Cryptocurrency markets have brought a new perspective to the mobility of money around the world, offering an exciting alternative. You can transfer your financial assets to any part of the world without any restrictions and without being accountable to anyone. This ability attracts the attention of not only users but also scammers.
Crypto Scammers
The ability to transfer money to any part of the world like sending a game object has led scammers to dive into the crypto space. They scam investors in any country and instantly withdraw the money to a bank account via cryptocurrency mixers or OTC using exchanges. What’s even more interesting is that cryptocurrencies are still not well understood by most investors. Today, most people talk about “playing Bitcoin” without understanding the concept.
It is easy to deceive someone who lacks sufficient knowledge on a subject. It is difficult to convince them that their name is something different, but it is easy to mislead them about the distance between the sun and the Earth. Or you can convince them that by keeping their computer on, they can turn a $1000 investment into $1200 per month.
When asked where this income comes from, they are told stories about cryptocurrencies that they do not understand, and they are told that they are mining. Or, there is no need for this, you can tell them that they can rent a server from abroad for “cloud mining” and make a monthly profit of 10%. All of these happened one by one. People believed that they could make money by keeping their computer on and were eventually scammed. Or they were scammed by thinking that they were doing cloud mining. The common story in all of these cases was to offer people a great opportunity in a subject they did not understand and persuade them to invest.
If the expected crypto bull run happens next year, those who are already in crypto today and those who will enter crypto next year will be scammed again using this method. And many people will be victims once again. Do you want to be one of them? If your answer is no, reject every offer that sounds too good to be true.
Cloud Mining Scammers
Now Mining promised its investors profits through renting Bitcoin mining machines allegedly located in overseas countries. The fairy tale of risk-free investment forms the basis of the classic fraud story here as well.
The second organization, VIP Mining, claimed to make direct investments in Bitcoin mining machines in Arizona. Finally, a third organization, an estate and technology company, enticed investors with the opportunity to buy custom-made container houses using a proprietary cryptocurrency called “Millennium.”
Generous gifts and promises of easy profits were baseless, and investor funds were only transferred to bank accounts controlled by Ortega and Sowerby. What happened as a result? They spent the money received from victims on a luxurious lifestyle, just like other scammers using similar methods.
The defendants will face up to 20 years in prison.