NEW YORK (WBNG) -- New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office took action to stop a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment scam that targeted hundreds of Russian-speaking people nationwide.
A joint investigation found that Vietnam-based scammers defrauded victims by luring them with deceptive social media ads in Russian that claimed significant returns on cryptocurrency and other investments.
The scammers convinced more than a hundred victims to purchase cryptocurrency and invest it in fake trading platforms, then stole the victims’ assets and disappeared.
“Hundreds of New York investors thought they were putting their hard-earned money in safe, high-return investments, only to be defrauded out of millions of dollars,” said Attorney General James. “These scammers targeted Russian speakers on Facebook with enticing ads and my office, together with DFS and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, took action to stop these scammers and protect New Yorkers. I urge all New Yorkers to be vigilant of online cryptocurrency investment ads.”
The first fake cryptocurrency investment website identified was WhalesTrade.com. Further investigation revealed that the domain name was linked to an extensive network of related domains and accounts that were part of a scam campaign targeting Russian-speaking residents of Brooklyn and across the state and country.
New York residents who want to verify the legitimacy of a cryptocurrency exchange or file a complaint about a cryptocurrency company, product, or service can visit the DFS website or call 800-342-3736.
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