The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) has recently raised concerns regarding the "alleged cryptocurrency exchange" known as Eucoinotrade. This followed an instance of a victim that appears to have fallen prey to an “advanced fee fraud,” wherein they were asked to pay large sum fees under the presumption that it was necessary to release profits.

According to information found by the DFI, the individual had entered their own investment of $50,000 and was informed that the account had grown to a buyout value of over $414,000. However, as the individual had attempted to withdraw their funds, 'customer service' requested a $40,000 “software upgrade” fee that was eventually waived yet still made demands for an alleged “processing fee” of $14,000 and “IRS compulsory fee” of $9,400 - both of which are not recognised by the Washington State DFI.

As further researched, the Eucoinotrade website raises several visible red flags - firstly, the site claims to be registered in Ireland, but its business ID actually links to a completely different company. Moreover, the site advertises a ‘150% daily profit’ with investment minimums ranging from $1,000 to $150,000 and uses a “binary algorithm” - yet no research or company profile information could be found online. Additionally, the website apparently still uses the now-defunct payment method Payza - which was shut down in 2018 after its founding party pleaded guilty to money laundering and unlicensed money service business.

Given this information, the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions has released a consumer protection alert, cautioning against the risks of engaging with Eucoinotrade's services. Cointelegraph reached out to the alleged exchange to inquire about the alert, but have yet to receive a response.



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