As Bitcoin and other types of cryptocurrencies have been in the news for their volatility, novelty, and celebrity investors, scammers have quickly discovered how to exploit people's lack of understanding of the system to defraud investors and whitewash old scams.
Recently, Mike (pseudonym), a man from Missouri, USA, shared his story on the Internet after being defrauded in cryptocurrency investment, hoping to help everyone raise awareness.
After playing alone in the stock market for many years, Mike decided to seek some help in what he believed would be the next wave of investing. "I'm interested in artificial intelligence because it's an emerging technology," Mike said. Through social media, he was directed to an online course that he believed used Elon Musk's quantum artificial intelligence technology to predict the stock market.
"For the most part, his stock recommendations are accurate," Mike said. "Then he said the stock market was going to crash, or was going to go down, and he suggested we sell all our investments."
The instructor told all 500 people in the "class" to transfer their funds to a cryptocurrency exchange. Claims that he is introducing something called contract trading, which is a bit like day trading, you buy and then sell, the order may last 5 minutes, it may last 30 minutes, or it may last several hours, the profits are high and fast!
An investment of $90,000 turns into $2.5 million? A veteran U.S. stock investor fell into a crypto investment scam
In this way, Mike was convinced to quit the stock market and switch to the cryptocurrency market. In a short period of time, Mike watched his account grow from a $90,000 investment to over $2.5 million, only to be denied when he tried to withdraw money.
“The only way to guarantee getting your money on time is to apply for VIP status,” Mike said. "What's the VIP level? $50,000. Can I use my winnings? No! You have to wire them $50,000 first."
“This is what I call a cryptocurrency investment scam,” said BBB International Investigations Specialist Brian Edwards. "You should never pay to get money."
Brian Edwards said it was a new twist on an old scam, with people attracted by the gimmick of celebrity, high profits and a quick buck. These scams originate from all over the world and people should be wary of them. Currently, Mike's trading investing app has been removed from the Apple and Google app stores.
