The end of 2019 is on the horizon and the cryptocurrency world hasn’t changed. The Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) is having to warn netizens about cryptocurrency scams.
Earlier this week, the FSMA issued another update to its list of known cryptocurrency investment scams that seemingly never stops growing.
The suspicious sites list has now swelled to include warnings about 131 websites that are known to dupe unsuspecting victims out of their money.
As ever, these scams revolve around the same principle. The websites offer the promise of easy, secure, and lucrative investments that claim to generate high returns. But after initial investments are taken, no return is ever paid out to the investor-cum-victim.
The latest websites to be added to the list are:
- www.bitcoinmarketscap.com
- www.bitcointraderspro.com
- www.coinsmex.com
- www.crypto-sfs.com
- www.etc-markets.co
- www.fisherih.com
- www.ltc-markets.com
- www.stsroyal.com
- www.tdscapitalgroup.com
Given that it’s 2019, one might expect that people should finally be wising up to cryptocurrency scams; and that scams should finally be falling into obscurity as people see through their thin veneers of truth.
But it seems there is no end.
Belgian authorities have been maintaining the list since at least last year, and still regularly publish updates when new scam websites are found and added to it.
It should be noted though, that the list isn’t exhaustive. It’s compiled from complaints logged by those affected by the scammy sites. In reality, there are probably far, far more shady cryptocurrency investment websites out there.
Maybe we just have to face up to the fact that scams, shills, and shitcoins are a fact of the cryptocurrency life. Be careful out there.
Published October 31, 2019 — 09:18 UTC
Jessica spends 12 hours a day on the internet managing security for web assets and loves her macha tea
