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The Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced in a statement on Friday that it has brought a civil lawsuit against the cryptocurrency platform Debiex. According to reports, the crypto scam was a sophisticated romance scam.
The digital asset platform was charged by the CFTC with operating a fraudulent online romance scheme that stole $2.3 million in customer monies, mostly from victims who were Asian Americans.
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The CFTC brings a lawsuit
The CFTC filed a case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona alleging that Debiex employed dishonest methods to foster amorous or romantic connections with prospective clients. They then supposedly convinced these people to register and fund trading accounts with Debiex.
This is another example of how monies belonging to customers have been embezzled under the name of trade.
CFTC Charges Bogus Digital Asset Platform with Fraud and Misappropriation in an Online Romance Scam: https://t.co/RpskNapy7i
— CFTC (@CFTC) January 19, 2024
It is claimed that at least five people have been impacted by the purportedly fraudulent operation, which has been going on since March 2022. In actuality, the clients' money was not really traded.
Zhāng Chéng Yáng (Zhang) is included as a relief defendant in the CFTC's complaint, suggesting that he may have acted as a money mule. Additionally, the complaint disclosed that Debiex used websites with an open public domain to conduct the scam.
Regulator issues a romance fraud alert
"The Commodities Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations are being violated," the commodities regulator said, "and in its ongoing litigation against Debiex, the CFTC seeks restitution to defrauded customers, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, trading bans, and a permanent injunction against further violations."
A Romance Scam Fraud Advisory was also released by the CFTC, alerting people to the dangers of social media and online dating frauds. Money is allegedly sent by these scammers to phony websites that purport to exchange cryptocurrency and other assets. Before making an investment, the public is advised by the CFTC to confirm if a corporation is registered with the agency.
In a another instance, CoinGape recently revealed that an Indian engineer lost about $15,000 as a result of falling for a Telegram digital scam. Having said that, it is important to remember that damages from bitcoin crimes in December alone totaled $1.595 billion.