The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Securities Division received a complaint concerning a Washington resident regarding Bitlux.net and Stackscoin.net. It appears the Bitlux.net and Stackscoin.net websites have been taken down and are no longer active on the internet. According to the complainant, the Bitlux.net (Bitlux) website changed to Stackscoin.net after the Bitlux website became inactive on the internet.
The complainant was introduced to Bitlux by a very good friend. The friend was allegedly purchasing limited liability interests in an artist’s collective (Collective) from the complainant, using Bitcoin he made on the Bitlux cryptocurrency trading website. The friend gave the Collective access to his Bitlux wallet. The Collective purchased a physical ledger to transfer the Bitcoin from the friend’s Bitlux wallet to the Collective’s wallet.
The Collective’s Treasurer was handling the transfer of Bitcoin when Bitlux requested a small transfer fee. After the complainant sent approximately $2,400 worth of Bitcoin to Bitlux to pay the transfer fee as instructed, Bitlux requested additional fees to release the Bitcoin. The Collective’s Treasurer sent approximately $23,000 worth of Bitcoin to Bitlux, but Bitlux did not release the purported Bitcoin and additional fees were requested. The Collective did not send any further fees to Bitlux. To date, no Bitcoin has been transferred from the friend’s Bitlux wallet to the Collective’s wallet.
These allegations have not been verified by DFI.
This appears to be what is commonly called “Advanced Fee Fraud”, which can take many forms. Learn more about advance fee fraud.
DFI urges consumers to exercise extreme caution before responding to any solicitation offering investment or financial services. Investment professionals need to be licensed with DFI to offer investments to Washington residents. In addition, most investment products sold need to be registered with DFI. To check the licensing status and to find out if there are any complaints against an investment professional or investment product, please visit FINRA Brokercheck or contact the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, Securities Division at (360) 902-8760. If you live outside of Washington State, contact your state securities regulator.
If a consumer believes a person or company has violated state law or acted improperly regarding an investment product or service, they may file a complaint with the Securities Division.
Additional Resources
Virtual Currency, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Assets Information for Consumers