Cryptocurrency broker Unison FX Limited appears to be engaged in fraud against California consumers

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has received a complaint from at least one California resident regarding a crypto investment.

The victim met “Yuna Li”, who also called herself “Alicia” on Instagram. Alicia said she resided in West Hollywood, and after chatting for a few days, Alicia told the victim they could make money by trading Ethereum on the Meta Trader 5 (MT5) platform. Alicia said she could get inside information (known as trading signals) from her Uncle working in finances. She told the victim they would only trade when her uncle gave her the signal. Alicia showed the victim how to wire transfer funds to crypto.com and then send to a broker at UNISON FX LIMITED through MT5. Alicia alerted the victim on Instagram when to buy and sell, open a position and setup the take profit limit. After a few weeks, Alicia told the victim he had made around $200,000. At some point the victim tried to withdraw $100,000, as Unison showed he had a balance of approximately $430,000. At that point, the victim’s MT5 app was hacked and his entire account was wiped out. Unison refused any withdrawal and blocked him out of his account. Then Alicia blocked the victim on Instagram and vanished. The victim lost approximately $230,000. The company operated a website at https:// www.unisonfx.com.

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. This also appears to be what’s known as a Romance Scam, which is described here: https://dfpi.ca.gov/2022/05/20/romance-scams-and-crypto-assets-fact-or-fraud/

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/.