While these companies claimed to have a great track record of success due to their tracking capabilities, this claim was a lie. Furthermore, the services also relied on fake reviews to deceive victims.
FBI agent, US investigative and intelligence agency.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation, better known by its acronym FBI, has taken down three websites that promised to recover cryptocurrencies lost by investors. The agency highlights that these were scams.
While these companies claimed to have a great track record of success due to their tracking capabilities, this claim was a lie. In addition, the services also relied on fake reviews to deceive victims.
There is no information about the people responsible for these sites.
FBI takes down three websites that scammed cryptocurrency investors
Since most cryptocurrencies’ transactions are public, anyone can track transactions to see how money flows. This is very useful for security professionals, both public and private, to track down criminals or recover stolen funds.
As an example, US authorities recovered US$4,700 last Monday (9) after an investigation that lasted almost two years.
However, the FBI reports that some companies were taking advantage of this moment of vulnerability for victims of cryptocurrency thefts to carry out a second scam.
Using fake reviews to lend legitimacy to their business, the scammers would charge their victims an upfront fee to begin their work. After payment, however, they would deliver an incomplete or inaccurate tracking report, which would be of no help whatsoever.
“These companies use extensive social media advertising, including fake reviews, to convince victims of the legitimacy of their services,” the FBI wrote.
“THIS SITE HAS BEEN SEIZED.”
“This domain was seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) pursuant to a seizure warrant issued pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1343 and 18 U.S.C. § 1349, issued by the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, as part of a joint law enforcement operation and prosecution by: The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the statement on one of the websites reads.
Website seized by the FBI for scamming cryptocurrency investors who had lost their coins. Source: Reproduction.
The three websites taken down were MyChargeBack, Payback LTD and Claim Justice. One of them had already been reprimanded by the FCA, the British regulatory body, for impersonating another company registered in the country.
On sites like Trustpilot, you can see several old reports praising these services. According to the FBI, they were all fake and intended to attract new customers.
“Best in the world”, says one of the reviews.
Reviews of “MyChargeBack”, a website confiscated by the FBI, on Trustpilot. Source: Reproduction.
Concluding the statement, the FBI recommends that investors do detailed research on the companies they are dealing with.
“Be wary if the company uses vague language, has a minimal online presence, and makes promises about the ability to recover funds,” the FBI wrote, also noting that government agencies do not charge to conduct such investigations.
