During the last 12 months, more than 3,000 million dollars were lost, according to a US research
The criminals’ determination to use cryptocurrencies as a way to obtain profits illegally, and at the expense of other people, was noted during 2018 in different countries. Due to these scandals, some believe that last year the number of robberies beat record.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the United States of America estimates that by the end of 2018 approximately $ 3 billion was lost, a truly alarming figure.
1- BitConnect
In 2016, this platform decided to launch its Initial Currency Offer (ICO) to then create its own cryptocurrency. But from the begin there were warning signs that not all users observed.
Among those clues were the vague descriptions about the new digital currency, the high returns, the absence of a White Paper, so that investors could obtain all the information about the new currency and also no details were given on who would be responsible for the development of this alleged cryptocurrency.
But the price of the new cryptocurrency grew so much in 2017 that it seemed to be a real, sustainable and reliable project. But that year it was announced the launch of a loan platform that would give investors gains of up to 480%, a rather unrealistic sum.
Everything fell at the beginning of 2018 when the administrators decided to close the loan platform. With this, the price of the cryptocurrency fell 86% and little by little the exchange houses were eliminating it.
A lot of money was lost; a total capitalization loss of about 2.6 billion dollars is calculated. Some promises were not fulfilled. Currently, several lawsuits are still ongoing.
2- Twitter Bots
It was a wave of false accounts of celebrities and recognized people in the crypto community, such as Elon Musk or Vitalik Buterin. The purpose of these accounts was to deceive the rest of the users so that they gave personal data or their cryptocurrencies to cheat them.
The accounts spread messages like this one: “I am donating 400 Ethereum to the ETH community. The first 200 transactions with 0.2 ETH sent to the address shown below, will receive 2 ETH from the address from which the 0.2 ETH came”.
None of the people who sent part of their cryptocurrencies received anything in return. It is estimated that using this method, fraudsters can earn more than $ 5,000 per day.
3- Modern Tech
It is one of the most recent scams. It is thought that about 32 investors were cheated. This alleged Vietnamese company launched two ICOs for its tokens. The first one was called iFan and it would work as a token for a social network of celebrities and artists. For its part, Pincoin, the second project, was sold as a platform where investors could receive up to 48% of monthly income.
The company managed to raise 660 million dollars. At the beginning everything seemed to be going well, the tokens were working and the investors received their first payments, which were made in cash. But then the operations were done in iFan and finally they just stopped doing it.
When the investors decided to claim for their payments, they discovered that the address given to get communication with the bosses of the company was not real and that the leaders of the company had fled with all their money.
4- Centratech
This ICO raised around 32 million dollars. It used the images of boxer Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled to offer Visa and MasterCard debit cards that allowed users to convert cryptocurrencies into fiat money
The two founders of Centratech were arrested and charged for fraud. Fictitious identities of executives and developers were created, and false promotional material was published on social networks using the names of these celebrities. The project was a big scam for those who trusted in it.
5- OneCoin
It is one of the scams best known for being one of the oldest companies in the field. This company, based in Bulgaria and present in many countries, has been subject to police investigations during the last 18 months. It is a Ponzi scheme in India. In Italy, it received 2.5 million euros.
It is a financial pyramid in which the resources contributed by its members are redistributed. In 2016, the Chinese authorities confiscated 30 million dollars in an investigation of OneCoin’s activities in that Asian country.
It is thought that OneCoin is not a legitimate decentralized cryptocurrency. The company that is behind this scam has used terms related to the crypto world to generate trust and attract unwary.
Real projects offer all the information about the idea and the specific process to make it true. Cryptocurrencies should have a White Paper to show its results to all the participants. In this way, the most reliable projects are recognized.
By María Rodríguez
