The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Securities Division has received a complaint regarding h5.sencapitals.com. The website is no longer accessible and is reported to be potentially malicious.
The investor learned of SENcapitals from an individual on X (Twitter) named “Emilia.” Subsequently, the investor communicated with Emilia and another individual named “Michael England” through Whatsapp. The investor was told by Emilia that she works for an entity in London called “Pollen Street Group.” The investor invested a total of approximately $5,894 in cryptocurrency through the h5.sencapitals.com website over a 4-month period.
The investor attempted to withdraw the funds from SENcapitals. Before the withdrawal could be processed, the investor was prompted to pay tax. The investor paid the purported tax in the amount of approximately $2,688 using Bitcoin. The investor has not been able to withdraw any funds from SENcapitals.
DFI conducted additional research into a potential connection between SENcapitals and Pollen Street Group. Pollen Street Group appears to be a legitimate company regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom. An individual named Michael England is listed on the FCA website as being associated with Pollen Street Group; however, no evidence was found to suggest the individual in the WhatsApp group that communicated with the investor is the same person. The investor also reached out to the company and was told that Pollen Street Group is not associated with SENcapitals and they are not aware of anyone named Emilia.
These allegations have not been verified by DFI.
This appears to be what is commonly called and “Advance Fee Fraud”. 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