The Biggest Currency Scams In The History Of Digital Currencies
In 2016, A Woman Known As The “Queen Of Crypto” Swindled More Than $ 19 Billion With Her Fake Passwords. This Is An Example Of The Six Major Digital Currency Scams That You Will Learn About In This Article.
In early June 2016, a Bulgarian woman named Roja Ignatova spoke to thousands of fans at the Wembley Arena in London. He introduced himself as the queen of cryptocurrencies and told people that he had invented a cryptocurrency that was to compete with bitcoin.
Ignatova, with her charismatic personality, was able to persuade millions to invest billions in her cryptocurrencies; But he disappeared a year later, and four years later, they still can’t find him.
Ignatova scams are one of the most famous examples of digital currency scams, But it is not the only example, and unfortunately, the story does not end there.
Over time, as public awareness grows and security measures are updated, fraud methods become more sophisticated and intelligent; Ways to make a lot of money with minimal effort.
There are many examples of scams in the world of cryptocurrencies; But what is the secret to the success of fraudsters?
Why, despite these examples and the increase in public awareness, are people still able to successfully carry out their fraudulent tricks and history repeats itself?
Money is valuable as long as people believe in its value
The problem is, money is worth it as long as people believe in it. This money, whether it is British banknotes, gemstones, or matchsticks that were used as money in the past, can only be used as long as everyone trusts it.
For a long time, many people wanted to create a digital currency independent of the government currency; But these projects always failed; Because no one trusted them.
The reason people are so interested in Bitcoin is that it can be trusted. This cryptocurrency is based on a special database called blockchain that works like a big book and all bitcoin owners have separate but identical versions of it.
Each time a bitcoin is transferred from person to person and the history of this transaction is recorded in the book of all bitcoin holders.
No one, not the banks, not the governments, not even the person who invented it, is responsible for this book and can not change it. The bitcoin blockchain is based on clever mathematics and does not allow bitcoin to be forged or hacked or to use one bitcoin at the same time in two different places.
Since the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009, more and more people are falling in love with blockchain technology.
Bhmrvrzman, developers and business owners using this technology, including decentralized, create their own Rmzarz·hay ethereum began; But the fate of all these cryptocurrencies did not lead to the success of Bitcoin and ethereum.
While some failed for a variety of reasons, some were initially set up for fraud and, in some cases, managed to steal billions of dollars; Because the success of these projects requires the trust of the people, But this trust always comes with a lot of risks.
In this article, we will introduce six examples of historical scams in the field of digital currency. Perhaps an acquaintance with the more or less similar story of these scams can keep those interested in entering this rapidly growing and somewhat unknown world from the trap of fraudsters.
OneCoin
Size scam: 4. 9 to 19. 4 billion
Number of deceived: 3 million people
The cryptocurrency introduced by self-proclaimed crypto queen Roja Ignatova in 2016 was called Onecoin, and she said it was set to become the world’s largest and most popular cryptocurrency by removing Bitcoin.
Onecoin looked similar to other cryptographers in introducing Ignatova; Because its coins were extractable and used in international payments. Onecoin had its own wallet and was to offer 120 billion coins on its network.
The Onecoin team often used the words Bitcoin and Ramzar to attract people; While he did not know blockchain technology.
In addition, many people who invest in cryptocurrencies do not have enough knowledge of blockchain technology, and it is not difficult to trust someone who speaks several languages and has a Ph.D. in Oxford University, and appears on the cover of Forbes and Financial Magazines.
In those days, if anyone spoke out against Vanquin, he was labeled jealous and negative.
Although Onecoin was introduced as a revolution to “kill” Bitcoin, it was not a cryptocurrency at all; Because it was not built on any public or private blockchain. It was just a centralized database of people and tokens that the victims of this scam obtained by purchasing packages provided on the network.
Onecoin was not based on any blockchain
Onecoin, contrary to what was said, could not be extracted. The fraudulent team increased its value from 56 cents to about $ 33.68. Simply put, Onecoin was nothing more than a pyramid scheme.
