The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Securities Division has received a complaint regarding a purported cryptocurrency exchange platform, Swapplus.top. It appears Swapplus.top is no longer an active website.
The investor learned about Swapplus.top through an individual going by the name “Nia”. Nia initially contacted the investor via phone, then asked to continue their conversation over WhatsApp. Nia encouraged the investor to invest Bitcoin (BTC) in spot gold (XAU)/Tether (USDT) token pairings on Swapplus.top through the Curve program. It appears Curve was a decentralized application (“dapp”) accessible via Coinbase.com. Screenshots provided by the investor show the program name later changed to “Derivatives”. The investor bought and sold XAU/USDT based on Nia’s instructions and appeared to earn significant profits. When the investor requested to withdraw $10,000 from the account, the investor was instructed to pay blockchain transaction fees and blockchain miner fees. Between September and December 2024, the investor transferred approximately $2,700,000 including fees, to Swapplus.top. The investor was not able to withdraw any of the money and Nia became unreachable.
The investor sent cryptocurrency to the following wallet addresses:
- 0xef9401021579483594DE9AE8a4c22F8D250E4650
- bc1q3td52tem0x3266mnt9efd5qwdkgfw3xjvmah0n
- bc1qpytjxaex26rry6ynsj7pvea7ffylmhyc0w4cld
- bc1q0g2g5skr9xvfl43272vrgvc8y23cslg4sdwkfg
These allegations have not been verified by DFI.
This appears to be what is commonly called an “Advance Fee Fraud”, which can take many forms. This also appears to be a common type of cryptocurrency investment scheme that uses social media groups, such as WhatsApp groups, to solicit and/or guide investors in cryptocurrency trading.
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.
How to Report
If you believe you are a victim of this alleged scam:
- Report to FBI
- If you are outside Washington State: contact your local Securities Regulator.
- If you are a Washington State resident: Submit a Complaint for statistical purposes.
Additional Resources:
Customer Advisory: Avoid Forex, Precious Metals, and Digital Asset Romance Scams | CFTC
Protecting Yourself from Financial Fraud (wa.gov)
Virtual Currency, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Assets Information for Consumers