Tag: crypto scam

    Scammers Steal $2.2M in Crypto from New Yorkers in Job Scam

    New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Thursday that scammers have defrauded New Yorkers of $2.2 million in cryptocurrency through a job scam targeting remote workers. The scheme involved sending text messages offering job opportunities and persuading victims to deposit funds into cryptocurrency accounts. Victims were instructed to purchase stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) on licensed platforms, including Coinbase, Gemini, and Crypto.com. However, they were later tricked into transferring the assets to un-hosted wallets controlled by the scammers. Attorney General James has filed a lawsuit seeking to recover the stolen funds, which are currently frozen, and to impose penalties and restitution on the perpetrators. “Deceiving New Yorkers looking to take on remote work and earn money to support their families is cruel and unacceptable,” James said. Investigative Collaboration Uncovers Scam Tactics The Office of the Attorney General worked alongside the U.S. Secret Service and the Queens County District Attorney’s Office to investigate the case. The scam, operating across multiple jurisdictions, targeted individuals seeking remote job opportunities, exploiting their economic vulnerabilities. Victims were lured into opening cryptocurrency accounts and depositing funds under the guise of writing product reviews. Scammers falsely claimed the reviews would generate “market data” to help boost sales, assuring victims they were not actually purchasing the products but legitimizing data collection efforts. Overall, authorities are continuing their efforts to recover the stolen assets and hold the scammers accountable. Residents are encouraged to report suspicious activity to the Attorney General’s office to aid in the investigation and prevention of future fraud. The case highlights the importance of exercising caution when engaging with unsolicited job offers, particularly those involving cryptocurrency transactions.

    Former Chinese Tycoon Sentenced to Six Years for $5M Crypto Fraud in Singapore

    Yang Bin, one of China’s foremost figures in business and the country’s second-richest man of 2001, according to Forbes, has been sentenced to six years in prison in Singapore. That is, according to a local news report by CNA. The sentencing order came as a result of his involvement in a crypto investment fraud scheme. Yang Found Guilty on 8 Crypto Fraud Charges As the court found out, the Chinese-Dutch national is guilty of leading a multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme under the guise of a crypto investment operation. The sentencing took place on Monday, August 26, after an investigation into Yang’s company, A&A Blockchain Innovation, revealed some uncomfortable truths. Founded in April 2021, A&A reportedly operated without a valid work permit. Furthermore, Yang falsely claimed that the company owned 300,000 crypto mining machines capable of delivering daily returns of 0.5% to investors. As it turned out, however, the claims were entirely false, and there were really no mining machines anywhere. Meanwhile, to keep up with the Ponzi scheme, A%A fabricated the returns it promised investors, albeit in the classic way. Robbing Peter to pay Paul, the operation paid old investors with money from new ones. From May 2021 through to February 2022, the scheme would lure over 700 investors, promising them substantial returns from crypto mining, a sector that continues to garner worldwide interest. Attracted by the prospect of earning great amounts of profits in passive income, these unsuspecting victims threw in about S$6.7 million into the scheme. That is over $5 million. Essentially, the entire business turned out to be nothing more than a front for a scam. Hence, the court’s decision to sentence Yang. Alongside the jail sentence, Yang will also pay a fine of S$16,000 (approximately $12,200). Notably, legal proceedings are also currently ongoing against Yang’s co-accused Wang Xinghong, who was tasked with developing an app that faked investment returns. However, District Judge Brenda Chua has noted that Yang played a more prominent role in the fraud scheme.

