Skip to Main Content

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has received a complaint from a California resident regarding coinworldtld.com an offshore cryptocurrency trading platform that looks very similar to another legitimate website. Coinworld TLD claims to be registered in Arizona and operated in Hong Kong.

A California resident told DFPI he was fooled by this phony, fully functional website that claimed it could exchange cryptocurrencies, and allowed customers to deposit and even withdraw coins, and made trades. The victim claims he has $500,000 worth of cryptocurrency frozen in an account at Coinworld TLD and can”t withdraw.

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.

In addition, the DFPI cautions against so-called imposter scams, where the scammer pretends to be someone else, here, another legitimate website. More information is available here: https://consumer.ftc.gov/features/imposter-scams.

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 [email protected] 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/.