It started with a reach-out on Facebook and the promise of making a fortune with bitcoin (BTC). Our reader, let’s call him Michael, admits to being embarrassed about falling for an obvious scam.
The sales pitch went something like this: Send $200 worth of bitcoin and we’ll turn it into $700 in a matter of weeks.
The scamster guided Michael through the process of purchasing BTC on Luno – which is a legitimate crypto exchange – and then explained how to ship the bitcoin to an address supposedly controlled by an entity called Bitcoinminingtech.
Sure enough, the $200 BTC appeared on a dashboard on the Bitcoinminingtech website, and after a month had grown to $710.
Then the scamsters came back for a second bite. Send another $600 in BTC to upgrade your account to ‘Level 2’ and we’ll grow your funds to $15 000, our reader was advised.
Michael did so, and was again vindicated – the dashboard reflected a balance of more than $15 000 after another month.
“This seemed fantastic, so I wanted to withdraw some of my profits. It was then that they asked for a $1 750 withdrawal fee,” he says.
It was at this point that Michael contacted Moneyweb to see if we could assist.
We advised him to stop sending money and broke the news that he had most likely lost his total investment of $800 (around R13 500). Anyone demanding a withdrawal fee equivalent to nearly 12% of the balance is likely a scammer.
Red flags
After five minutes of browsing the Bitcoinminingtech…
