BITCONNECT SCAMMED $2BN FROM INVESTORS

A FAKE TRADING BOT SWINDLED CRYPTO

CYBERSECURITY EXPERTS, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), claims that BitConnect defrauded retail investors out of $2bn in 2017 and 2018, through a scam involving a crypto trading bot said to offer a guaranteed return on investment. The SEC says that “instead of deploying investor funds for trading with the purported trading bot,” BitConnect instead “siphoned investors’ funds off for their own benefit by transferring those funds to digital wallet addresses”.

That list of affiliates is said to include BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani, lead promoter Glenn Arcaro, and “a network of promoters around the world.” Promoters were allegedly paid commission for their efforts to help the scam find victims.

The SEC also issued an investor alert related to digital assets and crypto, warning that “fraudsters continue to exploit the rising popularity of digital assets to lure retail investors into scams, often leading to devastating losses.”