The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation (DFR) warns cryptocurrency investors to do their homework before giving any money to a crypto trading platform.
Many crypto trading apps or websites are really just fake platforms set up by scammers to take investor money and give nothing in return. Investors are promised huge returns in a short amount of time and will see account balances increase rapidly, but will not be able to withdraw funds without having to deposit more money in “withdrawal fees” or “taxes.”
The scammer will continue extorting these fees until an investor becomes suspicious. After that, the account is drained and the scammers are gone, along with the investor’s funds. Before transferring money to a crypto trading website or app, research the company and web address to make sure it is legitimate.
Scammers will also look for opportunities to re-victimize those who have already been harmed and are trying to find ways to recover their losses. For example, a recent scam involved a website claiming to be managed by the U.S. Department of State, stating it was working to get FTX customer assets returned to them, following the collapse of FTX (read more about the FTX collapse).
The website asked for the investor’s FTX username and password, along with other account information. The U.S. Department of State did not create this…
