The People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City reportedly brought to court 16 Vietnamese who might stand behind a $1.5 million crypto robbery and kidnapping. Interestingly, two of the defendants are former police officers. Vietnam is one of the global leaders in terms of cryptocurrency adoption. Despite its rising popularity, the government has not imposed...Read More
ZachXBT has accused several influencers of engaging in pump-and-dump scams and profiting from the misery of others. This time, the on-chain sleuth has targetted yet another figure who goes by the name ‘DannyCrypt,’ for allegedly dumping on his followers. The crypto influencer in question was accused of receiving 2% of the supply of a certain...Read More
Over 1,000 human trafficking victims, who were forced to toil up to 18 hours a day for cryptocurrency scams, were rescued by the Philippine National Police (PNP). The 12 suspected ringleaders were arrested by the authorities and will be charged with human trafficking. This includes seven Chinese nationals, four Indonesians, and a Malaysian. Crypto Scam...Read More
The British Columbia Securities Commission has accused ezBtc, a defunct Nanaimo-based cryptocurrency platform, and its founder David Smillie, of perpetrating a multimillion-dollar securities fraud scheme. The commission alleged that Smillie and his crypto firm lied to customers about the platform and diverted their assets to online gambling sites. ezBtc Allegedly Diverted $13M in Customer Assets...Read More
The Casablanca Court of Appeals ruled that the 21-year-old Frenchman – Thomas Clausi – will serve an 18-month prison sentence for orchestrating a crypto scheme. The defendant must compensate the victims of his scam and pay a fine of 3.4 million euros ($3.7 million) to customs authorities. Crypto fraudsters have been quite inventive recently, draining...Read More
According to the blockchain and smart contract security firm Certified Kernel Tech (better known as CertiK), crypto-related exploits, hacks, and scams in April resulted in losses worth $103 million. The figures for last month are a lot less than the $211 million worth of digital assets which wrongdoers siphoned throughout March 2023. Summarizing the Incidents...Read More
The United States Department of Justice notified that the former chief financial officer of a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) was sentenced to three years in prison after embezzling $5 million. The exec used to trade cryptocurrencies and “meme stocks” with the stolen funds. According to the official press release, US District Judge Paul A....Read More
Spain’s authorities reportedly busted a criminal organization that orchestrated a massive cryptocurrency scam. The wrongdoers embezzled more than €100 million ($110 million) from over 3,000 people across the globe. The Guardia Civil arrested a suspect in Mallorca considered a gang member. Operation ‘Mandoa’ Turned Successful A local media outlet informed that the Guardia Civil (the...Read More
Faruk Fatih Özer – the founder of crypto exchange Thodex – has been extradited to his home country, Turkey, where he faces charges of fraud and operating a criminal organization. Thodex was one of the largest crypto exchanges in Turkey. It later turned out to be an exit scam, with Özer disappearing with $2.6 billion...Read More
A resident of Scotland’s county Lanarkshire was left with a £150,000 debt (almost $190,000) after falling victim to a cryptocurrency fraud. She is now forced to sell her home to avoid additional financial issues. The woman sought support from Advice Direct Scotland and the local police, but the entities could not help her retrieve the...Read More
A 55-year-old resident of Hong Kong has reportedly fallen victim to an online cryptocurrency investment scam and lost her entire savings worth nearly HK$7 million (almost $900,000). Such fraud cases have become quite frequent in the region lately. A study estimated that Hong Kong investors had lost around $50 million during the first half of...Read More
Cryptocurrency exchange Bitrue was exploited today, with the perpetrator being able to withdraw approximately $23 million worth of cryptocurrency. The exploit was officially confirmed. In a Twitter thread posted today, Bitrue revealed that the exchange suffered a “brief exploit” in one of their hot wallets earlier. 1/4: We have identified a brief exploit in one...Read More
A 23-year-old professional with a major tech company who lost nearly Rs. 30 lakh (approx. $37,500) in the cryptocurrency market tried to commit suicide by jumping off a river bridge in Kolkata, India. A cab driver who noticed the young man on the Vidyasagar Setu (bridge) alerted the nearby police about his intentions. Borrowed to...Read More
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) seized $112 million in cryptocurrencies previously drained through the so-called “pig butchering” scams. One particular account based in Los Angeles contained more than $66 million worth of digital assets. That type of fraud has become increasingly popular recently. An investigation assumed that many shell companies in the United...Read More
A couple from Toronto became the latest to fall victim of a cryptocurrency scammer. They lost around $300,000 in an elaborate scheme. However, in this case, law enforcement agents managed to recover a “significant portion” of the lost funds and returned them to the victims. Another Crypto Scam in Canada The Toronto Police Service announced earlier this...Read More
