- Local Chinese authorities have caught wind of a scam
- The scam promised all recipients a part of a pool of $186 million in virtual currency.
- Recent frauds mar Chinese efforts to popularize its native central bank affiliated crypto.
- More than about 500 people have already registered for the Ponzi scheme.
As new ways to con people are exposed every day, a group of Chinese people have devised a new method of embezzlement. This is by including an ambitious promise of $186 million in CBDC currency.
Inventively Themed Scam
Taking advantage of the recent frenzy surrounding cryptocurrencies and China’s very own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), a certain group of conniving Chinese citizens have launched a new and innovatively themed scam. It is named as the Central Bank’s International Wallet. The scamsters dressed it up as a government approved digital wallet to store user’s cryptocurrency. To incentivise people to use the platform, operators carried out extensive advertisements. The advertisement said that the users would be eligible for a share of a government-owned secret fund. This was for the promotion of CBDC to the tune of $186 million.
Gullible Crypto Enthusiasts Trapped
Fraudsters promised that all users who register would receive a two percent bonus. This will be on every deposit of digital yuan in their wallets. They also claimed registered users would acquire a profit margin to the tune of $24,800. Though there seems to be several red flags in its advertisement, a gullible group of more than 500 citizens have already signed up for the platform. The good news is that the platform is not yet live, even as the scamsters reiterated that it would be thrown open for the general public in the month of March. The bad news is that, the personal details of about 500 citizens, including their original names and bank details have been siphoned off via a smartphone application.
Municipality actively Warns People
Chinese authorities are actively warning citizens not to fall for such Ponzi schemes. The Beijing municipality gave away a total of $1.55 million worth of digital yuan to the people who had enrolled for a lottery scheme. Schemes such as these are apparently the root cause of newer and more innovative scams. They make use of people’s inability to distinguish between government-led schemes and embezzlement.
Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.