Ponzi scheme scammer uses BTC to cover tracks

[Yatsan]

Do you guys know why there are scammers? 'coz there are people they can trick. But why are people being carried by  those frauds? 'coz people believe to easy way of earning money or profit. There's no such thing. Those people earning big time invested time and money which makes their methods 'easy' on our perspectives. Once something is unrealistic, be cautious and vigilant as well. Such as with what OP have mentioned. 100 bucks and 600% in returns just by storing it. How's that even possible? There's always that risk indeed on every means of investment but atleast you can minimize it by doing a bit of research or reading of what you are trying to drag yourself into.

[Blawpaw]

There's nothing new here. Bitcoin and any other means of exchange will always be used for scamming. Even when Bitcoin still did not exist, we had telexfree ponzi scheme and several others that were done with cash.
Now, if they use Bitcoin to cover their tracks, they will eventually be unmasked as we all know that there is an ongoing clampdown on Bitcoin mixers and one way or another transactions can be tracked.

Long before Bitcoin's inception, scamming was already done. Some made it with gold while others have done it with cash, and even goods, so Bitcoin is not the problem. As with everything in life, humans are the problem

[Leviathan.007]

Offering any investment plan can smell fishy because most of them will suggest people invest their money for earning high amounts of profits That's too bad especially when we see these kinds of people are using bitcoin and cryptocurrencies for their dirty stuff because this can show a bad face from bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to other people and for the people who don't have enough knowledge they thing bitcoin is used for criminal activities and for covering tracks of these people crimes.

[Diuyen Kim]

They won't let you invest that much money in the first place. Investing a small amount of money will result in a small amount of profit, and he will gradually lower your vigilance. When you slowly increase the amount of money, they will put your money in their pockets, and you will not be able to find out who they are. It can only be said not to trust others very much at any time, even if that person is your friend. Protect your money, the only person you can trust is yourself.

[davis196]

The ponzi scheme creator must be really dumb, if he thinks that using BTC(without good BTC mixers) would cover his tracks.
It isn't that hard for the authorities to catch the creators of the ponzi scheme. It all comes to catching some of the people, who are at  the bottom and the middle of the pyramid and pressuring them into revealing the guys, who referred them to the scheme.
Every ponzi scheme begins with meetings in person between the scammer and his "investors" and direct "sales persuasion".
At some point, the people at the bottom of the pyramid will start complaining about not getting their 600% ROI. They are potential witnesses for the police.

[Alpha Marine]

Do you guys know why there are scammers? 'coz there are people they can trick. But why are people being carried by  those frauds? 'coz people believe to easy way of earning money or profit. There's no such thing. Those people earning big time invested time and money which makes their methods 'easy' on our perspectives. Once something is unrealistic, be cautious and vigilant as well. Such as with what OP have mentioned. 100 bucks and 600% in returns just by storing it. How's that even possible? There's always that risk indeed on every means of investment but atleast you can minimize it by doing a bit of research or reading of what you are trying to drag yourself into.

I just saved someone I know a couple of months ago from falling  into the hands of these scammers. I just don't understand how they can't see that it's a scam. All they do in ponzi schemes is take money from Mr A, Mr B, add your own money to it and give it back to you. That kind of system is ALWAYS bound to crash (emphasis on always).
How do you see a business that pays you 100% to 300% ROI within just one month. That's a big red flag.
Another red flag is "no risk involved". That's one of the funniest things I've heard. In what world do you see an invested with 0% risk? It's screams scam but unfortunately people still fall for it.

[capedbaldy]

There are many types of pyramid investments in online businesses but scammers combine pyramid investments with crypto to deceive investors and traders, but the pyramid investment mode can be easily identified because we are offered profits above 100% according to the investment period, even though cryptocurrency based pyramid investments are difficult to tracked but we can protect ourselves to avoid these investments by knowing some of the common characteristics of fraudulent investment modes:
1. The pyramid business will never get permission from the authorities and other financial legal entities.
2. They promise very high no-risk return guarantees, but actually they don't provide any guarantees.
3. The withdrawal process is difficult even your withdrawal will be delayed for a very long time
4. Maintenance "forever", usually the team frequently updates the maintenance information which means their scam strategy will end soon, they will take your money away.

[_BlackStar]

There are many cases of ponzi investment in the community, most of the modes are the same but often the cover is different. Everyone tends to be careful when getting an investment offer in the name of bitcoin. Many people suffer losses from illegal investments ^{[ponzi schemes]} because they don't understand what investing is, so there is nothing to consider when someone wants you to invest under their control.

