Chinese media outlets report a sharp rise in bogus crypto, blockchain, and digital yuan-related schemes in the country, as Bitcoin (BTC) prices rise and the Chinese central bank’s rollout digital currency (CBDC) approaches.
According to JRJ and the National Business Daily, unsuspecting investors are laying down up to USD 60,000 at a time in fraudulent projects – only to discover that their money has been spirited away by con artists.
The media outlets say they have unearthed evidence that unscrupulous individuals are targetting people all over the country with legitimate-looking offers that, on closer examination, are far too good to be true.
Cryptonetwork.News has also seen signs of groups posing as crypto exchanges on the social media platforms Weibo and WeChat.
One example is the Blockchain Dragon Knight group (literal translation) which claims to provide professional crypto and fiat currency-related services and claims investors stand to make gains of up to 600% on their initial stakes – an entirely bogus outfit, according to multiple Chinese outlets.
Another offender is the operator of a bogus tether (USDT)-related app. Daxinggan reported last week on the case of a woman surnamed Lee who was tricked into downloading the app and transferring “over USD 60,000” to buy what she believed were perpetual tether contracts – only to discover later that she had no way of retrieving her funds.
Other scammers are reportedly pretending to be affiliated with firms working with early-adopter digital yuan “funds” – a tactic that emerged earlier this year – as well as bona fide exchanges like Binance.
The trading platform – initially a China-based firm – now only operates blockchain-related activities in the country.
Anti-fraud officers in Wuhan also said they had received complaints from WeChat users of stock market trading chat rooms who said that fellow members had approached them about suspicious “digital currency” investment opportunities.
As reported just recently, interest in BTC and major altcoins remains sky-high in the Middle Kingdom, despite a crypto crackdown that came into force in September 2017 – with many experts in Asia explaining that many Chinese individuals are continuing to transact crypto, using stablecoins like tether as a gateway token for BTC trading.
Exchanges are banned in China, once the hub of the crypto world. But blockchain technology is incentivized, and digital pay is prevalent, while over-the-counter (OTC) crypto trading is expected.
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