Belgian government warns crypto inversors about fraud with a new website.
A website warning potential investors about fraudulent projects in the cryptocurrency industry has been jointly launched by two federal services in Belgium.
A resource called "Too Good to Be True" is available in French and Flemish, and lists the most famous fraudulent schemes uncovered. The website uses the motto "crypto-active is the advertising of the year" to warn that tokens can be used for illegal purposes, including "fraud, drug trafficking, terrorism or any other criminal activity."
The ministry also advises investors to verify the reliability of information about the organizers of the project, avoid sharing personal data, requesting clear information about the project and be cautious if the project promises big profits. Crypto scammers "often seem reliable", but they can still deceive potential investors, by often changing the name to avoid backlists according to the site.
"Scammers are trying to catch consumers in different ways. Be careful when paying online with the help of crypto conversions, when investing in sports betting with crypto and investment platforms."
The portal also has a fraud projects database where users can "scan" project. Although, the website developers do not exclude possible system errors.
According to the FPS, Belgium's residents lose around 130 million euros annually because of fraud in the crypto industry, but only 4% of deceived investors report such crimes.
This follows the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which created its own scam ICO to warn investors against fraudulent cryptocurrencies. HoweyCoins advertises itself as “one of the largest cryptocurrency platforms ever built” and looks like a real, attractive ICO. However, everybody who tries to buy coins are instead being redirected to a secure SEC page.
By Ekaterina Ulyanova