Updated: February 2, 2023
The Division received another complaint regarding SumSwap. The investor was introduced to SumSwap from an individual named “Daisy” that they met on a dating website. Daisy informed the investor on when to trade and how to setup trades on SumSwap. The investor purchased over $85,000 in Tether (“USDT”) stablecoins from their Coinbase account and subsequently transferred them to their SumSwap account. After investing, the investor was pressured to invest more money. When the investor attempted to withdraw funds from their SumSwap account, they were told by SumSwap support that they are unable to until they pay an “advanced verification” fee of approximately $22,000. This fee was not disclosed to the investor prior to investing. The investor has not paid the fee and to date has not been able to withdraw any of their $85,000 investment.
Updated: August 19, 2022
DFI received information that the website for SunSwap recently changed from www.sswapap.vip to www.sswapep.vip.
Originally Posted: June 09, 2022
DFI has received a complaint from a Washington resident regarding SunSwap (a.k.a SumSwap), a purported digital asset trading platform. The investor accessed the platform on www.sswapap.vip. This website appears to have been taken down.
The investor was introduced to SunSwap by an individual they met on a dating website. The individual showed the investor purported profits made from trading on SunSwap and encouraged the investor to trust them and trade on SunSwap.
With the help of the individual, the investor started a SunSwap account and transferred cryptocurrency to the account. The SunSwap platform runs like a game with no visuals except a 90 second timer. After 90 seconds, SunSwap updates the investor’s account with purported profits or losses. No information was disclosed by SunSwap to the investor regarding what their money was being invested in. After investing over $9,000, the investor’s SunSwap account purportedly grew to over $14,000.
After investing, the individual told the investor to contact SunSwap customer service regarding how to receive a larger return on SunSwap. SunSwap customer service gave the investor a list of bonuses that the investor could receive based on the amount the investor deposits in their account. The investor agreed to deposit $50,000 in order to receive a bonus of over $10,000. SunSwap credited the bonus of over $10,000 to the investor’s account.
Before depositing the $50,000, however, the investor attempted to withdraw the existing funds from their account but SunSwap did not allow the investor to do so until the $50,000 was deposited. At no point prior did SunSwap disclose to the investor that they would have to deposit additional funds in order to make withdrawals from their account. The investor declined to deposit the $50,000 and attempted to return the bonus but SunSwap still denied their request to withdraw funds from their account. The investor lost over $9,000 using the SunSwap platform.
This appears to be what is commonly called “Advance Fee Fraud”, which can take many forms.
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
Watch out for Fraudulent Digital Asset and “Crypto” Trading Websites