The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Securities Division received a complaint regarding Digital Trade Vault (“DTV”) at digitaltradevault.com (website no longer accessible), a company claiming to be an Artificial Intelligence asset management and cloud mining company. Mega Global Investment (“MGI”) and Passfolio Finance Trade (“PFT”) also appear to be involved in the potential fraudulent scheme. MGI claimed to be a major Forex brokerage company with its website at megalobin.com (original contents inaccessible). PFT claimed to be an online trading and investment platform for brokers interested in foreign exchange, stock market trading, and cryptocurrency trading at passfoliofinancetrade.com (website no longer accessible). The scheme appears to be an Advance Fee Fraud and Refund and Recovery Scam.
The Advance Fee Fraud
The investor was first contacted by a “James Bowen” on X (@James Bowen5677), who persuaded the investor to put $1,000 in an account through coinmarketcap.com, a cryptocurrency market tracking website which also appears to connect a user’s own cryptocurrency wallet to third-party exchanges. James then directed the investor to WhatsApp and persuaded the investor to deposit another $1,000 in an account with 48hourstradingplatform.com (inaccessible). The account with “48hourtradingplatform” showed a purported profit after some transactions, but the investor was asked to pay a commission of $1,200 to the MGI platform before he could make any withdrawals. Once he did so, the investor still could not withdraw funds from MGI unless he committed more personal funds.
James then addressed the investor’s request to “CEO Fund Manager” Maksim Konstantinov for assistance with the withdrawals, which led the investor to pay more advanced fees for purported compliance reasons. The investor paid about $4,500 in total but achieved no results.
Later, a “Mariaane Cythina” approached the investor, claiming to be a trader licensed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CTFC”). Mariaane offered an investment opportunity through DTV’s digital currency mining. The investor put in an initial $400 to the DTV account, which allegedly returned large gains after 24 hours. Mariaane requested a $510 tax payment if the investor wanted to withdraw. The investor eventually sent $32 for partial withdrawal. Mariaane then asked the investor to top up the account to facilitate the processing. The investor declined to deposit any more funds and demanded a full refund. Mariaane cut contact thereafter.
This appears to be what is commonly called "Advance Fee Fraud", which can take many forms. This also appears to be what is commonly called a "Pig Butchering" Scam.
The Refund and Recovery Scam
After the investor’s interaction with Mariaane, Maksim recontacted the investor, claiming to be an undercover agent that could help the investor recover the loss if the investor made an advance payment to him. When the investor ignored Maksim, James reappeared, claiming that all the aforementioned players were scammers and that he could help with the withdrawals if the investor hired him. The investor paid him a total of $3,000 and received “refunds” in BTCBR, a cryptocurrency token. James then asked the investor to pay $500 for the code to “activate” the refunds. The investor sent the $500 but eventually refused to pay any more funds and was ultimately unable to recover his invested funds.
This appears to be a Refund and Recovery Scam, in which the scammers target people who have already lost their money.
Additional Discoveries
Further investigation revealed that DTV might have been associated with another platform called Passfolio Finance Trade (“PFT) at https://passfoliofinancetrade.com.The website is now inaccessible as of the posting of this alert.
These allegations have not been verified by DFI.
Red Flags
The scheme contains several red flags indicating fraud, including:
False/Misleading Statements
- The investor was told they needed IMF approval from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to withdraw funds from their private investment account. The IMF does not engage in or oversee private financial transactions;
- A search of the CFTC website reveals that no “Mariaane Cynthia” has been registered with the CFTC;
- Maksim claimed to be an undercover agent and offered to help the investor recover their losses;
- Maksim provided a Certificate of Incorporation purporting to show that “48hours Trading Platform” was incorporated in the U.S. The issuing authority was illegible and the certificate referred to a UK statute;
- Maksim provided a “Letter of Guarantee” that was purportedly an agreement between the “United States Bankruptcy Court” and “48hoursTradingPlatform.” A search of the party name “48hoursTradingPlatform” for bankruptcy cases returned no result; and
- Maksim provided an illegible “Global Business License” issued by the “Financial Services Commission,” a fictious agency listed in the SEC’s PAUSE Program.
Websites
- The platforms claimed a long history of business, while their websites were registered only recently. For example, the DTV website claimed its service dated back at least to 2020, while the website registration was on April 4, 2024.
- The websites often had pop-up news banners suggesting investors were earning large profits from all over the world;
- The websites claimed to contain copyrighted materials, which could not be verified in U.S. Copyright Office Public Records System;
- The platforms made conflicting statements and misrepresentations regarding their legal status or qualifications. For example, PFT claimed to be a registered business entity in the UK and a registered broker in Australia. However, a search of the relevant official registries returned no results. This claim also contradicted PFT’s own statement in its “Terms and Conditions” that it was not a registered broker/dealer. In addition, the PFT website contained a privacy policy that was last updated on June 06, 2018, while the website itself was only recently registered in August 2024;
- The platforms did not list real phone numbers or valid physical office addresses; and
- The MGL website contained place holder text “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet” in the “About Us” section.
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 formal complaint with the Securities Division.
Additional Resources
Virtual Currency, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Assets Information for Consumers