France charges 2 for $2.1 million crypto-related fraud

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Fraudsters allegedly promised counterfeit money or digital wallets for cryptocurrency and then stole the funds.

Bloomberg reported on Friday (December 9) that the scammers created fake identities, arranged meetings with the victims, received crypto assets from the victims, and then accessed the funds through the victims’ phones.

The meetings were held in Paris and Milan and the fraudsters stole at least 2 million euros (about $2.1 million), according to the report.

French authorities have charged two alleged participants with fraud and money laundering. Their identities have not been revealed.

This is one scam in a growing series of crypto-related scams.

November 29, the United States. The Southern District of New York Attorneys Office reported that a man pleaded guilty to defrauding customers who purchased cryptocurrency mining products and services.

Chester J. Chet Stojanovich pleaded guilty to wire fraud after telling his clients he would provide them with crypto-mining computers and hosting services, but instead kept the money. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Cryptocurrency mining has garnered a lot of media attention and public excitement over the past few years, but new forms of money and investment can also create new opportunities for old-fashioned fraud. US attorney Damian Williams said at the time.

The USConsumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) said on Nov. 10 that between October 2018 and September 2022, it had received more than 8,300 complaints related to cryptoassets, most in the past two years. In around 40% of crypto-asset complaints handled since 2018, customers said fraud and scams were the top issues.

Americans are also reporting problems with transactions, frozen accounts and lost crypto-asset savings, CFPB director Rohit Chopras said at the time. People should beware of anyone seeking an upfront payment in crypto-assets, as it may be a scam.

How consumers pay online with stored credentials Convenience drives some consumers to store their payment credentials with merchants, while security concerns give other customers pause. For How We Pay Digitally: Stored Credentials Edition, a collaboration with Amazon Web Services, PYMNTS surveyed 2,102 US consumers to analyze the consumer dilemma and reveal how merchants can overcome holdouts.

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