Five suspects have been arrested in Thailand for their role in running a fraudulent crypto trading platform. The exchange, called BCH Global Limited, defrauded more than 3,000 people and stole 70.7 million euros.
Four Chinese and Lao arrested for crypto fraud
On September 11, the Bangkok Post published an article about the failed operation. According to the newspaper, the main suspects behind the operation are four Chinese and a Laotian. They were arrested by Thailand’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB).
So far, at least 3,280 affected people have come forward. The actual number of victims will be much higher. The scam came to light when suspects began reporting the crime to Thai authorities in November last year. They said they were asked on the street to invest on the exchange’s website: bchgloballtd.com.
The company offered promising returns with investments in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Gold and Tether (USDT). Some of the victims invested their entire savings in the scam. There are even reports of victims taking out a second mortgage on their home. In total, the scam brought in 2.7 billion baht, which is equivalent to 70.7 million euros.
The industry still experiences many large-scale fraud cases
Crypto scams are widespread. The relatively young industry is struggling with particularly high values fifteen scams per hour. Sometimes this involves huge amounts of money, as in the case of BCH Global Limited. Compared to 2022, things are still going relatively well this year. The infamous hacker group Lazarus has this year Capture 80% less than last year.
Yesterday we wrote about how Mark Cuban lost $870,000 in cryptocurrencies. He reportedly downloaded an incorrect version of Matic. The scammers wait months for him to regain access to his account and then empty his wallet within ten minutes. Luckily for Cuban, he was able to save the 2 million USDC he had in his wallet.