The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Securities Division received a complaint regarding Eagle Crest Asset Management Ltd. (“ECAM”) at https://ecamai.com/ and OK-Coin Ltd. (“OK-Coin”) at https://www.ok-coin.com (website no longer accessible). ECAM claimed to be an asset management firm specializing in financial innovation, education, training, and customer service. OK-Coin is a Colorado corporation and allegedly a cryptocurrency trading platform that facilitated the crypto trades recommended by ECAM.
The investor was first invited to a WhatsApp group by someone using the name Skylar James (“James”), who claimed to be associated with ECAM. The WhatsApp group pushed daily market updates and education about market indicators to interested investors.
ECAM initially made short-term stock recommendations to the group members, which generated profits for the investor. ECAM then promoted cryptocurrency trading by utilizing its proprietary software named “Eagle Eye Quantitative System” in predicting day trading of stock and crypto. The investor participated in the testing of the System through ECAM’s designated platform “OK-Coin.” The investor mistakenly believed that the OK-Coin platform was the well-known crypto trading platform that was licensed in Washington as a money transmitter because the phony website had a nearly identical URL to that of the official platform.
After the initial testing with the trading credit gifted by OK-Coin, the investor put $9,000 of her personal funds in cryptocurrency, which was purportedly doubled within two weeks. The investor then became a “VIP1 Member” by depositing $35,000 under an Investment Advisory Services Agreement, which allowed the investor to participate in a 60-day investment program targeting an 80% return, for which the investor needed to pay 12% of the actual profits as commission.
Later, ECAM promoted a similar plan called “Gray Wolf Event” that promised higher returns if the investor deposited more money. An “Alani” approached the investor as a higher-tier member, acting as a caring friend to persuade the investor to deposit more money. The investor eventually learned from a Reddit post that the whole scheme was a scam.
These allegations have not been verified by DFI.
This appears to be what is commonly called “Advance Fee Fraud”, which can take many forms. This also appears to be a common fraudulent scheme involving individuals claiming to be “professors” or “schools” use social media, such as WhatsApp, to guide or teach a group of investors on cryptocurrency trading strategies. The purported trading usually occurs on fraudulent trading platforms.
The ecami.com website contained several red flags indicating fraud (which have also not been verified by DFI), including:
- A claim that ECAM was established in 2019, while a search of the entity’s filing with the California Secretary of State showed that ECAM was incorporated in December 2022;
- A claim that the team members of ECAM were CFA holders, while a CFA member directory search returned no result;
- The Homepage that presented a video appeared to be AI-generated;
- The “Terms and Conditions” page that redirected to the website of “Wyckoff Analytics,” which appeared to be unrelated to ECAM.
Check Licensing Status
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.
File A Complaint
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
What You Can Do to Avoid Investment Fraud