Massive Crypto Scam Busted in China, With Ferraris, Villas and $10.3 Mln Worth of ETH, BTC, USDT Confiscated
On her Twitter page, the Head of Marketing at HashKey Hub has shared an article about a big crypto-related scam gang that was tracked down in China with the participants arrested.
The crypto stolen from victims, as well as the luxury cars and real estate property they bought with it, was confiscated. The crypto stolen by the criminals and the property they bought with it is worth around 100 mln yuan. The gang has been in operation since 2019.
The "Huobi Global Moving Brick Arbitrage" scam
The scammers found customers via the Telegram group "Huobi Global Moving Brick Arbitrage HT Chinese Group Community" where the assumed investors shared their experiences of benefiting from an ‘investment scheme’.
They elaborated that all they had to do was send their ETH and other crypto to the company’s address and receive a bigger amount in Houbi Token (HT). To attract more victims, the scammers spread information that their investment scheme operated based on 'HT smart contracts'.
The promised gains were not so large that they would cause suspicion – eight percent, as per one of the sham investors who left feedback in the Telegram chat.
However, after one investor, Mr. Li, sent in 10 ETH, all he got back was 600 fake HT which could not be traded. He went to the police immediately.
Yuri Molchan10 con artists arrested: crypto, luxurious cars and villas confiscated
After a several month investigation, the joint efforts of the local police and the CAC (Cyberspace Administration of China) led to them tracking down the scam gang and arresting all ten members.
The law enforcement agents found that since 2019, the gang had managed to get 100 mln yuan worth of crypto from their victims ($10.3 mln). That included not only tens of thousands of ETH, BTC and USDT, but also luxurious cars (Ferrari, McLaren, and the likes) and villas.
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