Almost every technological or financial innovation is manipulated by scammers and hackers to make money easy. Every day, news of the scams or authorities busting these fraudsters surfaces in the crypto-verse. A prominent financial regulator charging four men for a recent crypto scam in the United States is the latest buzz in the crypto town.
Scammers Bag Nearly $1 Million
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission [CFTC] shared a press release highlighting its latest release. The financial regulator claimed that three men from Texas, Mayco Alexis Maldonado Garcia, Cesar Castaneda, and Rodrigo Jose Castro Molina, as well as Florida’s Joel Castaneda Garcia, were operating a fraudulent platform called the Global Trading Club [GTC]. CFTC has reportedly filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Texas.
All four men involved were charged for deceiving individuals to pour in money to speculate on the price movements of Bitcoin. The complaint underscored that a total of 27 people were prey to the scam and the alleged scammers were reported to have acquired about $989,000. The CFTC accusation also pointed out that the fraudulent operation ran a little more than a year from August 2016 to October 2017.
The press release further stated,
“[…] the defendants falsely represented to actual and potential customers that their business, named Global Trading Club (GTC), employed “master traders” who had years of experience trading “crypto currency,” and used “cutting edge trading robots” to trade Bitcoin for customers “24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”
Apart from this, a multi-level marketing scheme was put in place where the customers were promised a bonus for referring others. Furthermore, in an attempt to cover up their fraudulent business, the alleged fraudsters went on to post misleading statements online.
The CFTC added,
“The CFTC seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, permanent registration and trading bans, and a permanent injunction against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and the Commission’s regulations, as charged.”
Despite being known for its decentralized nature, cryptocurrencies fall under the control of regulators around the globe. While authorities and regulators around the globe have been exploring the prospects for cryptocurrencies, news about crypto hacks could delay the mass adoption of crypto hacks.