Daily fraud update: 14th January

Fears after UK bank allegedly locks account

Cryptocurrency users in the UK have expressed concerns after a major British bank was accused of locking the account of a client over a link to crypto.

Lloyds Bank, which has been in existence for centuries and which is a well-known name on the UK high street, has been hit with the allegation on the Reddit website.

According to a post on the site, which has since been removed, the bank blocked a crypto transfer – and later claimed that a “2^nd level fraud suspicion” was in place.

However, a news outlet called Micky spoke to the person who uploaded the original post to get information about what happened.

“I bought some crypto recently”, the user, known on the site as Matcheek, said.

“The test a new exchange have made a small transaction and bank blocked the transfer. I called the bank.”

“They asked me a few questions, put me on hold for 10 minutes and lifted the lock”, the poster added.

The poster then went on to outline that there was a suspicion of fraud involved.

“But the previous transaction was just to test the waters. The day after I put another order for more crypto”, they said.

“Bank locked my account (not just the card) again but this time it was a 2nd level fraud suspicion – needed to physically go to the bank to unlock it”, they added.

Later, the user went to a physical branch of Lloyds Bank in person and was asked a series of questions about cryptocurrency usage.

According to Micky, one such question was: “Is there any particular reason you are taking the risk with your savings by transferring them to such a low credibility merchant?”

Another set of questions was allegedly: “Who are you going to transfer the money to? Do you know the name of the company?”

Previous claims have been made by cryptocurrency users that banks – including, and even in particular, Lloyds – block crypto-related transactions.

On one of the previous occasions when this has happened, a Lloyds spokesperson said that it occurred to “protect customers”.

According to Micky, on this occasion the bank did not comment before the article in Micky went to press.

Crypto influencer hit in lift, reports say

A Korean man who publishes on YouTube as a crypto influencer and promoter has been beaten up in a lift in his block of flats, reports say.

Kyu-hoon Hwang, who is also known as “Spunky”, was not believed to have been seriously injured in the incident – although he was taken to hospital, where he is understood to still be.

It is believed that Hwang’s channel was launched in October 2017, meaning that he has been part of the crypto community for a significant period of time.

It is also understood that he has around 59,000 subscribers, and that he operates a range of crypto firms including one called BIT Co., Ltd.

This firm is believed to operate a crypto-related membership programme which has have a four-figure number of members.

Chris Lee

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