Don’t Fall for These Fake Chinese CBDC Scams

Published at: July 20, 2020

Cities in China will soon begin testing a new Central Bank Digital Currency, or CBDC. Scammers are now taking advantage of this fact by impersonating “CBDC test” groups.

According to Tencent QQ, criminals are promoting a scam that asks potential victims to open a new debit card. Victims are told they will receive a “significant amount of money” after an initial investment, generally starting around 10,000 yuan ($1430 USD).

Each victim is promised that their investment will grow to 70,000 yuan ($10,023) within an undisclosed period.

This scam seems to be appearing most frequently in the cities where CBDC tests will eventually take place — Shenzhen, Xi’an, Chengdu, and Suzhou. However, no official green light has been given by the People’s Bank of China, or PBoC, to initiate such tests.

Local banks on high alert

Some reports indicate that scammers have designed a mobile app for victims to manage their non-existent investments.

As of press time, the PBoC has not announced when they will begin piloting their CBDC program in China. In 2019, China’s banking authorities stated they would announce their upcoming CBDC launch through official channels.

Chinese authorities recently dismantled a significant crypto-related scam in Wenzhou. The scheme amassed over 100 million yuan ($14.31 million), which was seized along with a number of luxury cars and villas.

Tags
Blockchain
China
Cryptocurrencies
Cbdc
Crimes
Scams
Fraud
Related Posts
Chinese Police Dismantle $14M Crypto Scam
The Chinese authorities dismantled a significant crypto-related scam in Wenzhou. The scheme amassed over 100 million yuan ($14.31 million), which was seized along with a number of luxury cars and villas. According to Toutiao, the gang has been operating since 2019 and primarily sought out victims through Telegram chat groups, including one called “Huobi Global Moving Brick Arbitrage HT Chinese Group Community.” ETH, BTC, and USDT stolen from victims The report states the scammers pretended to be investors who had benefited from an “investment scheme.” The scammers told their victims that all they had to do was send their cryptos …
Bitcoin / July 9, 2020
Deceived Crypto Investors Launched Their Own Scam to Recoup Losses
Chinese police have reportedly arrested a group of scammers who launched a faux crypto scheme to recoup their losses after being defrauded by a number of different crypto-related cons themselves. According to an article from the Public Information Network Security Supervision Bureau posted on WeChat earlier today, an investor named Yang created a fake investment scheme after losing around 100,000 yuan (over $14,000) to a crypto MLM project. After teaming up with two other investors who had similarly been deceived by crypto scammers, Yang launched a fake mobile app and a token called "Baiye Chain". Their operation reportedly amassed more …
Blockchain / Aug. 3, 2020
Russian Crypto Scams Triple in First Half of 2020
Cybersecurity firms have identified an exponential rise in crypto-related scams in Russia during the first half of 2020. Researchers identified 23,000 sites involved with crypto scams that are still online and targeting new victims. According to Kommersant, which cited research from Kaspersky Labs, the problem is three times greater than during the same period last year. One common example sees victims offered the chance to complete surveys in order to receive commissions — however they’re required to pay an “entrance fee” fee first. Another scam, identified by Qrator Labs, involved sites that offered victims more than $275 per hour to …
Blockchain / July 30, 2020
Alleged CabbageTech Crypto Fraudster Indicted on Nine Counts
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Richard P. Donoghue unsealed a nine-count indictment against Patrick McDonnell today, according to a press release from the Department of Justice (DoJ) on March 26. Following his arrest earlier today, McDonnell — the owner and operators of purported investment firm CabbageTech — was charged with nine counts of wire fraud in connection with an alleged plan to defraud cryptocurrency investors. Donoghue said in the press release: “As alleged, the defendant defrauded investors by making false promises and sending them fraudulent balance statements, hiding the fact that he was stealing their …
Blockchain / March 27, 2019
Victim of $24 Million SIM Swap Case Writes Open Letter to FCC Chairman
SIM swapping victim Michael Terpin wrote an open letter to the United States Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai. In his letter, posted by Coindesk on Oct. 21, Terpin requested that the regulator take decisive action against SIM swapping and end this type of fraud. Terpin proposes to force all U.S. mobile carriers to hide customer pins and passwords from employees and oblige them to inform its customers that they can opt-in to carrier high-security plans, which must include a “no port” option, meaning that a consumer would have the choice to go through the fraud department before the …
Blockchain / Oct. 22, 2019