How The SEC Uncovered A $300 Million Crypto Pyramid Scheme

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged four founders and seven promoters of Forsage, which it described as “a fraudulent crypto pyramid and Ponzi scheme.” The scheme allegedly raised more than $300 million from millions of retail investors worldwide, including in the U.S. SEC Takes Action Against Forsage Crypto Scheme The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Monday that it has “charged 11 individuals for their roles in creating and promoting Forsage, a fraudulent crypto pyramid and Ponzi scheme.” The securities....

People’s Daily, the most popular newspaper in circulation in China, has recently published a story about a virtual currency pyramid scheme, named EGD. The pyramid scheme involved over 500.000 members, and 1.09 billion Chinese yuan ($1.5 billion). EGD even had a clone named Wanfubi, with over 120.000 registered members, and 1.2 billion yuan ($173 million) involved. At the end of the operation, 77 suspects were arrested, and $121 million were frozen. The pyramid scheme was first discovered by the Xuzhou Department of Public Security (DPS) back in March, 2016. The scheme was launched back in....

Chinese authorities in Rong County recently said they have prosecuted eight individuals accused of being the masterminds behind the Magic Data Chain (MDC) pyramid scheme. The pyramid is thought to have handled transactions with a total value of over $147 million. Virtual Currency Pyramid Scheme Authorities in China’s Rong County, Zigong City, recently prosecuted eight people accused of orchestrating the MDC virtual currency pyramid scheme, a local report has said. According to the report, the prosecution of the case was handled by the Rong County People’s....

According to the National Consumer Commission, about 4,000 South Africans who invested in a bitcoin mining equipment supplier, Obelisk, may have participated in a pyramid scheme. The commission said participants in the pyramid scheme may have lost as much as over $6 million. Obelisk Used Social Media Platforms to Lure Victims A South African consumer watchdog, the National Consumer Commission (NCC) recently announced that Obelisk — a purported bitcoin mining equipment supplier — is in fact a pyramid scheme which has swindled millions of dollars from unsuspecting investors. The watchdog....

For the past year, Kenyans have been lured with the promise of making money quickly through a pyramid scheme started by convicted Russian fraudster, Sergey Mavrodi, reports the Daily Nation, a Kenyan news site. Mavrodi is reported to have designed a major pyramid scheme in Russia before its end came in 1997, which is believed to have conned an estimated $100 million out of its members. He was later sentenced to four and a half years in prison in 2007 for defrauding 10,000 investors of around $4.3 million. This is the same man who set up MMM Global giving promises to Kenyans interested in....