Introduction and background:
As a trader on the now-defunct LocalBitcoins, my transactions and reputation were always lawful and ethical. Regrettably, criminals used my (and others') data to mislead potential investors and possibly obscure the paths leading to the true perpetrators of criminal activities.
During my activity on LocalBitcoins, I encountered various types of fraud. Often, fraudsters would initiate cryptocurrency purchase transactions and, upon receiving my transfer details, use this information to deceive others by suggesting I was the beneficiary of their payments for non-existent transactions. Consequently, my banking details and surname could be wrongfully associated with criminal activity, risking wrongful linkage to actions for which I bore no responsibility. I might describe the most spectacular cases with international scope in the future.
I initially conducted transactions without a company, but as the volume of transactions grew and I sought to address tax matters related to cryptocurrency income, I decided to establish my own company, which was described by the post author and erroneously linked to criminal activities. For this purpose, I collaborated with an agent who advertised as an expert in tax advice and optimization for the cryptocurrency industry. One of my first suspicions, for which I found no proof, fell on this agent due to their questionable standards.
Discovery of abuse:
Discovering that my company was exploited by fraudsters came as a shock. This information reached me through a friend who stumbled upon a forum post and decided to inform me. I immediately contacted the post's author to delve into the subject. My initial suspicions were various. The first suspect was the agent I collaborated with to establish the company, due to prior doubts about their safety and privacy standards. Another hypothesis was an attempt to deliberately discredit me, though further investigation found no direct evidence. I also considered that someone I personally knew or had traded with on LocalBitcoins could be behind the fraud. Ultimately, the analysis suggested that fraudsters were using data from various companies, choosing victims based on data availability rather than personal conflict, making my publicly available data an easy target.
Private Investigation:
In my private investigation, the starting point was information and links to websites mentioned in this thread, leading me to a deeper inquiry.
https://digitalassetsprogram.com
https://digitalasetgroup.com/
And in another related post(https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/scam-alert-biteasyltdcom-fake-investment-scheme-5223764):
https://biteasyltd.com/
Using the Archive.org service, I was able to access archived versions of websites that no longer exist, enabling an analysis of their content and how fraudsters used false company data. Particularly revealing were snapshots of sites like biteasyltd.com and digitalassetsprogram.com, providing insights into the fraudsters' methods.
https://web.archive.org/web/20191118164602/https://digitalassetsprogram.com/">https://web.archive.org/web/20200502160244/https://biteasyltd.com/
https://web.archive.org/web/20191118164602/https://digitalassetsprogram.com/
I analyzed several websites where the use of similar templates and operational methods indicated they originated from the same perpetrators. The recurring appearance of the same registration data across various sites, along with errors in descriptions and corporate registration documents, further confirmed their fraudulent nature. Examples of sites identified as part of the fraud network include:
- https://www.dailyfxcryptotrader.com/?a=cust&page=about
- https://polaris-capital.org/?a=cust&page=about
- https://www.titan-royalfree.org/?a=cust&page=about
- https://www.corniscrypt.net/?a=cust&page=about
- https://ameriswissfxexchange.com/about
- https://coshmcapitals.us/
- https://algrowthcapitals.com/?a=cust&page=about
- https://apextradeplus.com/?a=cust&page=about
- https://www.venusfinancedigitaltraders.com/?a=cust&page=about
- https://bluetradingfx.com/?a=cust&page=about
- https://cointradevestlimited.com/?a=cust&page=about
- https://www.exparttrades.com/
The websites I'm going to describe are currently operational. The first one, www.dailyfxcryptotrader.com, uses a slightly modified template from https://digitalassetsprogram.com/. The certificate of incorporation indicates a British company, QOIN LTD, with the number: 13372090, but a completely different number (114921234), not found in Companies House, is mentioned in the description - https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/13372090
The site occasionally displays enticing pop-ups like: "Someone from United Kingdom just Invested 27 000$", "Someone from Germany just Invested 6 000$".
In the footer of the website, despite indicating the certificate of the company QOIN LTD, the details do not match those in Companies House.
screen 1.
https://digitalassetsprogram.com/ - Nov 2018
https://web.archive.org/web/20191118164602/https://digitalassetsprogram.com/
screen 2
www.dailyfxcryptotrader.com - 27.03.2024
screen 3
footer address not match those in Companies House
QOIN LTD
Company number 13372090
Another website, https://polaris-capital.org/?a=cust&page=about, lists in its "about us" section the company behind the venture as "POLAND, (Company Number: 114921234, Stanislaw Kowalski 98 Shirley Street 4209." The site features a graphic purporting to be the company's certificate, which doesn't even resemble a template for Polish companies certificate; it's completely fabricated. Additionally, the address lacks a city, and the postal code doesn't match the Polish postal code format. Moreover, the number listed on the company's certificate is the same as on the previous site (www.dailyfxcryptotrader.com), used when referencing the company QOIN LTD.
