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The Securities Division received a complaint from a Washington investor, alleging that they lost $700,000 on metacash3.com (“MC3”). The investor discovered MC3 on an Instagram ad. MC3 appears to be a fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platform perpetrating advanced fee fraud scams. The investor has not been able to withdraw any of his funds.
An MC3 agent communicated with the investor through Telegram (a messaging platform). After the investor made a trading deposit and purportedly earned substantial returns in very little time, his funds were held hostage. MC3 demanded the investor deposit more money for different reasons to access his account funds.
For example, he was told to make deposits to unfreeze his account, extend deadlines, verify his account, improve his MC3 “credit score,” verify funds held in the blockchain, receive bank/wire transfers, upgrade his account status to VIP, VIP2, and Super VIP, and for prepayment taxes.
The investor was also asked to verify his identity by providing a copy of his ID, address, and bank details. The agent instructed the investor to lie to Coinbase to sidestep its fraud prevention procedures and suggested he use his home, car, and 401(k) as collateral to meet MC3’s demands.