    Feds Crack $73 Million Crypto Heist, Nab Two Masterminds

    United States authorities have arrested two individuals in connection with a crypto heist that saw over $73 million siphoned. The duo, of Chinese extract, allegedly masterminded the scheme and funnelled the stolen funds through financial institutions in the U.S. before finally converting into Tether USDT. According to a recent announcement by the Department of Justice (DoJ), one Daren Li (41 years) and 3-years younger Yicheng Zhang are now in police custody and have been charged. Meanwhile, an indictment had already been submitted at a California court on Thursday, which details the roles that the duo played in the scheme. Per the announcement, Li and Zhang ran an international criminal ring that laundered millions from ‘pig butchering’ crypto scams. For clarity, pig butchering is a kind of crypto scam where fraudsters take their time to gain the trust of potential victims. After this, they then convince them to invest huge sums before making off with the same. $73 Million Crypto Heist Masterminds Arrested Prosecutors claim that the defendants had conspired with other ring members to open U.S. bank accounts in the name of shell companies. That was before convincing anyone to invest. The scammers then waited for the right time to ask their victims to transfer millions of dollars into these U.S. bank accounts from where they laundered the ill-gotten funds. The DoJ also claims that the bad actors dispersed the stolen funds to various domestic and international bank accounts. A statement from the Justice Department reads partly: “The fraud scheme involved more than $73 million laundered through U.S. financial institutions to bank accounts in the Bahamas and converted to the virtual asset USDT, or Tether.” Li and Zhang are faced with charges of conspiring to launder money and six counts of international money laundering. If found guilty, they could be seeing a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment for each of those charges. This means that they could each be looking at prison terms of around 140 years behind bars. Growing Menace of Pig Butchering Scams Pig butchering scams are getting increasingly popular as online criminals have recently turned to it for their lucrative tendencies. In November 2023, a similar scheme occurred that took advantage of over 70 United States citizens. The U.S. Justice Department did seize $9 million from the scheme at the time. However, the alarming rate at which similar cases are springing up is now a cause of concern for lawmakers and regulators. It might also be noteworthy that regulators and global authorities have been working tirelessly to protect investors and sanitize the crypto space. While regulators are proposing new rules that meet up with the reality of today’s digital asset space, authorities are also effecting arrests, even as the judiciary continues to pass sentences to those found on the wrong side of the law. Hopefully, these concerted efforts will serve as a warning to other bad actors that illicit acts will not be tolerated in the crypro space.

    Hedgey Finance Loses Over $44M in Fresh Hack

    In two hours, a token infrastructure platform Hedgey Finance has lost at least $44.7 million worth of digital assets to a security breach. According to an April 19 X post by blockchain security firm Cyvers, the attack happened across two networks; the Ethereum layer 2 Arbitrum (ARB) and Binance Smart Chain. For the first attack, the malicious attacker took advantage of the Hedgey Token Claim Contract by using a flash loan technique to steal $1.9 million worth of crypto. The unidentified hacker quickly swapped the stolen funds to the DAI stablecoin and then transferred to an external address, according to Cyvers. Shortly after, they repeated the same exploit on the Arbitrum chain, making away with $42.8 million in the process. Hedgey Finance Responds After Cyvers had raised the alarm, Hedgey later confirmed the incident in an X post from the firm’s official account. The post reads partly: “We are actively working with our auditors and team to understand the attack and stop any ongoing attack. We will share more information as we learn more.” Despite Hedgey’s response, numerous scam accounts impersonating Hedgey Finance have suddenly sprung up on X. They are attempting to defraud unsuspecting users into thinking that they are the real deal while asking users to request funds through malicious links.  Notably, the hack took place only a few hours before the widely-anticipated Bitcoin halving, which is set to slash block rewards by half. Crypto Thefts Still Thriving Meanwhile, on-chain security firm CertiK has noted that crypto thefts are still very much rampant. In its Hack3d report, the firm confirmed that at least 223 crypto hacks happened in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024. Those hacks also resulted in the loss of over $502 million worth, per CertiK. In comparison, Q1 2024 saw a 54% rise in the total amount lost to crypto theft, considering that only $326 million was reportedly lost in Q1 2023. The report also noted that January was the most active month for the hackers who stole over $193 million worth of crypto in that month alone. Interestingly, there might be just one positive to the hack report. More than $77.9 million worth of stolen funds were ultimately recovered in Q1 2024.