The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) warned of a crypto Ponzi scheme targeting Filipino, Australian, and European investors on March 30. The scheme, Bitcoin Revolution, comprises a classic Ponzi in which investors are offered exorbitant compounding daily returns on deposited funds. Bitcoin Revolution claims to have software that produces trades with a success rate of between 88% and 95% — offering a path to seven-figure status over just 61 days. From an initial deposit of just $250, the scammer claims that investors can earn 300% per day or 9,000% per month. Bitcoin Revolution brokers face 21 years in prison …

French international soccer striker Kylian Mbappé filed a complaint on March 31 for the unauthorized use of his name on a cryptocurrency scam network, which is being investigated by local authorities. According to the newspaper L’Équipe, the soccer player, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, is being impersonated to use his name in advertising campaigns for the alleged scam that involves a cryptocurrency acquisition scheme. These advertising posts cited false statements by Mbappé, where he allegedly claimed that the formula offered by the network was miraculous and that people could become a millionaire in two or three months. Fake advertising articles …

A network of malicious QR code generators has stolen more than $40,000 from Bitcoin (BTC) users in one month. At least nine fake Bitcoin-to-QR code generators have been spotted in recent weeks, with security researcher, Harry Denley, first tweeting that he had identified two domains hosting fake QR code applications on March 22. Denley later identified seven other domains sharing the same interface — suggesting that they are all created by the same developer. Fake Bitcoin QR code generators steal over 7 BTC The malicious programs promise to convert a user’s Bitcoin address into a QR code, claiming to eliminate …

Ripple Labs announced a donation of $200,000 to two different non-profit organizations on March 25. These donations will aid in the fight to contain the spread of the coronavirus throughout the U.S. In a tweet published on Ripple’s official profile, the lab stated that $100,000 will go to the Tipping Point Emergency’s Response Fund and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s COVID Regional Response Fund, respectively. California’s non-profits favored by the Ripple Labs donation Tipping Point, which is a San Francisco-based non-profit organization, works to combat poverty in the California city thanks to a network of partners who support the cause. …

A fraudulent Google Chrome extension has allegedly stolen as much 1.4 million XRP from users this month alone. In a series of tweets published on March 24, the research team “xrplorer forensics” claimed that fake Ledger Live extensions are being used to collect user backup passphrases: “They are advertised in Google searches and use Google Docs for collecting data. Accounts are being emptied and we have seen more than 200K XRP being stolen the past month alone.” Revising this initial figure, xrplorer forensics later amended its estimate to “close to 1.4M.” The fraudulent extension is still available on Google Store …

The Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) has issued a warning on March 23 about crypto scams that have emerged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report refers to different types of scam, among which are those related to crypto investments that promise high returns in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. Coronavirus-related scam methods Among other scams, one of the most common is called “pump and dump.” The sceme consists of fraudsters who, based on penny stock purchases, try to boost prices by sharing “positive” information that turns out to be fake. The method is to create fake …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has frozen the assets of Meta 1 Coin, an alleged crypto scam backed by a former state senator that promised investors returns of up to 224,923% without ever having any actual tokens. Per a March 20 announcement from the SEC, the regulator initially froze Meta 1’s assets on March 16 and is charging the firm’s operators with fraud. Currently, the SEC seems to be pursuing fines and disgorgement rather than jailtime for those involved. Claims of art and gold assets Meta 1 claimed its tokens were backed, but the cited backing shifted …

A new report on the PlusToken Ponzi scheme shows regulated exchanges are being used to dump coins, despite stringent Know Your Customer (KYC) identify verification rules. Investigative company OXT Research has released a second edition of their in-depth blockchain analysis on the PlusToken scam. The report explained PlusToken funds generally moved from unmixed allotments and locations, to mixers. After mixers, the funds saw consolidation, and then finally distribution. OXT’s report said: “Approximately 80% of coins entering mixing have been distributed while up to 33,872 BTC remain in the mixer and 3,853 BTC are in the distribution process, resulting in a …

A report published by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) says that cryptocurrency-related scams are continually growing, becoming the second most risky of 2019 among North Americans. According to research from trust-gauging organization published on March 2nd, scams averaged about $3,000 in losses for businesses and charities within Canada and the United States. The usual tactic, the study claims, is that of false promises of a "significant" return on investment in cryptocurrencies. With such figures on the table, it represents a notable uptick since their 2018 report’s numbers, which put average losses at $900. Trading in crypto exchanges with security breaches …

Some authorities think current traditional market instability lies behind Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent plunge, while others feel the alleged PlusToken scam is the cause. Bill Herrmann, CEO of alternative investment banking firm Wilshire Phoenix, believes Bitcoin’s recent bearishness is simply due to traditional market instability. “The recent drop in the price of bitcoin is a result of the sudden and fierce decline among most asset-classes over the last several weeks,” he told Cointelegraph, adding: “In times of extreme volatility, which is often followed by panic — most retail investors, whether it’s Bitcoin or in equities, sell first and ask questions later. …

Prominent crypto Youtuber Ivan On Tech and HEX founder Richard Heart clash on everything crypto in Cointelegraph’s latest crypto duel. The two crypto celebrities discuss Richard Heart’s controversial cryptocurrency HEX, which began crashing shortly after its launch in December. Ivan concedes that Richard might have misled investors by promising HEX will be the fastest appreciating asset in human history. However, he refrains from calling the cryptocurrency an outright scam: “All in all, possibly a bad project, but a scam? I don’t think so.” Richard, on the other hand, denies any wrongdoing and points to HEX’s “pumpamentals”, meaning the feature which …

The Swedish government is reacting to an alleged Bitcoin fraud scheme that targeted vulnerable people in Sweden, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. Ukrainian officials were informed of the allegations in a meeting on March 2, according to an Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting report published on March 3. Foreign policy consequences of the fraud Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ann Linde championed an investigation published by national newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN). The article alleges that the Ukraine-based Milton Group, ostensibly an IT support company, defrauded victims in developed countries by proposing fake Bitcoin (BTC) investment schemes. The group reportedly …