Wirecard has announced it will lay off 730 out of its 1,300 staff in Germany following a $2.1 billion scandal that left the company insolvent in June. According to an Aug. 25 report from Law360, Michael Jaffé, a lawyer and representative of Wirecard's administrator, said that "far-reaching cuts" were necessary for the company to effectively maintain the option of exploiting its core businesses. "The usual restructuring and cost-adjustment measures are not sufficient," Jaffé said. “The economic situation of Wirecard AG was and is extremely difficult in light of the lack of liquidity and the well-known scandalous circumstances." Two months ago …

Micheal O’Leary, the CEO of major budget airline Ryanair, has come out very bearish on Bitcoin (BTC). Recently speaking to The Times, O’Leary likened Bitcoin to a Ponzi scheme and advised investors to avoid it: “I have never, and would never, invest one cent in Bitcoin, which I believe is equivalent to a Ponzi scheme. [...] I would strongly advise everyone with any shred of common sense to ignore this false story and avoid Bitcoin like a plague.” O’Leary was referring to an apparent crypto scam, “Bitcoin Lifestyle,” which claimed to have his approval in a promotional campaign. A bogus …

In the case of United Kingdom-based Control-Finance and its AWOL operator Benjamin Reynolds, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission asked the court to order Reynolds pay nearly half a billion dollars on Aug. 20. In a legal action that began in June of last year, the CFTC has been unsuccessful in its attempts to locate Reynolds. The commission alleges that Reynolds laundered 22,858 Bitcoin from May to October of 2017 — by their estimates worth $147 million at the time, but as of press time valued at $269 million. The CFTC’s proposed judgment asks for $429 — nearly three …

Konstantin Ignatov, the brother of OneCoin’s fugitive founder Ruja Ignatova and a major figure behind the $4 billion Ponzi scheme, agreed to testify against his sister as part of a settlement that saw Ignatov dismissed from civil litigation targeting the scam. Newly reported details regarding the settlement’s terms reveal that Ignatov has agreed both to cooperate with the class of OneCoin investors bringing the suit forward and to testify against his sister on their behalf should the suit go to trial. Ignatov is also a defendant and cooperating witness in a parallel criminal case, with his testimony helping secure the …

Cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin has issued a warning to users regarding a fraudulent website using its branding in an attempt to steal cryptocurrency. According to the report, posted Aug 19, the website is offering false incentives to entice users to deposit digital assets. It further clarifies that the web address “https://c.yrsm.net/app.php/MzI1” has no relationship to the KuCoin Group and is not authorized to use its trademark or other intellectual property. Reminding users to be particularly wary of this type of scam, KuCoin stated that it does not organize any activities outside of the official platforms (kucoin.com and kucoin.io) without official notification: …

The operators of a global cryptocurrency-based Ponzi scheme have been charged with fraud and money laundering following a United States Homeland Security Investigations probe. According to an announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice, four of the five alleged operators of AirBit Club, which allegedly netted tens of millions of dollars from victims, were arrested and due to appear in court on Aug. 18, while the fifth was arrested in Panama and is awaiting extradition to the U.S. The scheme was launched in late 2015 and sold as a multi-level marketing club in the cryptocurrency industry. The defendants purportedly hosted …

Over the past four months, the National Cyber Security Centre, or NCSC, removed over 300,000 URLs pertaining to fake celebrity-endorsed investment opportunities. More than a half of these sites belonged to fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes. Per an announcement published by the NCSC on August 14, an increasing number of these scams utilized fake endorsements from national celebrities, such as Ed Sheeran and Richard Branson. This raised red flags for authorities, prompting the launch of a massive retaliatory campaign. Ciaran Martin, CEO of the NCSC, commented: “These investment scams are a striking example of the kind of methods cyber criminals are …

A U.K. woman has been arrested in possession of £115,000 ($150,000) of Bitcoin (BTC), according to a Metropolitan Police report. The cryptocurrency is alleged to be the proceeds of a fraudulent scheme applying for government loans designed to assist small businesses in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The 35-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of fraud, money laundering and child neglect, following the search of a residential address in Ipswich, United Kingdom on Aug 12. Officers successfully applied for the detention of the Bitcoin held in the suspect’s cryptocurrency wallet on Aug 13. The investigation leading to the arrest …

Users of the Uniswap decentralized exchange could be at risk thanks to a new Google ad. "URGENT WARNING FOR ANYONE USING UNISWAP," crypto influencer and YouTuber, BitBoy, said in an Aug. 11 tweet. Tagging Google's Twitter accounts, he added: "Google you should be ashamed. Whoever runs GoogleAds is FAILING MISERABLY. On YouTube where scammers get ads through and now on your own platform." According to BitBoy, entering a Google search for "UniSwap" returns an advertisement link as one of the first results at times. "When you click that ad, it will take you to a site that looks JUST LIKE …

Cyprus, a major international business center and tax haven, is warning investors against several suspicious websites offering foreign exchange and digital currency investment. The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission issued a warning against seven firms that have apparently been operating illegally. Published by the CySEC on Aug. 6, the warning document says that none of the listed companies belong to an entity that has been granted approval for providing investment services. The list notes fxg.market, 247firstinvest.com, keyoncapital.com, procloudoptions.online, cryptotradecentr.com, fxgrowcapital.com, and meritkapital.net. One of the blacklisted websites, cryptotradecentr.com, positions itself as a multinational fintech company providing a wide range of …

Xavier Becerra, California's attorney general, recently told the public to watch out for possible crooked dealings surrounding crypto and digital assets. While broadly referencing other hacks, an Aug. 7 statement from the California Department of Justice said: "Recently, unscrupulous actors have impersonated well-known politicians, celebrities, and business executives on social media and YouTube channels in 'giveaway' scams that falsely promised, for example, to double any digital assets sent to a specific digital asset wallet." The comment, in part, refers to the recent July 15 Twitter attack, which saw a large number of influential accounts breached, including Joe Biden and Elon …

A new video takes viewers through German financial technology company Wirecard’s journey from being one of the top businesses in the world to one who’s shares plummeted by more than 98% before filing for insolvency. In an Aug. 6 video posted to YouTube by ColdFusion, Australian host Dagogo Altraide retells the story of how the Wirecard scandal began when auditors were unable to locate more than $2 billion that was supposed to be sitting in the FinTech firm’s Philippines-based accounts. The Wirecard board later admitted that the funds likely did not exist. “This was a tale of liars, accounting manipulation, …