Self-described “Bitcoin King” Claudio Oliveira has been arrested and charged by Brazilian federal police for allegedly masterminding a 1.5-billion reals (roughly $300 million) fraud scheme involving crypto. Oliveira served as the president of Bitcoin Banco Group, a Brazilian crypto brokerage firm that has been under investigation since 2019 claiming to have lost 7,000 Bitcoin (BTC) in investor funds. According to a rough translation of a Monday press release, federal police from the Curitiba Metropolitan Region served Oliveira and other members of Bitcoin Banco Group with one preventive arrest warrant, four temporary arrest warrants, and 22 search-and-seizure warrants. Bitcoin Banco Group …

Raees Cajee, the co-founder of South African crypto investment platform AfriCrypt, has denied claims that he and his brother ran off with billions in investor funds, asserting the platform lost $5 million in a hack. Last week, Cointelegraph reported that AfriCrypt — an asset manager purporting to offer daily returns of up to 10% that launched in 2019 — had been accused of disappearing with 69,000 BTC of investor funds in a mysterious exploit. While AfriCrypt had notified users of the hack on April 13, suspicions were immediately raised as the message urged investors to avoid taking legal action as …

Around 69,000 Bitcoin (BTC) has vanished from a South African investment platform along with two brothers who owned the crypto firm. Although the facts are yet to be proven in court, if it turns to be an exit scam rather than a hack, it would be the biggest in history according to Bloomberg. There were warning signs for investors either way, with users reportedly promised returns of up to 10% a day. AfriCrypt was founded in 2019 and operated by brothers Ameer and Raees Cajee. It had reportedly amassed around 54 billion rands worth of BTC, or $3.6 billion at …

A recent court ruling said that video hosting giant YouTube is not responsible for cryptocurrency-related scams posted on its platform. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak failed to support his lawsuit against YouTube over an advert using his image to promote a fake Bitcoin (BTC) giveaway, Bloomberg reports. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Sunil Kulkarnia said in a tentative ruling Wednesday that YouTube and its parent firm Google are protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — a federal law shielding internet platforms from responsibility for content posted by users. Wozniak sued YouTube in July last year over a …

As a countrywide cryptocurrency ban looms, multiple Turkish exchanges have now come under investigation with four employees of the recently-shuttered Vebitcoin exchange arrested this morning for allegations of fraud. Last night, Vebitcoin announced it would be ceasing operations in a short statement posted on its website, claiming that unspecified financial strain led to the decision — possibly caused by an unusually high number of withdrawals leading up to Turkey’s forthcoming cryptocurrency ban. “We have decided to cease our activities in order to fulfill all regulations and claims,” the announcement read in part. The exchange was among the largest in Turkey …

Ledger and Shopify have been hit by a class-action lawsuit over a major data breach that saw the personal data of 270,000 hard wallet customers stolen between April and June 2020. Phishing scam victims John Chu and Edward Baton filed the lawsuit in California against the crypto wallet provider and its e-commerce partner Shopify on Tuesday. The plaintiffs alleged that the firms “negligently allowed, recklessly ignored, and then intentionally sought to cover up” the data breach. The data was stolen when rogue employees of Shopify accessed the company’s e-commerce and marketing database for Ledger, with the hackers then selling the …

A scam cryptocurrency app on Apple’s app distribution service App Store has reportedly stolen $600,000 Bitcoin (BTC) from one iOS user. Cryptocurrency holder Phillipe Christodoulou fell victim to a scam app on the App Store, losing nearly all his life savings to a fake crypto wallet application, The Washington Post reports Tuesday. Christodoulou went on the App Store last month to search for a mobile Trezor app to check his Bitcoin balance via phone. Unaware that Trezor does not currently provide an iOS app, Christodoulou downloaded a doppelgänger Trezor application that boasted close to five stars, giving the impression that …

An Instagram influencer has been charged with wire fraud, after he allegedly scammed followers out of $2.5 million worth of Bitcoin. Social media influencer Jay Mazini, who boasted of a net worth of $33 million and is known for “cash giveaways”, is accused by the Department of Justice of operating a wire fraud scheme in which he duped some of his 1 million followers to send him Bitcoin in exchange for inflated cash offers, which he failed to pay properly. The DoJ announced the charges on March 24, following a complaint filed in Brooklyn Federal Court the day before. The …

South African crypto firms are threatening to move abroad if local lawmakers are unable to provide regulatory clarity to its domestic digital asset industry. Speaking to Bloomberg, Sean Sanders, the CEO of local crypto investment platform Revix — who plan to relocate their head office to the United Kingdom, described the South African government as being “incredibly slow” in clarifying regulatory guidelines for the crypto industry. “That leads to businesses looking internationally. In an unregulated environment, a customer arrives at our platform with skepticism, and rightfully so,” he said, adding: South Africa seems to go in the opposite direction of …

As the Crypto Twitter community debates the fair value of Cryptopunks and other NFTs rising to sky-high valuations, there’s at least one clear sign of the digital collectibles market growing irrational: An individual posing as Banksy, perhaps the most famous living artist, has netted over $1 million in Ether (ETH) in NFT sales. Starting on Sunday, Feb. 14, frequent browsers of the NFT marketplaces Opensea and Rarible noticed an account named “Pest Supply” with branding and nonfungible tokens made in Banksy’s signature graffiti-stencil style. Many were quick to jump in, given the “real” Banksy’s habit for pop-up installations: I either …

The iconic bass player of rock band Kiss and recent recruit to Elon Musk’s “Dogecoin army,” Gene Simmons, has announced a six-figure investment into Cardano (ADA). On Feb. 19, Simmons revealed on Twitter that he’d bought $300,000 worth of ADA. While emphasizing that he is not a financial analyst — a helpful disclaimer — the rock star said he wanted to share projects he believes in and was definitely not suggesting anyone else should buy ADA: I just bought $300,000 of CARDANO (ADA). I’m not a Financial Analyst and I’m not telling U to buy or not to buy. Simply …

South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority is sounding the cryptocurrency scam alarm once again. In a press release issued on Thursday, the FSCA enjoined the public to do their own due diligence before investing in any crypto-related project. According to the FSCA the high-risk nature of the crypto investment space is being further exacerbated by the multitude of elaborate cryptocurrency scams in the country. Indeed, as previously reported by Cointelegraph, the spate of crypto scams in South Africa is pushing the authorities towards stricter regulatory control over the industry. Back in January, interim liquidators of an alleged South African Bitcoin …