The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Securities Division received a complaint about a suspected cryptocurrency “pump and dump scheme” on a platform called Swiftcrypt Exchange. Swiftcrypt is no longer active but had been available to investors through the website http://swiftcrypt.cc and mobile applications on the Google Play store (“Swiftcrypt”) and Apple Appstore (“SwiftcryptPro”).
The scheme invited investors from social media platforms like Facebook to a WhatsApp group called the “W23-Daniel Mills' Stock Discussion Group” (“Group”). Persons purporting to be “Daniel Mills” (“Mills”) and Mills’s assistant, “Skylar Bryson” (“Bryson”), led the Group and eventually coaxed members to Swiftcrypt where investor funds were stolen.
The Hook
Mills claimed to be a former Goldman Sachs employee and the current President and Chief Global Equity Investment Officer at a purported New York based investment firm called the Komon Trust (“KT”). The KT website at https://komontrust.cc/ (duplicated at https://kt-analyze.com/) stated KT was established in 2009 and listed several articles about Mills, including in The Wall Street Journal and Forbes Magazine.
Mills claimed to have a team of consultants and analysts selecting high-quality investable stocks based on “insider information,” among other things, and to have formed the “Komon Alliance” (“KA”) – a large investor group that collectively traded stocks at Mills’ direction. Mills offered the Group a “free trial” of investment services and presented daily market news and stock recommendations and analyses to the Group. Mills also recommended “Guru” stocks with expected 80% to 200% returns within a few months and which proved profitable in some instances.
Mills created a “buzz” around “Unified Trading Events” (“UTEs”). UTEs utilized trading strategies designed to artificially raise i.e., “pump” a stock’s value. Mills told investors UTEs could yield 80% to 370% returns for a 10% fee on profits and boasted a 95% success rate. Mills heavily promoted the UTE, discussing it some 250 times over a period of five months. To register and participate in a UTE, investors were required to send screenshots of account balances to Bryson for fund verification and to obtain individual trading advice.
Shift to Cryptocurrency
Mills began introducing cryptocurrency trades to the Group, saying cryptocurrency is “the hottest investment market right now,” has a “very promising investment outlook,” and has “more potential than the stock market.” Mills recommended that they purchase well-known cryptocurrencies on established exchanges.
The Endgame
Mills told investors that his UTEs and “market influence” had attracted attention from “private equity circles” and a trading platform called Swiftcrypt. Mills offered Investors a share in a $10,000,000 reward for signing up to Swiftcrypt. Many investors signed up for and moved funds to Swiftcrypt. Swiftcrypt incentivized users to reach and increase their “VIP” level by adding account funds and in turn unlocking exclusive features like lower fees and pre-list coin distributions.
Mills then began to promote a frenzy of cryptocurrency investments to the Group. Initially, Mills recommended investors use their sign up “bonus” to purchase the EGLD token at $6.50 per token during an initial coin offering (“ICO”), which would jump to $29.96 upon the token’s listing on an exchange, “guaranteeing” a profit. Mills told investors ICOs “see rapid price increases after going public, offering substantial short-term profits,” were “low risk investments,” and had returns averaging 300% to 400%. Mills also promoted another trading strategy that he claimed utilized Swiftcrypt’s “internal trading data” and an “AI artificial intelligence system.” Mills encouraged participation by reducing his fee from 10% on profits to a flat fee of $50.00 per trade.
Mills then added purported users of Swiftcrypt to the Group, who claimed profits as high as $80,000 during “trial runs” of a cryptocurrency UTE called “Unified Trading Event for Cryptocurrency Market” (“UTECM”). Mills thereafter led three UTECMs a day and ultimately led 70 UTECMs within a month. Mills advised investors to liquidate stocks and shift capital to cryptocurrency because the stock market was “significantly overvalued” and in a “serious bubble” that might lead to a market crash.
Checkmate
Eventually, Mills introduced and pushed a new investment to investors involving “QuantumPay”, described as an AI based blockchain platform offering secure digital payments for business and government. Mills claimed QuantumPay was backed by well-known financial institutions and that the related token, “QTP,” had potential to grow beyond the largest cryptocurrencies and challenge the U.S. dollar. The QuantumPay website at http://quantum-pay.co/ and several online articles marketed Swiftcrypt as the exclusive issuer of QTP. Mills told investors to “acquire as many tokens as possible” as this was an “invest all funds” situation.
Swiftcrypt auto-purchased large quantities of QTP tokens on behalf of investors. Once QTP listed on Swiftcrypt, it lost almost all its value immediately. Any investor funds placed or auto traded into QTP were lost. Days later, Mills shut the Group down, citing government investigations into market manipulation. Swiftcrypt told investors to pay a fine for participation in the Group’s activities and to reactivate their accounts. By the end, Mills led 200 UTECMs and 27 ICO listings across some 34 tokens including EGLD, SEUA, and SFTP.
Impact on Investors
One investor lost $300,000. He told DFI he invested in the “risk free” ICOs promoted by Mills. He saw his $200,000 turn into a purported balance of $1,200,000 and then to $10,600,000. However, he could never withdraw substantial funds. Among other things, Swiftcrypt liquidated investor funds due to “institutional intervention,” blocked withdrawals for “advanced verification,” froze accounts for compliance review, put error messages on its website, and limited withdrawals to $1,000 per day before blocking them entirely.
Red Flags
- Recency of website registrations; all in 2024: see, (1) https://komontrust.cc/, (2) https://kt-analyze.com/, (3) https://swiftcrypt.cc/, and (4) http://quantum-pay.co/
- Existence of Copycat Websites: see e.g., (1) https://digi-peak.co/, (2) https://nexera-asset.com/, (3) https://apexexpress.co/, (4) https://interstellarcapital.co, (5) https://prime-forge.com/, (6) https://bcn-ex.com/, (7) https://blackrockprivateequity.co/, and (8) https://unicubeglobalwealthcollege.com/
- No search results for “Daniel Mills,” as claimed, in The Wall Street Journal or Forbes Magazine
- Only 3 recently published (2024) online articles about “Daniel Mills”
- Profile picture of “Daniel Mills”: A reverse image search shows this to be the Chief Executive Officer of an established investment firm.
- VOIP Telephone Numbers: Mills’s and Bryson’s telephone numbers, (601) 603-9809 and (646) 627-7430 respectively, are VOIP (“Voice over Internet Protocol”) numbers, which are commonly used by scammers.
- AI Detection Tools flag KT and QTP articles and websites, and Mills’s messages, as AI generated.
- Plagiarized Content: Message content relaying company information had been plagiarized from sources such as https://money.usnews.com/ and https://finance.yahoo.com/
- ICO misinformation: Many of the traded tokens were nonexistent tokens, were not part of any ICO in 2024, or were tokens with little to no trading activity.
These allegations have not been verified by DFI.
DFI cautions consumers to beware of persons previously unknown to them offering investment advice, even if they purport to be legitimately licensed investment professionals. Scammers can impersonate investment professionals and offer advice that benefits scammers and is harmful to consumers.
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
Social Media and Investment Fraud – Investor Alert
Information regarding Pump & Dump schemes and how to protect yourself