The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) issued a consumer protection alert targeting an “alleged cryptocurrency exchange” named Eucoinotrade.
According to the report, at least one person may have fallen victim to what appears to be "advance fee fraud." It is a trust scheme that involves the solicitation of large fees under the guise of releasing expected benefits. According to DFI, “after investing 5 or 6 times, totaling nearly $50,000, the investor’s Eucoinotrade account allegedly grew to over $414,000.” The problems, however, allegedly began when the investor attempted to cash out.
Initially, "customer service" claimed that investors' benefits required them to upgrade their accounts to "elite status," and demanded that investors pay $40,000 for a "software upgrade." Customer Services then agreed to waive the $40,000 fee, but insisted investors would still have to pay a $14,000 fee to withdraw their money. Once that fee is earned, investors are charged another $9,400 fee, known as the "IRS Mandatory Fee" which Washington DFI says doesn't exist.
The alert goes on to note that, based on the group's research, the Eucoinotrade website raised several potential red flags: It claims to be registered in Ireland, but the alleged exchange’s corporate ID appears to refer to another company entirely; The site’s FAQ states that it still accepts Payza, a service that was shut down in 2018 before its founders admitted conspiracy to money laundering and operating an unlicensed internet-based money services business; The website appears to have been built using a template shared by hundreds of other dubious websites.
The Ecoinotrade website claims to use a "binary algorithm" to provide user accounts with a 150% daily profit for minimum investments ranging from $1,000 to $150,000. However, no research or company profile information appears on the site.