Bitcoin has never promised a return within a certain time frame, a return on people's investment because of its fluctuating value. So no one knows what percentage of profit will be obtained in one month, one year or for a certain period.

[hZti]

There are many cases of ponzi investment in the community, most of the modes are the same but often the cover is different. Everyone tends to be careful when getting an investment offer in the name of bitcoin. Many people suffer losses from illegal investments ^{[ponzi schemes]} because they don't understand what investing is, so there is nothing to consider when someone wants you to invest under their control.

Bitcoin has never promised a return within a certain time frame, a return on people's investment because of its fluctuating value. So no one knows what percentage of profit will be obtained in one month, one year or for a certain period.

Many people come to the bitcoin wold because they want easy money. They see a page where they get 20% return of they "stake" their bitcoins ore something else. Then they see a stupid explanation why this website gives them 20% return and not 5% like you would get with any other investment. They believe it because bitcoin is magic internet money that gives free money. They eventually loose their bitcoin and say bitcoin as a whole is a scam.
Best Part: Many of those people are here in the forum but dont know yet that their bitcoins are sooner or later lost.

[Odusko]

Although I do not believe the scammer will let them take out this kind of money.
I considered entering the scheme because the scammer is likely to let people take out profits under 10k.

But I do have to register with my passport, and I don't feel comfortable uploading this to a scammer's website

This line of thinking is what has led many into becoming victims of investments scam, this method of Ponzi has been around for a while now but we should already know that scammers already have a good map out plan to exploit the investors, so no matter how smart an investor is he will end up losing everything in the long run.
Trying to outsmart the scammers with trial funds is not a good idea to me and you should not upload your document on third party website most especially an investment platform because there are no legal financial institutions, a lot of such schemes have collapsed lately and investors are counting their loses.

[The Cryptovator]

Is the Ponzi schemer still alive? I assumed that crypto users were already aware of how a Ponzi scheme works and how to protect their funds. Ponzi schemes never last, and the people who run them are scammers. Once they have raised a sufficient amount, they can proceed with the funds. If the BTC address is not public, there is no way to track the scammer. Just keep in mind that there is no money-making machine that will provide you with high returns. Use your brain and save money.

[buwaytress]

Hard to convince people who can't see the proof in the poisoned pudding. Greed dampens the small voice in the back of their heads telling them it's a game they're eventually going to lose.

High returns with no effort. Lock in periods. Referral fees. Guarantees of profit (even SBF in his pitches used phrases like "risk free" and "zero risk"). Classic ponzi schemes.

Years ago I read research about triad gangs in Southeast Asia, same circle of people running relatively low value ponzis like this. HYIP rings and money doublers. I saw them myself in the late 1990s, mid-2000s. They don't end up taking much but they just run multiple sites, rinse and repeat, so stay below the Madoff radar.

Used to be cash in mail, internet and PayPal was next, then digital payments like e-gold, not Bitcoin.

[EarnOnVictor]

Many people have used Bitcoin to perpetrate evil in the past and they are still doing that, but with caution now as Bitcoin is getting more adoption, knowledge and exposure. And Ponzi has been before BTC and would continue to be, but in an advanced scheme, and such is what Bitcoin made available through its privacy and anonymity. Many people have been swindled through this and many would still be scammed unless they are careful themselves in falling for HYIPs.

And as for the question of the OP, the Bitcoin Ponzi scam could only be traced if the scammer is careless. Although BTC transactions are traceable, there are many vices to make transactions untraceable.

[borovichok]

Is the Ponzi schemer still alive? I assumed that crypto users were already aware of how a Ponzi scheme works and how to protect their funds. Ponzi schemes never last, and the people who run them are scammers. Once they have raised a sufficient amount, they can proceed with the funds. If the BTC address is not public, there is no way to track the scammer. Just keep in mind that there is no money-making machine that will provide you with high returns. Use your brain and save money.

Scams are everywhere, there's no single thing that don't have existence of scams inside. Bitcoin is worldwide and it's growing rapidly to other parts of the universe, left for you and me to adapt to it and know how the entire project operates. There's new scamming method everyday, and we need to be fully enlighten on how to control and prevent from been victims. We have our own pattern of noticing scams and it's very simple, we can also use our common sense to know what's scam and legit.

