Top 3 Worst Cryptocurrency Scams in History
We will show the top 3 worst cryptocurrency scams in history to learn from their mistakes.
Nothing in life is entirely rosy, which is also the case in cryptocurrencies. Therefore, it is necessary always to remember these dark moments of the more than 11 years of Bitcoin's history and the consequent birth of more than 5,400 cryptocurrencies. These mistakes are never repeated in the future. That is why, in this content, we will show the top 3 of the worst cryptocurrency scams in history to learn from the mistakes made.
Top 3 Worst Cryptocurrency Scams
Cryptocurrencies have commonly been associated with high volatility and high-profit rates. Scammers worldwide have taken advantage of this point to promise excellent profits to be fundamental to anyone who "invests" in their projects. This is how they managed to collect, only during 2019, at least u$s4,000 million.
Milton Group
An alleged cryptocurrency trading portal promises multiplication of your investment in this scam.
Their modus operandi captured users through Facebook advertisements; after requesting your phone number, they flooded you with calls promising you juicy rewards for investing in Bitcoin.
Milton Group contacts you, mentions that his business is trading, and swears that the more you invest, the more you will earn, encourages his victims to start with a small investment, and shows you in "real-time" how your investment multiplies on his website.
It is estimated that only during the year 2019 and from the Call Center in Ukraine, Milton Group managed to defraud about u$s71.5 million. The company has been in operation for three years, and assuming that they made similar amounts in previous years—the total amounts to u$s214.5 million according to the European Union agencies.
That's not counting the figures reached by the other Call Centers spread all over Europe, so the losses cannot yet be fully calculated.
The police investigation into the Milton Group continues to search for the culprits.
Mining Max
Starting to mine cryptocurrencies has always been a great business opportunity. Still, the problem is that it takes a large amount of upfront money and technical knowledge that not everyone can possess.
So, an offer where you can be a part of this world with just a little money sounds lovely. Moreover, the idea of just putting in some cash while an expert takes care of the operation and maintenance of the machines and software so that, in the end, you can earn the highest possible percentage from the mining itself is pretty tempting.
This process is not illegal, as there are several platforms dedicated to it, where each user can choose a plan at a different cost. And this is what scammers like Mining Max take advantage of.
Such was the case with Mining Max, a US-based company with mining farms in South Korea. At its inception around 2016, it presented itself as a mining platform. Later, they specialized in Ethereum mining. Or so it was believed, because, in December 2017, Korean authorities discovered the fraud and exposed it. As a result, mining Max's administrators raised around $250 million worldwide.
PlusToken
This was the big cryptocurrency scam of 2019. The primary offering of this system was the PLUS token, which allegedly would be able to return investors 9-20% per month without the associated risks of large volatilities, which are more than usual in the cryptocurrency world.
Perhaps one of the reasons for their success was that, rather than conducting their advertising through electronic media, most of it was through meetings and events that allowed them to talk to potential investors face to face. This gave it a sense of a serious project.
It was explained that the high percentage of profits supposedly came from cryptocurrency trading and mining processes in the cloud, such as number 2 in our ranking.
The victims didn't realize that it was a pyramid scheme, without any product, where only new members could inject fresh money that would go directly to pay the older investors or directly to the administrators.
At the end of June 2019, users started having problems withdrawing their funds, and the admins blamed the alleged miners. Soon after, they didn't bother to give any more excuses and disappeared with around u$s3 billion.
These are not the only ones.
Unfortunately, these are not the only three scams that have existed, nor will live in a world of cryptocurrencies; there are many others, such as OneCoin, or Mt Gox as some of the names.
Undoubtedly it is in the education, in the information that is the only solution to the problems of the scam, and always keep in mind the following phrase "If it is too good to be true, most likely it is."
The case of Naveed Saghir
Naveed Saghir is a 44-year-old university graduate with a master's degree in Computer Science who successfully runs his own business installing home cinema systems in the North West of England. After a lifetime of hard work, regular savings, and wise investments, he had saved nearly $690,000 in bitcoin earlier this year.
However, he was duped by online scammers who stole all his money. "I've destroyed my life, changed it for the worse, and I need to warn people: if it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone," says Naveed, who is now on a mission. Struggling to overcome the mental and emotional damage of seeing his plans disappear with a ruined financial future, he wants to share his story to prevent others from becoming victims.
"I've been running my business for the past 20 years, and I've always been cautious with money," he explains. "Whether it's related to my business or my life, I've made every penny count. But I made a bad decision and got caught."
"False investments"
Naveed fell victim to a type of fraud known as an "investment scam." It occurs when victims are tricked into handing over money to people offering fake, but often very convincing, investments with the promise of significant returns. "I was watching videos on YouTube when I came across an advert offering the opportunity to invest in shares and filled out a form requesting more information."
"The next day, I got a call from someone who introduced himself as a customer service agent, and I paid $350 to start investing." "The next day I got a call again; this time, it was someone who described himself as my account manager and gave me a username and password. for a compelling trading website." Naveed made his first payment at the end, of May, and as soon as he took that first terrible step, the scammers caught up with him.
Soon they tricked him into believing new lies by promising him more significant profits. Then, when he started losing money, they convinced him he would get the money back and tricked him into giving them more. Finally, at the end of August, he gave them US$25,000 and 14.25 in bitcoin, worth about US$690,000, according to the current value of the cryptocurrency. "I still can't remember how they managed to trick me," Naveed recounts. "I don't know." Many charities have been calling for fraudulent ads to be included in the Online Security Bill soon to be considered in Parliament. The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute have warned that millions of internet users, particularly those with mental health problems, are at risk of losing money or sensitive personal information to scammers.
Justice?
Lisa Forte, who works for the firm Red Goat Cyber Security, says that not only is Naveed unlikely to get some of his money back, he is also unlikely to get justice. "Even if the police launch an investigation, which is unlikely, even if they find the criminals responsible, which is highly unlikely, what are they supposed to do when the criminals are in another country where the British police have no jurisdiction?"
"There is virtually no recourse about bitcoin. It's a form of currency that operates outside of regulation compared to 'normal' money, and because of this, because it's unregulated, consumer protection doesn't exist." However, forte recommends three things people can do to protect themselves and their family and friends from becoming victims.
"One, research anything you're going to put your assets into. There are many reliable sources. Understand what Bitcoin is, as you should with any investment; research how it works, and know the pros and cons. Three, if someone says they can use your investment to make huge profits in a short period, that's the time when alarm bells should go off. Legitimate investment platforms don't make those kinds of promises."