Tagged: fraud

September 18, 2019 @ 5:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

ICO Securities Fraud The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has continued its long march of enforcement actions regarding initial coin offerings (ICO) and the platforms that supported them. According to the SEC, ICOBox and founder Nikolay Evdokimov conducted an “illegal $14 million securities offering of… Read More

September 17, 2019 @ 2:16 am By Cali Haan  |  

On a tip from authorities in China, police in the Philippines have arrested 277 people they believe pervaded a cryptocurrency scam that defrauded at least 1000 Chinese nationals, Business Inquirer reports. The scheme reportedly emanated from a company called Golden Millennial Quickpay Inc. Ltd., an offshore… Read More

September 16, 2019 @ 11:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

Reg CF [Regulation Crowdfunding], the smallest of the three crowdfunding exemptions created by the bi-partisan JOBS Act of 2012, became officially actionable in May of 2016. In that time, hundreds of issuers have raised money on FINRA regulated “funding portals” taking advantage of the internet… Read More

September 11, 2019 @ 1:52 am By Cali Haan  |  

Police in Portugal have arrested five members of a criminal gang accused selling counterfeit euros for cryptocurrencies via websites on the Dark Net, Reuters reports. The group’s alleged “ringleader” has now been extradited from Colombia to Portugal to face charges. According to police, during the… Read More

September 5, 2019 @ 9:05 pm By Cali Haan  |  

More crypto action in Thailand this week as a man alleged to have worked as part of a Thai-Vietnamese gang that defrauded investors “in at least 10 Asian nations” via cryptocurrencies was arrested while recreating on a Bangkok soccer field Wednesday, The Bangkok Post reports…. Read More

September 3, 2019 @ 10:20 am By Cali Haan  |  

A man named Darren Carter has been charged with Identity Theft 1st Degree in Connecticut for stealing a man’s phone in California and then using it to access that victim’s Coinbase cryptocurrency account to steal $15,472.31 USD. The Westport Police Department alleges that Carter stole… Read More

August 31, 2019 @ 1:28 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A Seattle woman and former Amazon Web Services employee accused of stealing personal data from credit card-issuer Capital One and 30 other companies also used victim’s servers to mine cryptocurrency, prosecutors in the State of Washington allege. Paige Thompson is accused of accessing victims’ servers… Read More

August 29, 2019 @ 12:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has settled charges with Bitqyck Inc. and its founders, Bruce Bise and Sam Mendez. The SEC alleges that Biqyck and its founders defrauded investors and operated an unregistered exchange. Bitqyck also created and maintained its own online trading platform… Read More

August 29, 2019 @ 2:37 am By Cali Haan  |  

Three defendants who used “deceptive” marketing practices to pervade cryptocurrency “chain referral schemes” called “Bitcoin Funding Team” and “My7Network,” as well as a fourth man who also falsely promoted “Jetcoin,” have settled with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The men, Thomas Dluca, Louis Gatto, Eric… Read More

August 28, 2019 @ 1:34 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A judge in Southwark, England, has seized $900 000 in Bitcoins from confessed prolific hacker Grant West, 27, once described as a “one-man cybercrime wave,” The Guardian reports. The judge reportedly warned West that he would face an additional four years in prison if he… Read More

August 27, 2019 @ 6:27 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Two young men from Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver, have been charged with wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft after allegedly conning an Oregon woman out of bitcoins worth $233,220 USD at current prices. Between October 2017 and August 2018, Karanjit Singh Khatkar,… Read More

August 27, 2019 @ 10:30 am By Cali Haan  |  

A young man in Los Angeles has pleaded guilty to charges of drug dealing, unlicensed money transmitting and money laundering relating to the processing of $25 million USD in illicit money via his Bitcoin trading services. Kunal Kalra, 25, also known as “Kumar,” “shecklemayne” and… Read More

August 20, 2019 @ 6:38 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has upheld an asset seizure from Lisa Cheng and Kevin Hobbs, principles of a “blockchain consultancy” called Vanbex, who, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), conducted an allegedly fraudulent $30 million CAD ICO (Etherparty/FUEL), “…by falsely representing corporate… Read More

August 10, 2019 @ 2:42 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Two women, aged 28 and 21, and three men, aged 56, 44 and 33 years, have been charged with fraud and money laundering by Queensland, Australia’s Financial and Cyber Crime Group (State Crime Command), for allegedly pervading a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment scheme from the Gold Coast… Read More

August 8, 2019 @ 5:53 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) has issued cease and desist orders against “Forex and Bitcoin Trader,” an unregistered dealer of cryptocurrencies, derivatives and foreign currency promising 900% returns in 14 days in online advertisements targeting Dallas investors. This is the fourth emergency action undertaken… Read More

August 7, 2019 @ 3:55 pm By JD Alois  |  

130 Crypto Investigations Have Been Launched in the US and Canada The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), the lobbying association representing state and provincial securities regulators, says there has been an increase in crypto-related fraud as “investors and con artists alike have returned to… Read More

July 28, 2019 @ 5:19 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Jon Barry Thompson (AKA “J. Barry Thompson), principal of “cryptocurrency escrow company” Volantis Escrow Platform LLC and Volantis Market Making LCC has been arrested in Pennsylvania for allegedly conning two companies out of $7 million USD they transferred to him for the purchase of bitcoins,… Read More

July 27, 2019 @ 2:52 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Another alleged principle promoter of the failed $4 billion USD Bitconnect cryptocurrency Ponzi (now attempting resurrection) has been arrested in India, India Times reports. Rakesh Savani was arrested in the coast city of Sujat in northwest India last Friday. Authorities have also seized property and… Read More

July 23, 2019 @ 1:41 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Judge engaged in the SIM Swap lawsuit against AT&T Mobility has denied a request by AT&T to dismiss the case. The case, Terpin v. AT&T Mobility, pertains to a $24 million loss of cryptocurrency that was facilitated by SIM Swap fraud. Terpin is requesting… Read More

July 23, 2019 @ 1:03 am By Cali Haan  |  

Data from the Korean ministry of Justice indicates that South Koreans lost $2.7 billion USD (2.7 trillion KRW) in cryptocurrency scams between July 2017 and June 2019, Korea Herald reports. The ministry also said it has indicted and detained 132 individuals accused of cryptocurrency fraud and… Read More