Disclaimer. This article has been updated to change the amount involved in the fraud case, as it was misreported in an English version of a Dutch article on the subject. Dutch police have arrested a former entrepreneur for fraud after alleging he conned investors in a fake bitcoin (BTC) mining operation out of €23 million ($25 million), Dutch daily news outlet De Gelderlander reported on May 21. According to reports, Barry van Mourik, who previously ran another cryptocurrency company also under suspicion, deceived clients into thinking they would earn money from bitcoin mining. Posing as the operator of a mining …

The Atlanta division of the United States district court of the northern district of Georgia claims in an order published on May 20 on Twitter by lawyer Stephen Palley that Rapper T.I. — real name Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. — sold unregistered securities in his FLiK initial coin offering (ICO). According to the document published by Palley, although the flik tokens had additional functionality (such as granting access to events), the token holders were promised profits from the work of the company. Harris’ business partner Ryan Felton allegedly said on social media: “FLiK tokens will be redeemable for $3.99 in …

Purported bitcoin (BTC) exchange Goxtrade has been accused of being a scam, technology news publication TechCrunch reported on May 17. Chief among the report’s revelations is that Goxtrade takes photos of unaffiliated people from social media sites and compiles them to make its online staff gallery. Goxtrade reportedly even retains some of their real names. Amber Baldet, co-founder of blockchain startup Clovyr, is one person whose name and picture were featured on Goxtrade’s staff roster. She responded to the appearance on Twitter: “Fraud alert: I am not a developer at Goxtrade and probably their entire business is a lie.” In …

Cryptocurrency project OneCoin is denying claims that it is a “hybrid ponzi-pyramid scheme” and scam, news outlet Samoa Observer reported on May 14. OneCoin is purportedly a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme project, that raised hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide by luring investors with the promise of big returns and minimal risk. An investigation by the United States found that the project’s founders had generated 3.353 billion euros ($3.769 billion) in sales revenue. In April, a church in the Pacific nation of Samoa became at the center of scrutiny after ministers had invited OneCoin to speak to its congregation. Notably, Samoa’s …

Blockchain startups RepuX and JoyToken have reportedly pulled a joint initial coin offering (ICO) exit scam, according to an exposé by Hard Fork of The Next Web (TNW) on May 16. RepuX and JoyToken reportedly ran their ICO promotions during March and April of 2018, and are now walking away with $4.7 million and $3.3 million, respectively. As far as the startups’ stated plans were concerned, Hard Fork reports: “RepuX claimed that it was trying to build what it called a ‘blockchain-powered data marketplace,’ while JoyToken was trying to create a decentralized gambling platform, powered by its own JOY token.” …

Hacked New Zealand-based cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia has appointed David Ruscoe and Russell Moore from consultancy and audit firm network Grant Thornton New Zealand as liquidators. The news was revealed in an official Grant Thornthon announcement on May 15. Grant Thornton New Zealand (NZ) is the local network of Grant Thornton International — a major professional services network of independent accounting and consulting member firms. As Cointelegraph has reported in mid-January of this year, Cryptopia revealed that it had been the target of a security breach resulting in significant losses, with the attack continuing for two weeks after its initial detection …

The United States Department of Justice released a fifteen-count indictment on May 9 that charges a hacking group labeled “The Community” with SIM swapping in order to steal cryptocurrencies. U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider and his colleague from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Angie Salazar announced the charges in the Eastern District of Michigan. Per Salazar, the investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations on two continents. According to the indictment, five Americans and an Irishman are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Another three, who reportedly are the former employees of mobile …

Proceedings from yesterday’s hack of cryptocurrency exchange Binance have been moved to seven addresses, crypto news outlet The Block reports on May 9. The breach resulted in about 7,074 bitcoins (BTC) — worth nearly $42.8 million at press time — being stolen from the exchange’s hot wallet. The transaction had 44 outputs, 21 of which were native Segregated Witness addresses, and those addresses received 99.97% of the funds. According to The Block, the funds from those 44 addresses have been reportedly since moved to seven addresses, six of which hold 1,060.6 BTC, while one holds 707.1 BTC. Previously, anti-money laundering …

A group major cryptocurrency traders is considering the idea of creating a blacklist of counterparties engaged in nefarious activities in the crypto space, Bloomberg reported on May 8. At a meeting in Chicago on Tuesday, a group of traders from 35 digital assets firms including such industry players as trading firm DRW Holdings Inc.’s Cumberland crypto unit, Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital Holdings, and tech startup Ripple proposed to create a blacklist for parties who reneged on trades and engaged in dubious activities. Some reportedly suggested to create an accreditation for companies as approved by the association of crypto-related businesses known …

Israeli police and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have arrested at least two men and reported others in a takedown of a bitcoin-enabled dark web listings site, the Israeli police force announced in two official tweets on May 7. The police revealed that a cross-border investigation successfully traced several suspects who allegedly founded and administered a darknet site — identified as Deep Dot Web in local media reports — which was reportedly a resource for finding illegal dark web marketplaces. Such listed sites hawk illicit goods, such as drugs, weapons, or stolen credit cards, the police alleged. …

Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges by daily trade volume, has experienced a major security breach on May 7, according to a statement shared with Cointelegraph on May 7. Per Binance, hackers employed a variety of tactics including phishing and viruses to obtain a large number of 2FA codes and API keys in addition to other information. According to the exchange, there was one affected transaction, wherein hackers were able to withdraw 7,000 bitcoins (BTC) worth $40,705,000 at press time. In a letter on Binance’s website, CEO Changpeng Zhao states that the bitcoins were withdrawn from its hot wallets, …

The French stock markets regulator AMF has seen over a 14,000% surge in enquiries related to fraudulent crypto offers in 2018 as opposed to 2016, the agency wrote in a new annual report released May 7. In the report, the Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) specified that the number of enquiries associated with crypto-related scams online has surged to over 2,600 in 2018 from only 18 similar enquiries back in 2016. With that, the amount of fraudulent online offers in other industries such as foreign exchange (forex) and binary options have significantly decreased, the AMF noted. As such, fraudulent offers …