DFP I Issued 17 Warnings On Crypto Brokers Suspected Of Fraud

DFPI has issued 17 separate warnings over two days against crypto brokers (photo: Doc. Pixabay)

JAKARTA - The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has issued 17 separate warnings over two days against crypto brokers and websites suspected of committing fraud.

The list includes Tahoe Digital Exchange, TeleTrad Options, Tony Alin Trading Firm, Hekamenltd/Tosal Markets Limited, Trade 1960, Yong Ying Global Investment Company Limited, Unison FX, VoyanX.com, and ZC Exchange, for several other names.

In addition, there are two mock sites disguised as two big names in the crypto sector: eth-Wintermute.net and UniSwap LLC.

At the time of writing, the DFPI consumer warning page posted 17 warnings during December 27 and December 28 stating that these companies "seem to be involved in fraud against consumers in California."

It is not uncommon for DFPI to post so many warnings at once, suggesting that the number of crypto fraud reports may have increased in late stages of this year. DFPI usually posts sporadic warnings about investigations against companies, or specific incident warnings.

The last time DFPI sent a large number of crypto scam warnings was on June 15, when it rang the alarm bell on more than 26 doubtful crypto platforms.

The warning comes in response to complaints from citizens against brokers and websites, as DFPI states that individuals have reported losses ranging from US$2,000 (Rp31 million) to US$1.2 million (Rp18.6 billion) in certain cases. However, DFPI only said that this website "seems to be involved in fraud".

The main theme, allegedly in most of these warnings, is related to the pig slaughtering scams, involving individuals or groups who create fake identities online to build fake relationships or friendships through social media, messaging apps, and dating.

In a pig slaughtering scam or romance scam, scammers will generally spend weeks or months building fake kinship relationships to gain the trust of the victim, before gradually turning the conversation towards investment and persuading them with a expective'' investment that is often too good to come true.

Ultimately, the ultimate goal is to get victims to invest in crypto through impious versions of legitimate websites, such as UniSwap LLC and eth-Wintermute.net in this regard, or by transferring funds to clever wallet addresses.

According to the slaughter of pigs, the alleged fraudsters have used other tactics described as Post SCHEMEs in Face Advance Fee Scheme,), in which the perpetrators of the crime will ask for large sums of money to process false withdrawals from their fraudulent sites.

If the victim is deceived, the fraudster not only has an initial investment but also an extra piece on it, before immediately deciding all forms of contact.

DFPI urges consumers to be very careful before responding to any invitations that offer investment or financial services. To check whether investment or financial service providers are licensed in California, said DFPI, as quoted by Cointelegraph.