[Vaskiy]

Is the Ponzi schemer still alive? I assumed that crypto users were already aware of how a Ponzi scheme works and how to protect their funds. Ponzi schemes never last, and the people who run them are scammers. Once they have raised a sufficient amount, they can proceed with the funds. If the BTC address is not public, there is no way to track the scammer. Just keep in mind that there is no money-making machine that will provide you with high returns. Use your brain and save money.

Scams are everywhere, there's no single thing that don't have existence of scams inside. Bitcoin is worldwide and it's growing rapidly to other parts of the universe, left for you and me to adapt to it and know how the entire project operates. There's new scamming method everyday, and we need to be fully enlighten on how to control and prevent from been victims. We have our own pattern of noticing scams and it's very simple, we can also use our common sense to know what's scam and legit.

Agreed, it is our responsibility to keep ourselves secure identifying how the scammers approach and how to stay away from such people. When something gets value, automatically there arises a group that scam common people in the same name. More pyramid schemes are running around in the name of cryptocurrency, as scammers have identified the increasing usage around the world.

[Baofeng]

Can his BTC address somehow lead to an arrest?
Ponzi schemes don't last long. And historically these people are arrested because the source of the money is easily identified.
Now with BTC I think it is much harder to identify the scammer and to stop the scheme. I think it's harder for any government to prove that there is a Ponzi scheme in the first place

It can but it will be difficult, you need someone to really track those addresses and be identified to that individual.

Because you needed to do blockchain chain analysis, here this company who specialized on it: https://www.chainalysis.com/. But obviously, it will take a lot of money to tap their services though. So unless this individual scam millions and millions of dollars and as a Ponzi scheme, authorities might not react as swift as they can, just saying.

[_BlackStar]

Many people come to the bitcoin wold because they want easy money. They see a page where they get 20% return of they "stake" their bitcoins ore something else. Then they see a stupid explanation why this website gives them 20% return and not 5% like you would get with any other investment. They believe it because bitcoin is magic internet money that gives free money. They eventually loose their bitcoin and say bitcoin as a whole is a scam.
Best Part: Many of those people are here in the forum but dont know yet that their bitcoins are sooner or later lost.

When any website offers returns like that, I can assure you it is an attempt at scam which should be avoided ASAP. Staking is of course different like most fake websites that offer high returns, so it's only natural that they have to be very careful and do a thorough analysis before investing.

I'm sure some people here ^{[in this forum]} may have received offers like that from friends or other random people, so they should be able to choose and sort out which ones are really legitimate for their investment. Losses and gains are a definite consequence for every investor, so they must be quite responsible for whatever they choose.

[Nrcewker]

Can his BTC address somehow lead to an arrest?
Ponzi schemes don't last long. And historically these people are arrested because the source of the money is easily identified.
Now with BTC I think it is much harder to identify the scammer and to stop the scheme. I think it's harder for any government to prove that there is a Ponzi scheme in the first place

This depends on various factors. I mean if he had publicly linked his BTC address with his profile anywhere, then he can be easily traced through it. If he doesn’t use any mixer, and directly sends all the money to his wallet, then also he can be caught. In order to cash out the Bitcoins, if he sends the BTC to an exchange where he has done KYC , then also he can be caught. Similar incident already happened at Binance as far as I can recall, and Binance helped the police I guess. It’s better to avoid this type of Ponzi schemes. No one becomes rich overnight. Work hard continuously, and definitely you will get profit and wealth.

[digaran]

There’s also chain analysis services nowadays that can track all the transactions even with a mixer.

So you are saying mixers are useless? Interesting🤔, how would you explain successful mixers operating for years with God know how much stolen money, and how much blood money on their hands?

[taufik123]

-snip-
Can his BTC address somehow lead to an arrest?
Ponzi schemes don't last long. And historically these people are arrested because the source of the money is easily identified.
Now with BTC I think it is much harder to identify the scammer and to stop the scheme. I think it's harder for any government to prove that there is a Ponzi scheme in the first place

Very can and the BTC address will reveal who the perpetrators are behind the Ponzi scheme.
And you are wrong about the difficulty of identifying scammers via BTC addresses, because BTC uses Blockchain recording technology where all transactions will be recorded and cannot be deleted, so that the source of the money and where it ends will be known even if they use the bitcoin mixer platform service.

To prove a Ponzi scheme or report about a fraudulent scheme that is being carried out, it all depends on how many victims report it, and the losses are estimated, so that the government can move quickly to catch the perpetrator of the Ponzi scheme.