Australian horse racing officials are investigating a group raising thoroughbreds after its alleged involvement with OneCoin. According to news reports, Racing NSW confirmed it is investigating Phoenix Thoroughbreds while a second group, Racing Victoria, is in contact with international officials regarding the company. The allegations against Phoenix Thoroughbreds stem from witness testimony stating the company’s owner, Amer Abdulaziz Salman, was involved with OneCoin and supposedly stole $161 million. A Phoenix Thoroughbreds spokesman told The Sydney Morning Herald it did not do anything illegal and will cooperate with authorities. The company added its owner “acted according to the law at all …

A recent filing from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, takes action against three individuals for allegedly raising millions of dollars against more than 1,000 victims. "From 2017 to May 2019, Jali, Frimpong, and Johnson, directly and through two entities created to perpetrate the scheme, Smart Partners and 1st Million (the 'Companies'), fraudulently raised more than $27 million from approximately 1,200 investors, many of them African immigrants," an Aug. 28 legal filing states. The allegations claim the three individuals used their influence in churches and health care, preying on commonalities and beliefs of those around them for …

Waterloo, Ontario is the first Canadian city to issue a general warning after 78 residents were duped by crypto scammers in 2020. According to Global News, Waterloo residents have lost more than $430,000 so far this year, with 29 of the 78 falling victim in July alone. As previously reported, fraudsters have been impersonating government officials, asking victims to deposit money in various Bitcoin (BTC) ATMs under the threat of legal ramifications. Scammers told one resident that more than 25 bank accounts had been opened under his name, and then used to launder money. He was instructed to deposit over …

It’s hype season in the crypto space once again, and unsuspecting investors are at risk of suffering losses. Riding on the coattails of decentralized finance tokens that have provided staggering yields, rogue actors are flooding automated market makers like Uniswap with fake tokens. These schemes range from the elaborate to the downright lazy, but many seem to be hitting their mark, likely preying on the greed or ignorance of newbie crypto enthusiasts. Survivors of the many pump and dumps that dominated the 2017 initial coin offering era can probably identify the repeating pattern currently at play. Indeed, critics of the …

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 …

Google pulled outsourced work from a Philippine contact center whose employees were involved in a Bitcoin scam. According to Newsbytes.PH, Google confirmed the company shifted some work it outsourced to a Sykes Philippines branch in Cebu City to another vendor in the country. In the Philippines, social media posts alleged some employees of outsourcing firms siphoned around 60 million Philippine pesos ($1.23 million) of Google gift cards and converted these into Bitcoins. Sykes did affirm to news outlets that it did find employees breached their conduct standards but did not mention what these violations were. Crypto scams have proliferated recently. …

The modus operandi of crypto scammers differ in each case as it happens with the rest, but this time, a popular Youtuber who has 2.43 million subscribers explained on August 20 how his channel was seized by hackers to launch an XRP fake giveaway campaign. According to a video published by David Damasceno, who runs Universo Curioso, cybercriminals took control of his account after receiving a contact request from an individual offering him a video editing tool. The fake software was called Zenium Editor, which also handles advertising revenues, and when Damasceno downloaded and installed the app, the damage has …

It’s back to stability for Bitcoin this week as the currency continues to knock at the $12,000 ceiling. Where will it go next? One analyst sees a Battle Royale as whales try to push towards $14,000. Other investors are more optimistic. They see Berkshire Hathaway’s recent sale of bank stocks and purchase of stock in a gold mining company pushing the price to $50,000. If Warren Buffett is souring on the banking system though, he’s late to the party. Kim Dotcom got there two years ago — and has reminded his followers that he advised them to buy Bitcoin. The …

There are some decentralized finance projects that make flash loans; Yam Finance (YAM) was a DeFi project that made a flash appearance. YAM, which initially described itself as a “minimally viable monetary experiment,” launched on August 11 amid some fanfare, and in less than two days, its market value soared from zero to $57 million. But on late Wednesday, the company announced that it found a bug in its rebasing contract and by Thursday, its market capitalization crashed back to zero. To no avail, the DeFi community rallied to save the project, whose rebase function turned it into a kind …

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 …

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: …

Authorities in Texas and Alabama have issued emergency cease and desist orders to South African companies promoting a cryptocurrency credit card scheme. According to an Aug. 14 announcement from The Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) and the Alabama Securities Commission (ASC) issued cease and desist orders simultaneously against Lance Angus Jerrard and South African companies Liquidity Gold Trust, Liquidity Gold Solution, and Liquidity Global Card Solution. The firms and Jerrard are accused of committing fraud by promoting a product called the Liquidity Card on social media and a local Austin radio station, falsely claiming that investors have a guaranteed way …