Cryptocurrency remains one of the most talked about yet controversial topics in finance.
It is mostly the seemingly endless scams that individuals find themselves in that bring attention.
According to the Financial Times, a US pastor of an online church is accused of running a cryptocurrency scam.
The religious leader allegedly said that the “Lord told him to do it”.
Pastor Eli Regalado and his wife, Kaitlyn Regalado, reportedly targeted Christians and promised that they would get wealthy if they forked out money for their crypto, INDXcoin.
The pair, who ran their operation on a marketplace named Kingdom Wealth Exchange, are accused of having stolen over R56 million from investors who are made up of their church’s congregants and community.
This money is said to have come from over 300 people.
The Regalados supposedly spent at least $1.3 million (R24 million) of that money on a luxurious lifestyle that included tens of thousands of dollars on trips, jewellery, designer handbags, cosmetic dentistry, clothing, and house upgrades.
In a video address to his supporters, he admitted that he and his wife pocketed the money.
“Out of that $1.3 million, half a million dollars went to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and a few hundred thousand dollars went to a home remodel that the Lord told us to do.
“What we’re praying for and what we’re believing still is that God is going to do a miracle. He's going to bring a miracle into INDXcoin,” claimed Regalados.
The couple is set to appear in court on January 29.
Here are some tactics to be on the lookout for that scammers use to dupe individuals into crypto scams:
They generate false credibility by impersonating real websites and crypto trading platforms.
Scammers will claim that the investment plans are sponsored by celebrities or people with high levels of influence in the finance industry.
Rug-pull scams occur when investors are unable to withdraw their monies after purchasing.
Phishing schemes in which individuals are duped into providing their personal crypto wallet information, or give-away scams in which users can win rewards by sharing their personal information.
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