https://polaris-capital.org/?a=cust&page=about 27.03.2024
Another fraudulent website (https://www.titan-royalfree.org/?a=cust&page=about) in its "about" section points to a company registered in Argentina: Company Number: 114921234, YPF Tower, Macacha Güemes 515, Buenos Aires, Argentina. However, next to what they claim to be a British certificate, they list the same number previously mentioned on www.dailyfxcryptotrader.com pretending to be QQIN LTD, and on https://polaris-capital.org/ posing as a non-existent Polish company. On this website fraudster used same template as https://digitalassetsprogram.com/
At the address in Buenos Aires, there are many different companies. Below is a Street View of the office building at the indicated address.
https://www.titan-royalfree.org/?a=cust&page=about 27.03.2024
Another fraudulent website - https://www.corniscrypt.net/?a=cust&page=about. On this website, in the "about us" section, the fraudsters claim that a Swiss company is behind the venture and provide its details: Switzerland registered company, (ISO Number: 36664:2022,5, Avenue Theodore Flournoy Geneva, 1207 Switzerland). During the preparation of this website, the scammers made a mistake in the code, and before the company details, the name of one of the variables is visible: $settings.site_name}. The graphic next to which the text "Switzerland Company Number" appears is not actually a certificate of a Swiss company; its appearance differs significantly from the official template. A street view for the address: Av. Théodore-Flournoy 5, 1207 Genève, Switzerland, indicates that it is a residential block.
https://www.corniscrypt.net/?a=cust&page=about 27.04.2024
Théodore-Flournoy 5, 1207 Genève, Switzerland
Another fraudulent website - https://apextradeplus.com/?a=cust&page=about. On this website, in the "about us" section, the scammers do not specifically mention any company. Once again, a certificate pointing to the British company QOIN LTD appears, but they provide a previously recurring number that does not match the entry in the Companies House register.
After loading the page, a message also appears stating:
ATTENTION PLEASE... NOTE THAT ALL DEPOSITS/PAYMENTS SHOULD BE MADE DIRECTLY TO THE COMPANY ACCOUNT/ BITCOIN WALLET ADDRESS, NO PAYMENTS/DEPOSITS SHOULD BE MADE TO ANY ACCOUNT MANAGER.THE COMPANY WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS THAT COMES WITH MAKING PAYMENTS TO ANY ONE OUTSIDE THE WEBSITE...THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND COOPERATION... \n FOR MORE QUERY/ENQUIRY CONTACT US AT [email protected]
https://apextradeplus.com/?a=cust&page=about 27.03.2024
https://i.postimg.cc/66D5R6yz/screen11.png
Another scam website - https://www.venusfinancedigitaltraders.com/?a=cust&page=about. On this page, in the "about us" section, the scammers again refer to a company with the following details (Company Number: 114921234, 4 Luke Street, London, United Kingdom, EC2A 4XW), using the non-existent and recurring number 114921234. The graphic next to the text "UK Company Number: #114921234" contains the text "The state of Washington," despite the provided details supposedly indicating a British company. The address provided in the footer of this page is: 1333 2nd St, Santa Monica, California, United States, 90401.
https://i.postimg.cc/fTrFkkyT/screen13.png
Another fraudster's website - https://bluetradingfx.com/?a=cust&page=about. On this page, in the "about us" section, the scammers do not provide the company name. Once again, the non-existent UK Company Number #114921234 appears, while the certification indicates QQIN LTD as the company.
https://bluetradingfx.com/?a=cust&page=about 27.03.2024
Another fraudster's website - https://cointradevestlimited.com/?a=cust&page=about, referring to the non-existent Companies House number 114921234 and the company QQIN LTD.
The last website I found - https://www.exparttrades.com/?a=cust&page=about, once again referring to the non-existent Companies House number and certificate of the company QQIN LTD. The website differs slightly in its graphic design, but the layout and template are identical to the other cases.
https://www.exparttrades.com/?a=cust&page=about 27.03.2024
https://i.postimg.cc/wTnkNNpM/screen17.png
In addition to the sources mentioned earlier, I came across additional information related to the scammers by querying Google. I found posts on Russian-language Facebook groups. Additionally, on the YouTube platform, I came across a promotional video linked to the Company Number: 114921234, often associated with British entities. However, this time, the number was linked to coinvastfx.com, purportedly a company registered in the United States. I also found a report on the website https://www.scamscavenger.tech/projectinfo?project=tradetrust.ltd reporting one of the scammer's websites as a scam.
Description under the YouTube video
https://www.youtube.com/@coinvastfx1574
Russian-language posts on Facebook groups indexed in Google under the phrase of the recurring non-existent British company number.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/mansar14/posts/3066864483562813/?_rdr
https://www.facebook.com/groups/mansar14/
I also found information about one of the scam websites using a Russian hosting provider with the following details:
Server IP: 185.178.208.134
Provider: Ddos-guard LTD
Region: Rostov Oblast
City: Rostov-on-Don
This may indicate that the scam is orchestrated by someone from Russia, or this location was chosen due to limited cooperation between Russian law enforcement agencies and their counterparts in Western countries. However, it's also possible that both options are true simultaneously.
https://i.postimg.cc/YqWLbJx3/screen18.png
https://i.postimg.cc/zD7yVgrY/screen19.png
The post will be updated with new information as it becomes available. Please contact me if you have been defrauded or have information about the wallet addresses or bank accounts used by the scammers.
I hope the information will benefit the community. I also hope that the perpetrators of this fraud will be brought to justice.