Cryptocurrency Businesses That Appear To Be Engaged In Fraud

Cryptocurrency Is Full Of Fraud

According to State Regulators, the Following Cryptocurrency Businesses Should Be Avoided! They are Engaged in Pig Butchering Scams!

The following are the identified companies (or fake companies) and the story of at least one of their victims.

Cryptocurrency broker RB Hood

The victim met a woman calling herself “Jiang Yingying” on social media and they communicated on WhatsApp, Telegram, and through text messaging. At some point, Jiang convinced him to open a crypto account, so he transferred $500 from his debit card, then transferred the cryptocurrency to a Chinese exchange at first called rbhoodc.com, but later it changed its name to rbhoodz.com, then changed again to rbhoodd.xyz. The victim even got a loan for $13,000 which he also deposited into rbhoodc.com through his Crypto.com account. Jiang kept saying he was making money and should add more capital, so he got another $9,500 loan and wired it to Coinbase. At some point, the victim tried to withdraw some of the money, but Jiang told him he had to pay taxes. The victim then spoke to a customer service agent at the exchange who also told him he had to pay taxes on the money before he could withdraw it. The company operated the websites at https://rbhoodc.com; rbhoodz.com; and rbhoodd.xyz.

Cryptocurrency broker Reliable Option Trade

The victim met “Mrs. Linda” and they communicated through WhatsApp. At some point, Linda convinced the victim to open an account with Reliable Option Trade and told him to deposit $500. The victim then got a message from the company’s Support Team saying he could get Bitcoin if he deposited another $1,000 into his account. Then he was asked to deposit another $3,500 but he told them he didn’t have that amount, so they convinced him to invest $2,000 instead. Later he was told his account was worth $24,000 so the victim decided to withdraw his money. He filled out the withdrawal form and submitted it, then got a call from broker who offered to trade for the victim so he could make more money. The broker advised him to download the Trust Wallet app, which he did. Now he cannot get his money out of the Trust Wallet, and he is still being asked by the broker to put in more money. The company operated a website at https://www.reliableoptiontrade.com.

Cryptocurrency broker Rui Win Capital Group LTD

The victim was introduced to “Enze Zhao” in a WeChat group. Zhao told the victim he was interested in her, and they continued to communicate. The victim gradually fell in love, believing she and Zhaou shared many interests and values. Zhao told the victim he was an economics major and his hobby is to earn extra money through Rui Win Capitals LTD. Zhao convinced the victim they had a future together, but wanted her to do better financially, so they could build a house together in the Bay area. Zhao then suggested he could teach the victim to invest Gold Dollars on Meta Traders 5 through Rui Win. She put in $500,000, and Zhao told her she had completed a deal successfully and now had more than a million. But, she was told she had to pay 20% tax on the profit.

She paid, but still couldn’t get her money back. Then the Rui Win customer service suggested that if she sent in 10% of her balance, she would become a VIP and get all her money back.

She sent in the 10% of what she thought was her online balance, more than $130,000 believing she would become a VIP. Then the customer service claimed that the platform had stopped functioning and she would have to wait for it to reopen. Meanwhile, Zhao asked her to keep sending him money to help him from getting into trouble, or he would go to jail. Eventually, Zhao stopped contacting her, she could no longer contact customer service at Rui Win, and she has lost close to $1 million.

Cryptocurrency broker SIMEX

Victim #1 reported meeting “Li Xiao” on LinkedIn, who then suggested they move further communication onto the Line app. There, Li Xiao claimed that she could offer advice on how to trade Binary Options through cryptocurrency and sent an invite link onto the platform. However, instead of downloading an app, the platform asked Victim #1 to download a “configuration profile” onto his Apple device. Victim #1 believed they were dealing with the Singapore International Monetary Exchange Limited, or Simex. Victim #1 transferred approximately $480,000 worth of cryptocurrency from crypto.com to Simex in eight transactions. Victim #1 was able to withdraw various small amounts from $100 to $2,500, but when he tried to withdraw $500,000 his request was rejected.

Victim # 2 met “Marcella Arias” on LinkedIn after he promised a trading opportunity to grow her personal wealth. After various exchanges via text message and phone conversations, Victim #2 eventually downloaded a third-party app via https://www.simexcbr.com, which she now believes was a fake site disguised as the authentic website of the Singaporean Monetary Exchange (SIMEX/SGX). Arias continued to gain Victim #2’s trust, urging her to deposit more and more money into her account, claiming his proprietary trading techniques and touting connections to prestigious wealth-management firms and universities (JP Morgan Chase & Co, New York University). Victim #2 eventually made six deposits to the “Simex” app, amounting to more than $1.2 million. At some point, Arias even asked Victim #2 to deposit her retirement savings locked in her 401K, which raised her suspicions. She then discovered that the Simex app she was using was not tied to the authentic Singaporean Monetary Exchange. ” The company operated the websites at https://simexkyc.com; simexyum.com; simexrue.com and simexdef.com.

Source: California DFPI

SCARS NOTE: we do not provide clickable links to the fraudulent business’s websites for safety reasons.