SEC charges NanoBit and CoinW6 with using social media to run cryptocurrency “relationship investment scam”

Odaily Odaily News: The U.S. SEC has accused fake cryptocurrency platforms NanoBit and CoinW6 of defrauding investors and stealing their funds. This is the first time the agency has accused such scams. The SEC filed two lawsuits against five entities and three people in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York and the Federal District Court for the Central District of California on Tuesday. Both lawsuits allege that investors were "induced" on social media, including through WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Instagram, as part of a "relationship investment scam." "Relationship investment scams, including those involving crypto asset investments, pose a risk of catastrophic harm to retail investors, and the threat is rapidly increasing as these scams become more popular among scammers," said Gurbir S. Grewal, director of the SEC's enforcement division, in a statement on Tuesday. From October 2023 to June 2024, scammers posed as "financial industry professionals" through WhatsApp groups to get customers to invest through a fake crypto platform called NanoBit. In order to convince investors that the platform was safe, NanoBit lied that its subsidiary NanobitUS Securities was a broker registered with the SEC. These so-called financial professionals then hyped the fake ICOs, claiming that they could provide investors with significant returns. Instead of being invested, the funds went to "scheme participants," who then wired more than $2 million to bank accounts in Hong Kong, China. As for CoinW6, the SEC said those involved in the scheme pretended to be wealthy young professionals and contacted victimized investors through LinkedIn and Instagram, while also "pursuing romantic relationships on WhatsApp." The alleged scammers claimed that investors could earn up to 3% in returns per day from CoinW6's stocks, mining and other products. "In reality, investors' funds were misappropriated, and their apparent investments, profits, and account balances were fictitious," the SEC said. (The Block)