Daily fraud update: 7th October

Denise Jacksone

Bitcoin scam called out over Skype

A scammer who is accused of using fake celebrity endorsements to drive a crypto business has been exposed in the act by a Dutch journalist.

Brandpunt+, a news publication in the country, discovered that one of its journalists, Jort Kelder, was having his image and reputation used to promote a crypto coin in adverts.

The adverts reportedly solicited investors to join a scheme which promised high returns.

One of the adverts said: “the most recent investment from Jordan Kelder surprises experts and frightens large banks”.

Now, however, Kelder has called out the person behind it – on Skype.

In a video which has now been shared on YouTube, Twitter and other sites, Kelder confronts the man who he accuses of using his image.

At one stage, he tells the man he will approach the fiscal authorities in the country, and also ends the call by saying “Bye, bye, I’ll see you in jail”.

Number of crypto investigations on the rise

A law firm in Britain has revealed research which appears to show that cryptocurrency investigations have risen.

According to Pinsent Masons, a well-known law firm, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the country has seen a spike in the number of live investigations – with figures going from 74% to 87%.

This represents a rise of 50 from just one year before.

The FCA has taken a two-pronged approach to combating problems in the sector recently.

It has, for example, attempted to weed out fraudulent forex offerings and reduce the risk that consumers will be able to access them.

It has also reached out to established, above-board businesses and organisations which seek to offer crypto services – and warned them that they will need to ensure they adhere to strict guidelines before they push ahead with their offerings.

One example of the latter type of action lies in its approach to Libra, the proposed cryptocurrency from Facebook and a consortium of other partners.

The FCA told Facebook that the cryptocurrency would have to undergo a lot of scrutiny in order to get past its regulators.

Overall, it is believed that British people lose around £27m per year as a result of crypto scams and similar problems – and this figure appears to be driving the FCA’s proactive approach to the problem.

In a statement, David Hefron – who serves as a partner at the firm – said that the rise in investigations happened to the FCA’s credit.

“The rise in investigations reflects the FCA’s increasingly hands-on and no-nonsense approach to enforcing the law in the cryptocurrency market.

“For cryptocurrency businesses acting lawfully, these statistics will be encouraging – they want bad actors pushed out.

“The FCA’s crackdown on businesses operating on its regulatory perimeter will instil a degree of confidence that products reaching consumers are less likely to be scams”, he added.


Denise Jacksone

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