Law enforcement agencies in Ukraine have exposed a financial pyramid from Russia suspected of making millions of US dollars. The scam persuaded victims to send fiat and cryptocurrency by promising profitable investments in large companies around the world.
A large crypto pyramid scheme with Russian roots was uncovered in Ukraine
Officials from the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) have unraveled a fake investment scheme called “Life Is Good,” the agency announced on March 18. The scammer offered potential clients to increase their funds by acquiring shares in global companies.
Organizers of the massive pyramid scheme allegedly received about $40 million from more than 1,000 people they successfully defrauded. Victims were instructed to send money directly to the scammers’ crypto wallets or bank accounts.
Life is Good maintained fake investor accounts on its online platform. Customers were promised a steady stream of profitable deals in the form of dividends and “guaranteed” bonuses if they could attract new participants to their projects.
According to Ukrainian investigators, more than 10 people are involved in this criminal organization, most of them Russian nationals. the financial pyramid, launched in the Russian Federation in 2017, has a local branch in Ukraine It had.
Following a full-scale Russian invasion that began in late February 2022, organizers sought to conceal their involvement in the scheme by concocting a mechanism to collect cryptocurrency through a network of exchanges operating throughout Ukraine.
SBU officials, working with Ukrainian police and prosecutorial colleagues, searched Life is Good’s offices in Kiev and seized computers, cell phones, accounting documents, other records suggesting criminal activity, and advertising materials.
Law enforcement agencies in Ukraine, a regional leader in cryptocurrency adoption, are increasing their crypto expertise: according to media reports in March, officials from the country’s Cyber Police, Asset Recovery Administration, and SBU attended training classes hosted by Binance, the world’s leading digital asset exchange Binance, one of the world’s leading digital asset exchanges.
In November, the country’s cybercrime unit, Cyberpolice, dismantled a crypto-fraud scheme that allegedly made 200 million euros ($207 million at the time) annually by luring investors through representative offices and call centers across Europe.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, SBU.