The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Securities Division received a complaint regarding Quantum Prosperity Consortium Investment Education Foundation (“QPC”) at quantumcut.com and quantuminvestwealth.club, a company claiming to offer expert-led programs, investment advice, and AI Investment Tools such as the “FINQbot.” QPC utilized an app called NovaBit that the investor downloaded through www.novabit.store where the transaction of funds occurred.
NovaBit Inc. has a business registration with the State of Washington and obtained an MSB Registration with FinCEN. Although these registrations may be advertised by trading platforms, it is important to remember that the information on the registrations is not verified and is not an endorsement, recommendation or certification of legitimacy.
The complaint received has many similarities to the DFI alert about Excellence and Innovation Fortune Business School (“EIF”). Several other entities and websites that resemble QPC and EIF include:
- Zenith Asset Investment Education Foundation: Assetoc.com
- Excellence Vanguard Wealth Business School: Evwgroup.com
- Quantuminvest Wealth Club: finqbot.com
- Monarch Capital Institute: monarchcif.com
- Summit Wealth Investment Education Foundation
- Innovatech Investment Education Foundation: intelligentech.com
- Builders Legacy Advance Investment Education Foundation: builderswag.com
The investor that filed the complaint about QPC and NovaBit reported that they saw an advertisement on Facebook. After inquiring about the opportunity, they were added to a Whatsapp group chat where they received investment information and lessons. The investor was informed about a “FINQbot” that was allegedly supposed to utilize artificial intelligence to provide personalized investment advice. They received a special invitation from a “financial advisor” name Sophia Miller who added them to a new Whatsapp Group. Sophia Miller told the investor that as a “VIP” they could receive 2000 QPC coins for free if they downloaded the NovaBit exchange app through the Google Play store. When the investor signed up for an account, they were asked to provide an SSN and a driver’s license which NovaBit claimed to be for tax purposes. Once they began trading on the platform, the investor transferred $300 in total from Coinbase to NovaBit.
The investor conducted additional research online when they discovered DFI’s alert about EIF Business School and ICHCoin. They felt their experience with QPC and NovaBit was similar and decided to stop investing. When they attempted to withdraw their investment, they were prompted to pay a fee. The investor has been unable to withdraw any funds from the NovaBit exchange.
These allegations have not been verified by DFI.
This appears to be what is commonly called Advance Fee Fraud, which can take many forms. This also appears to be a common fraudulent scheme involving individuals claiming to be “professors” or “schools” use social media, such as WhatsApp, to guide or teach a group of investors on cryptocurrency trading strategies. The purported trading usually occurs on fraudulent trading platforms.
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