A young millionaire trader in South Africa has received a warrant for his arrest on charges of running a crypto scam.
The story has been reported in the South African media and confirms that cryptocurrency scams are common in the country.
Summary
Ferraris for the latest crypto scam in South Africa
The story is that of one of the country’s youngest millionaires, who got rich through forex trading. In one of his courses in which he taught how to earn money through trading, he showed his bank account with about 6 million dollars. In addition, he was seen driving around in Ferraris and Lamborghinis, giving the idea that his was indeed a successful business.
With this ruse, he convinced many people to entrust him with their savings, to invest them in cryptocurrencies and give them monthly returns. Some victims say that in the beginning, the monthly profits actually came in. Others admit to having lost all their money, investments that were sometimes the result of loans.
The story ends with the Johannesburg police searching for the millionaire trader, who is accused of fraud involving at least 500,000 Rand (33,000 dollars).
Scams in South Africa
Crypto scams in South Africa are quite common. Some cases have been emblematic, such as the Africrypt affair. This is a platform that officially went offline due to a hack. The two brothers who managed the platform have disappeared, suggesting that they ran off with the money, which is said to be worth USD 3.6 billion.
In fact, through their lawyer, the two brothers have made it known that they are in hiding because of threats, confirming the thesis of the hack. They also denied the missing figure: it certainly was not possible to speak of billions of dollars, since Africrypt managed “only” 200 million dollars.
Regardless of the truth, the Africrypt affair explains why scams are able to proliferate in South Africa: someone asks for money to invest, promising stellar earnings, someone else believes them, and then the trader, promoter, broker or at least the person who promised the earnings, disappears.
How to be protected
Not only in South Africa, but all over the world, scams involving cryptocurrencies are common because they exploit the naivety of the unfortunate victims. Studying before investing is a golden rule. Or, as the saying goes, Don’t trust. Verify!
It is always good to have a clear idea of where investments are going. For this reason, before relying on people, it is necessary to gather information on the platforms, on the coin to be purchased and on the risks. For example, by reading the whitepapers. It is worth remembering that the crypto market is highly speculative, and the risk of losing everything rather than making exorbitant gains is quite real.
Finally, it is always good to be wary of those who promise exorbitant gains. If something is too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.
