The realm of cryptocurrency has become even more clouded in mist, confusion, failures and financial risks. Besides the collapse in values, bankruptcy of crypto companies and trading companies, another scam involving cryptocurrency has appeared out of the mist. And the basis is just another version of lying to pander to greed.
The ambiguity and confusion of the crypto market enabled these scammers to bilk investors out of $100 million. The scam was a global pitch and even involved money laundering. A federal indictment tells the story of an old-fashioned caper with the current shine of blockchain claims.
The scam began in 2020 and involved old-fashioned lies and manipulation of clients, wrapped in the guise of new technology, which was not even new. Unscrupulous fraudsters are nothing new to the investment world. Now they have new deals, like cryptocurrency, to push.
Crypto is very complex but that trait makes it easier to confuse and dupe clients. As with any emerging technology, those who invest in cryptocurrency must beware of profit-making opportunities that appear too good to be true.
The scammers used in-person meetings, video calls and social media to tout the purported power of their platform and a proprietary trading bot they claimed could generate guaranteed returns. The scam offered the personal attention of the company “genius” and “head trader” to manually handle the client’s (victim) account.
The pitch fabricated the…
