Crypto con is gone along with all cash
Investors lose the lot and say Action Fraud has been no help
IT’S no exaggeration to describe the cryptocurrency investment operation USI Tech as a scam of global proportions.
I’ve heard from people as far afield as Australia, the United States, South Africa, Japan and Malaysia who have lost every penny they put into it.
And some of them seem almost as furious with the police for what they see as a lack of action as they are with the scammers themselves.
USI Tech claimed to be a platform that could allow users to automatically trade Bitcoin, and boasted of 140% returns in 140 days.
COMMISSION
“USI Tech has opened up the world of crypto finance and the excellent profits that come with it like no other company has before,” its website claimed.
It also offered 35% commission if you brought others on board and in my story published in February last year, I told how the Mirror met two promoters who were drumming up new members at a recruitment session at a Merseyside hotel.
“I earn as much as footballers,” boasted Sharon James, while Tracey Peake claimed: “I earn while I sleep.”
My piece pointed out that USI Tech was an unregulated investment in the UK, and in the United States regulators had issued a cease and desist notice and called it a “secretive Dubai-based firm”.
Sharon James insisted, “USI Tech are operating a legit business” and demanded an apology for my article, promising: “Failure to do so will result in me formally instructing solicitors for defamation of my character.” I haven’t apologised, or heard from her solicitors.
USI Tech’s website has now disappeared, along with investors’ money.
A victim from Romford, Essex, described Action Fraud as “not fit for purpose” after it didn’t forward his case to officers for investigation. The poor chap, who invested £2,650, has compiled a group of 60 other UK victims.
“When a member of the public reports a crime such as this to the police and provides perfectly adequate information, including names and contact details and has photographs of the culprits available, then the crime should be thoroughly investigated,” he said.
A victim from Melton Mowbray, Leics, who lost £3,300, was told that Action Fraud had passed on his complaint to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, run by the City of London Police, but they were not taking it further. “It is suggested you contact the Dubai police authorities to see if they are able to offer further assistance,” it unhelpfully told him.
He hit back: “This is a massive scam that needs looking into from the UK promoters all the way up to the owners who vanished.”
A victim from Ayr, Scotland, was so convinced by USI Tech that he invested £40,000 and encouraged relatives to join. “It is sickening to think that these owners and their main affiliates can just walk away and nothing can be done,” he said.
It’s no wonder, one victim pointed out, that 91% of the reviews on Trustpilot give Action Fraud the
lowest score of one out of five. A spokesman for Action Fraud said that it receives around 25,000 online reports and 40,000 telephone calls each month.
“While not all reports can be passed on for investigation, some may be passed on for intelligence purposes, which can help build a picture of how and where fraud and cyber crime is happening,” he added.
In the case of USI Tech, the spokesman said: “The international nature of fraud poses difficulties in tracing payments and suspects.”
For all I know, Tracey Peake and Sharon James really did think this was a great scheme and were duped into recruiting others, but they have not responded to me to give their version of events.
‘‘ It is sickening these owners walk away and nothing can be done