The trader said he lost $310K on the doji exchange posted on LinkedIn.
An investor claims to have lost $310,000 on a fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platform after discovering an unsolicited LinkedIn connection request.
A June 13 consumer alert from the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) Securities Division said the investor was using a crypto trading platform called “Ethfinance.”
“The investor learned about Ethfinance through a random friend request on LinkedIn,” DFI said. The investor transferred a total of $310,000 from his “DeFi Wallet” to the platform, hoping to profit from crypto trading.
When he tries to withdraw some of the initial principal and reports the profit, the investor is told that he needs to add more money to complete the “smart contract” and then cash out.
“The investor did not send any additional money. The investor has not been able to withdraw any money from the account, and the account has been locked,” the DFI said.
The regulator said it did not investigate the allegations but said it appeared to be an “advance payment fraud”.
Advance payment fraud is a type of scam that promises victims large sums of money, products, or services in exchange for a small advance payment.
Once paid, the scammer tricks the victim into sending more payment for something else – or simply disappears.
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The Washington DFI's crypto fraud monitoring platform was also cited in an earlier complaint.A California resident said he lost more than $165,000 after meeting with a stranger online to teach him how to trade money in crypto options.
The investor realized it was a scam when the “Crypto Customer Service CEO” was asked to send 25% of the profit as “tax” via Telegram.
The Washington DFI issued three additional alerts on June 13. Two were charged with fraudulent crypto exchanges and the other alleged a fraudulent investment management platform.
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