The Fontainebleau Criminal Court has sentenced the 50-year-old mastermind of an “international” and “vast” French crypto scam to four years in prison.
The scam, which was designed to dupe victims in France and Israel, resulted in at least 14 victims losing over $375,000.
According to Le Parisien, the criminal and his associates came up with a “particularly sophisticated scam” that involved posing as a well-known French hedge fund manager and trader named Pierre Andurand.
The criminals obtained an “old file” from a defunct crypto trading platform that contained the names and contact details of the victims.
The fraudsters then approached the victims, offering to “recover their funds” in exchange for a commission fee or by reinvesting their crypto in their own platform.
They claimed to be professional traders working on behalf of a company that had bought the liquidated exchange. The mastermind also claimed to be working “on behalf” of a San Francisco-based company, which would allow victims to recoup their funds by reinvesting in a “very high yield cryptocurrency.”
The court also heard that one victim was tricked into handing over bank details and credit card information, allowing the scammers to empty accounts of thousands of dollars’ worth of fiat.
This case bears some similarity to a possible $8 million South Korean crypto scam, in which alleged fraudsters posed as a “loss compensation team” to cater to people who had recently suffered financial losses.
The Fontainebleau Criminal Court’s decision to sentence the mastermind of this crypto scam to four years in prison sends a strong message to other would-be scammers that their actions will not be tolerated.
It also highlights the need for crypto investors to exercise caution and do their due diligence before investing their funds. By doing so, they can avoid falling prey to sophisticated scams like the one perpetrated by this 50-year-old fraudster.
