The Washington state Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Securities Division has received a complaint from a Washington resident regarding newcoinnyse.com, a website claiming to be a cryptocurrency trading platform.
The investor met a stranger on Bumble, a dating website, who instructed the investor to invest in newcoinnyse.com and falsely told the investor it was the New York Stock Exchange’s online trading platform. The individual stated the investor would need a minimum of $800,000 to invest in the platform and that once the investor had invested, they could expect an immediate return without any further action. On the same day the investor placed $800,000 in newcoinnyse.com, the investor’s account purportedly grew to over $2,000,000. When the investor then attempted to withdraw the funds from their newcoinnyse.com account, the site demanded the investor pay withdrawal fees exceeding $150,000 to receive their funds. The fees were not previously disclosed on the Newcoinnyse.com website or by the individual to the investor. Even after paying the withdrawal fees, the investor was still unable to withdraw the profits from their Newcoinnyse.com account. 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.
This complaint contained several other red flags indicating fraud (which have also not been verified by DFI) including:
- The individual told the investor to expect an almost instant and substantial profit after investing
- The Newcoinnyse.com website consistently changed URLs to sites such as the following: cryptobtc.vip, sennysaid.com, bitediqui.com, bitgrew.com, nysuhua.com while the site’s customer service maintained it was still New York Stock Exchange’s online trading platform
- The investor was threatened with legal action if they did not pay more fees
- The Newcoinnyse.com website refused to give the investor the wire transfer number after it claimed the investor’s bank refused to accept the investor’s account funds transfer
DFI urges consumers to exercise extreme caution before responding to any solicitation offering investment or financial services. 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 formal complaint with the Securities Division.
Additional Resources
Virtual Currency, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Assets Information for Consumers