A couple in Taiwan has managed to defraud over 1,000 people in a Bitcoin investment scam that was promising large returns. The scam, which was marketed as a high-yield investment program but was more likely a classic Ponzi scheme, was promoted through messaging app LINE and promised a 250 percent return on Bitcoin invested within a month, and even high returns over a longer period. According to local media (Google Translate link), no one saw a cent in return, with the couple, with a surname of Shi, simply going to ground and refusing to reply to investors who were looking for their money. Details of the scam apparently first went public when victims started a public group demanding that their funds be returned and police investigate the scam. “This matter should be made public … we were mislead, we were cheated,” a victim by the name of Vivan said, before noting that it seemed to be a legitimate offer and that investors simply never suspected it was scam. Details on long-term returns promised are difficult to ascertain due to the language barrier, but at least in Vivan’s case she seemed to have invested 16 Bitcoin ($6680) and was expecting possibly as much as 10004 Bitcoin in return. At least one of the scammers has since taken to Facebook to apologize and has promised to return 16 percent of funds invested, however those scammed simply want their original investments back. If it looks too good to be true, it usually is, and the stupidly large amount of short-term returns offered here should have immediately rung alarm bells for those approached. That said it would appear that there was ,at least, a little bit of social engineering at play given LINE was used as the recruiting tool; it’s speculative but a reasonable guess would be that given the victims were approached by the messaging service, they didn’t suspect anything was untowards. Police in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, are said to be investigating the scam, and the amount believes to have been stolen is NT$50 million, around $1.6 million on the current exchange rate. Show your support for our mission with our one-click subscription to our YouTube channel (below). The more subscribers we have, the more YouTube will suggest relevant enterprise and emerging technology content to you. Thanks! Support our mission: >>>>>> SUBSCRIBE NOW >>>>>> to our YouTube channel. … We’d also like to tell you about our mission and how you can help us fulfill it. SiliconANGLE Media Inc.’s business model is based on the intrinsic value of the content, not advertising. Unlike many online publications, we don’t have a paywall or run banner advertising, because we want to keep our journalism open, without influence or the need to chase traffic.The journalism, reporting and commentary on SiliconANGLE — along with live, unscripted video from our Silicon Valley studio and globe-trotting video teams at theCUBE — take a lot of hard work, time and money. Keeping the quality high requires the support of sponsors who are aligned with our vision of ad-free journalism content. If you like the reporting, video interviews and other ad-free content here, please take a moment to check out a sample of the video content supported by our sponsors, tweet your support, and keep coming back to SiliconANGLE.
Over 1,000 Taiwanese investors have been the victim of a Taipei investment scam that stole NTD 50m, around $1.6m, following a promotion on LINE, the instant social chat app. Investors were promised returns of 250% within a month, with higher returns over a longer period. The perpetrators have disappeared but the Bitcoin police force is said to be investigating.