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Tag: Lipan Services

June 23, 2021

Plutus Racket Update – German BaFin launched investigations

German regulator BaFin today announced investigations into Plutus Racket. BaFin is unfortunately not known for being particularly active or competent but at least it is a first step in the fight against this racket. The Plutus Racket is the operator of a vast network of scams such as Plutus, PlutusPro, Lucrum, LucrumPro, Galore, or Celox. The racket and its scams are facilitated by several payment processors like Praxis Cashier, BitTheBank, XChangePro, and Polish Sales Master Z.O.O. Behind all these scam brands are the same boiler rooms in Bulgaria and the Balkans.

May 3, 2021

Investor Warning – Celox is another broker scam in the Plutus Racket

We have reported about Plutus Racket scams several times in the last few weeks. So far, thanks to our whistleblowers and with the information provided by victims, we have found the scam brands Plutus, Lucrum, and Galore. Apparently, the Celox (www.celox.live) scam also belongs to Plutus Racket. Furthermore, we have discovered BitTheBank, XChangePro, and Polish Sales Master Z.O.O. as facilitating payment processors. Behind all these scam brands are the same boiler rooms in Bulgaria and the Balkans working with Anydesk.

April 23, 2021

New – List of scam-facilitating Estonian crypto payment processors

Digital currencies are the future in one way or another. For a few months now, online payment pioneer PayPal has also been accepting bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. Estonia is currently the epicenter of European crypto payment processors. As of mid-2020, the Estonian FIU had issued more than 3,000 licenses (report here). Unfortunately, many of them are used to facilitate scams and illegal payment services. We have drafted a list of Estonian crypto payment companies that have come to our attention in scams.

April 19, 2021

Investor Warning – CiscoTrades facilitated by crypto payment processor BitTheBank

The problem with financial market regulators' warnings is that they usually come too late. Usually, their warnings are issued only after many investors have complained. Thus, scammers defraud consumers undisturbed for many months. This is also the case with CiscoTrades (www.ciscotrades.com). The broker scam has been active for several months, and only today the CNMV issued a warning. The scam is apparently already disappearing again. As a payment processor, we have once again discovered the Estonian BitTheBank.

April 18, 2021

Attention – Estonian scam-facilitator XChangePro is no longer licensed!

Estonian BlueData OÜ d/b/a XChangePro has come to our attention over the past few months as a scam-supporting crypto payment processor. It has supported scams like Plutus, MDX500, or Blackstone500. On its websites www.xchangepro.net and www.exchangepro.eu, XChangePro claims to be a financial institution licensed by the Estonian FIU with license number FVR000146 and Ken Kovask as its only director. In fact, this license is no longer valid as of September 2020. Stay away from XChangePro.

April 5, 2021

Connecting the dots – Plutus broker scam related to Galore and Lucrum

The same boiler room apparently operates the three broker scam brands. Victims report that chat history is shared about at least these three scams. We have already reported about the Plutus scam (here) and the Lucrum scam (here). The Galore scam (www.galore.pro) is allegedly operated by ITM Solutions LLC, registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This entity also operates the Plutus scam. The offshore entity behind the Lucrum scam is Econdary LLC, also registered in SVG. On two BTC addresses, we have discovered a total of barely BTC58 worth more than $3.3M.

March 29, 2021

Wanted – The Plutus broker scammers, its perpetrators, and facilitators

Yes, the Plutus broker scam is still active and continues to scam consumers and small investors! And yes, these scammers stole millions! We reported about it a few days ago. Until around May 2020, the scam worked with Praxis Cashier and accepted credit cards and later switched to cryptocurrency payments only. Until recently, the scam operated by ITM Solutions LLC processed payments via BitTheBank and XchangePro of the licensed Estonian crypto payment processors Lipan Services OÜ and BlueData OÜ, respectively. We are trying to track down the operators.