A study conducted by the cybersecurity company Kaspersky determined that approximately a third of the US crypto investors have had some portion of their stash stolen by hackers. Bad actors usually con victims by luring them to enter a counterfeit website or urging them to join a dubious investment platform. ‘People Need to Take Care...Read More
A 60-year-old Indian woman lost nearly $30,000 in a crypto investment scam after she was approached on the matrimonial site where she had registered herself to look for a life partner. The con man told her that he was a US-based engineer and can make her earn quick profits through bitcoin investments. Investment in Love...Read More
After a 2-year investigation, Hindenburg concluded Block (previously known as Square) “systematically took advantage of the demographics it claims to be helping.” The report accused the firm of facilitating “fraud against consumers and the government” as well as “avoiding regulation.” It further called Block’s loans and fees to be “predatory” in nature and designed to...Read More
Scammers adapt better than we can imagine and change depending on the market situation. This revelation was made in a recently hosted webinar by prominent blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis wherein it gauged crime trends in the industry market during the crypto winter. The data gathered by the firm revealed how scammers adapted to the developments...Read More
The authorities of the United States pressed charges against Irina Dilkinska (who served as Head of Legal and Compliance at OneCoin) for her alleged role in the infamous crypto scam and deported her from Bulgaria to the US. She could receive a maximum potential prison sentence of 20 years for allegedly committing wire fraud and...Read More
The Arbitrum community has warned users about different fake airdrops pretending to be from the project’s newly launched decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). Scammers started creating fake Arbitrum airdrops and phishing websites after the Ethereum layer-2 scaling protocol announced the DAO last week while promising to distribute 12.57% of the governance token ARB to eligible community...Read More
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed that Americans parted with over $10 billion last year due to online fraud. Wrongdoers drained $2.57 billion of that amount via cryptocurrency investment schemes. Crypto Scams on the Rise Despite the predominantly bearish year for the cryptocurrency industry, 2022 was fruitful for criminals. They stole nearly $2.6 billion...Read More
The professional Brazilian soccer players – Gustavo Scarpa, Mayke Rocha de Oliveira, and Willian Bigode – have reportedly lost over $5 million due to investing in an alleged fraudulent cryptocurrency firm called Xland. The company said it did not run a pyramid scheme and promised to reimburse the victims. Athletes Have Fallen Victims Scarpa –...Read More
As if the traditional banking system isn’t causing enough troubles, a DeFi lending protocol called Euler Finance was also hit by a flash-loan attack. The damage equates to almost $200 million worth of staked ether, USDC, wrapped BTC, and DAI. Euler Finance is a decentralized lending protocol that was most recently exploited for a whopping...Read More
A second-year B.Com student from the Indian city Lucknow reportedly hanged himself after losing a bitcoin investment worth ₹3.5 lahks ($4,200). The local police assured they will investigate the tragic event once the victim’s family filed a complaint. Depression and Then Suicide According to coverage by Hindustan Times, the boy distributed the sum through an online...Read More
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an emergency action against the Miami-based financial advisor firm – BKCoin Management LLC – and its Co-Founder Kevin Kang, claiming they have defrauded investors with $100 million via a fraudulent crypto scheme. The agency seeks to impose financial penalties on the organization and a conduct-based injunction against...Read More
The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that a total of six executives of the cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme AirBit Club have pleaded guilty for their roles in an internationally coordinated series of fraud and money laundering charges. Over a period of five years, the operators of AirBit Club had allegedly...Read More
Coffeezilla – the popular YouTuber and “Internet Detective” covering crypto scams – is now accusing the mixed martial arts legend Khabib Nurmagomedov of “scamming” his followers with NFTs. The former UFC lightweight champion said his new collection will give fans access his his “private club,” while enabling holders to mine Bitcoin. Khabib’s NFT Collection Nurmagomedov...Read More
The US authorities alleged Vladimir Okhotnikov, Olena Oblamska, Mikhail Sergeev, and Sergey Maslakov – the founders of the dubious cryptocurrency investment platform Forsage – to have orchestrated a global pyramid scheme that conned investors with approximately $340 million. All defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and could receive a maximum penalty of...Read More
According to recent Bulgarian sources, Ruja Ignatova, a.k.a the “Cryptoqueen,” might have been killed in November 2018. She is the founder of the fraudulent scheme OneCoin and was last spotted in Greece in 2017. More Evidence About her Possible Death Secret police documents seen by Bulgarian media outlets revealed that the notorious Ruja Ignatova might have been...Read More
