Egyptian police reportedly arrested 29 people recently in connection with the Hoggpool cryptocurrency mining app scam. In addition to seizing 95 cell phones and 3,367 SIM cards, police said they recovered $194,000 worth of foreign currency at the time of the arrests; lawyers representing more than 1,000 victims say as many as 800,000 people may have fallen prey to this scam.
88 digital currency wallets used to receive funds from investors
Egyptian police recently arrested 29 people believed to be the ringleaders of the Hoggpool cryptocurrency investment scam, according to reports. During the arrests, police reportedly seized as many as 95 cell phones and 3,367 SIM cards. The report added that $194,000 worth of domestic and foreign currency was also recovered.
CBS Newsreportsthat the alleged mastermind of the cryptocurrency mining app scam, citing a statement released by police, used a total of 88 digital currency wallets to receive funds from investors. Upon receiving the funds, the perpetrator redistributed these among 9,965 digital wallets. The funds were then converted intoBTCbefore being flushed out of the country.
Police say the Hoggpool scammers defrauded investors out of $615,000 (£19 million), but many in Egypt claim the figure is much higher. Abdulaziz Hussein, a lawyer who represents more than 1,000 victims in Cairo alone, is quoted in the report as saying as many as 800,000 people may have fallen for the scam.
use of forged documents
Although the use and trading of cryptocurrencies is prohibited in Egypt, the ringleaders of the Hoggpool scam were reportedly able to lure victims with promises of unrealistically high investment returns. For example, CBS reports that prospective investors were offered a range of investment options, from an initial investment of $10 and a daily payout of $1 to paying $800 to acquire a mining machine that pays $55 a day.
The scammers are accused of not only promising a high return on investment, but also luring unsuspecting victims with forged documents. One such document is a so-called Certificate of Fact in Good Standing allegedly issued to Hoggpool by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.
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