March 27, 2021

Investor Alert – Broker scam Plutus is still active with millions robbed from victims

In Dec 2020, the UK regulator FCA issued an investor warning against the broker scam Plutus. While at that time, the scam was operating with the domain www.plutus.pro, it is currently active with the domain www.plutus.global. According to the website's information, the scam is operated by ITM Solutions LLC, registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Currently, the only payment option is to deposit Bitcoins (BTC) to the given address. On social media, the scam is currently still active.

January 4, 2021

The Estonian Money-laundering Issue – Crypto Payment Processors BlueData, and Lipan Services

The Estonian regulatory regime had been a severe issue for the EU since the inception of its crypto license program some three years ago. Even though the Estonian Ministry of Finance recently announced that its FIU revoked more than 1,000 licenses, there are still about 400 regulated crypto payment companies active in the market billing themselves as "EU-regulated" payment processors. Companies like BlueData OÜ, or Lipan Services OÜ facilitate and/or operate scams. These companies are also customers of the Lithuanian GlobalNetInt which is part of the network.

January 4, 2021

Investor Alert: Estonian Broker Scam MDX500 and XChangePro

MDX500 (www.mdx500.com) was just down for a while and displayed error message 522. It will not be a surprise if the scam goes offline. They all do aftleverer a few months. However, the boiler rooms and payment processors behind the scams are here to stay. In the case of MDX500, these are the boiler rooms that also run Blackstone500, for example. The Estonian BlueData OÜ operated the scam. Client-victims informed us that withdrawals and tradings had been stopped. Goodbye, money then! Another Estonian scam ripped off investors with Estonian regulators and law enforcement doing nothing.

December 22, 2020

UK FCA warns against broker scam Plutus with Estonian BitTheBank payment processor

FCA has issued an investor warning against the broker scam Plutus a/k/a Plutus Pro (www.plutus.pro) on December 21, 2020. An ITM Solutions LLC allegedly operates this from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. As a payment processor, we have discovered the Estonian BitTheBank (www.bitthebank.com) operated by Lipan Services OÜ. Plutus promotes its services on Instagram using the argument of 'financial freedom' via FX Trading and was active until a few minutes ago despite FCA's warning.

US Treasury Forgives Ukraine Looters!

On 26 September 2024, the United States Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ‘FinCEN’ made the astonishing decision to drop sanctions against ABLV Bank of Latvia. ABLV was sanctioned in 2018 for a list of reasons, including helping Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich’s bagman, Serhiy Kurchenko, steal billions of dollars from Ukraine.

Gurbir Grewal’s Departure from the SEC: His New Position and Potential Impact on Crypto Regulation!

Gurbir S. Grewal, the former Director of the Division of Enforcement at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has left his position to join Milbank LLP, one of the most innovative and prestigious law firms globally. This transition from his high-profile regulatory role to private practice is likely to have lasting implications, particularly on the SEC’s enforcement strategy in the crypto sector.

Warning Against The Imminent Danger of Pig Butchering For The Dawning Cyber Society!

Pig butchering scams are a devastating form of cybercrime that blend romance and investment fraud, leaving victims emotionally and financially shattered. These sophisticated operations, run by organized crime syndicates, often exploit human trafficking victims as unwilling scammers. The perpetrators meticulously cultivate trust over months, luring targets into fraudulent cryptocurrency investments through fake platforms.

MLM Schemes

Latest Arrests in $4 Billion Forex AI Fraud Scheme OmegaPro and the Austrian Connection!

FinTelegram has reported on the fraudulent crypto MLM schemes OMNIA Tech and OmegaPro several times in the past. This week, various media outlets have reported the arrest of Robert Velghe in Turkey, who has played a crucial role in both scams. The OmegaPro MLM scam is believed to have stolen around $4 billion from victims worldwide. Here is our update with a request for additional information from whistleblowers.

Crypto MLM Scam: David Carmona Sentenced to 121 Months for IcomTech Crypto Ponzi Scheme!

iComTech was one of the numerous fraudulent MLM schemes that used cryptocurrencies as a means of fraud in parallel with the crypto hype of 2017/18. David Carmora started IcomTech in approximately 2018 with other co-conspirators as a purported cryptocurrency mining and trading company. The scheme promised to earn its victims high profits and guaranteed daily returns that would double their money within six months.