[2018-05-03] Investment scam Capitalizes on Bitcoin Trend

[FollowSynergy]

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A new twist on a classic scam is taking advantage of the boom in the online currency bitcoin.

"This is capitalizing on the moment, on the hot streak that bitcoin is on, and in this case using it to scam people out of their money," John Masterson of the Better Business Bureau of Western Michigan said.

The BBB is sending out a warning about a Ponzi scheme-type offer that promises bitcoin returns that are too good to be true.

"If anything seems too good to be true, 99 percent of the time it is," Masterson said.

INVESTED BITCOIN VANISHES

The scam works like this: Investors buy bitcoin and invest it with the website Wedgecoin.com. The website promises unbelievable returns. According to the website, a $10 investment will see a 130 percent return in just 24 hours and an investment of $1,500 or more will have a 300 percent return in just three hours.

Small investors would see the initial return, but larger investments would go unreturned, instead kept by the web-based scammers.

"They hook you with a little bit with the promise of more. You invest more and then it just disappears on you," Masterson explained to Target 8.

The website claimed it was based in West Michigan. But the Holland address it listed is really home to the Stow Company, a custom closet company that doesn't want anything to do with the crooked website.

Randy Tallman, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Stow Company, provided Target 8 with this statement:

"The Stow Company has no association at all with the website wedgecoin.com or the individuals or entities behind the website. Immediately upon learning that the website was claiming our business address as its own, we reported the suspicious activity to the site's web host in an attempt to have the website taken down. We are happy that the site has now been taken down and hope that anyone harmed by the site is made whole by those responsible for it."

This isn't the first time Stow has had to take action. Before Wedgecoin, a similar website called Stowcoin was using the company address and running the same scam on potential investors. The real Stow company got that website shut down last year.

While both websites are now gone, the scam continues. Target 8 found two other nearly identical sites claiming they're based in the United Kingdom.

Full article: http://www.woodtv.com/news/target-8/investment-scam-capitalizes-on-bitcoin-trend/1155690885

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"If anything seems too good to be true, 99 percent of the time it is," Masterson said.

few people listen to and most people continue to be deceived

a $10 investment will see a 130 percent return in just 24 hours and an investment of $1,500 or more will have a 300 percent return in just three hours.

are absurd returns, but there are people who fall in this blow and also have people who think that hyip sites are a game and they really take this belief that they are playing and if the site collapses just lost one more game and will win in another game, and because of that kind of thinking that hyip sites still exist

"...we reported the suspicious activity to the site's web host in an attempt to have the website taken down. We are happy that the site has now been taken down and hope that anyone harmed by the site is made whole by those responsible for it."

this action without doubt was of great help, to prevent them from stealing money from more people

While both websites are now gone, the scam continues. Target 8 found two other nearly identical sites claiming they're based in the United Kingdom.

What's so special about the UK?