Unfortunately, as with any industry, scams of all shapes and sizes persist within the cryptocurrency sector. This past week has seen a Filipino couple arrested after amassing over $17 million USD through a bitcoin investment scam, and protests held outside the office of a Vietnamese company that swindled $660 through two multi-level marketing (MLM) initial coin offerings (ICOs). It appears that cryptocurrency scams are still being peddled via analog communications – with phone and snail mail-based scams being reported this week also.
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Filipino Couple Amasses Nearly $1 Billion Philippine Pesos Through Investment Scam
Earlier this week, the Philippine National Police (PNP) Arnel and Leonay Ordania – a couple who are accused of amassing approximately P900 million through a bitcoin investment scam.
The couple is accused of luring roughly 50 investors in their company, Newg, for which they were promised 30% returns every 15 days. Rosanne Maglunog, a victim of the Ordania’s scam, invested P33 million into the scheme with her family and husband during November and December 2017, before discovering via social media that Newg would no longer be issuing payouts to investors.
The PNP chief, Ronald dela Rosa, has told media that the couple was arrested on April 4th in an entrapment operation executed by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.
Vietnamese Company Protested for Promoting MLM ICO
Vietnamese media has that protests were held outside the office building of Ho Chi Minh City-based company, Modern Tech. Reports have indicated that the company is accused of swindling VND15 Trillion ($660 million USD) from roughly 32,000 investors through two multi-level marketing ICOs, Ifan, and Pincoin.
Ifan investors were promised gains “on a daily basis” as prominent Vietnamese musicians were to join the platform, and assured that the company abided by Singapore’s regulatory guidelines. Pincoin was described as a project based in Dubai. Investors were promised monthly returns of 48%, a full recuperation of all investments in fourth months, and an 8% commission on revenue generated by referred investors.
In reality, seven Vietnamese nationals are said to have been behind both projects, with Modern Tech serving as a means to promote what were no more than multi-level marketing schemes. Whilst investors were able to see the ‘paper’ value of their investments rise, none were able to realize their profits in any form.
Canadian Utilities Provider Issues Warning of Phone Scam
Epcor, an Alberta-based utility company proving natural gas, electricity, water, and wastewater treatment services, has its customers of a phone scam impersonating the company targeting businesses.
The company warned that businesses have been receiving telephone calls from an individual impersonating an Epcor representative, threatening to shut off electricity services within an hour should they fail to make a payment in bitcoin.
Tim le Riche, a spokesperson for Epcor, revealed that the company received seven calls reporting the scam, including two from businesses that had already made “substantial” payments to the scammers. Mr. Riche stated that “Epcor does not do business like this,” adding that “If there does happen to be any kind of billing issue with any customer, we always work with them […] We would never make a sudden phone call to a customer to say, ‘You’ve got to make a payment within an hour or we’re going to shut you down.’ We just don’t do that.”
Snail Mail Extortion Continues
On Friday, April 6th, two residents reported a suspicious letter threatening to release evidence of secrets should $8,750 worth of bitcoin not be received within ten days. The letter also contained an accompanying guide on how to use bitcoin.
In January, reported that many American men were receiving letters through the post threatening to divulge details pertaining to infidelities should $2,000 worth of BTC not be sent to the blackmailer.
Have you every fallen victim to a scam involving crypto? Share your experiences in the comments section below!
Images courtesy of Shutterstock
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Howdoo is a revolutionary new messaging and social media network that leverages the blockchain.
It’s a platform designed for users who are tired of being tracked, exploited, and bombarded by irrelevant marketing; It’s a platform for content creators wanting to take back creative control and increase their earnings; And it’s a platform for advertisers looking to gain greater transparency into their campaigns, to connect with willing audiences, and to protect their brand value.
The Alpha Version of Howdoo is currently in the hands of selected testers, prior to a global trial.
Howdoo’s Founder and Chief Initiator, David Brierley stated;
“Imagine a single application that combines all the best features of existing social media apps, but with a radical new approach to putting users, communities, content creators, and advertisers together in complete harmony and control – alongside a whole new way of incentivizing and rewarding contributions. This is exactly what Howdoo is building today.”
The Howdoo token sale and bounty campaign
A key factor in fueling the Howdoo ecosystem is the µDoo, an ERC20 token. The process for the µDoo token sale will be divided into three phases. The first is an invite-only private sale that begins on the 12th March 2018. Following this, the public pre-sale opens on the 2nd May 2018.
All interested parties who register and proceed through our whitelist between the 12th March and before midnight, 1st May 2018, will be granted early access to the public presale by 120 minutes.
About the µDoo token
The µDoo token will be the mechanism for value exchange across the Howdoo network, as well as being an integral part of the Proof of Contribution score, an advanced algorithm that determines a user’s participation and contribution – and the rewards they can receive for performing various activities.
This includes in-network activities, where µDoo will enable:
Users to pay for digital products and services
Micropayments in support of our tipping feature
Advertisers to buy the right to contact their target audiences
Advertising rebate to be shared with those users who engage
Content creators to be rewarded for the ad revenues they generate
Gamers to use µDoo to make in-game purchases
Sellers to price their products and services in µDoo
Network operators to be rewarded for good performance
And out-of-network activities, where:
has already signed partnership deals with a host of entertainment, travel, and financial partners, to extend the uDoo token’s relevance and utility.
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, a decentralized title registry for the $2 trillion dollar arts & collectibles (A&C) asset class, has announced today that it will be partnering with to host a live charity auction at Ethereal Summit, which takes place in New York City on the 11th and 12th of May, 2018. The live auction will be part of a broader sale of artworks hosted together with . Proceeds from the sales will go to a foundation, which is being established to support creatives working at the intersection of blockchain technology and art.
CEO of Codex, Mark Lurie said: “It has been our goal at Codex to harness the power of blockchain technology to realize the true value of arts & collectibles. By partnering with ConsenSys and Rare Art Labs at Ethereal Summit, we have an opportunity to make this goal a reality, showcasing our unique value proposition and demonstrating to crypto-holders that art and collectibles is an important and viable part of a diversified investment portfolio. At Codex, we are keen to develop tools which are helpful for the artistic community and recognize that artists play an important role in the development and dissemination of new technologies. Establishing the foundation allows us to offer financial support to the artistic community to encourage them to engage with blockchain.”
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