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273 Bitcoin Fraud Suspects Arrested in the Philippines
Two hundred and seventy-three Chinese citizens were arrested in the Philippines, accused of cheating more than a thousand investors in a suspected Bitcoin fraud syndicate.
As reported by the Inquirer, Philippine law enforcement agents acted on a tip from the Chinese Embassy in the country to arrest suspects. According to sources familiar with the matter, Philippine law officials discovered fake crypto plots in the country, which have deceived more than 1,000 Chinese investors.
Doing raids
The local authorities cooperated with agents from the Fugitive Search Unit of the Immigration Bureau and officials from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and carried out a raid on the Grapefruit Service - an operational base for fraudsters.
Grapefruit is reported to employ 277 Chinese citizens. The Pasig City-based company is a licensed service provider for Golden Millennial Quickpay Inc. Ltd, which is a crypto ally company.
Questionable agreement
Golden Millennial Quickpay is allowed by the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) to provide services only in Pasig City. However, the company has been involved in a questionable agreement. This expands its activities to Metro Manila - the capital of the Philippines, which is a restricted area.
In addition, Grapefruit employees have a CEZA visa, which allows them to work only within the Cagayan special economic zone. Registration documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission do not allow companies to operate as investment advisers, banknotes or cryptocurrency exchanges, or as brokers or securities dealers.
The suspected Bitcoin con artist was caught
After the raid, 273 Grapefruit employees were arrested and will be deported to their countries, because their international passports have been canceled by the Chinese government.
It first ordered the arrest of four Chinese nationals before local authorities seized many other suspects in the Bitcoin fraud scheme, said Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente in the Philippines. There are also rumors that some evil actors are taking advantage of the friendly nature of the country to carry out fraudulent activities on unsuspecting investors. Fortunately, immigration authorities are on guard.
As the world becomes accustomed to emerging cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, fraud related to Crypto continues to increase. Countries such as Singapore and Thailand have previously warned their citizens to be wary of questionable crypto agreements.
Malware Download
Some sites promise to give away coins to users if they download a malware application when someone asks to fill out a fake Bitcoin survey. All of this is nothing but an attempt to get malware out of your device, be alert when encounters like that.
Bitcoin Phishing Impersonation
Phishing basically gets users to enter their personal info on dangerous sites. Creating a phishing site asks to enter a private key after the key is lured, this gives scammers access to your wallet address. Leaving your Bitcoin assets vulnerable.
Source: https://coindoo.com/273-bitcoin-scam-suspects-arrested-in-philippines/