Tag Archives: crypto scams

The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) has determined that the cryptocurrency trading platform ezBtc and its founder, David Smillie, defrauded investors of approximately $9.5 million, equivalent to 13 million Canadian dollars, in crypto assets. The BCSC’s investigation uncovered that ezBtc and Smillie engaged in misleading and deceptive practices, misappropriating funds intended for customer accounts. Crypto Funds Diverted for Gambling According to the official...

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against NovaTech Ltd. and its principals, Cynthia and Eddy Petion, for allegedly organizing a crypto fraud that defrauded over 200,000 investors worldwide, including many within the Haitian-American community. The SEC’s complaint details that NovaTech, under the leadership of the Petions, was promoted as a multi-level marketing (MLM) and crypto asset investment program. $650 Million Crypto Ponzi Scheme...

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT has released information regarding North Korean developers who allegedly stole $1.3 million from a project’s treasury. The theft was carried out when the devs, who had been hired using fake identities, injected malicious code into the system, which allowed the unauthorized transfer of funds. ZachXBT Uncovers Crypto Workers Scheme ZachXBT explained on X that the stolen funds were initially sent to a theft address and bridged from Solana to...

More than half of cryptocurrency-related ads on Facebook are scams or in violation of Meta’s advertising policies, according to Australia’s consumer regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The ACCC took Meta to court over these deceptive ads in 2022. It accused the company of publishing misleading ads. These ads falsely used the likeness of celebrities to promote scams. The regulator argued that Meta had engaged in false and deceptive conduct. In addition to...

Byun Young-oh, CEO of the South Korean technology firm Wacon, has been arrested for his alleged role in a massive Ethereum-based scam. The scheme defrauded over 500 investors, totaling around $366 million. Byun, along with an alleged accomplice named Yeom, face serious fraud charges. Currently, both are in custody and will be tried by the Fifth Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office. Based on the iNews24 report on 12 August 2024, the scam was associated with...

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has opened investigations into approval phishing scams that have stolen funds from about 2,000 wallets linked to Australian users. The information was revealed by a Chainalysis probe called ‘Operation Spincaster’ that studied scams of this nature across six countries spanning from May 2021. Scammers have stolen over $4 billion from users globally over the period the blockchain analysis firm investigated. In a blog published by Chainalysis last month, the...

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has uncovered that over 2,000 cryptocurrency wallets owned by locals were compromised by offshore scammers, putting millions of dollars in digital assets at risk. This discovery emerged from Operation Spincaster, a global initiative against crypto fraud spearheaded by Chainalysis and locally managed by the AFP-led Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JPC3). Operation Spincaster Uncovers $162M Australia’s involvement in Operation...

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Nader Al-Naji with orchestrating a multi-million-dollar fraudulent crypto asset scheme involving the social media platform BitClout and its native token BTCLT. The securities regulator’s complaint revealed that Al-Naji raised over $257 million through unregistered offers and sales of BTCLT in November 2020. In the process, the exec allegedly misled investors by claiming the funds would...

Prominent on-chain sleuth ZachXBT has recently uncovered compelling evidence linking convicted UK hacker Gurv – whose real name is Gurvinder Bhangu – to the recent compromises of American actress Sydney Sweeney’s and ‘Breaking Bad’ actor Bob Odenkirk’s X accounts. This resulted in over $530,000 stolen through Solana meme coin scams. SWEENEY Pump and Dump On July 2nd, Sweeney fell victim to a SIM swap attack, and a link to a fraudulent meme coin based on Solana called SWEENEY,...

American multinational investment giant – BlackRock – has recently reported a significant increase in investment-related scams, particularly those that direct individuals to crypto investment websites or social media platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram. The company has cautioned its investors when engaging with individuals, websites, or social media platforms using BlackRock’s brand to offer training or investment opportunities. BlackRock Cautions Investors In its official...