SCAMS involving investments in cryptocurrencies have been reported by the Philippine National Police-Anti Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG). This piece of news is most concerning because it comes at a time when the United States, Singapore, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and several countries in Europe and the Middle East have been hard hit by the $32-billion FTX crypto scandal that rocked the global financial world.
Just last week, the crypto space was jolted with the spectacular meltdown of the second biggest crypto exchange in the world, FTX, FTX U.S. and FTX International along with crypto hedge fund Alameda Research, all owned by Sam Bankman-Fried, with investors, users and depositors losing billions of dollars in actual cash deposited and in FTT tokens. Bankman-Fried had to file bankruptcy under Chapter 11, even as the whole financial world is still assessing the damage done by what looked like the biggest financial disaster since Enron and the Lehman Brothers.
‘If you have extra money and would like to invest, it is best to heed
the advice of General Doria:
“Do not fall prey to fake crypto
currency investments…”’
In the Philippines, the red flag on crypto investments was raised by PNP-ACG Director Brig. Gen. Joel Doria who said online scammers are working double time to “rob people of their money with only a few days before Christmas and employees starting to receive their Christmas bonuses.”
Doria said the police received reports of scammers enticing unsuspecting victims by offering “fake” crypto investments. Potential investors are asked to download an app which when installed will require them to cash in their investments in digital wallets listed in the application.
In the dashboard, account holders will be able to see the amount of money they have invested and the high interest their money has earned over time. Police said when the investors begin to see their earnings, they are enticed to invest more money. However, when they start to withdraw these “earnings,” the apps will not allow them.
Police authorities explained that legitimate financial companies have two licenses from the Securities and Exchange Commission: an authority to operate and a second license that states the specific service being offered. Usually, the primary and secondary license from the SEC being shown by the scammers to prove their legitimacy do not match. The local crypto syndicates also use fake documents from the Department of Trade and Industry, the PNP-ACG said.
If you have extra money and would like to invest, it is best to heed the advice of General Doria: “Do not fall prey to fake crypto currency investments. ACG advises potential investors in crypto to visit the website of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for the list of regulated Virtual Asset Service Providers to avoid being scammed.”