According to unofficial sources, Ignatova and her team defrauded $ 19.4 billion of Vancouver investors. The interesting thing is that this project continues to take victims.
Although the managing director disappeared in 2017 and his replacement was arrested for fraud and money laundering, the scam continues with the sale of worthless tokens in the form of “training packages” and the promise of huge profits to its members. The crypto queen is still a fugitive with the billions of dollars she owes.
Bitconnect
Size scam: 2. 5 to 3. 5 billion
Number of deceived: 1.5 million people
January 16, 2018, was the day that BitConnect’s open-source cryptocurrencies went down in history forever. Members of the BitConnect team announced in a statement that it will close its lending and cryptocurrency platform on January 21, 2018. After the announcement, the value of BitConnect fell from 255.91 to $ 19.28 at the end of the day.
By the end of that year, 2 bitcoins were no longer tradable in any cryptocurrency exchange. The market capitalization of this coin at its peak was about $ 2.5 billion (more than $ 430 per coin). A few weeks after the announcement, the market became completely worthless.
Bitconnect scam was a Panzi trick
BitConnect launched its ICO (initial public offering) to raise capital on November 15, 2016. The owner and operator of this cryptocurrency were Ken Fitz Simmons in Britain, But the main perpetrators of this scam were probably behind the scenes and anonymously.
Bytkankt similar scam trick Ponzi’s scam in which unsuspecting people with money promises will work and astronomical profits and guarantee them will return; While it pays the interest of the initial investors through the assets of the new investors and there is no real profit.
Since the value of BitConnect depended on the success of its lending platform, it was of no value at the news of its closure; Because bitcoin owners wanted to exchange it for bitcoin immediately.
No one wanted to buy BitConnect; Because everyone knew it was worthless.
Immediately after the announcement of the closure of the BitConnect platform, its subreddit page, which has been closed since that day, was filled with posts of frightened and anxious people. One user wrote: “It is not possible. “I lost everything, everything.” Another user posted a suicide emergency phone number and wrote: “Money is not everything.
“Your life is still valuable after all this.”
These posts illustrate the profound and shocking impact of bitcoin connection fraud on the digital currency community. Today, the legacy of bitcoin is becoming one of the great memes of history.
PlusToken
Scam volume: $ 3 billion
Number of deceived: 100 thousand people
Placetoken was another Panzi trick that introduced itself as a hype with a high-yield investment program. The cryptocurrency was more concentrated in China and Korea, promising ignorant people a 9 to 18 percent monthly profit in exchange for buying plus tokens with Bitcoin or ethereum.
The Plastoken method differed from BitConnect in that the team met with potential investors in person instead of online. In this way, they were able to establish a large base of investors outside the world of cryptocurrencies.
At the end of June 2019, the first troubles began.
Users had trouble withdrawing their profits from the Plato Token platform. The members of the Plastoken team tried to hide more about the exit nature of their scheming and their escape plan; But they later fled with large quantities of bitcoin, ethereum, and IAS worth more than $ 3 billion.
Some people believe that the Plastoken group was to blame for the devaluation of Bitcoin in 2019; Because its members were selling large amounts of stolen bitcoins at once.
After a while, six members of the team were identified and arrested, and handed over to Chinese authorities.
“Shame, we escaped.”
“Shame on you, we ran away,” the Plasutoken team announced its departure with the note.
Bitcoin has Syvyngz Trust ( Bitcoin Savings & Trust)
Scam volume: $ 5.8 billion (in current dollars)
Number of deceived: 10 thousand people
Bitcoin Swings & Trust has the “honor” of being the first US cryptocurrency fraud case. Between 2011 and 2012, the investment service, which was nothing more than a Panzi trick, managed to collect 764,000 bitcoins from its clients, which at the time was worth about $ 4.5 million (more than half a billion dollars today).
These investors were promised seven percent weekly profit or 3,641% annual profit. It later emerged that Trendon Shears, the owner of the scheme, was using the money of new investors to pay dividends to old investors.
