I send him that 2.5k. 4 weeks go by I cant do anything cause I have no more money. I can't tell my family this issue because its so embarrassing, and well they wouldn't understand the compelxities of running a social media brand/page trying to be an influencer. At one point my step father who is a very well off e-commerce entrepreneur came to me since he could tell i was distressed (my mother told him my tiktok account got banned etc.). He sells on tiktop shop so he has an idea of whats going on. I told him everything and he said in your honest thoughts if you send him this last 2.5k, do you think he will get the job done. I said yes because based on everything presented to me, I genuinely thought this was just a high ticket job/service. My step-father then loaned another 2,500$ to me to send to the connection to help me out (god bless his soul). But said this is the absolute last time you're sending him money since its looking like a scam. I sent the last 2,500$ to the connection but having him assure and confirm with me that he will get the job done, even consulting with my trusted friend who referred me in the first place. He told me he doesn't know why the connection is acting like this and why everything has taken the course the way it has, but to have this be the last amount I send. here's the biggest issue. my friend who referred me to the connection told me I could try to chargeback or try to get my money back but this connection could put a hit on my main social media account on instagram/meta if I try to do that even though hes scamming in the first place. After weighing the risks (and I guess being naive) I sent the money as I told you in the last paragraph. its been 7 days. The connection has been completely ignoring me, ghosting all of my texts and calls. I had to text my trusted friend who referred me telling him that the connection is completely ignoring and ghosting me, to which he said he would text him and see whats happening, and the MOMENT he texted him, this dude texts me back after ghosting for 7 days. He then starts lying and creating false narratives saying hes been busy and cant talk to me. and has a Tow truck business that takes all of his time 24/7. Mind you I called him one time EVERY hour of the day even texted him from noon to 11 pm at night. I have proof of our whole conversation since june through text. Now I am writing this at the point of day 8. I am down $10,000. I am honestly so helpless and mentally low at this point i have no idea what to do. My business sales have completely tanked since my tiktok got banned in june. I was averaging about 5k a month in profit, to which I have made zero these last 2 months. I know this person's name and where they live, but what do I even do?? Do I pursue legal action?? What does this case/situation even go under since its so complex. I cant even afford to pursue legal action. If i try to do a chargeback on my business credit cards and personal and he finds out he will threaten to take down/ put a hit on my main social media pages on instagram/meta which I cant jeopardize since its my main business page. and trust me I KNOW he can do that. This guy is an reactive person using his social media status to leverage and manipulate people. Just imagine how many other people he has done this to. At this point I feel like I’ve been scammed out of $10,000. I really need your guys' input and guidance on how to navigate this.