8,000 victims of Bitcoin scams receive refunds from the US regulator

The US Federal Trade Commission is reimbursing around 8,000 victims who lost money by investing in two bitcoin scams. The fraud schemes promised that investors could turn their cryptocurrency payments of around $ 100 into $ 80,000 in monthly income.

Victims of Bitcoin Pyramid Schemes get refunds

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has begun sending refunds to the victims of two cryptocurrency investment scams: Bitcoin Funding Team and My7network.

According to an FTC announcement on Wednesday, the two schemes “falsely promised that participants could earn large sums of money by paying cryptocurrency such as bitcoin or litecoin to join the schemes.” However, the FTC detailed:

Bitcoin Funding Team and My7network were chain referral schemes that depended on recruiting new people to make money. Indeed, most of the participants failed to recoup their initial investments.

The FTC is sending 7,964 refunds via Paypal totaling over $ 470,000 to victims of the two schemes as of November 5. “The average refund is around $ 59. Recipients who receive a refund through Paypal will have 30 days to accept the payment,” the FTC clarified.

The promoters of the two schemes – Thomas Dluca, Louis Gatto and Eric Pinkston – were shut down in March 2018. They said the Bitcoin Funding Team “could turn a payment of the equivalent of just over $ 100 into $ 80,000 in monthly income,” the FTC explained, adding that the two schemes were “chain referral schemes – a type of pyramid scheme”.

The FTC claims a fourth defendant, Scott Chandler, promoted the Bitcoin Funding Team and another deceptive cryptocurrency recruiting scheme called Jetcoin. This scam claimed that investors could double their investment in 50 days, but the FTC says “the scheme failed to meet these demands and went out of business within two months of launch.”

Defendants violated the FTC’s “Ban Against Deceptive Acts Act by misrepresenting chain referral schemes as a bona fide earning opportunity and falsely claiming that participants could earn substantial income by participating in the three schemes,” the agency explained. federal.

In August last year, the promoters settled with the FTC. As part of the proposed deals, Duke would pay $ 453,932 and Chandler $ 31,000. “Pinkston has also accepted a $ 461,035 sentence, which will be suspended on payment of $ 29,491, due to his inability to pay the full amount. If it is later found that he has misrepresented his finances, he will be required to pay the full amount, “the regulator noted.

In addition to monetary judgment, all four defendants are permanently prohibited from operating, participating in or assisting others in the promotion or management of any multilevel marketing, pyramid, Ponzi or chain referral scheme, ”the FTC said.

What do you think of the FTC reimbursing victims of the bitcoin scam? Let us know in the comments section below.

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