Serbian man Antonije Stojilkovic and his partners have allegedly defrauded crypto investors a lump sum of money. The money is totaling just above $70 Million. The US Department of Justice has revealed that the Serbian government handed Stojilkovic to the US for trial.
According to the US Department of Justice, the bitcoin scam targeted nationals of different countries spread across various continents. However, most of the victims affected by this crypto scam are from Northern Texas. Thus, Stojilkovic’s trial will happen in Texas.
The Department of Justice also alleged that the scammers carried out the scams from their home bases. Some of these bases were in China, Serbia, and other countries.
How the Scam was Set Up
The Department of Justice alleged that Stojilkovic and his partners set up more than 20 fake trading platforms. Some of the trading platforms include:
- Options Rider
- Dragon Mining
- BTC Mining Factor
- Bancde Options
- Start Options
- Trinity Mining.
The platforms lured unsuspecting investors by advertising non-existent services. For instance, the platforms offered non-existent crypto mining services and binary options.
The platforms also offered an 80 percent average payout and a 20 percent refund on lost trade.
The fake trading platforms alluded that they had a 24/7 mining capacity, enabling the investors to buy Bitcoin at half the market price.
The platforms displayed fake trading figures, return on investments, fake wire receipts, and withdrawal history logs. These displays made the websites trustworthy to the investors.
The scammers created fake female profiles on the platforms to catfish investors. These profiles came in handy during video conferences with investors.
The tricks outlined above were to aid in creating a good picture of the platforms. These platforms offered too good a deal to the investors. Sadly, the investors didn’t take keen notice of the alarming signs. Thus, the investors became victims of this crypto scam.
The platforms didn’t offer any trading activities in the first place. Instead, the whole scheme was a scam. This bitcoin scam aimed at tricking the investors into giving away all the money they put in their “trades.”