Texas Securities Board Identifies Crypto Scammer on Craigslist

Texas authorities have recently issued a cease and desist order against a person operating on Craigslist for allegedly being a crypto scammer. The Texas State Securities Board or the SSB recently announced via its website, on the 7th of August, that it has taken an emergency action against an investment provider, and Forex and Bitcoin trader on Craigslist for being involved in fraudulent activities related to cryptocurrencies.

As per the announcement, this is the fourth instance of the authorities taking action related to fraudulence in crypto dealings as a part of its second round of investigative sweeps that started in the later part of June 2019.

As the Emergency Cease and Desist order explains, the Forex and Bitcoin Trader in question was putting out advertisements for an investment scheme on Craigslist Dallas, promising a return of an unbelievable 900% in a period of just fourteen days. Such a massive return within a fortnight is impossible to say the least and the authorities quickly cracked down on the scammer.

Besides this fraudulent claim of providing unduly high returns on investment, the said person also claimed to be licensed broker that he/she was clearly not. The entity was pretending to be legally authorised to trade on securities, foreign currency as well as derivatives, despite clearly not being so.

The entity had no registration with the SSB at all and was clearly looking to mint some quick money through this scam. The announcement further told us about the SSB’s investigative sweep:

“The State Securities Board launched its second sweep in the wake of a spike in the price of cryptocurrencies earlier this year. In 2019, the price of one Bitcoin, the most valuable cryptocurrency by market value, quadrupled to above $13,000 in late June. One week later the price sank below $10,000, then jumped to $12,000 one week after that.The number of suspect cryptocurrency offerings being promoted to Texas investors increase along with the run-up in the price of cryptocurrencies and volatility in the cryptocurrency markets.”

Clearly, the number of crypto scams seems to be on the rise. However, as long as the authorities are vigilant and the customers remain careful, the scams can be nipped in the bud.