Tag Archives: crypto scams

US Attorney Dena J. King announced that law enforcement seized $547,000 worth of bitcoin from a criminal who conned an elderly person last year. The officials will return all funds to the victim. Cracking Down a Crypto Scam In its latest efforts to fight fraudulent activities involving cryptocurrencies, American officials confiscated more than $500,000 in bitcoin from a criminal. The latter drained the funds from an elderly Ashville resident last year, as the sum represented...

The Shanghai Public Security Bureau and the Yangpu Public Security Bureau conducted a joint investigation on pyramid schemes using cryptocurrencies. Shortly after, the authorities busted an online platform, which drained nearly $16 million in digital assets from its victims over the years. Shanghai’s First Cracked Crypto Pyramid Scheme According to a local report, the organization started its illegal activities in June 2020, and its leader was a criminal suspect named Mou....

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted almost every single aspect of life. Since the physical contact between humans had to be reduced to a minimum, love dates and romantic activities became increasingly popular on dating applications. And while some people found their soulmates online, others turned into victims of cryptocurrency scammers who drained a significant chunk of their savings. One such example is the 33-year-old Tho Vu, who fell in love with a mysterious lover named Ze...

Unlike the BCC token that died several years ago, the case of Bitconnect – the cryptocurrency project that gave rise to the aforementioned cryptocurrency – is still far from over. This Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that one of BitConnect’s founders was formally indicted on fraud charges associated with the most famous Ponzi scheme in the world of cryptocurrencies. The Drama Isn’t Over In an official press release, the Justice Department said that Satish...

The blockchain data company – Chainalysis – claimed that criminal whales represent 3.7% of all cryptocurrency whales. Those bad actors collectively own over $25 billion worth of digital assets. Almost 4% of Crypto Whales Are Criminals Cryptocurrencies have many merits, and numerous experts maintain that they represent a financial revolution. However, bitcoin and the altcoins have their critics, too. These claim that drug traffickers, terrorists, and money-launderers employ...

An investor in non-fungible token (NFT) and metaverse projects, Animoca Brands, today issued a scam alert regarding a new ERC-20 token, dubbed “Animoca Brands Metaverse” on Uniswap V2. The Hong Kong-based firm said the asset fraudulently claims to be associated with it and uses the symbol “Animoca.” The Fraudulent Animoca Brands Metaverse Token According to the official press release, Animoca Brands clarified that the namesake token has no connection to the company. It urged...

Nearly $10 billion were stolen in DeFi scams and thefts only in 2021, representing an 81% rise compared to 2020, and rugpulls accounted for over 35% of all crypto scam revenue. This is according to a recent report by Elliptic. And while there are many types of scams that take place regularly within the cryptocurrency community, rugpulls are arguably the most infamous. So, What is a Rugpull in Crypto? A rugpull — from the phrase to pull the rug from underneath someone —...

A top official at India’s central bank recently reiterated warnings to Prime Minister Modi’s government about the risks cryptocurrencies pose to the country’s financial system. This time, he compared digital assets to “Ponzi schemes”, mirroring some investors’ long-held criticisms of the asset class. Crypto Is A Ponzi, Says RBI Governor T. Rabi Sankar of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) offered his criticisms during a banking conference speech on Monday. As reported by...

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has reportedly taken down four major illegal Dark Web sites, which have made over $260 million in cryptocurrency proceeds from the sale of stolen credit cards. Those platforms are Ferum Shop, Trump’s Dumps, Sky-Fraud forum, and UAS Store. The Latest Seizures Known as “carding” websites, these illicit platforms offer stolen credit cards, and buyers can purchase them with premium gift cards, luxury goods, or (as in this case)...

Rug pulls continue to cast a dark cloud over the crypto industry, with BabyMuskCoin being the latest example with over $600,000 duped from investors. CryptoPotato spoke with Ronghui Gu, co-founder of the blockchain security company – CertiK – about how users can defend themselves against such malicious activities. The BabyMuskCoin Rug Pull Ever since the popularity explosion of Dogecoin, propelled mainly by one of the most influential individuals – Elon Musk, the...