Finally, on August 28, 2012, Sheaves filed for bankruptcy.
A large portion of the funds raised was never returned to users and was found to be spent on personal expenses such as renting a house, buying a car, home appliances, betting, and food.
At that time, collecting 700,000 bitcoins was a really big event; Because the world of Ramzars was much smaller than it is today. In 2013, Sheaves was sentenced to 16 months in prison and $ 1.23 million in damages.
The judge described the whole operation as a “Panzi trick” and said he had defrauded innocent people for personal gain.
Pincoin and iFan
Scam volume: $ 660 million
Number of deceived: 32 thousand people
The scam was carried out by the Vietnamese digital currency company Modern Tech. The company first offered an ICO for its Pinocin token, and with a promise of a 48% return after one month and a 100% return after four months, managed to raise $ 660 million from about 32,000 people.
In addition, the company further highlighted its panicky nature by promising an 8% commission to introduce new investors.
Basically, any project that promises huge profits and the right of a commission to attract new members should be treated very carefully; But many are willing to take the risk in the hope that the project will succeed and make a huge profit.
After the success of Pink win, Modern Tech moved to another token called the iPhone.
Pinocoin investors first received their profits in cash; But after a while, the fraudulent company paid off their profits with completely worthless iPhone tokens.
The members of this seven-member team left Vietnam and disappeared completely after recovering $ 660 million from unfortunate investors.
MTI; The biggest cryptocurrency scam of 2020
Scam volume: $ 588 million
Number of deceived: hundreds of thousands
A recent Chainalysis report cited the Mirror Trading International network as the world’s largest cryptocurrency fraud in 2020. The South African-based network MTI claims to pay its members daily profits from bitcoin trading activities.
Of course, members could not prove in any way that the profits actually were made through business activities, and this should sound the first alarm for investors.
Although the South African government suspected the fraudulent nature of the scheme and warned users to withdraw their funds as soon as possible, MTI was able to divert large amounts of bitcoin worth $ 588 million in 470,000 transactions.
The number of victims of this plan will probably reach hundreds of thousands.
MTI has established itself as a passive source of income and has been able to attract the attention of tens of thousands of investors around the world with the promise of a 10% return on investment per month.
According to the network’s website, users were required to invest at least $ 100 in bitcoin to increase that capital with the help of MTI-based foreign exchange trading software based on artificial intelligence.
Users were promised a fixed daily return of 0.5 percent, which reached 500 percent per year.
More than half of MTI’s web traffic came from South Africa and, to a lesser extent, the United States, Britain, Canada, and Mexico.
MTI has been receiving bitcoins from its users since 2018, and its LinkedIn page has introduced 150 people as employees.
Although the network seemed credible, many people doubted it from the beginning. In December 2020, a South African police investigation concluded that the company had falsified its business statements and did not disclose its losses, and resorted to other fraudulent measures to deceive the market.
In many ways, the MTI scam is similar to the 2018 bitcoin connection scandal, and users are worried that the company’s fate could lead to bankruptcy and loss of capital.
To prevent this scam from succeeding, the cryptocurrency industry needs to warn all investors that algorithmic trading platforms that promise their members unreasonably high profits are, in almost all cases, scams.
Unfortunately, the cryptocurrency scams are not limited to these six examples, and these are just examples of the great cryptocurrencies in history, in which millions to billions of dollars of capital have been stolen from thousands to millions.
Capital theft in digital currency scams in 2021 reportedly even exceeded $ 1.9 billion in 2020 and $ 4.5 billion in 2019.
Today, more than ever, it is important to do some thorough research before deciding to invest in digital currencies and be aware of the signs of danger, and if the plan seems too good to be true, doubt the validity of the operator’s claim.
As you can see in the examples above, many of the common scams in this area are fraught with the promise of lucrative profits and commission fees to attract new members to uninformed investors; So always be extremely careful when facing these tempting promises.
