The financial industry was overdue for a technological innovation after the financial crisis and bitcoin came to the rescue. However, with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, came ICO scams.
In 2017, cryptocurrency scams cost people billions of dollars until the SEC clamped down on such scams in the U.S. However, scams in other countries still continue to take place. The latest scam in Thailand is one of them, and has cost people about $1.34 million.
As per Cryptonlinenews, about 134 people were duped by a company called “CryptoMining.Farm.” The scam came to light after 30 people had lodged complaints with Thailand’s Technology Crime Suppression Division.
The Division believes that the scam could very well have cost more than $1.34 million and that many of the victims were from the United States. The scammers reportedly promised investors with a 70% return on a yearly basis with no restriction on withdrawing their funds. Moreover, the investment opportunity was flaunted as bitcoin mining contracts for time periods extending from a minimum of 3 months to life.
The scammers reportedly changed the terms of the contract, according to one of the victims who stated,
“From August the owner began imposing conditions for withdrawing the money. Then at the start of this month, the site announced it would start paying back investors in 84 installments which would take over seven years to complete. The payments were supposed to be made in foreign currencies [which] is not permitted by Thai laws.”
Thailand has not yet stepped on the cryptocurrency regulatory pedal and is yet to put down a necessary framework around it. Further, a local news outlet reported that these scammers had offices in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, which led many people to believe that the scammers were a “legitimate operation.”
The case in Thailand comes days after a similar scam costing $13 million scam was uncovered in Mumbai.
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Published at Wed, 20 Feb 2019 02:03:47 +0000