The CEO of Delaware-registered blockchain firm Veritaseum LLC and New York-registered Veritaseum Inc., Reggie Middleton, was ordered to pay $8.4 million in disgorgement, according to a new court order. Additionally, Middleton is liable for a civil penalty of $1 million, fintech publication FinanceFeeds reported on Nov. 1, citing a court order issued on Oct. 31. According to the report, a judge at the New York Eastern District Court has approved a motion for a consent judgment in a securities fraud case against several defendants involved in Veritaseum. Specifically, the defendants are jointly liable for disgorgement of $7,891,600, which represents a …

A Dubai-based Canadian expat has been arrested for peddling an allegedly fraudulent “Sharia-compliant” cryptocurrency and a host of other get-rich-quick schemes. As Gulf News reported on Oct. 30, Aziz “Com” Mirza had cultivated for himself a reputation as an entrepreneur, mentor and Instagram influencer. He now sits in Al Awir jail after a complaint was filed with the Dubai Police by a UAE resident allegedly defrauded of $150,000 in one of Com’s schemes. The “Bitcoin of the Middle East” Com targeted a global audience, including retail investors from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Greece. In just one of …

How can payment fraud be avoided? Introducing better verification measures can go a long way to protecting consumers. Amazon and eBay are often held up as good examples of how transactions should be handled in the wider economy. These sites often deliver impartial reviews based on the past activities of buyers and sellers, meaning it is easier for consumers to find someone reputable. Measures are also in place to protect both parties if a transaction doesn’t go to plan. A multitrader marketplace called Kuverit is aiming to bring this to the crypto and fiat world alike. The company claims it …

SIM swapping victim Michael Terpin wrote an open letter to the United States Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai. In his letter, posted by Coindesk on Oct. 21, Terpin requested that the regulator take decisive action against SIM swapping and end this type of fraud. Terpin proposes to force all U.S. mobile carriers to hide customer pins and passwords from employees and oblige them to inform its customers that they can opt-in to carrier high-security plans, which must include a “no port” option, meaning that a consumer would have the choice to go through the fraud department before the …

The story of Brazil’s crypto scams took a new twist over the past week as CEO of an alleged pyramid scheme reportedly fled the country after rejecting court deadlines. Here is the past week of crypto and blockchain news in review, as originally reported by Cointelegraph Brasil. Banco Original sponsors a crypto-related event Brazil’s Banco Original was the principal sponsor of the Expo Boa Chance, a major fintech conference bringing together financial institutions, multilevel marketing and cryptocurrency-related firms, Cointelegraph Brasil reported on Oct. 6. Held at Expo Dom Pedro in Campinas, the event reportedly hosted more than 20,000 entrepreneurs. According …

American prosecutors have indicted a man from Singapore for using stolen identities to illegally utilize Amazon Web Services’ cloud computing power for crypto mining. According to the indictment filed on Oct. 1, Ho Jun Jia was charged with eight counts of wire fraud, four counts of access device fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Impersonating a game developer The document states that, from October 2017 to February 2018, Ho Jun Jia — also known under the aliases Matthew Ho, Prefinity and Ethereum Vendor — has stolen several identities and accounts, including from an unnamed Los Angeles-based game developer. …

Although the crypto industry has long been touted as the solution to some of the longest-running issues in the global economy, there’s one problem it has been unable to shake off so far: fraud. Scams have been in operation for centuries — from counterfeited versions of luxury products, to Ponzi schemes that have collapsed, leaving hard-working consumers out of pocket to the tune of billions of dollars. Unfortunately, the growth in awareness and demand for digital assets has seen sophisticated fraudsters turn their attention to duping those who may be inexperienced when shopping around for crypto. Why are there so …

Brazil saw another week of reports on alleged cryptocurrency scams as the Sao Paulo Court ordered to block the assets managed by Unick Forex, while another firm was reported of promising 400% returns through a cryptocurrency investment scheme. Here is the past week of crypto and blockchain news in review, as originally reported by Cointelegraph Brasil. Unick Forex reportedly flees offices but apparently will resume operations Following a police investigation of purported investment scheme Unick Forex, staff reportedly fled the firm’s offices with computers and other hardware in tow. Cointelegraph Brasil reported on Sept. 20 that, according to the administrators …

Scammers asked British citizens for nearly $2.5 million in Bitcoin (BTC), claiming that the funds will be spent to maintain the local economy after Brexit. Physical letters vs emails Fraudsters apparently sent out physical letters to the British, posing as a private secretary of Queen Elizabeth II, according to one of the alleged copies revealed by an exec of a local tech firm. Paul Ridden, CEO at United Kingdom-based IT firm Smarttask, posted a picture of the letter on Sept. 24 on LinkedIn, chuckling about the apparently failed phishing scam and asking if anyone else have received something similar to …

Binance claims to have assisted British prosecutors in an investigation of an online fraud that resulted in over $51 million losses by victims. Criminal is now jailed On Sept. 26, Binance’s chief compliance officer Samuel Lim published a blog post saying that the exchange was working with the Cyber Crime Unit of the United Kingdom’s Metropolitan Police Service to investigate into Bulgarian phishing expert Svetoslav Donchev. As officially reported by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Donchev, 37, was extradited to the U.K. from Bulgaria to face the online scamming fraud charges and pleaded guilty to five offences to receive a …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Jonathan C. Lucas, the founder of adult entertainment marketplace Fantasy Market, with orchestrating a fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO). According to the SEC complaint published on Sept. 23, Lucas received around $63,000 in cryptocurrency from more than 100 investors “through the fraudulent offer and sale of unregistered digital securities of Fantasy Market.” The document states: “As alleged in the complaint, Lucas made numerous materially false statements in a whitepaper and online to induce investors to participate in the ICO. Among other alleged misstatements, Lucas claimed that a "working-beta" version of …

Scammers are using fake mainstream news articles to advertise a nonexistent and potentially dangerous Bitcoin investment platform. “Bitcoin Profit” features fake celebrity interviews According to the dedicated website used to lure would-be clients, the so-called “Bitcoin Profit” uses celebrity endorsements as part of its marketing strategy. The site, economicsworld[dot]info, includes testimony from the likes of actress Kate Winslet and Australian businessman Andrew Forrest, also known as Twiggy. With alleged backing from Richard Branson, Elon Musk and Bill Gates, Bitcoin Profit is one of the more brazen scams to emerge from the cryptocurrency underworld. Each celebrity has a feature with their …