2 Nigerians in trouble in US over bitcoin scam
http://www.hrlnews.com/2019/04/2-nigerians-in-trouble-in-us-over.html
Two Nigerians are in trouble in the United States after being
indicted by prosecutors for running a fraudulent bitcoin investment
scheme.
The Nigerians, Onwuemerie Ogor Gift and Kelvin Usifoh, were charged
by Oregon District Attorney’s Office with 11 counts of wire fraud, as
well as conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, according
to a report.
From December 2017 to June 2018, Gift and Usifoh allegedly promoted the fake bitcoin investment scheme via three websites – wealthcurrency.com, boomcurrency.com and merrycurrency.com – promising investors 20–50 percent risk-free returns with instant withdrawals.
Gift and Usifoh falsely claimed that victims’ bitcoins would be
invested using “unique trading methods” and that they would maintain a
“constant high interest rate.” The pair also allegedly encouraged
investors to transfer bitcoin to their own cryptocurrency wallets. Once
transferred, Gift and Usifoh would exchange it for Nigerian naira.
In over six months, the defendants stole 10.88 bitcoins (worth
approximately $56,391 at press time) from three victims, one residing in
Oregon and two in California, according to the indictment. They also
used a photo of a fourth victim to promote their scheme.
In total, the prosecutors alleged that Gift and Usifoh received more than 50 bitcoins ($259,000) through the scam.
Largely due to their pseudonymous, online nature, cryptocurrencies
are becoming increasingly popular as a means to scam investors. But law
enforcement is catching up.
Last month, New York prosecutors charged a man in a nine-count
indictment for duping investors out of over $200,000 in cryptocurrency
and cash. And, in February, a 20-year-old man was indicted in the New
York Supreme Court over SIM-swapping identity and crypto theft.
Warning cryptocurrency investors over such schemes, the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission jointly issued an alert earlier this week, saying that claims
such as “risk-free”, “absolutely safe” and “guaranteed profit” are
hallmarks of a fraud.
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