Cryptocurrency website www.quantumfinanex.com appears to be engaged in fraud against California consumers

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has received a complaint from a California resident regarding www.quantumfinanex.com which claims to be a trading platform with a New York address. 

A California resident told DFPI he met a person on LinkedIn who claimed she was an account manager for a trading company and could coach him to invest in binary options. They

connected on WhatsApp, and she directed him to open a live trading account at Quantum Finanex (www.quantumfinanex.com). The victim made an initial deposit of $3,500 via wire transfer to a bank account with a New York address.

Over a period of weeks his “coach” set multiple trading sessions with the victim on WhatsApp during which she instructed him on to buy or sell binary options in Forex, crypto currencies, stock, and oil&gas. He believed he was making profits, but then Quantum would lock his account and send messages that to reactivate it and continue to trade, he needed to deposit Bitcoin in their wallet. Quantum Finanex also told him that withdrawals were not allowed until after the end of the first 30 days of trading. Over the course of those 30 days, he was told to deposit a total of $186,500.00 in bitcoin, and that the balance of his account was $3,827,895.13. He was told he could withdraw it all after 30 days.

But when the withdrawal date arrived, Quantum told him to deposit fees equal to15% of his balance in bitcoin , or approximately $600,000 which he could not pay. He later discovered that the woman coach was an enabler in the scam and was part of the Quantum team. These allegations have not been verified by DFPI.

This appears to be what is commonly called an “Advance Fee scheme,” which can take many forms, as discussed here:  https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/advance-fee-schemes

The DFPI urges consumers to exercise extreme caution before responding to any solicitation offering investment or financial services.  To check whether an investment or financial service provider is licensed in California, consumers may contact the Department for questions or inquiries at ask.dfpi@dfpi.ca.gov or call toll-free at (866) 275-2677.  If a consumer believes a person or company has violated state law or acted improperly regarding a consumer financial product or service, they may file a formal complaint with the DFPI at https://dfpi.ca.gov/file-a-complaint/.